The Latino/Hispanic Trend

The Hispanic population is the fastest growing minority group in the United States - due to immigration and increasing birth rates. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, in 1990, the Latino or Hispanic population was approximately nine percent of the country's population. In 2000, that population increased to thirteen percent, with 35 million people identifying themselves as Latinoor Hispanic. As of 2006, it was estimated that Hispanics made up 15 percent of the population. In addition, today one in five children born in the United States is Hispanic. If current trends continue, the population of the United States will rise to 438 million in 2050, from 296 million in 2005. According to Pew Hispanic Center, the number of Latino or Hispanic residents in Ohio changed from 218,350 to 267,712 in 2006. This change represents a 22.6% increase.

Hispanic Population in Ohio by County: 2000
Cuyahoga .........46,484 Franklin ............. 24,121
Lucas .............. 20,658 Lorain................ 19,358
Hamilton ............ 9,143 Mahoning ........... 7,584
Montgomery ....... 6,413 Summit ..... ........ 4,491
Butler................. 4,312 Sandusky........... 4,205
Wood................. 4,047 Lake.................. 3,999

Ancestry
Cuban . . . . . . .... 2% Dominican . . . . . . . . . 2%
South American . 5% Central American ..... 6 %
Puerto Rican . . ..26% Mexican . . . . . . . . . . 51%
Other Hispanic or Latino . 8%

For additional information regarding Hispanic/Latinosin Ohio visit: http://www.odod.state.oh.us/cms/uploadedfiles/Research/p0007.pdf

The American workforce is becoming increasingly diverse. Wise businesses accept diversity and plan accordingly.

Please share your thoughts.

Latinos or Hispanics?

Several weeks ago, I found myself challenged by the way I use the words Latinos and Hispanics. Since, I have found that for every “Hispanic or Latino”, there are just as many definitions of these words. After doing some digging, here are a few of the definitions I discovered:

OMB Directive 15, issued in1978
Hispanic: A person of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Central or South American, or other Spanish Culture.

U.S. Census Bureau, Population Division, March 1993
Hispanic: Persons of Hispanic origin, in particular, were those who indicated that their origin was Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Central or South

The Oxford University - 2008
Hispanic: Relating to Spanish-speaking people or their culture. Spanish-speaking person living in the U.S (one of Latin American descent)

Princeton University
Hispanic: An American whose first language is Spanish. Latino: an artificial language based on words common to the Romance language.

Real Academia Española- Vigésima segunda edición
Hispano: Perteneciente o relativo a la población de origen hispanoamericano que vive en los Estados Unidos de América.

Latino: Natural de los pueblos de Europa y América en que se hablan lenguas derivadas del latín.

Effective January 1, 2003, all Federal agencies adopted the revised standards for race and categories. The revised standards have five minimum categories for data on race: American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, Black or African American, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, and White. There are two categories for data on ethnicity: "Hispanic or Latino" and "Not Hispanic or Latino."

I still don’t know which of the two ethnic descriptions are the most politically correct to be used. I personally like the definition given by Princeton University. When having this discussion with my twelve year old son, he was equally confused and decided we, as a family, are Hispanican (Hispanic & American).