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I HAVE BEEN a frequent visitor to the United States since the year 2000: a country with an enormous scale of wealth, a dependence upon the car, and a confusing relationship with Hispanics. In Southern California, for example, I noticed Hispanics were highly visible in labor, agricultural, construction, and service jobs; but less visible eating at fine dining restaurants, shopping in high-end stores, or sharing small talk at art exhibits.
There are 60 million Hispanics in America today, making up 18.7% of the population. Yet Hispanics make up 28.1% of those in poverty. And as Ruy Texeira puts it, Hispanics are “overwhelmingly working class”, keeping the American labor force growth rate from shrinking. In fact, partly because of their youth, Hispanics are projected to make up 78% of net new workers this decade.
More controversially, the system is willing to accommodate 12 million undocumented workers (6.85 million of which are from Mexico and Central America) as long as they supply taxes – who don’t qualify for rebates or tax credits. The dysfunction of the system is widespread: more than 16.7 million people live in a home with at least one family member, often a parent, who is undocumented.
Yet this almost two-tier society doesn’t seem to concern many “right-thinking” citizens preoccupied with systemic injustice. Perhaps because their own affluence is kept afloat by the surfeit of cheap labor made available through, in part, Hispanic residents – legal or otherwise. The Hispanic construction worker makes houses more affordable, the agricultural laborer foods cheaper. The skilled landscaper and cleaner further liberate the wealthy couple from domestic chores, without whom there would be less time for hand wringing about “injustice anywhere”, while Marta changes the diaper and the TV shows the First Lady comparing Hispanic minorities to a breakfast taco.
This two-tier system isn’t just economic, it applies to politics too. There are too few Hispanic voices in the political firmament in this country. Despite the size of the population, Hispanics or Latinos make up only 9.6% of the members of the 117th Congress – a record high. Of the 50 US Senators who are Republican, only two are Hispanic, and both are Cuban. The win of the first female Mexican-born representative, Mayra Flores, and a historic voter swing from blue to red, suggests a change in both demographic fortunes and electoral currents; indeed proof that Republicans can persuade “moderate and conservative Hispanic voters” to vote for them.
America’s Hispanic population is larger than the entire population of England, where I am from. It is, of course, impossible to reduce such a large number of individuals to one bloc. And yet, by and large, this group tends to be more socially and economically conservative than others. More likely than their White counterpart to be married, church-going, living in multigenerational families with stay-at-home mothers, and to be striving toward financial independence. A “progressive” Democratic Party can find this social conservatism hard to handle – unless made to submit to a narrative of identity politics.
This is a disservice. By and large, most Hispanics believe in the American Dream. With social capital, a key indicator of being able to escape poverty; Hispanics are best placed to achieve it.
To this end the Social Capital Campaign is working with D.C. think tank scholars to build an off-the-shelf policy platform for an incoming presidential nominee – and we are already talking with several potential nominee teams. Based on Senator Mike Lee’s Social Capital Project framework, a report next month will focus on how to make raising a family more affordable- particularly for Hispanic families.
One in four children in America today are Hispanic. Policymakers need to face up to the realities of diverse Hispanic experiences. Because the American Dream is for everyone.
Chris Bullivant is a freelance writer and Director of the Social Capital Campaign. @chrisbullivant
