Latino Almanac: From Early Explorers to Corporate Leaders
560
Latino Almanac: From Early Explorers to Corporate Leaders
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Overview
Latinos in the United States are a vibrant mix of people and multiple identities, each unique, varied, and accomplished. Beginning with the Spanish explorers in the sixteenth century, Latinos have been an important part of American society. They’ve fought the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, and all wars in between and since, and in the last decade, their businesses have grown at twice the pace of the overall U.S. economy.
The most complete and affordable single-volume reference on Latino history available today, Latino Almanac: From Early Explorers to Corporate Leaders honors the history and the impact of Latinos on the United States. This hefty tome is a fascinating mix of biographies, little-known or misunderstood historical facts, and enlightening essays on significant legislation, movements, current issues, and achievements across a variety of fields, including business, labor, politics, the military, music, sports, law, media, religion, art, literature, theater, film, science, technology, and medicine. A large collection of 650 biographies includes both celebrated and lesser-known Latino stars, such as
While Latinos are among both the original and newest immigrants, today the majority of U.S. Latinos were born here and most speak English—although most are bilingual to one degree or another. Their influence on the economy and culture continues to increase. Their impact on the United States has been wide-ranging. Salsa has even overtaken ketchup to become the most popular condiment in the United States! Devoted to illustrating the moving and often lost history of Latinos in America, Latino Almanac is a unique and valuable resource. Numerous photographs and illustrations, a helpful bibliography, a timeline, and an extensive index add to its usefulness. Commemorating and honoring Latino achievements, honors, and influence, this important book brings to light all there is to admire and discover about Latino Americans!
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781578596119 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Visible Ink Press |
| Publication date: | 09/20/2022 |
| Series: | The Multicultural History & Heroes Collection |
| Pages: | 560 |
| Sales rank: | 1,090,112 |
| Product dimensions: | 7.10(w) x 9.20(h) x 1.20(d) |
About the Author
Read an Excerpt
POLITICS
In the past thirty years, Latino Americans have become one of the largest and fastest-growing groups of elected officials in the United States. Former New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson has stated, "National candidates and both major political parties are undertaking major campaigns to woo Latino American support. We are recognized as the nation's fastest growing minority group and are being courted as such. This attention will only increase our political strength."
Latinos in the Political Process
Widespread political activity at the national level by Latinos has been intermittent since the first Latino was elected to Congress. Joseph Marion Hernández was elected to Congress representing Florida in 1822 as a member of the Whig party. No other Latino held national office for thirty years. A total of eleven Latinos were elected to the U.S. Congress in the entire nineteenth century, all from New Mexico except for one from California and Congressman Hernández from Florida. From the turn of the century until the 1950s, a total of fifteen Latinos served in Congress—five from New Mexico, two from Louisiana, and eight resident commissioners from Puerto Rico, which became a U.S. possession in 1898. Since the 1960s the number of Latino Americans elected to Congress has been steadily increasing. In 2020, there were 128 Latinos serving in the U.S. Congress.
For a century the majority of Latinos holding political office at the local level was limited to southwestern states, southern Florida, and New York City. Since the 1960s growth in the population of Latinos and favorable civil rights legislation have combined to create opportunity for Latino candidates to win public office in other areas of the country and at all levels of elected government. Latinos have made the greatest inroads at the municipal level where they are now the majority population of the largest cities in the United States.
The National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) Directory lists 6,832 Latino elected officials in office throughout the nation in 2019. The Directory lists the names and addresses of Latinos members of every elected body, from school board members to senators.
Hispanic Voting and the Voting Rights Act of 1965
The primary aim of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was African-American enfranchisement in the South. Specifically, obstacles to registration and voting faced by African Americans were the major concern of those who framed the statute in the 1960s. Its potential as a tool for Latinos was not fully realized until the act was extended and amended in 1970.
The 1970 amendments to this landmark legislation added a provision that was designed to guard against inventive new barriers to political participation by requiring federal approval of all changes in voting procedure in certain jurisdictions, primarily southern states. Disgruntled officials in Mississippi and other southern states embarked on schemes to dilute African-American voter impact in elections by eliminating single-member districts and creating at-large voting.
The U.S. Supreme Court responded, in Allen v. State Board of Elections (1969), by extending federal authority to object to proposed discriminatory alterations in voting districts, the introduction of at-large voting, and other such changes, in addition to reaffirming the original power to object to discriminatory innovations involving registration and voting.
Until 1980 (with the single exception of the 1930 census), the U.S. Census Bureau classified Latinos as "White," and many people argued that to extend coverage of the Voting Rights Act to a group who considered themselves White was unjustifiable. The Fifteenth Amendment rights secured by the statute protected against denial of the right to vote only on account of "race, color or previous condition of servitude." If Latinos were White, they were ineligible for the special protection of the Voting Rights Act.
During congressional hearings to extend the Voting Rights Act in 1975, J. Stanley Pottinger, assistant attorney general of the U.S. Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, saw the labeling problem as inconsequential and told Congress that the Justice Department's practice "has been to treat Indians, Puerto Ricans, and Mexican Americans as racial groups." His argument hardly settled the matter for everyone, but Congress agreed to amend the act to include "language minorities," which specifically included Spanish-speakers.
In addition, the Voting Rights Act Amendments of 1975 made permanent the national ban on literacy tests. The amendments condemned any action by states, which was no longer limited to southern states, to realign voting districts to dilute the impact of minority voters who resided within the district. Any redistricting plan would have to be approved by the federal government.
In 1980 the U.S. Supreme Court, in City of Mobile v. Bolden, rejected a challenge to at-large elections in Mobile, Alabama, because the Court was not convinced that the city had acted with the purpose of discriminating against minority voters. The Court, in its sharply divided decision, found that the city had not violated the Voting Rights Act. Congress reacted to the Supreme Court decision with the important Voting Rights Act Amendments of 1982. The amendments, under Section 2, prohibit any voting law or practice created by a state or political subdivision that "results" in denial of the right of any citizen of the United States to vote on account of race, color, or language-minority status. The amendments eliminated the need to prove that the state or political subdivision created a voting law with the "intention" of discriminating against minority voters.
In one of the first cases to be tried under Section 2 of the 1982 amendments, Velásquez v. City of Abilene, prominent judge Reynaldo G. Garza delivered the opinion of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Garza stated for the court that the intention of Congress was clear in cases of vote dilution, referring to the 1982 amendments. Garza stated that the city of Abilene's use of at-large voting, bloc voting, and other voting mechanisms resulted in vote dilution and had a discriminatory effect on Latino American voters in the city.
A year later the Fifth Circuit Court made a similar ruling in Jones v. City of Lubbock. The city of Lubbock, Texas, a medium-sized city with a diverse population, had a clear White majority. Under an at-large voting scheme, the majority uniformly elected an all-White city council. The court found that the voting method used by the city polarized voting between the White majority and minority voters, and the result was discrimination against minority voters.
Holdouts of racially discriminatory electoral patterns have continued to come under intense pressure from the courts to end discrimination against minority voters. Over the last few decades the success in the courts was contributing to the growing numbers of Latinos holding elected offices across the United States. In 1991, for the first time in history, the city of Abilene had two Latinos on its city council; the city of Lubbock had one Latino on its city council, as well as a Latino county commissioner.
However, after the 2010 census and the sweeping into power of conservative Republicans, partisan gerrymandering has increased steeply, with the purpose of disenfranchising minorities. As of 2020 the 435 congressional districts in the United States, hardly any have a competitive partisan balance between parties. And under the Voting Rights Act district maps cannot be drawn. A conservative Supreme Court upheld partisan gerrymandering in its 2019 Rucho v Common Cause, thus giving state legislatures a free hand in disguising their intent to discriminate by drawing district maps to dilute minority votes. Many states where Latinos and other minorities are a sizeable part of the citizenry have also devised numerous ways to dilute or discourage their voting, including shorting absentee and mail-in voting periods, reducing the number of polling places in minority neighborhoods, changing the addresses and dates for voting, etc. Another supreme Court decision abolished the Voting Rights Act requisite that states that had a record of discrimination against voters had to apply and be pre-cleared any time they sought to change election rules and practices. Under Shelby v. Holder (2013), the court held that the pre-clearance of changes was outdated and no longer responded to current electoral conditions; basically it affirmed the idea that so much progress against discriminatory progress had been made that per-clearance was obsolete and a burden on the states in question. To the present, but especially during the 2016 elections, all manner of strategies to discourage and limit minority voting have been employed.
Congressional Hispanic Caucus
While great strides have been made in Latino electoral empowerment and representation in government, the growing Latino population remains significantly underrepresented at all levels of government—despite the 6,832 Latinos in office in 2019. The Latino population is young and made up of many non-citizens, and Latino voting levels have traditionally fallen well below the national average. In spite of favorable legislation, advocates actively seeking to increase Latino voter registration still cite poverty, inadequate education, language barriers, and alienage as critical obstacles that have discouraged voting. Despite these problems, Latinos have been going to the polls in increasing numbers.
The Congressional Hispanic Caucus, organized in December 1976, is a bipartisan group of members of Congress of Latino descent. The caucus is dedicated to voicing and advancing, through the legislative process, issues affecting Latinos in the United States and its territories.
Organized as a legislative service organization under the rules of Congress, the caucus is composed solely of members of the U.S. Congress. Under these rules, associate membership is offered to dues-paying members of Congress who are not of Latino descent. With its associate members, caucus membership represents the states, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Although every issue that affects the quality of life of all U.S. citizens is a Congressional Latino Caucus concern, national and international issues that have a particular impact on the Latino community are the focus. The caucus monitors legislative action as well as policies and practices of the executive and judicial branches of government that affect these issues.
LATINO MEMBERS OF CONGRESS (2020)
House of Representatives
Pete Aguilar (1979-)
Born on June 19, 1979 in Fontana, California, part of fourth generation California family. He put himself through college, studying government and business administration at University of the Redlands. Aguilar’s political career began in 2001 when California Governor Gray Davis appointed him deputy director of the Inland Empire Regional Office of the Governor; he eventually became Interim Director. Aguilar served on the Redlands city council beginning in 2006 and in 2010 became mayor. He served as mayor from 2010 to 2014, during which time he was also the president of the Inland Empire Division of the League of California Cities. He was elected to Congress in 2016 and now serves as Chief Deputy Whip in the House Democratic Caucus and Whip of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. The issues Aguliar has fought for in Congress include immigration, job creation, trade practices, gun control, national security, LGBT issues, veteran affairs, drug prevention, student loan debt, and environmental protection.
Jaime Herrera Beutler (1978-)
Born on November 3, 1978 in Glendale, California, Beutler was raised in Ridgefield, Washington. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications from the University of Washington. Beutler served as an intern in both the Washington State Senate and in Washington, D.C. at the White House She worked on the congressional staff of U.S. Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Spokane), and then served as State Representative from Washington state’s 18th Legislative District from 2007 until being elected to Congress in 2010. Beutler was first elected to Congress at the age of 31 to represent Southwest Washington’s 3rd District. She was ranked the 15th most bipartisan member of the U.S. House by Georgetown Universityand the Lugar Center. As a senior member of the House Appropriations Committee, Jaime has successfully secured federal support for vital priorities in the Columbia Gorge and coastal communities including maintenance of the Columbia River, dredging for small ports along the coast, and resources for salmon recovery.
Salud Carbajal (1964-)
Carbajal was born in Moroleón, Mexico, on November 18, 1964 and later immigrated with his family as farm workers to Arizona, later settling in Oxnard, California. Carbajal served eight years in the United States Marine Corps Reserve, including active duty service during the Gulf War in 1992. Carbajal earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of California at Santa Barbara and a master's degree in Organizational Management from the Fielding University. Prior to representing the Central Coast in Congress since 2016, Salud served as Santa Barbara County’s First District Supervisor for twelve years, begin ign in 2004. In Congress, Salud has demonstrated a strong commitment to protecting our natural environment and resources, enhancing public safety, creating economic opportunities, and working regionally to address our transportation, housing, and workforce challenges. Salud sits on the House Committee on Armed Services, the House Committee on Agriculture, and the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, where he was elected to serve as the Vice Chair. The Congressman has used his role as the Vice Chair on the House Committee of Transportation and Innovation to create jobs by securing investments in the nation’s crumbling infrastructure and rebuilding areas damaged by natural disasters.
Tony Cárdenas (1963-)
Born on March 31, 1963 in Pacoima, California, ne of eleven children to immigrant parents, Cárdenas. As the son fo a farm worker, Cárdenas worked his way through college and earned his engineering degree from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Before representing California’s 29th district in Congress, Rep. Cárdenas was first elected to the California State Assembly in 1996. He went on to serve three terms in the assembly and was later elected to the Los Angeles City Council, in 2003. An engineering degree and a business background prepared him for the day-to-day duties of an elected official, while his experience allowed him to find practical and realistic solutions to difficult problems. Rep. Cárdenas was first elected to Cobgress in 2013, becoming the first Latino to represent the San Fernando Valley. Now in the 116th Congress (2019-2020), Cárdenas sits on the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. He has worked on and authored legislation to lower prescription drug prices, protect American consumers, combat climate change, and ensure that everyone has access to affordable, quality health care. The Committee on Energy and Commerce is the oldest of the "authorizing" committees in the House.
Joaquín Castro (1974-)
Castro was born in San Antonio, Texas on September 16, 1974, A second generation Mexican American, he attended public schools and went to and graduated from Stanford University(1996) and Harvard Law School (2000). He returned to San Antonio at 28 years old, Joaquin joined a private law practice and was elected to the Texas Legislature. He served five terms as state representative for District 125. In 2012, Joaquin was elected to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives as representative of Texas' 20th Congressional District, which covers a large portion of San Antonio and Bexar County. Joaquin serves on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, as well as the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the House Education and Labor Committee. He was the 2013 Co-President for the House freshman Democrats and currently serves as Chair of the Texas Democratic Caucus and the Hispanic Congressional Caucus.
Gil Cisneros (1971-)
Born on February 12, 1971, Gilbert R. Cisneros was raised in Southern California and attended college on a Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps (R.O.T.C.) scholarship becoming the first in his family to graduate from college. He earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from The George Washington University, an MBA from Regis University, and a master’s degree in Urban Education Policy from Brown University. Cisneros served as a supply corps officer in the United States Navy completing both a Western Pacific and Mediterranean deployment. He was awarded the Navy Commendation Medal, the Navy Achievement Medal, the National Defense Medal, and the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal. He worked as a shipping and manufacturing manager for Frito-Lay, until he was laid off in 2010. Cisneros won California’s Mega Millions lottery for $266 million and became a philanthropist. He and his wife Jacki founded the Gilbert and Jacki Cisneros Foundation, which invests in college access and affordability programs for students and veterans. Cisneros, Jr. was sworn in as Representative of California’s 39th Congressional District on January 3, 2019 to represent portions of Orange, Los Angeles, and San Bernardino Counties. Cisneros serves on the House Armed Services Committee and the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee. He is also a member of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus. He is a staunch advocate for our national defense, our service members and veterans.
Table of Contents
IntroductionAcknowledgments
1. Overview
2. History
3. Business
4. Labor
5. Politics and Law
6. Religion
7. The Military
8. Science, Technology, and Medicine
9. Media
10. Art
11. Literature
12. Theater
13. Film
14. Music
15. Sports
Bibliography
Index