The White House celebrated Hispanic Heritage Month with a speech by President Obama to kick off National Hispanic Heritage Month, which officially runs from September 15 to October 15.
Hispanic Heritage Month celebrates the 57 million U.S. Hispanic population in America, which accounts for 18% of the U.S. population (up from 5% in 1970). This figure is projected to nearly double to 29% by 2050 (Pew research). The month celebrates the histories, cultures and contributions of American citizens whose ancestors came from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean and Central and South America.
President Obama gave a speech in which he highlighted the strides that Hispanic Americans have made during his term as President. During this speech he thanked the Hispanic American community for “having his back and lifting him up.”
Felicia Escobar, a Special Assistant to the President for Immigration Policy at The White House reports the strides that have been made under President Obama:
- Foremost, since the President took office, approximately 4 million more Hispanic Americans have health care than before.
- More Hispanic students are graduating high school than ever before.
- Last year, across every race and age group in America, incomes grew at the fastest rate on record, and Hispanic American families had some of the fastest income growth.
- The President did emphasize in his speech that there is much more to accomplish when it comes to “commonsense immigration reform,” and that as a country we need to continue to fight for reform as “Immigrants aren’t somehow changing the American character; Immigrants are the American character.” Pew research shares that as the population of U.S.-born Latinos booms and the arrival of new immigrants slows, the share of Latinos who are immigrants, as opposed to those who are born here, is on the decline across all Latino origin groups.
Of interest to those that are politically inclined, a record 27.3 million Latinos are eligible to vote in the upcoming 2016 Presidential election. Of those, millennials make up 44% of the 2016 Hispanic electorate. The next President of the United States must be prepared to continue a path that supports the growing Hispanic American population and celebrates the diversity that this demographic brings to the tapestry of our great nation.
For more on Hispanic Heritage Month, see: http://hispanicheritagemonth.gov
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