Edited by Henry G.

Cisneros
with John Rosales

Arte Público Press

Houston, Texas
This volume is made possible through grants from the Freddie Mac
Corporation, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the City of Houston through the
Houston Arts Alliance, and the Exemplar Program, a program of Americans for
the Arts in collaboration with the LarsonAllen Public Services Group, funded
by the Ford Foundation.

Recovering the past, creating the future

Arte Público Press

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Cisneros, Henry G.
Latinos and the Nation’s Future / edited by Henry G. Cisneros with John
Rosales.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN: 978-1-55885-542-7 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Hispanic Americans—Social conditions. 2. Hispanic Americans—
Cultural assimilation. 3. Hispanic Americans—Ethnic identity. 4. United
States—Ethnic relations. I. Cisneros, Henry. II. Rosales, John, 1956-
E184.S75L3678 2008
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Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1984.

© 2009 by Arte Público Press

Printed in the United States of America

9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
 DEDICATION

To Mary Alice Cisneros, Celina Treviño Rosales,

and our families, without their support this book
project would not have happened.

v
 CONTENTS

FOREWORD Janet Murguía xi

BY WAY OF INTRODUCTION AND ACKNOWLEDGMENT Henry G. Cisneros
and John Rosales xiii

Part ONE
LATINO VISIONS: PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE
ONE Henry G. Cisneros
An Overview: Latinos and the Nation’s Future 3

TWO Nicolás Kanellos

The Latino Presence: Some Historical Background 15

THREE Raúl Yzaguirre

Liberty and Justice for All: Civil Rights in the Years Ahead 27

FOUR Tamar Jacoby

Becoming American—The Latino Way 41

Part TWO
LATINOS AND THE LARGER SOCIETY
FIVE Harry P. Pachon
Increasing Hispanic Mobility into the Middle Class: An Overview 57

vii
SIX Aída M. Álvarez
Latino Small Business: A Big Present, A Bigger Future 71
SEVEN Sarita E. Brown
Making the Next Generation Our Greatest Resource 83
EIGHT Joe García
La Gran Oportunidad / Up for Grabs / The Hispanic
Opportunity 101
NINE Lionel Sosa
Politics and the Latino Future: A Republican Dream 115
TEN Sergio Muñoz Bata
Latino Progress and U.S. Foreign Policy 125

Part THREE
RAW NUMBERS AND THEIR IMPACT

ELEVEN Leobardo F. Estrada

The Raw Numbers: Population Projections and the Power
of Hispanic Demographic Change 149
TWELVE Roberto Suro
Latino Numbers and Social Trends: Implications for
the Future 155
THIRTEEN Elena V. Rios
A First-Order Need: Improving the Health of the
Nation’s Latinos 167
FOURTEEN Saúl N. Ramírez, Jr.
Housing the Nation’s Latinos: An Overview 181

Part FOUR
FINAL THOUGHTS

FIFTEEN Ernesto Cortés

On the Power of Education and Community Action 195
SIXTEEN Nicolás Kanellos
Toward a New American Dream 207
 APPENDICES

I. Tables, Charts, and Maps 213

II. Chapter Notes and Bibliography 231
 FOREWORD
Janet Murguía

One of the most cherished institutions in any place large or small is the pub-
lic library. Beyond lending books, libraries are often where children acquire a
love of reading and help with their schoolwork, and where many people have
their only Internet access; they serve as the meeting spaces for numerous com-
munity activities and organizations.
Libraries are so central to the life of a community that it is easy to forget
that the idea of a public library is barely a century old. With the goal of ensur-
ing that anyone who wanted to learn could have the means to educate them-
selves, the steel magnate and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie built nearly two
thousand libraries at the turn of the last century. Thousands of communities fol-
lowed suit.
But this massive public-private venture also had another purpose, explicit-
ly stated by Carnegie: to establish the means for immigrant self-education,
enlightenment, and the study of democracy and English. Public libraries, along
with the public school system and the Progressive Movement’s Settlement
Houses, were among a series of initiatives undertaken in the late nineteenth and
early twentieth centuries to integrate millions of recently arrived immigrants
into American society. By every measure, they were an astonishing success.
Yet our country hasn’t undertaken anything even remotely comparable
since then. Henry Cisneros’ Latinos and the Nation’s Future makes a com-

xi
 xii Janet Murguía

pelling case that such initiatives are needed today and that they are in the best
interest of all Americans, not just Hispanic immigrants themselves.
Despite the lack of deliberate integration initiatives, today’s immigrants are
assimilating remarkably well. Immigrants and their children are learning Eng-
lish faster than ever, and the number of people applying for citizenship is break-
ing records throughout the country. Challenges remain, however, that affect not
just immigrants but all Hispanics. Latinos continue to be the most undereducat-
ed group at all levels. They are overrepresented in low-wage, dead-end jobs
without benefits and underrepresented in high-wage occupations.
Given the exponential growth of the Hispanic community, these challenges
put our entire country’s future at risk. It doesn’t need to be. A century ago,
naysayers wrongly predicted that immigrants would never become loyal Amer-
icans or succeed economically. But immigrants went on to defend our country
through two world wars and to fuel massive economic prosperity as they vault-
ed into the middle class. Latinos have all the raw materials of our immigrant
ancestors—a strong work ethic; a set of values deeply rooted in faith, family,
and country; and an unbreakable optimism.
Cisneros and his coauthors make the point that the fate of the country and
that of Hispanics are inextricably linked. In other words, one essential way to
maintain our status as the greatest nation on the face of the earth lies in opening
the door to the American Dream to the current generation of immigrants. It fol-
lows that an investment in immigrants today is an investment in America’s
future.
I could not agree more. Just like the public library, the fruits of whatever we
do today will be enjoyed by all Americans in the years to come.
 BY WAY OF INTRODUCTION AND
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
Henry G. Cisneros and John Rosales

In February 2007, a group of Latino scholars, writers, and leaders in a vari-

ety of fields came together at our invitation to engage in a series of discussions
about the Latino present and future in the United States. The motivating factor
in our invitation was the need to explore the meaning of an extraordinary devel-
opment in our nation’s history, that is the dynamic and, in recent years, explo-
sive growth of the Latino presence in all aspects of American life.
Today, American Latinos are the fastest growing and youngest population
segment, generating fast-growing levels of economic attainment, moving into
positions of leadership in all sectors of society, and making rich contributions to
the cultural life of the nation. This phenomenon has been called the “His-
panization” of the United States. It is a mistaken concept assumed to mean that
the United States will become a Hispanic nation. Instead, we believe that the
Latino presence in the nation’s future will be so pervasive that it will be one of
the defining differences between the nation as we know it today and as it will
change over the next twenty-five years.
Latinos and the Nation’s Future is organized to help Americans of all eth-
nic groups in all parts of the nation understand the Hispanization of the United
States. It makes the point that the scale of population change is large and reach-
es every part of the country, to states and regions far beyond traditional Latino
settlement patterns. It asserts that the youthful character of the Latino popula-

xiii
 xiv Henry G. Cisneros and John Rosales

tion, with its propensity for work and its ambitions to succeed, is a powerful
engine of potential strength for the United States and an advantage when com-
pared to the demographic trajectories of population decline in Japan, France,
Italy, Germany, and other northern industrial nations.
The central message of this book is that this phenomenon of Latino poten-
tial is of such scale that it is no longer a side-bar interest; it is now a basic shap-
ing force of the American future. Therefore, we advise that it is in the nation’s
interest to undertake the full integration of this population, to harness its market
growth, to develop its educational potential, to engage its community-building
energies, and to transform it into the backbone of the next American middle
class. These are things Latinos are working hard to accomplish on their own, but
as in the case of every other rising group in the American saga, the United States
must be open to that prospect in its policies and attitudes and must do so in mod-
ern ways that reflect the particular realities of our time.
The contributors establish the scale of Latino growth, anticipate what it will
mean over a timeframe of twenty-five years, and offer concrete suggestions for
how Latinos themselves and American institutions must work together for
progress.
Whether it be as the “swing” vote in an election in a particular state, or as
the dormant ethnic contingent in baseball—America’s National Pastime—or as
progenitors of the country’s most popular food condiment (salsa), it is abun-
dantly clear that Latino influence is pervasive and growing more so with each
passing year. All this despite the harsh impact of the recent so-called “immigra-
tion debate” (more on this subject in Chapter Four). Although the writers here-
in were given a common mission, concluding wherever possible with a look to
the future, it is important to note that each one speaks with his or her own voice
with no editorial attempt to homogenize the text. There are a variety of tones
and styles here, but a singular passion throughout to convey a Latino point of
view on issues of both Latino and universal consequence.
We arranged the chapters rather loosely in categories. Part One consists of
material with a broad historical perspective. Part Two places a variety of Latino
experiences in the context of the larger society. Part Three deals with hard facts,
“raw numbers” and their impact on areas including housing and health care,
which are largely driven by numbers. A final Part Four offers provocative med-
itations of the most crucial of all our considerations—the nature of education in
a society in transition and the potential of an entirely new structure of the Amer-
ican polity in the twenty-first century and beyond.
A few more introductory points are warranted. Throughout this book the
words “Hispanic” and “Latino” are used interchangeably, just as they are often
 By Way of Introduction and Acknowledgment xv

used in that manner in daily discourse in the nation. To be sure, each name has
its history, its own nuances, and each is preferred in specific parts of the nation
by persons of particular age groups or of various political leanings. But for the
purposes of this book they are used interchangeably according to the preference
of each chapter author.
It is also important to clarify that even though the rapid pace of Latino
growth seems to define the Latino emergence as a recent event, in fact Latinos
have been a force in North American life since Spaniards first explored the New
World. The Spanish city of St. Augustine in Florida for example, is the oldest
European settlement in North America. Spanish commercial, military, and mis-
sion outposts defined the early maps of the nation and grew into the modern
cities of Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, Las Vegas, Albuquerque, El
Paso, San Antonio, and many others. And Hispanic heroes, such as David Far-
ragut, were major contributors to the cause of independence in the American
Revolution.
Over the centuries, Mexican Americans have helped build the American
Southwest, Puerto Ricans have contributed to the vitality of New York, Cuban
Americans have helped propel Florida into an engine of world trade, and Cen-
tral and South Americans have added to the nation’s workforce and profession-
al reservoir. The point is that this is not a book about newcomers to the Ameri-
can scene. These are people whose ancestors helped build America and who
today have the capacity to do much more. All Americans should know that.
It is also important to note that Latino educational, political, and economic
gains in recent decades are the result of prodigious efforts by foresighted and
courageous leaders and organizations that often fought through crucial discrim-
ination and backbreaking poverty. The gains did not come automatically as the
population grew or with the passage of time. They were not easily tendered or
assured. The prospects Latinos enjoy today were hard-earned by pioneering
individuals and the civil rights organizations they created.
Individual leaders have inspired the national Latino community by their
personal courage. Others have risen to positions of national leadership; and still
others have created organizations to unify the community for action. César
Chávez, organizer of the United Farm Workers Union, and Dr. Antonia Pantoja,
a Puerto Rican icon and founder of ASPIRA, stand out as voices of conscience
and inspiration. Breakthrough elected leaders such as Sen. Dennis Chavez of
New Mexico in the 1940s, Congressmen Henry B. Gonzalez of Texas, and
Edward Roybal of California in the 1960s proved the electoral power of Latino
communities to send leaders to positions of national importance. Organizations
were breathed into life by Willie Velásquez, the Southwest Voter Registration
 xvi Henry G. Cisneros and John Rosales

and Education Project; Juan Andrade, the National Hispanic Leadership Insti-
tute; Raúl Yzaguirre, the National Council of La Raza; Dolores Huerta, Com-
munity Services Organization and United Farm Workers Union; Jorge Mas, the
Cuban National Forum; and Dr. Hector P. García, the American G.I. Forum.
Within their spheres of action, the organizations such leaders created and
others have changed the conditions in which Latinos live today and have creat-
ed prospects of immense promise. For example, the legal arguments and litiga-
tion successes of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund
(MALDEF) and of the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund have
altered prejudicial laws and generated court judgments against unfair election
practices. Over the years they have helped create single-member electoral dis-
tricts to increase Latino representation, forced states to construct equitable
school finance systems, and successfully attacked discrimination in employ-
ment and housing. As a result Latinos across the nation can live, work, and seek
education on a more level field, with many of the vestiges of overtly unfair and
purposely devised barriers having been dismantled.
The League of United Latino American Citizens (LULAC) is the oldest of
the Latino civil rights organizations and continues to be one of the largest and
most active. It first organized opposition to discrimination against Latinos in the
school systems of Texas after World War II and today mobilizes its national base
of community leaders in support of small business expansion, fairness in
employment, and educational programs. Voter registration and participation by
Latinos in elections have undergone massive and consistent increases over the
last three decades, in great measure attributable to the intensive, street-level out-
reach campaigns of the Southwest Voter Registration and Education Project in
the Southwest and the National Hispanic Leadership Institute in the Northeast
and Midwest.
Latinos today represent the fastest growing segment of the workforce, the
most rapidly increasing segment of the middle class, and a growing entrepre-
neurial group of small business owners. Pushing this momentum along are the
U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the Hispanic Association of Corporate
Responsibility (HACR), and the New America Alliance. They recognize that the
economic advances of emerging populations have been essential to political and
social progress in the nation’s history and they have undertaken effective initia-
tives to enhance business ownership and to expand participation in corporate
governance and in the financial system.
The on-going efforts of individual leaders and organizations such as these
have established a new base for Latino progress going forward. Advocacy, unity,
legal intervention, electoral strategies, education, mobilization of civic energies,
 By Way of Introduction and Acknowledgment xvii

entrepreneurial development—these are the tried and true instruments of inte-

gration into American society. They are an implicit recognition that progress for
an emerging population does not arrive on its own, as if inevitable; it requires
people to express their hopes and work to make them real. Such progress also
requires a larger society that understands the nation’s interests and is willing to
act on them. We believe, the American national interest is best served by tapping
the human energies and unleashing the diverse capabilities of America’s Lati-
nos. Thus the message of this book is that the stakes for America are immense,
the opportunities are historic, and the time to act is now.
Latinos and the Nation’s Future would not have been possible without the
help and support of many hands. First, we would like to thank the Freddie Mac
Corporation for having enough faith in this project to fund the symposium that
initiated the birth of this book. The W.K. Kellogg Foundation also understood
our mission and what we were trying to accomplish. The staff at Freddie Mac
and Kellogg gave selflessly of their time and shared the same passion so that this
work would be as accurate and stimulating as possible. Next, we thank the fif-
teen contributors who gave so much time, thought, and talent to the mission. For
practical support, we must thank Marc Jaffe for his fresh insight and deft edit-
ing during the early, critical stages of the project. He helped us to focus on the
human aspects as well as narrative and grammatical proprieties in each chapter.
Sergio Bendixen, Cathleen Farrell, Stephenie Overman, Simon Rosenberg, and
Steve Taylor were also part of the editing team who brought considerable expe-
rience and talent to this endeavor. Their meticulous research lifted the manuscript
to new heights. Great thanks to Nora Clark, Sylvia Arce-Garcia, Choco Meza,
Jessica Muñoz, Gloria Paniagua-Rodriguez, and Yvette Solitaire, for their
administrative support and organizational skills. They stuck with this two-year
project through thick and thin.
 Part
ONE
Latino Visions:
Past, Present,
and Future
 ONE
AN OVERVIEW
LATINOS AND THE NATION’S FUTURE
Henry G. Cisneros

I have borrowed the title of this volume to set the theme for the following chap-
ter, which enlarges upon and develops the concept that the “Law of Large
Numbers,” as it applies to the Latino population of the United States, must and
will result in extraordinary changes in our society as a whole. At the same time
there must and will be extraordinary changes in the Latino community as well.
I come to these conclusions after half a lifetime in public service and pri-
vate business, largely in the public interest. I have been a big-city major (San
Antonio, Texas, in the 1980s) and held a cabinet office under Bill Clinton. After
leaving Washington in 1997, I became president and COO of Univision Com-
munications, currently the fifth most-watched TV network in the nation. I now
serve as Executive Chairman of a group of companies dedicated to working
with leading homebuilders in the construction of homes priced within the
range of average families. Further, I retain more than a rooting interest in the
nation’s political process.

n order for the United States as a country to continue its advance in this cen-

I tury, it will be necessary for the American Latino community within it to

advance far beyond its present condition. Such a statement may seem over-
ly dramatic and even false. Those who doubt its validity could counter that the
forward progress of the United States is not dependent on any single segment of
its population and certainly not on a minority group that has been one of the

3
 4 Henry G. Cisneros

nation’s poorest and most undereducated at the very time of the nation’s great-
est prosperity and overall strength. But while that counterargument might have
historically been true, it is true no longer. The central thesis of this book is that
the Latino population is now so large, its trajectory of growth so rapid, its con-
trast in relative age to that of the general population so stark, that it will not be
possible for the United States to advance without substantial, and so far unimag-
ined, gains in the economic, educational, and productive attributes of the
nation’s Latino community.
This thesis requires Americans to achieve an unprecedented awareness, that
is to see the relationship between the general population and Latinos in new
ways, revealing an interwoven future demanding action as well as understanding.
What do we mean by America’s advance? I use the term “advance” to mean
the continuance of the nation’s historic path of growth, progress, and greatness.
These are generalizations, but are broadly understood to be the large-scale
descriptions of nations, identifying eras, defining periods of excellence. Over
the last two hundred years and certainly over the last century, the United States
has led the world in growth, has embodied the ethic of progress, and has mea-
sured up to a millennial standard of greatness that compares favorably with the
legendary nation-states of world history. National greatness might be seen as a
convergence of economic dominance, scientific prowess, cultural influence,
educational opportunity, broad political consensus, demographic vigor, military
strength, and leadership projection. Certainly since the early 1900s, the United
States has evolved as the nation in the world in which such forces have come
together to produce achievements in every field of human endeavor and to
demonstrate a path toward similar achievements for other nations.
A relevant question is how long such greatness can be sustained. It was
common at the end of the 1990s to reflect on “the American Century.” Does that
phrase suggest a period of leadership as brief as a century? Do complex geopo-
litical forces and the speed of global power shifts conspire to limit the period in
which the United States can harness its strength to make life better for its peo-
ple and for the world? Will the United States share the experience of decline of
Old Europe, for example, or of Great Britain over the last century? Do global
forces push China or India forward so rapidly as to eclipse the American Era?
The answers to these questions bear greatly on the quality of life for all Ameri-
cans and will also be determined in part by whether the most rapidly growing
population group in the nation, the American Latino community, contributes to
the economic energy, technological creativity, and social cohesion of the country
—or whether Latinos continue as an undereducated, underproductive, and alien-
ated mass in the American polity. Conversely, the answers to these questions
 An Overview: Latinos and the Nation’s Future 5

determine whether the American nation feels strong enough and confident enough
to keep open the doors to opportunity, to keep in place the ladders of upward
mobility, to publicly invest in the individual ambitions for self-improvement by
which Latinos can do their part for America in the current and future global com-
petition.
The interwoven character of these questions drives the overarching argu-
ment of this book and can be subdivided as follows:

• American Latinos are now such a large percentage of the nation’s popu-
lation that the scale of their presence will inevitably shape the American
future in important ways.
• The relative youthfulness of Latino families represents a distinct asset for
the United States as other populations within this country and in other
nations grow older and decline as workforce participants.
• American Latinos increasingly see themselves as responsible for a sig-
nificant part of the future of the United States, thus adding purpose to a
Latino agenda of self-improvement that will help build the national future
in which Latinos themselves have such a massive stake.
• All Americans can welcome the prospect of a nation that continues its tra-
jectory of growth, progress, and greatness in part by sustaining its ideals
of an inclusive society that invests in preparing the next generation of
Americans, including American Latinos, to meet all challenges.

Each of these assertions bears more careful consideration.

THE SCALE OF THE LATINO PRESENCE

First, Latinos are such a rapidly growing part of the population that they
will increasingly influence every measure of national performance. The Census
Bureau’s mid-range estimates for 2050 assert that the nation’s Latino population
will grow by 63 million people or a stunning 48 percent of total U.S. growth,
and that Latinos will constitute 25 percent of the U.S. population in 2050. That
dramatic increase is principally a result of two demographic realities. Latinos
are younger as a population than any other major group in the nation and Lati-
no families are larger. That relative youthfulness in combination with the sec-
ond attribute, larger families whose children will in the period between now and
2050 form their own families, drives the rate of Latino growth. The crucial fact
is that these numbers are not reversible by such measures as closing the border
 6 Henry G. Cisneros

to immigrants. These projections are the simple demographic trajectory of peo-

ple already living in the United States. These numbers are already inevitable.
As explored in more detail in following chapters, statistics for the last sev-
eral years demonstrate that the projections for 2050 are not exaggerated. But the
key point is that the Hispanic population is becoming so large that the future of
the country will in many important areas be significantly determined by how
Latinos progress. The laws of large numbers dramatically assure that Latinos
will move the national averages in almost every measurable category of Amer-
ican life: economics, social indicators, and educational attainment. In a regret-
tably negative example, for instance, in California the underperformance of
Latino students registers on that state’s education statistics, helping to push the
state down to forty-fifth among fifty in attainment levels. The same pattern of
scale and effect will be more and more evident across the nation.

LATINO YOUTHFULNESS AS AN AMERICAN ASSET

Second, the youthfulness and rapid growth of Latinos can be major assets
to the United States, fueling the growth of markets, staffing the workforce, sup-
porting financial systems such as Social Security, and revitalizing communities.
These positive dynamics stand in dramatic contrast to the alarming demograph-
ic problems of other industrial nations, such as Japan, Italy, France, and Ger-
many. Japanese population analysts announced in October 2006 that Japan has
begun declining in population. The implications for every sector of Japanese
society are profound, including its free enterprise markets, which have histori-
cally required the growth of a nation’s domestic population in order to function
profitably.
Europe is the most rapidly aging region in the world. Several northern
European nations have measured the lowest birth rates ever recorded. Cultural
mores have resulted in birth rates that are only two-thirds the rates needed for
population replacement. Many European nations lack experience with the inte-
gration of immigrants. The challenges for these nations will be immense and
their population problems are almost certain to pose serious dilemmas for the
United States as well. The scenario in which America’s staunchest traditional
allies are weakened by failing internal systems, staffing problems for their
armed forces, divisive political strife, and uncertain international politics as they
respond to large internal populations of alienated foreign workers, should be
worrisome to U.S. national security planners.
Some parts of the United States may confront variations on this theme, as
the non-Hispanic white population declines or ages in place. The Census Bureau
 An Overview: Latinos and the Nation’s Future 7

reports that between 2000 and 2007, the white non-Hispanic population
declined in sixteen states and the white non-Hispanic population under age 15
declined in forty-two states.
By contrast, many of the states and cities that grew did so principally
because of the influx and internal growth of Latino populations. The point is that
whatever other challenges the United States faces, and there are many, the stag-
nation of population decline, the contracting effects of shrinking markets, and
the constraints of unavailable workers need not be the national pattern. Latinos
represent youthful energy, the hunger of ambition, willingness to work, and
family and community striving for a better life.

LATINO ACCEPTANCE OF RESPONSIBILITY FOR A DECISIVE

PART IN THE AMERICAN FUTURE

Third, these traits can be converted into a much more powerful and con-
tributory force if they result in Latino acceptance of self-determined responsi-
bility, not only for the Latino community’s destiny, but for a decisive part in the
future of America itself.
It is in every American’s interest that the United States remain a first-class
country for centuries to come. That is a demanding task in a time when other
nations, such as the Pacific Rim powerhouses, are surging to the forefront. The
currency of competition is robust trade, creative services, quality products to
sell, rigorous education at all levels, excellence in scientific research, efficient
infrastructure, and skilled leadership. Can these instruments of sophisticated
global competition credibly be mentioned in the same paragraph as the ambi-
tions of one of America’s poorest populations, with the most underperforming
students, with the highest dropout rates? The answer is that they are linked
because the Latino population already accounts for half of America’s growth,
with larger numbers to come. It is hard to imagine an American future of robust
competitiveness if a population that is growing to one-quarter of its people
remains in its present state of underperformance.
A first step is Latino acceptance of a major role in building the national
future. The Latino motive for activism and advocacy must shift from asking
America’s help for Latinos out of fairness, justice, or humanitarian instincts, to
an agenda of reinforcing our capacity to help build the nation in which we have
such a stake. That requires an unabashed commitment to the quality of public
education, to higher education, to entrepreneurship, to income and wealth
strategies, to political advocacy, and leadership development. From reinforced
 8 Henry G. Cisneros

capacities comes the reality of Latinos as the youthful backbone of an America

that remains energetic, ambitious, vigorous, productive, and cohesive.
An important element of this strategy must encompass Latino immi-
grants—including the ten million or more who are undocumented. They must
contribute to the American future on the level that an advanced economy
requires. That means integration into American society. For those who are doc-
umented it means learning English; assisting in their children’s education,
establishing the paths by which the next generation does better financially; mov-
ing to build wealth, including home ownership; becoming involved in commu-
nity life; preparing for citizenship; and learning the cultural underpinnings of
the American way of life. For those who are undocumented and working pro-
ductively, as soon as a workable guest worker program is enacted, integration
should proceed in measured steps: proving adherence to the nation’s legal
framework, learning English, becoming financially responsible, and, over time,
earning a path to citizenship.
Latinos are now ready to accept responsibility for helping build the American
future. They have already proven this in military service. Significantly, they work
hard in jobs that others will not do. Their strong family ethic involves seeking a
better life for their children and encouraging ambition and achievement. They
understand sacrificing today for a chance at a better future. Many have con-
sciously chosen to come here because they know it is a better life for their fami-
lies than in any other country. They have made courageous decisions and risked
dangers, which most Americans never have to think about, much less act upon, in
order to be here. America’s Latinos, with understanding from American society,
can and will do their part to sustain America’s growth, progress, and greatness.

A NATIONAL COMMITMENT TO INVEST IN THE

NEXT GENERATION OF AMERICANS

Finally, American society can choose this outcome for the nation by accept-
ing a straightforward proposition: Americans must be open to the prospect that
the nation’s best days are yet ahead and remain open to the prospect that a truly
inclusive society, with talent unleashed, with faith in education, can reach new
heights. During the 1950s, even as American industry was the colossus of the
world, it was the nation’s progressive instincts that spurred the expansion of the
middle class, which in turn supported breakthrough accomplishments in sci-
ence, medicine, and community-building. That middle class was expanded after
World War II by the G.I. Bill for higher education, by the commitment to home
ownership, and by the floor under incomes represented by the minimum wage.
 An Overview: Latinos and the Nation’s Future 9

Those same instincts supported the drive for a more just society, which emanat-
ed from the Civil Rights movement, the women’s movement, and the environ-
mental movement. Now Latinos must ask American society to reinvigorate its
progressive instincts, to tirelessly keep open the path to the middle class, to
invest in public schools, to improve access to higher education, to invest in the
infrastructure of commerce and trade, and to sustain the American belief in a
future even greater than its past.

THE AMERICAN IDEA AND LATINO INTEGRATION

If our nation is to commit to invest in a future in which Latinos are a major

force, there is a challenge to be faced, one that involves the pace and degree of
assimilation by Latinos into American society. The degree to which Latinos can
actually participate fully in the American future—as workers, as citizens, as
leaders—will depend upon their mastery of the nuances of the American way of
life—as well as upon acceptance of Latinos by non-Hispanic Americans at all
levels—as a population intent on integration into American society. In recent
years bitter controversies have arisen over what integration actually means.
Some have criticized the traditional model of assimilation as insufficiently
respectful of Latino culture and requiring too many concessions of heritage,
identity, and subordination to the dominant American culture. People who hold
that view have tended to support a concept they label acculturation, which
describes a process of relating to American culture as needed to function, but
doing so on an equal plane with Latino culture. In this formulation, assimilation
is an outmoded idea and acculturation is a concept more in keeping with respect
for pan-national ideas that celebrate the rights of individuals, as against the
rigidities wrought by the sovereignty concerns of nations.
Among the adherents of assimilation are persons who fear that anything
less than full assimilation by Latinos will result in an unmanageable American
society, with enclaves of Latinos who never learn English, who transform areas
of the United States into mini-versions of their home countries, and who feel lit-
tle attachment, respect, or obligation to the United States, its laws and cultural
norms. Some who hold this view, including respected scholars such as Profes-
sor Samuel Huntington, fear that the eventual result will be Quebec-style sepa-
ratist scenarios in sections of the American Southwest. They cite the writings of
radical Latino poets and polemicists who yearn for the Latino homeland of
Aztlán as evidence of such separatist ambitions on the part of Latinos.
In fact, no serious Latino leader harbors any such ambitions. No matter the
levels of frustration bred by the slow pace of progress on matters of education
 10 Henry G. Cisneros

or economics, credible Latino leaders recognize that the best chance of gener-
ating opportunity for the national Latino community is within the American
social, political, and enterprise systems.
There remains, however, the dilemma of the degree of integration. My own
sense is that the debate as it is framed today presents a false choice. Clearly to
get ahead in American society, Latinos must master English, understand and
observe the American legal framework, develop financial literacy, prepare for
workplace success, and master the nuances of societal customs and practices,
such as guiding children through education. But we are fortunate that God gave
human beings brains that do not require that one sphere of knowledge must be
displaced in order to accommodate another. Therefore it is possible to learn
English without having to forget Spanish, to adopt American societal practices
in the workplace without having to denigrate sacred traditions, and to commit to
American legal and financial regulations without rejecting heartfelt obligations
to family and community. Human beings are pushed by circumstances to be
adaptable, to be resilient sponges, to acquire the street smarts it takes to get
ahead in an environment of opportunity, and Latinos have proven they can do it
over the years. Add to that the immensity of the pull, the attraction of the unique
package that is the American environment of opportunity—the magnetic
prospect of incomes, ownership, self-improvement, ambition, rewards for sacri-
fice, security, legal due process, respected rights—and the forces for integration
into American society are strong. Ironically, the flaw in the arguments of Pro-
fessor Huntington and others who fear Latino separatism is that they are insuf-
ficiently respectful of the strength of American culture to create an irresistible
magnet for full integration.
I believe the interests of the American Latino community and the nation
itself are best served by the process of integration followed by immigrant groups
throughout American history. In deference to Professor Huntington, there are
some aspects of the Latino story that make it different from other immigrant his-
tories. One major difference is that many Latinos were well established in
places before those locales were part of the United States. In that sense, because
the nation came to them, not the other way around, they are not immigrants at
all. The tens of millions of people involved over a three-hundred-year history,
the fact of a two-thousand-mile border with Mexico and the nations to the South
beyond, and the concentration of Latinos in cities and states where they domi-
nate politically and economically—those factors are often cited as the reason
that the traditional process of integration will not work. I do not agree. The push
of Latino ambitions combined with the pull of American culture together create
a powerful opportunity to integrate forty million Latinos in the United States—
 An Overview: Latinos and the Nation’s Future 11

including native born, immigrant, and undocumented; including heritages from

Mexico, Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Caribbean, Central and South America; living
in every state of the United States—and to generate one of the most contributo-
ry, productive, and fortuitous developments for America in the new century.
The process of integration cannot be left to chance or to gradual and uneven
absorption over a long span of time. It requires English proficiency in order to
enhance the ability to function in the workplace and in society. Beyond the
mechanics of legalization, naturalization, and citizenship, integration means a
working knowledge of American institutions, history, and values. It involves the
quest for self-improvement, including personal education and investing in chil-
dren. Integration into the American economic system requires being able to use
financial services for banking, savings, insurance, home ownership, and prepar-
ing for retirement. Integration should also inform decisions about job opportu-
nities, health care options, and entrepreneurial possibilities. And integration into
the life of civic participation should include paying taxes, voting and volunteer-
ing in school and community activities.
Integration into American life requires the intense personal commitments of
motivated people. A group of Latino leaders has offered a framework to achieve
levels of integration beyond the legal thresholds of legalization and citizenship.
That framework includes a fifteen-year life plan for Latinos and other immigrants:

Within 15 years:
• I will be English proficient but will feel free to retain my native language.
• I will be self-sufficient, not dependent on government.
• I will work to have a family health plan, a savings account, and a retire-
ment plan.
• I will save to own my own home.
• My children will be on the road to college.
• I will have created an environment where my children will have the abil-
ity to achieve their highest potential.
• I will participate in civic, community, or religious activities.
• I will be an American citizen or well on my way to becoming one.
• I will carry my home country in my heart but my life’s work will be in
the United States.
• I will own a piece of the American Dream.

Even as discrimination against individuals begins to recede as a result of efforts

such as those just described, the cultural stereotyping of Latinos as a group may
make belief in a decisive role for Latinos in shaping the future of the nation dif-
ficult for many Americans to accept. For many Americans, the indigenous ori-
 12 Henry G. Cisneros

gins, national histories, economic failures, and tortured religious past of Latin
America belie the concept that American Latinos can be trusted with major
responsibilities for the future of the United States. To those who harbor such
misgivings, I would argue once again that the point is moot, because sheer num-
bers and demographics assure that Latinos will have a decisive role. The ques-
tion now before us is whether that Latino population will be large and undere-
ducated, underproductive, under-compensated, alienated, and a divisive force on
the American scene. Or will it be large and educated, creative, prosperous, and
an energetic part of the American story? The answer lies in the extent and rapid-
ity of investment in education and in the Latino progression to the middle class:
It is not hyperbole to say that the United States can shape its own destiny by the
middle years of this century by the extent to which it addresses these choices.
It is not hyperbole, but it is also not an easy message to absorb or to accept
as a basis for action. It is in some ways a very hard message. But hard realities
decide the fate of nations. This message is about the ebb and flow of massive
forces in our own backyard not unlike those that confront other nations around
the world—the movement of people, of goods, of capital, the demographics of
age, and the various phases in the stages of economic life.
The forces that confront the United States with respect to Latinos are far more
manageable and much more latent with positive potential than those confronting
other nations. In that respect we are blessed. A friend of mine visited Germany
some months ago and in a late dinner conversation about Europe’s cultural tensions
concerning immigration, his German host observed: “You Americans are fortunate,
your newcomers are so much like you.” That might come as a surprise to heartland
Americans who are unnerved by the sudden presence of Spanish in the workplace,
in the increasing numbers of dark-skinned children in their local schools, or in the
Spanish-language masses offered at the nearby parish church. But in the important
ways, Americans’ most numerous newcomers, the Latinos, are truly much like the
Americans who built the nation.
I have always been most inspired, indeed moved to tears, by the people who
strive, who work hard for something they care deeply about. The strivers are the
people who work, who apply themselves, who sacrifice, who discipline them-
selves, and who play by the rules. Sometimes they strive because they want
something for themselves such as an economic advancement, a promotion, a
material good, or an honor. Sometimes it is because they love others—such as
their children—and want something better for those they love: a home, an edu-
cation, or a career success. America’s Latinos are on the whole a community of
strivers. They understand that striving is at the core of American culture. It is not
that people do not strive in their home countries or that many do not achieve, but
 An Overview: Latinos and the Nation’s Future 13

Latinos in America believe that the difference here is that it is possible for every
person to advance. The cultures of many other nations are more class-bound,
fatalistic, blocked, rigid, prejudiced, or unfair. The American Dream is the right
to strive with the best chance in the world of being rewarded for it. That Amer-
ican Dream is not foolproof, but Latinos understand that here, if you strive you
have a fair chance of success, if not for you, then for someone you love who
comes behind you. That Latino striving, encouraged by a nation that has always
understood the power of striving, is the basis for a hopeful America whose best
days are still ahead.
 NINE
POLITICS AND THE LATINO FUTURE
A REPUBLICAN DREAM
Lionel Sosa

Lionel Sosa has been called by Time Magazine (2005) “one of the 25 most influ-
ential Hispanics in America.” He is a highly successful advertising executive, a
media consultant to three U.S. presidents, and in 2008 was active in his seventh
national presidential race. He has served as a board member of institutions in
the field of education and communications and chaired both the United Way of
San Antonio and the San Antonio Symphony. In 2001, Sosa was a Fellow at the
Institute of Politics at Harvard University.
In this lively essay, at various times speculative, autobiographical, and
interpretive, Sosa elaborates on the theme of core Latino values as core Repub-
lican values—a theme of huge significance in American political life.

A s we consider the Latino-American future, let us go there.

It is November 7, 2028. Election Day. The votes have been counted and the
president-elect steps to the podium to declare her victory. She is cheered as few
before have ever been.
Katherine Cabral’s margin of victory was very narrow, but wide enough to
make history. Not only will she be America’s first Latina president but the first
Republican president of that heritage. But not the first Latin-American presi-

115
 116 Lionel Sosa

dent. Twelve years earlier, in 2016, Democrat Enrique (Bill) Richardson-López

earned that distinction when he was elected on his second try. His victory and
his capable, successful leadership changed many things. For Latino youth he
became the ultimate role model, proving that anything is possible. His presi-
dency gave tremendous pride to older Latinos, who felt that they shared his
accomplishment and that he honored theirs. And the Richardson administration
had changed the minds of many other Americans about a people who, not many
years before, they had underestimated, even scorned.
How did two Latino presidents get elected back-to-back? How could such
a turn of events occur when only two decades earlier, in 2006, the U.S. Congress
was debating an immigration bill that would have severely limited Latino accul-
turation into the American mainstream? The answer was Latino leadership.
Let us now move away from a fantasy future to the real past or, more accu-
rately, the present.
First in 2007, to a small meeting of Latino leaders in Texas. Sarita E. Brown,
former education advisor to President Bill Clinton and president of Excelencia
in Education, suggests that Latinos could become “the next new wave of Amer-
ican talent.” Sarita presents her ideas elsewhere in this book, but I recall her say-
ing that while the Latino achievement gap is real, if we focus on positive accom-
plishments, on providing an atmosphere in which our young people can thrive,
“Can you imagine the kind of talent that will be available, in science, mathe-
matics, the arts?”
Some of those in the meeting warmed to the notion but others questioned
its viability, suggesting that Latinos needed more time to catch up on the edu-
cational front. Still, it was an intriguing thought and certainly a notion Latinos
could rally around.
In 2007, the times were changing for Latinos. Although this huge “minori-
ty” group was at the center of an enormous, destructive debate over immigra-
tion, individual Latinos had become hip. The Oscars in Hollywood had nomi-
nated many for awards. Mario Lopez wowed American TV viewers on the
top-rated “Dancing with the Stars.” The “George Lopez Show” had been a top-
rated sitcom for five years. The new series “Ugly Betty” also found a huge audi-
ence. Salma Hayek, Penélope Cruz, Jessica Alba, America Ferrera, Thalía,
Christina Aguilera, Eva Mendez, Jennifer Lopez, Cameron Diaz, Eva Longoria,
and Gloria Estefan were some of the country’s hottest female stars. Marc Antho-
ny, Juanes, Maná, Jimmy Smits, Andy García, Enrique Iglesias, and Freddy
Rodríguez were big male heartthrobs. Pioneers like Rita Moreno, Edward James
Olmos, Paul Rodriguez, Sonia Braga, and Cheech Marin were holding strong.
In sports, Lorena Ochoa was the number one woman golfer on the LPGA tour,
 Politics and the Latino Future: A Republican Dream 117

and Latinos dominated baseball more than ever. Politics were changing too.
Democrats had taken the Latino vote for granted ever since Mexican-Americans
helped elect John F. Kennedy in 1960. A television commercial by a Spanish-
speaking Jacqueline Kennedy had actually asked for their votes, promising that
her husband would “watch out for the interests of all the sectors of our society that
need the protection of a humanitarian government.” The spot concluded, “Para el
futuro de nuestros niños . . . votan ustedes para el partido demócrata . . .”
For decades during the twentieth century, Latinos did vote for Democrats.
Party leaders came to believe that the Hispanic vote was a given. The strategy was
simple. First, throw a beer and tamale party. Second, vilify the Republicans as
“rich gringos who don’t care about you.” Third, bus Latinos to the polls on Elec-
tion Day. This 1-2-3 approach kept working year after year. So why do more?
Why spend money to hire Latino consultants and staff, to advertise to the Latino
voters in any big way, especially when Republicans were doing even less?
That had begun to change in 1978, in Texas, and I found myself in the mid-
dle of it. My San Antonio ad agency got a call from U.S. Senator John Tower’s
office. “We’re looking for a good, creative agency to handle the senator’s re-
election campaign. We like your work and noticed that two of the four partners
are Hispanic. We’ll need lots of help on the Hispanic end so your agency may
be the right one for the job.” Then came the kicker. “Our budget is $13 million.
Would you like to make a presentation?” Was he kidding? Asking an ad agency
if they would pitch a multimillion dollar account is like asking an alcoholic if
he would like a shot of tequila. “Of course we would,” we answered, adding,
“Our agency is uniquely qualified for the job.” Never mind that we had done no
political work at all. I didn’t know a state senator from a U.S. senator, but I knew
thirteen million dollars from thirteen dollars. Besides, I’m an ad guy and ad
guys think they can do anything.
Everyone at the agency took on the opportunity with gusto, working eighteen-
hour days for three weeks to prepare. I read everything I could find on Texas
politics and Latino marketing. There were few exit polls in those days, but I
studied news reports asking voters why they made the choices they did. I asked
my friends. I concluded that most political support was not based on deep
issues. It was based on whether the voters liked the candidate or not and
believed he was a strong enough leader to solve whatever problem might come
along. As it happened, that was how I had seen my parents making their politi-
cal decisions.
History nearly passed us by, thanks to now-defunct Braniff Airlines. When
my partners Beverly Coiner, Warren Stewart, Lupe Garcia, and I flew to Wash-
ington, D.C. to make our presentation, Braniff lost our carefully crafted presen-
 118 Lionel Sosa

tation materials. We arrived with nothing to show: no TV storyboards, no bill-

board or magazine designs, no radio tapes. Nada.
Tower and his people said, “We’re sorry, but you have to make your pre-
sentation today.” With little to lose and everything to gain, we were surprising-
ly calm. We’d been rehearsing so hard that we’d memorized our parts without
knowing it. In fact, I think we presented better with no props than we would
have while using them as a crutch.
I believe we got the approval of those twenty people (including the Sena-
tor’s mother) because we had no political experience. Since we weren’t used to
the conventional approaches, we weren’t constrained by what was expected. As
a result, the ads we produced later had a really wonderful look of their own, a
crispness that the political advertising world had not seen. Rather than an Amer-
ican flag for a logo, we used Tower’s signature, white on blue. There was a John
Hancock feel to it, like he was affirming what the ads said, that he stood for
Texas and always would.
We were ultimately awarded the account, though the decision was vetoed at
first by the Senator’s wife, Lilla. We got the job after the staffers learned that she
hated the competing presentations even more.
Senator Tower said, “Lionel, the Latino vote is getting bigger every year.
One of these days it will be the deciding vote, and I’m going to get started early.
I don’t see why we have to accept 8 percent,” which was the most any Republi-
can had ever won. The Senator told me he wanted 35 percent of the Latino vote.
How were we supposed to manage that? Actually, I had an idea. We didn’t
have to make John Tower likable to Latinos. He already was. We only had to
show the man to voters. Tower loved Texas politics and he loved his Lone Star
beer. He visited South Texas Mexican beer joints often, and when he stepped
inside, the men knew him and greeted him with big abrazos. He asked about
their families and their worries. They wanted the latest Washington gossip and
the Senator’s tall Texas tales. This guy was the real thing. He “spoke cantina.”
As ad people, we wanted to capture this feeling, so we filmed the Senator
around the men he respected. We also filmed visits to women and children in the
barrio centers. Our commercials reminded Latino voters that Tower had been
there when they needed him, supporting bilingual education, small business
ownership for Latino entrepreneurs and family assistance through the organiza-
tion SER-Jobs for Progress. We wrote a Mexican ballad, a corrido for the
soundtrack and created a series of commercials called “El Corrido de John
Tower.”
It was the biggest Texas political ad budget up to that point, as well as the
first to target Hispanic voters with advertising so far in advance of the general
 Politics and the Latino Future: A Republican Dream 119

election. We spent half a million dollars on Spanish-language radio and TV

(about a million and a half in 2007 dollars). “El Corrido de John Tower” became
a hit, and the Senator won reelection with 37 percent of the Latino vote, two
points higher than the goal he had set. His overall margin of victory was one-
half of one percent. The Latino vote made the difference.
That election changed my life. From then on, all I wanted to do was create
Hispanic and political advertising. I opened up my own agency, Sosa and Asso-
ciates. Within ten years, it became the largest Hispanic ad agency in the United
States. One reason for that was a call I got from a grateful John Tower. “I want
to help you build your business,” he said, “and I’m going to introduce you to the
governor of California. He’s running for president and I told him you’d help him
win. His name is Ronald Reagan.”
Let me say something about friends in high places. It is easy to resent the
patrones, but if they are bringing you something you need because you have
something they need, there is no charity. It is a business that brings money to both
sides, and with the money comes respect. You may or may not become friends,
but you get access like you never had before, especially if you’re dealing with
people who already see a connection between you and them. Like John Tower.
Like Ronald Reagan. When Tower introduced us, the governor smiled, put
his hand on my shoulder and said, “Lionel, your job’s going to be easy. His-
panics are Republicans. They just don’t know it yet.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“Hispanic values are conservative values. Republican values. What you
need to do is communicate this truth to them. At our core, we think alike. The
same things that matter to Latinos matter to me. Family. A strong work ethic.
Personal responsibility. Good moral values. Patriotism. Isn’t that what your
mother and father taught you?” Of course that was what my parents taught me.
Never mind that they also taught me to be a Democrat. That lesson never took.
Reagan’s words hit me like a ton of ladrillos. He understood something
about my own people that I had never realized. In less than one minute, this
friendly, rosy-cheeked man had figured it all out for me. No wonder they called
him the Great Communicator.
I never forgot what Ronald Reagan taught me that day. I have said that to
get a candidate to the voter, you must use advertising to form a deep, personal
bond. You do this by stressing shared, core values. The strategy worked for Rea-
gan. He took 37 percent of the Hispanic vote in 1980 and 44 percent in 1984,
according to exit polls cited by Reagan biographer Lou Cannon.
Reagan’s success brought George H.W. Bush to me, when he began his
campaign for 1988. Papa Bush did not attain Reagan’s numbers with Latinos,
 120 Lionel Sosa

especially against Bill Clinton. Neither did Bob Dole, who made little attempt
to reach Latino voters in 1996 (and who didn’t hire me).
In 2000, however, the Reagan strategy did work for the Republicans. Not
only had the raw numbers of Latino Americans been rising, their voting patterns
had been changing. In state and local elections, Republicans had been making
inroads into Democratic Latino vote totals for more than two decades, especial-
ly in Texas and (sometimes) California. Florida’s Cuban-American community
remained strongly Republican, especially after the Elián González affair. In
New York, Republicans George Pataki and Rudy Giuliani had won almost half
the traditionally Democratic Puerto Rican vote in the late 1990s by running
inclusive campaigns. In 2000, George W. Bush told me, “We are going to do this
right.” He gave me three goals. “I want more Hispanic votes than any Republi-
can running for president has ever gotten. I want ads that portray Latinos as
Americans, equally deserving of the American Dream. And I want to leave a
model for other Republicans to follow.” (If you want to see some of the com-
mercials we made, log on to www.LionelSosa.com.)
George W. Bush got an estimated 35 percent of the Latino vote in 2000.
More important, Cubans and Puerto Ricans tipped the scales when Bush got
6,000 more Latino votes in Florida then did Al Gore. Florida, of course, decid-
ed the election by going for Bush by 534 votes, although my Democratic friends
still argue about that. In 2004, again pursuing the same three goals, Bush won
44 percent of the Hispanic vote nationwide, according to his campaign manag-
er, Ken Mehlman.
I have told these stories because I think they show there’s no magic
involved in advancement of a politician, an ad man or a people. Good luck
comes to those who prepare, who are willing to set a smart strategy and then
take chances on it, those who let no one convince them that a goal is impossi-
ble to reach.
And now is the time for me to say that nobody does good stuff all by them-
selves. Dozens of great people more talented than I am have contributed to our
success in very big ways. They include my original partners, Bev, Lupe, and
Warren; also Bob Estrada, Alex Armendariz, Sig Rogich, Frank Guerra, Cesar
Martinez, Karl Rove, Mark McKinnon, and the best of them all, my wife and
partner, Kathy Sosa.
Back again to 2006. Republicans were seeing their party’s gains among
Latinos threatened by the debate over misguided “reforms” in immigration law.
Some Republicans in the House passed a bill that would make it a felony to be
in the United States illegally. There would be new penalties on employers who
hire such immigrant workers. Churches would have to check the legal status of
 Politics and the Latino Future: A Republican Dream 121

parishioners needing help. And the government would build fences along much
of the U.S.-Mexican border. Latino Americans responded with enormous
protest demonstrations. Tens of thousands of them took to the streets in Mil-
waukee, Phoenix, Denver, and other cities. An estimated half a million marched
in Los Angeles. The hard-line Republicans sneered at the Mexican flags carried
by some demonstrators, ignoring the fact that their attempt at repressive legis-
lation would cost the party the votes of many of those marchers. Some super
conservatives want nothing to do with “illegal aliens.” A few call for the depor-
tation of twelve million immigrant workers, a ridiculously impractical idea.
They accuse those workers of committing crimes, when all they did was accept
jobs offered by business owners who, as U.S. citizens, are rarely regarded as
criminals themselves. Latinos, of course, take this ill-conceived approach as
unfriendly and voted their minds. In the ugly debate over immigration, control
of Congress had passed to the Democrats. The Latino support that Republicans
had developed in recent decades was almost obliterated.
In spring 2007, John McCain and George W. Bush were among the brave
ones insisting on a more moderate approach to reforming the immigration sys-
tem, making provisions for those already working in the United States and for
their families, among other positive proposals. But the hard-liners in Congress
and the rest of the men then running for the Republican presidential nomination
call the Bush-McCain approach “amnesty” and rejected it, either in principle or
because they believed they could not win by seeming to be pro-immigration. At
mid-year, the immigration reform effort collapsed in Congress. No bill passed.
The issue was unresolved. Hard feelings remained.
Democrats pounced on the opportunity. The 2008 presidential candidates,
especially Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and Bill Richardson, began courting
Latinos strategically, spending money and resources to bring them “back home,”
even in some primary and caucus states with small Hispanic populations. “Iowa,
por Dios,” exclaimed the political journalist Luis Clemens, quoted in The Wash-
ington Post, “Who would have thought there would be competing [Latino] voter
outreach efforts in Iowa? There’s a sea change.”
Miami publisher Arturo Villar launched La Política, which he declared as
the first Web site covering “the business of political marketing to Hispanics.”
Clemens, the editor of La Política, said, “Hispanic voters have distinct political
interests and value systems . . . We will report on the attempts by the campaigns
to navigate these complex waters . . . ”
In those waters, it seems, the “next new wave of American talent” may be
about to crest. Latinos, energized by the immigration debate and realizing they
aren’t a powerless minority anymore, prepared to help elect a president and
 122 Lionel Sosa

members of Congress who are for them, not against them. This same energy was
directed toward education and business. At that 2007 meeting in Texas, Sarita E.
Brown and others talked about how Latinos’ growing numbers demanded that
they take up the mantle of leadership, how the time had come to start training
the next generation of governmental, academic, and economic talent.
What do I see, looking to the future? A multimedia, multiyear communica-
tions campaign directed by an alliance of Latino leadership organizations. I see
corporate America, recognizing the enormous profit potential in Latin-American
prosperity, pitching in. I see both political parties involving themselves for the
same reason. I see a fair resolution of the immigration debate, influenced by the
economic, political, and social power of the nation’s biggest minority. The
activism seen in the streets of Los Angeles and other cities in 2006 will become
the norm. Latinos will become more confident of what they can do, especially
as they see themselves taking on greater roles in civic, political, and business
life. As a population understands its own influence, it becomes more ready to be
part of the mainstream. With the assistance of public and private universities,
there will be an intense emphasis on education. As a result, I see Latino gradu-
ation rates tripling in ten years. I see even more Hispanic-owned businesses than
there are today. The small business tradition will continue but there will be
many more midsized and larger Latino companies, reflecting our experience
and success competing in the United States. There will be more Latinos in large
American corporations, influencing their direction in terms of giving to the
community, hiring, and marketing. More celebrities? Absolutely. In the future I
see a fourth to a third of the pop stars will be Latino, bringing more influence
in language, music, and art.
However, sheer numbers and gross economic power will not make us true
leaders. We also must nurture our traditional Latino core values and mix them
with mainstream American values. If we can take the best from one and the best
from the other, we will be helping ourselves and helping our country.
Here are examples of old interpretations of Latino values and some new
interpretations, the ones most Latino leaders are embracing:

Family Values:
1. Family comes first.
2. Work to help the family.
3. Old way: Drop out of school, get a job.
4. New way: Finish college, earn more, and contribute more to the family.
 Politics and the Latino Future: A Republican Dream 123

Education:
1. Education is important, but . . .
2. Old way: “We’ll never be able to afford college, so why invite disap-
pointment by getting ready for it?”
3. New way: “Work smart and prepare. The money will be there if you
believe it will.”
4. Be creative and resourceful.
Work:
1. Hard work is good.
2. Hard work is honorable.
3. Old way: Any steady job is honorable.
4. New way: Set high goals for your career. You are capable of achieving
anything.
5. Go for it. Believe you will be successful.
Wealth:
1. Money is not important
2. God loves the poor
3. Old way: Stay poor, go straight to heaven.
4. New way: It’s okay to have money. God loves the rich, too.
We should also set high expectations for our children. We must teach them:
• To have big, clear, and concise goals.
• That any goal they set is achievable.
• To get the best education they can and that you’ll be there to help.
• That they are in charge of their own future.
• To expect success, because they will have it.

It’s true. If we all believe we are the next wave of American talent, then we will
be. Belief becomes reality. We attract what we expect of ourselves.
As I have said, I see Latinos winning the White House. Twice, in twenty
years. That is my dream. It is also my prediction. And if I’m off, it won’t be by
much. It will happen, if we, as Latinos, want it to happen. I also predicted that
one of those presidents, my so-far fictional Katherine Cabral, would be a Repub-
lican. My own parents would find that prediction the one least likely to come
true. As with most Latinos of their generation, they were Democrats even though
they believed in conservative principles. I realized that as a boy when, one day, I
saw President Eisenhower on TV, talking about taking personal responsibility,
about looking for opportunities and not relying on others to take care of us. That
was exactly what my parents had taught me, but when I told them that made me
 124 Lionel Sosa

a Republican, they said, “My God, Lionel, those are the rich Anglos. You can’t
be a Republican, they’re the party of the rich?” I told them, “But I want to be
rich!” I thought of that the day I met Ronald Reagan, realizing that my parents
were two of the many Latinos who were Republicans and didn’t know it.
I believe that as Latinos become more prosperous, they will be more likely
to vote Republican. It won’t be because Republicans are the party of the rich. It
will be because Republican candidates at all levels will do a better job of point-
ing out the shared conservative values, as Reagan did. They will say, truthfully,
“We both believe in individual opportunity based on our own initiative. We
believe in the work ethic, in family values, and in our faith.”
Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush did leave a model for other Republi-
cans to follow.
I do not predict that most Latinos will become Republicans, but there will be
many more than there are today. As we grow, we will find more room for—and
more need for—differences in our politics. Joe García writes his thoughts else-
where in this book. He is a Cuban-American Democrat from Miami. I am a Mex-
ican-American Republican from San Antonio. If that doesn’t make the case for an
expanding Latino-American diversity of leadership, I don’t know what might.
More and more in the future, both parties will come to understand that they
cannot win without us, and so more and more they will target the Latino vote. I
believe that we will be the primary, secondary, or tertiary focus in every cam-
paign, especially in the biggest states. Those are where the electoral votes are,
and that is where the Latino voters reside.
Competition for Latino support will benefit all of us. Never again will the
parties take us for granted or ignore us. Instead, they will urge us to become
their candidates, to run in local, state, and national races. I would make a crazy
guess that in twenty years there will be six Latino governors. There will be fif-
teen to twenty Senators and forty Congressmen, maybe fifty. I want half of them
to be Republicans and half Democrats. That way, our community will be the
winner. And because of what we can contribute to the life and culture of this
country, America will be better for it.
In 1980, the first Latino ran for president. He was businessman and econo-
mist Benjamin Fernandez. He didn’t get very far because he was ahead of his
time. But now, the time is right. I believe Bill Richardson will ultimately be a
winner in a presidential campaign. And following him should come a “Kather-
ine Cabral.” Today, she might be the owner of a growing business somewhere,
a leader of her community being courted by local Republicans to run for the
state legislature. Tomorrow? Who’s going to stop her? Who’s going to stop us?
The doors of opportunity are open wider than ever before, and we are
poised to lead.