Maria Hinojosa: Growth of Latino population

Maria Hinojosa is a New York-based correspondent for CNN, covering urban affairs for the network.

CNN Moderator: Good morning, Maria Hinojosa. Welcome to CNN.com Newsroom. Was the growth of the suburban Latino population a surprise to census officials?

Maria Hinojosa: I think that anyone who has been watching demographic change across the country would say that they are not surprised by the growth of the Latino population, not only in the suburbs, but in almost every corner of the United States. If there was a surprise, it would probably be in the large percentage number increase of Latino population growth across the United States, which was 58%. It was the largest census-to-census increase in American history. Perhaps another interesting note, but not a surprise, would be where the largest growth in Latino population occurred--in states such as North Carolina, Arkansas, Georgia, and Nevada.

CNN Moderator: Are Latinos easily integrating into those non-traditional Latino states?

GRAPHIC A census timeline: How the race question has changed since 1787 GRAPHIC While more Latinos move into the heartland, nearly a third of those who live in the U.S. live in California RESOURCES Graphic: A decade of change across the nation     ALSO Census finds more Latinos in the heartland Census finds more Latinos in suburbs Census finds few wealthy Latinos Census: Non-Hispanic whites now a minority in California Census notes shifting U.S. populations

Maria Hinojosa: It's difficult to generalize. We just got back from northwest Arkansas, and the town of Rogers had the largest percentage of increase of Latino population growth of anywhere else in the United States, and that was 1,538% increase growth. When we spoke to people there, one demographer there said the growth has happened so quickly that it hasn't really given people time to organize against it, or do anything--it was almost too quick for anyone to do anything about it. Those were her words. So, there's that aspect. But I don't necessarily think that's a negative thing, in the sense that if it had happened more slowly, maybe people would have been more disgruntled by it.

But on the positive side, when you have this kind of growth occurring in smaller towns and cities, it does allow for community organization to be very proactive and involved in creating diversity commissions, harmony commissions, dialogue. So that is the positive aspect of such rapid growth in small places. But the young boy who we spoke to in Arkansas did say that the hardest thing for him, beyond learning a new language, was to be accepted by the American kids, as he called them and to be friendly with the "Anglo" kids. When we walked through his junior high school with him, we did hear people taunting and saying, "Oh, immigration is here to pick you up!" and he said that many kids did tease him, calling him derogatory terms, like "beaner." But what is clear from the census report, is that this Latino population in the United States is very much a part of this country, is not going anywhere and will only continue to grow.

Question from chat room: Maria were the figures of the financial status of Latinos a surprise? Are they going to surpass other minorities as far as financial growth, too?

Maria Hinojosa: I think most people who watch the Latino community are still concerned with the lack of economic development and opportunities for many Latinos in the United States. The recent immigrant population of the past 10 to 20 years has served an economic need in this country, according to many business people we spoke to. In Rogers, Arkansas, a spokesman for Tyson Chicken said that were it not for the immigrant workers, the economic boom in northwest Arkansas may simply not have occurred. Nevertheless, many of the immigrants are doing the low-pay, unskilled jobs that get minimum wage. For those that are undocumented, those jobs will often be below minimum wage. At the same time, what we tried to do with our series on CNN was to try to show the class diversity within the Latino population. So we profiled a working class family, a middle class family and a wealthy Latino family, because that is who Latinos in America are today.

Question from chat room: Could it be the language that is the primary problem, rather than bias?

Maria Hinojosa: Language could be considered a problem for recent immigrants. But when you have populations that are second and third generation Latino, and who do not have a problem with language, but have been growing up in abandoned and disadvantaged communities where public education is very poor, then I don't think language is necessarily a problem. I think the problem needs to be traced to the realities in those communities where oftentimes, if you have a majority non-white population, public education seems to not be able to provide excellence, which is a central problem in our educational system across the country.

CNN Moderator: What potential impact does this demographic shift have on American politics?

Maria Hinojosa: I think that we are only seeing the tip of the iceberg in terms of the complexity of race politics in America. If you look at the Los Angeles mayoral race, you had at least two Latino candidates vying for votes. Clearly, they're not only looking for Latino voters. They want white voters, they want African-American voters, they want Asian voters. I think what we'll see in the next two decades will shed some light on what I continue to call the complexity of the Latino community in relation to politics. We cannot generalize about how Latinos and political activity will occur because you have regional differences.

What Mexican-Americans and Central Americans in Los Angeles are experiencing may be very, very different from the politics of the Cuban-American community in Miami, or the Puerto Rican-American community in Chicago, or the Dominican community in New York. So, the questions here are: How will Latinos form coalitions, and who will they form coalitions with? Will there be in-fighting between Latino groups? Will there be divisions between Latinos and African-Americans? These are questions we will only see play out as elections come throughout the country.

CNN Moderator: Do you have any final thoughts for us today?

Maria Hinojosa: I, as a young girl, used to travel from Chicago to Mexico by car every year when my family would go visit relatives in Mexico. We drove through Arkansas year after year. But I have to say that I never quite expected to spend four days in northwest Arkansas eating only Mexican food (which was wonderful), and running into people speaking Spanish in malls and on street corners, in towns like Springdale, Arkansas. And at the same time, I walk out of my Manhattan apartment, and run into my fellow Mexicans, who speak ancient dialects like Zapotec or Nauhtl on street corners in New York. I find this all fascinating. But I still am concerned that, given the numbers, many Latinos still feel invisible and are not reflected accurately across the United States.

CNN Moderator: Thank you for joining us today, Maria Hinojosa.

Maria Hinojosa: My favorite part of web chats is being in touch with the audience, which is really what concerns us most as reporters. It's food for our souls to hear back from our viewers.

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Census finds more Latinos in the heartland

Census finds more Latinos in suburbs

Census finds few wealthy Latinos

Census: Non-Hispanic whites now a minority in California

Census notes shifting U.S. populations

Census Bureau

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