Hispanic Citizenship, Registration, and Voting Patterns: A Comparative Analysis of the 2000 and 2004 Presidential Elections

Introduction: This study examines citizenship, registration, and voting patterns among Latinos in the 2000 and 2004 Presidential Elections. Methods: Data on Latinos and other racial/ethnic groups were obtained from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey, reorganized for public use by the Minnesota Population Center, University of Minnesota, IPUMSusa. Cases in the dataset were weighted and analyzed to produce population estimates. Results: There is no doubt that the Hispanic population in the United States has consistently grown in the last two decades and continues to be the largest growing minority group within the United States. According to the 2004 census, Hispanics outnumbered Blacks by almost five million persons. This fact gave way to a lot of discussion and optimism about the new importance and possible role of the Latino vote for the coming elections. Yet the numbers presented by the Current Population Survey (comparing 2000 and 2004) show a different picture. Despite continued growth in the Hispanic population, this has not translated into major political power. Discussion: Despite major growth in the population of Hispanics, this growth is not mirrored in the number of citizens eligible to vote. Many of the children that have contributed to the growth of the population will not be eligible to vote within the next 10 years. Rates of voter registration for Hispanics remains consistently lower than that of whites and black voters. Although Hispanics are according to the CPS registering to vote in larger numbers than Asians. Once Hispanic citizens are registered to vote, they are most likely to vote on Election Day with over an over 80% participation rate. Although Hispanic voting political power may not be able to visibly affect the 2008 presidential elections, it may affect local elections according to changes in the demographics of particular geographical regions

Living Arrangement Patterns Among the Latino Population in New York City in 2000

Introduction: This study examines living arrangement patters of racial/ethnic groups in New York City as of the year 2000 – particularly Latinos. Methods: Data on Latinos and other racial/ethnic groups were obtained from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey, reorganized for public use by the Minnesota Population Center, University of Minnesota, IPUMSusa. Cases in the dataset were weighted and analyzed to produce population estimates. Results: New York State is the third ranking state in population and households in the country. Data for New York City (NYC) indicate that national patterns are not replicated when the number of family households by ethnic group are compared. The percentage of family households among Latinos/Hispanics (89.8%), Asians (88.4%) and Blacks (85.2) is higher than the national percentage (68%). Whites are at the lowest end of the spectrum on family households in NYC with 72% of households defined as family households. This means that Latinos/Hispanics, Asians, and Blacks are more likely to live with family members in New York City than Whites. Twenty one percent of Whites living in New York City (within the five boroughs) actually lived with a roommate or non-relative (possibly including non-married partners and/or same-sex) compared to 13% of Asians, 10% of Latino/Hispanics and 8% of Blacks. Discussion: When considering the sex of the householder by ethnic groups interesting patterns may be observed. In NYC, females are more likely to be householders among Blacks and Latinos/Hispanics than males. Sixty two percent (62%) of Black women were householders in black households and fifty two percent (52%) of Latino/Hispanic females were householders in Latino/Hispanic households. In contrast, males are more likely to be householders in White households (73%) and in Asian households (79%). At the national level, only 47% of Black and 68 % of Latino/Hispanic family households compared to 80% of Asian and 82% of White family households reported being married-couples. Thus, there seems to be a correlation between being married and having a male householder in the family. This suggests lower marriage rates among Black and Latino/Hispanic males

A Space for Co-constructing Counter Stories Under Surveillance

Using our experiences as members of a participatory action research committee (from the City University of New York Graduate Center and the Bedford Hills Correctional Facility) documenting the impact of college in a maximum security prison, this essay illustrates the power of Participatory Action Research in the construction of counter stories. We raise for discussion a set of theoretical, methodological and ethical challenges that emerged from the co-production of counter stories under surveillance: the creation of a critical space for producing \u27counter knowledge\u27; the co-mingling of counter and dominant discourses, the negotiation of power over and within research in prison, and the opening of a dialogue between counter stories and public policy makers

“Because I’m neither Gringa nor Latina, because I am not any one thing”: Children of Colombian and Dominican immigrants negotiating identities within (trans)national social fields

This dissertation explores how Colombian and Dominican children of immigrants living in New York City negotiate multiple identities, selves, cultures, and histories within transnational social fields. In other words, children of immigrants grow up in the midst of multiple cultures and juggle multiple sets of cultural norms, values, and expectations, their parents’ and those of mainstream ‘American’ culture, while they maintain transnational ties to the home country of their parents. This study contributes to the social psychological literature about Dominican and Colombian children of immigrants by introducing a transnational framework to understand their experiences growing up in-between cultures and borders. A mixed-methods secondary analysis approach was used to analyze a sub-sample of qualitative and quantitative data collected by The Immigrant Second Generation of Metropolitan New York study (1998-2000). The data analyzed include phone surveys with Dominican (393) and Colombian (169) children of immigrants and follow-up in-depth interviews with a sub-sample of Dominican (25) and Colombian (18) respondents. The research moves through levels of analysis, from the individual to the interpersonal, from the social to the structural, and contextualizes the experiences of Dominican and Colombian children of by addressing three questions: (1) what are implications of their immigrant parents’ home country on the negotiation of identities among Colombian and Dominican children of immigrants? (2) to what extent do Colombian and Dominican children of immigrants maintain emotional, social, political, and economic ties to their parents’ home country? and (3) how do gender, race, and social class shape their life experiences in the United States? The analysis demonstrates that Colombian and Dominican children of immigrants had parallel psychological experiences of living among multiple cultures, maintaining transnational ties with family and friends in their parents’ home countries, and shared similar identity negotiation strategies that challenge reified notions of ethnic/racial/national identity and identity labels. Transnational ties and involvement among respondents were anchored in family relationships. Having family in their parents’ home country was the best predictor of transnational ties and involvement. However, their experiences and interaction with social structures marked by differences in skin color, class, and particular immigration histories channeled Colombian and Dominican children of immigrants into different life trajectories that reproduce racial and social class inequalities. Apparent ethnic and cultural differences disappeared in the face of socio-economic and racial structures designed to produce the appearance of cultural differences. Structural conditions such as quality of neighborhood, quality of schools, owning a home, skin color, and parents’ cultural capital were more important predictors of variance in educational achievement among respondents than the experiences of juggling multiple cultures and being children of immigrants. Marriage and having children was found to be an important context for renegotiating racial hierarchies and revisiting/cementing transnational ties to one’s culture and parents’ home country. Finally Cuban ethnologist Fernando Ortíz’ concept of ‘transculturation’ (1940) is offered as the basis for a new approach to the study of immigration, cultural contact and change that assumes a less fearful attitude and help us find ways to create inclusion and connection rather than exclusion, othering, and labeling