Hispanic Discrimination
Hispanic discrimination is one of the most pervasive multicultural issues facing America. Since Hispanics are the nation’s largest multicultural community and fastest growing group, addressing Hispanic discrimination and working towards awareness and reduction is essential to the progress of Hispanics and the nation as a whole.
Hispanic discrimination is one of the multicultural issues that RedBrownandBlue.com is devoted to covering and providing political commentary on for a broad range of audiences.
Hispanics believe that Hispanic discrimination has risen since the start of the congressional debate over illegal immigration, according to a 2006 survey by the Pew Hispanic Center. 54% who responded to the Pew Hispanic Center’s survey reported experiencing Hispanic discrimination.
The results of Hispanic discrimination are many, varied and highly detrimental to the multicultural community as well as to the broader fabric of American life.
One manifestation of Hispanic discrimination recently documented is the negative impact on Latina educational attainment. According to a report by the National Women’s Law Center and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, educational attainment gaps evident in Latinas – who suffer from high drop out rates despite high expectations and goals – are in great part due to Hispanic discrimination, lack of educational opportunities in the schools they attend, and societal and familial expectations.
Another recent reflection of the dangerous repercussions of Hispanic discrimination is the rise in hate crimes against Hispanics. According to the FBI, hate crimes against Hispanics increased for the fourth consecutive year, increasing nearly 40% from 2003 to 2008.
RedBrownandBlue.com, a groundbreaking source for original political commentary, was founded within this context, based on the belief that America’s future depends on civil discourse that effectively integrates multicultural issues such as Hispanic discrimination, leveraging diverse social perspectives as our nation works towards shared social progress.
As multicultural community influence increasingly defines mainstream politics, it will be more important than ever that mainstream leaders and media address multicultural issues such as Hispanic discrimination and remain open to multicultural perspectives, diverse political forums and inclusive political commentary and honest, insightful race commentary.
Founded by Rudy Ruiz, RedBrownandBlue.com is committed to helping integrate multicultural issues such as Hispanic discrimination into mainstream national politics. Our belief is that such multicultural issues should not be a narrow sphere within which multicultural communities simply talk to themselves and each other. To the contrary, the RedBrownandBlue.com team is committed to making multicultural issues such as Hispanic discrimination a matter of everyday interest, priority and concern to mainstream audiences.
Read RedBrownandBlue.com political commentary on the impact of Hispanic discrimination here.
Featured Article:
Sparsely Reported Hispanic Discrimination and other Multicultural Issues Need More Attention
[Posted on February 14]
With economic news currently taking up most of the headline space across American news outlets, many other equally important issues have received much less attention. The debate on immigration reform, which occupied much of the news cycle a few years ago, has taken a back seat to the war on terror and America’s economic crisis. Even though immigration has been cast aside in the national media, the issues and consequences have not followed suit and remain a very real concern in the everyday lives of many individuals.
Hispanics now account for more than fifteen percent of the nation’s population, positioning the group as the largest minority in America. The issues and discrimination of many Hispanic individuals are very real, and their story is not being reported much less heard. Fortunately, in the case of Hispanic farmers, discrimination by the US Department of Agriculture’s Farm Service Agency cut through the noise, and was brought to the forefront by mainstream media. According to the story when white farmers received funding in a timely manner when they asked for loans and service from the USDA; however when Hispanic farmers requested loans and service, it was either not granted or delayed so long that when funding did arrive, the crops were already lost. This case most likely became popular because it involves discrimination by a government agency. However, it shouldn’t take a Hispanic discrimination case for the concerns of so many people to be heard.
Immigration reform, Hispanic discrimination, and other multicultural issues are important and need to be reported, but sometimes when the national media outlets fail to report and discuss these important issues, the responsibility falls on independent media outlets. However, media can only do so much to promote or stifle social change. We must take on some of the responsibility ourselves to be as informed as possible so that we can make intelligent decisions in areas that impact our lives.
