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In Trying Times,
Opportunity—and change—Latinos
Can Believe in
On November 4th, change
came to America. Two and
a half months later,
before a crowd of
millions in Washington,
that change was cemented
when Barack Obama was
sworn in as our first
African American
president. Regardless of
which side of the aisle
you stand on— or whether
or not you voted for Mr.
Obama— Inauguration Day
made one thing clear for
everyone: The face of
our country’s leadership
is changing.
We’ve come a long way
since the days when
minorities couldn’t
vote, let alone hold
public office. For that
matter, we’ve come a
long way since I first
entered Congress 17
years ago. At that time,
I was one of only three
Latinas in the House of
Representatives. Today,
there are seven of us.
That’s an improvement,
to be sure, but we still
have a ways to go. Women
in general continue to
be underrepresented at
all levels of government.
In the last Congress,
only 81 out of 485
combined senators and
representatives were
women. Still, strides
are being made: A record
number of women will
serve in the new
Congress, and I know the
day is not far off when
we will have a Latina in
the U.S. Senate.
The need for more Latina
talent in public service
has never been greater.
As Hispanics, we are now
the country’s second
largest demographic
group. With our
community expected to
comprise 20 percent of
the country’s population
by 2030, it only makes
sense that we should
have fair representation
at the Federal level. |
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Congresswoman
Nydia M.
Velázquez serves
New York’s 12th
Congressional
District, is
Chairwoman of
the
Congressional
Hispanic Caucus,
Chair of the
House Small
Business
Committee and a
Senior Member of
the Financial
Service
Committee. |
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After all, we have
scores of Hispanic
interest publications
and even more Latino
television programs—
isn’t it time we had
that same kind of
representation in
government? What we need
now are initiatives to
both encourage and
prepare Latinas to run
for public office. This
begins with training at
an early age, including
increased emphasis on
teen mentoring programs.
But in order to climb
the ladder of success,
there is one key
component that our
community needs to
emphasize in particular,
and that is education.
Access to quality
education is essential
to the Hispanic
community. It is the
foundation for ensuring
our young people have a
seat at the table for
decades to come, and for
providing our youth with
the tools they need to
be future leaders. But
unfortunately, too many
Hispanic children are
getting short shrift in
the public school system.
High school drop out
rates are higher for
Hispanics than for any
other youth group.
Meanwhile, teen
pregnancy amongst
Latinas is nearly twice
the national average, a
factor that has no doubt
contributed to spiking
dropout rates. These are
issues that my
colleagues and I on the
Congressional Hispanic
Caucus (CHC) will
address in the new
Congress, alongside a
number of other key
concerns.
The New Year has brought
more than change to
America— it has also
brought remarkable
challenges. But with an
increased diversity of
talent and ideas, we
should be able to
overcome these
roadblocks. As the newly
elected Chairwoman of
the CHC, I will work
with my colleagues to
turn those obstacles
into opportunities for
Hispanics. Furthermore,
we will focus on a broad
range of policy concerns.
While immigration
continues to be at the
forefront of the CHC’s
agenda, that matter
alone cannot be our End
All, Be All concern.
Given the rapid growth
within our community, we
can no longer limit our
focus to a mere handful
of issues. Today, all
issues are Hispanic
issues, from education
to the economy.
This is a tremendously
historic and exciting
time to be an American.
It is also a confusing
time and, for many of us,
a trying time. But
within the confusion
there is also enormous
potential for progress.
As Americans, we are
really reevaluating a
lot of the practices and
policies that brought us
to where we are today.
For an eager and growing
segment of the
population, that spells
opportunity— opportunity
to carve out a real
niche for itself within
American leadership, and
opportunity to help
draft a new American
narrative. That is just
the kind of opportunity
that Hispanics need, and
just the kind of change
our community can
believe in.
By
Congresswoman Nydia M.
Velázquez |
