New horizons: the past, present, and future of Latinos in America according to Harry Pachon

Latino Leaders: The National Magazine of the Successful American Latino, Oct-Nov, 2004 by Jorge Ferraez, Kerri Allen

LL: In many political campaigns and speeches, candidates vacillate when talking about the future agenda for Latinos. What are the top five elements that you think should be addressed?

P: I would see them in rank order from one to five as:

1. Education

We are younger by an average of ten years than mainstream America, which means many in our community have children in public schools. Education is very important to the Latino community. We show it over and over again in our support for education. In the TRPI surveys, education always ranks as number 1 or number two.

2. Job opportunities/economic development How is the economy doing? Are meaningful jobs present?

3. Crime,

People are affected by crime and they want to see law and order in their communities. Even though it's better in than Latin America in many cases, it's still very troublesome.

4. Health Insurance

5. Drugs

We are worried about our children, and that comes through in surveys as well.

LL: Where do you see the Latino community in the US in the next 50 years?

P: Many people are not going to like this, but America is going to be a little more morenito (dark-skinned) than we are now because of the blending of Hispanics and the traditional European stock in America. There is going to be an integration of Latinos into American society in the most meaningful way. Since one out of every two third-generation Latinos out-marry, we are going to see a range in skin colorations that we've never had in this country before.

There will be either a president or vice president of the United States who will be of Hispanic background, which will be an indication of political integration in America. Rather than people talking about Latinos as poor immigrants or with the unfortunate stereotypes of a person speaking with an accent, Latinos will be like Italian-Americans who are spread throughout American society. I see a very positive future for the Latino community.

LL: This is a country where media and pop culture are very strong in our everyday lives. We are already influenced by Mexican and Latin American food, TV shows, movie stars, etc. Do you see pop culture being even more influenced by the Hispanic community in the future?

P: Undoubtedly, undoubtedly. We have a wave of young Latinos who are coming of age and an ever-increasing percentage of the market segment between the ages of 18 and 30. As more people of Latino background reach that age bracket, marketers and private sector industries will respond to that segment through pop culture with Latino stars in the movies and on TV. It's going to be a different culture altogether. We already have the cliche that salsa and ketchup are neck-and-neck in sales. Well, in 50 years from now, salsa is going to be like pizza. It's going to be just another American food. I see an integration that is very positive. If we could have a time machine and travel to the future, we wouldn't recognize the progress we have made because it's been so rapid and so dramatic. We will see Latinos at all levels of government; we will see much more bilingualism. We won't solely look east or west, we'll also look south.