The National Council of La Raza announced at their annual convention in Arizona that they will now be known as UnidosUS. NCLR, as they were formerly known, is the nation’s largest civil rights organization for Hispanic Americans. In a press release, the organization’s president, Janet Murguia, said that the new name is designed in part to make the organization more appealing to millennials and the changes going on in the community. In my opinion, civil rights groups have advanced and protected Hispanics in immeasurable ways, but in recent years, they have found it difficult to remain relevant in a rapidly changing socioeconomic environment. Civil rights groups have historically focused on entitlements and other public policy for some of the most disadvantaged people in our society – really important stuff. However, the unintended consequence of this work is that it simultaneously supported a perception of Latinos and African-Americans to mainstream America as being from communities that are almost exclusively poor and challenged. Latinos increasingly want to see themselves as part of the mainstream and are interested in issues that more broadly affect their quality of life in America now and in the future. The next generation of Hispanic “civil rights” needs to focus much more on higher education, economic prosperity, technology, media, and non-partisan political advocacy. Here’s wishing UnidosUS nothing but success in the future!
We currently have 11 million unfilled jobs in America. Ending illegal immigration will either dramatically increase that number and have massive disruption to our economy, or we will have to...
Latinos are the youngest demographic in America, with the highest workforce participation rate. We are young and we are not afraid of hard work. Our dedication to God, family, and country is of the highest level. We contribute a lot to this country, but I’m not afraid to say, we are still vastly underachieving as a community.
I think most Latinos would agree that at our core, we are a generous people. If a member of our family is in need, Latinos as a rule, won’t hesitate to help financially. Family is central to Hispanic culture: our generosity has few limits. Maybe that explains why when it comes to making political donations and writing checks in support of actual philanthropic activities, Latinos come up short….When I interviewed Barack Obama last year at NAHREP at L’ATTITUDE, I pressed him about politicians not prioritizing issues that are important to Latino voters, he politely pushed back by saying…