ラテンアメリカ研究年報 No.40（2020年）

1〈大会記念講演／ Lecture〉（第 40 回定期大会、2019 年 6 月 1 日）

米国におけるラテン系移民の課題と挑戦――我々を結びつけるもの、分断するもの、必要とされる指導性――
マリア・グアハルド

Current Issues and Challenges for Latinosin the United States:
Connections, Divisions, and Emerging Leadership
Maria GUAJARDO
The current decade has seen enormous shifts for Latinos in the UnitedStates. During a time of change in political leadership, the complex issues ofimmigration and education have created unity, along with division, within
and across the Latino community. During this period of upheaval, what connects Latinos to one another, and to allies as the presence of Latinos in theUnited States continues to grow in population and political inﬂuence? Thereis a redeﬁnition that emerges, as Latinos ﬁnd their voice and claim theirplace in the United States. Identity is nuanced and shared experiences, both
positive and negative, connect us to one another.
At the same time, it is a nation divided. The election of a president who
campaigned on negative stereotypes of Latinos, has fostered a climate in theU.S. that foments hatred and fear of immigrants, as well as targeting minori-2Current Issues and Challenges for Latinos in the United States

ties living in the U.S. Ironically the issues that unite Latinos, also divides
them. Immigration issues pit foreign-born versus native-born. This tension
exists across communities and within families. While DREAMERS, that ischildren of immigrants who have grown up in the U.S., struggle to have access to higher education, and the rights and privileges of residents, those opportunities for higher education are diminishing. While at the same time colleges and universities are celebrating increasing numbers of Latinos in highereducation, striving for the designation of Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI).
Racism and discrimination is on the rise, and a concerning example of thisare the vigilantes patrolling the US-Mexico border.
To both survive and thrive during these turbulent times, what leadership isneeded? Not solely in terms of political leadership, but personal leadership isalso important. What roles can Latinos and their allies embrace that will allow for the emergence of a new leadership that can uplift and empower thefew and the many? Can a change in leadership provide in a meaningful wayfor the greater good? The leadership elements of belonging, power, and culture will be presented as the heart of a leadership renaissance.
The experience of Latinos in the United States is complex. While much
has changed over time in terms of demographics and quality of life, changes
have been both positive and negative. To illustrate the complexity of the Latino experience, this presentation will be grounded in the author s lived experience, as well as from a contemporary demographic perspective. Threethemes will be explored, including immigration, identity, and education. The
sharing of the lived experience will underscore the presence of the threethemes over time, and demonstrate that although change has occurred, thesethree themes continue to play a central role in understanding the complexityof the Latino experience in the United States. Discussion will lead to an exploration of the leadership needed for these changing times.

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3

In sharing my lived experience, I will illustrate the complexity of the threethemes of identity, immigration, and education in my own life and brieﬂy
present the impact they had on my family. This will serve to illustrate howcontemporary issues faced by Latinos in the United States, are in fact thesame issues faced by family members sixty years ago. Illustrating that eventhough there have been gains for Mexicans and Mexican Americans in theUnited States, the dilemmas of social, psychological, economic, and politicalissues are complex, and continue to impact the everyday lived experiences ofindividuals of Mexican descent. The terms Latino/a and Hispanic are usedinterchangeably through out this discussion.
Lived Experience
Immigration. My parents came from the state of San Luis Potosí, Mexico,from a small village named El Guamuchil. In the latest census count El Guamuchil had 39 individuals living in an area considered remote and undeveloped. My parents were campesinos, peasant farmers that decided to cross theborder into the United States in the early 1950s. They crossed the Mexican
border into the U.S. with three small children in tow, and the clothes on theirback, and had three more children in the U.S. As a young couple starting
their family, my parents worked the land and had minimal formal education.
My father never went to school and my mother only attended two years.
Both were illiterate, and never learned how to read or write.
My father participated in the 1950s worker program established to bringworkers from Mexico as laborers to the U.S. There was a shortage of agricultural workers, and as a short-term labor program, the Bracero program, allowed for Mexican workers into the U.S. As migrant workers in the U.S., myfamily lived in migrant labor camps in California; where I was born andspent my early years. My parents had six children, three were born in Mexi-4Current Issues and Challenges for Latinos in the United States

co and three of us were born in the U.S. Our birth places, straddling twocountries, captures the complexity of Mexican families. In terms of citizenship, my birthplace earned me the status of a U.S. citizen. Individual members in a single family may represent both documented and undocumentedindividuals. Parents may also diﬀer from their children in their documentation status. The issue is not black and white. Generational diﬀerences alsoexist. When my parents crossed the border in the early 1950s, the border wasmuch more ﬂuid and permeable than it is today.
Pursuing the American dream launched my parent s immigrant journey in
the U.S. As migrant workers in the San Joaquin Valley, I remember living inlabor camps, picking grapes, olives, and a host of other fruits. Working fromsunrise to sunset, attending school was the only option for staying out of theﬁelds. It was hard work and the working conditions were often inhumane andinhospitable. As Mexicanos, my parents sacriﬁced family and culture, to create a better life for their children in the U.S. It took tremendous eﬀort forthem to learn how to navigate a new country, a new culture, and a new language. As immigrant parents, ﬁrst generation in the U.S., they embodied ahigh work ethic, similar to other immigrants. Documentation status served tounite and divide families and communities. Even the use of terminology, illegal alien versus undocumented worker, created tension.
Education. Education in the U.S. was key for the future of their children.
In my family, I along with all of my siblings, graduated from high school andattended college. While Spanish was my ﬁrst language, I had learned English
by second grade. Reluctant to return to agricultural ﬁeldwork, I worked hardin school and gained admission to Harvard University. Following my undergraduate experience, I earned my Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of Denver. My parents valued education although they themselves
were illiterate. This reﬂects the value system of Mexican immigrants to theラテンアメリカ研究年報 No.40（2020年）

5U.S., of valuing education, which is often dismissed by the stereotype of lazy
Mexicans.
My dissertation research examined the variables impacting the low educational attainment of Latino adolescents. This was my attempt to understand
why was it that certain children of immigrants dropped out of school whileothers achieved academically, disproving the long held belief that Mexicanos
do not value education. Beliefs and stereotypes about education also served
to unite and divide communities.
Identity. In terms of identity, as a small child my father instilled pride in
me in being a Mexicana. In my American high school, I belonged to theMexican-American Club, and in so doing, began to identify as a Mexican
American. In college I met students that identiﬁed as Chicano/a, and I resonated with the association to social justice that this ethnic identity label reﬂected. Moving to Colorado for graduate school, it was the 1980s, and thecensus bureau had added the identiﬁer of Hispanic. In Colorado I discoveredthat the terms of Spanish and Spanish American were also popular. As awoman of Mexican descent, I began to aﬃliate with other women of Spanish-speaking backgrounds and collectively we began to identify as Latinas.
My identity transitioned from Mexican to Mexican American to Chicana toHispanic to Latina. This process of selecting my ethnic identiﬁer reﬂects myprerogative to name myself, as opposed to reﬂecting confusion or submission
to being named by an other. This experience of naming myself in terms of
ethnic identity taught me that identity can unite or divide people. On college
campuses in the 1980s, Chicanos and Mexican Americans were not always
united in their causes and even the selection of ethnic identiﬁer caused deep
divisions amongst seemingly similar groups.

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Current Issues and Challenges for Latinos in the United States

DemographicsPopulation. Over the past 50 years, the Latino or Hispanic population inthe U.S. has grown from approximately 10 million to 60 million individuals.
Hispanics are the largest ethnic or racial minority in the U.S. and constituteapproximately 17.8 percent of the total U.S. population (Fig. 1). By the year
2060 it is projected that the Hispanic population will constitute 28.6 percentof the U.S. population (U.S. Census 2017).
With these increasing numbers, there have been continued tensions and culture shock, as families, communities, and systems work to adjust to the growing Latino population. These population demographics also contain diversity
within the population. The majority of Hispanics or Latinos in the U.S. are ofMexican origin, accounting for 64 percent. Of the balance, approximately 10percent are Puerto Rican, 3.7 percent Cuban, 3.8 percent Salvadoran, 3.2 percent Dominican and 2.4 percent Guatemalan. The remainder are from CentralAmerica, South America, or some other Hispanic or Latino origin ( HispanicFig. 1U.S. Census Bureau, 2018.

ラテンアメリカ研究年報 No.40（2020年）

7Americans, 2017). Latinos can be found all across the U.S., with concentrations of 1 million or more residents in Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida,Illinois, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York and Texas.
Education. The Hispanic dropout rate has decreased dramatically since
2000, although Latinos continue to have a higher dropout rate than whites,
blacks, and Asians (Krogstad, 2016). While 65.3 percent of Hispanics age 25and older had at least a high school education in 2014, the percentage of Hispanics age 25 and older with a bachelor's degree or higher in 2014 was
14.4% ( Hispanic Americans, 2017). Over ﬁfty percent of Hispanics attending higher education attend two-year schools or community colleges, which
contributed to the lower rates of bachelor degrees as compared to whites,blacks, and Asians (Krogstad 2016).
Language usage, English versus Spanish, varies by age. One-third of Latinos 55 years and older are Spanish dominant as compared to four percent under the age of 18 (U.S. Census, 2014). English dominant Latinos decrease byage, with a high of 37 percent English dominant under the age of 18, and decreasing to 18 percent for those 55 years and older.
Native versus Foreign-Born. Native born Latinos are in the majority inthe U.S., with 64 percent native born versus 36 percent foreign born (PEW
2012). Within the segment of foreign born, 15 percent are identiﬁed as unauthorized, that is individuals without legal documentation. According to Sesin(2019), approximately 100,000 undocumented students earn high school degrees annually. Under DACA, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals
program, undocumented students could apply to work or study without negative legal ramiﬁcations. Since 2017, under the Trump administration, no new
DACA applications are accepted, eliminating incentives for undocumented
students to obtain high school diplomas.

8Current Issues and Challenges for Latinos in the United States

Trump Administration
The U.S. presidential election in 2016 presented a negative perspective ofLatinos as described by then presidential candidate Donald Trump. On thecampaign trail, Latinos were infamously cast as violent gang members, illegal border-crossers, job stealers, drug addicts, and immigrants having anchor
babies as a ploy to remain in the U.S. Political analysts posited that the fueling of resentment against immigrants helped to place Trump in the WhiteHouse (Tobar 2018). After Trump s election, Latinos reported that their situation in the U.S. had deteriorated as compared to the previous year. Approximately 66% foreign born Latinos and 43% U.S. born Latinos worry that they,a family member, or a close friend could be deported (PEW 2018). Additionally, four in ten Latinos have experienced discrimination based on their perceived Latino ethnicity. A 2016 poll found that 77% of Latinos in California
viewed Trump negatively and in fact Trump s negative campaign against Latinos spurred a resurgence of Latino activism (Carcamo, Vives, and Knoll
2016).
Trump campaigned on building a border wall between the U.S. and Mexico. This proposal was opposed by the Democrats as it was paired with immigration policies that would end or dismantle family-based migration (Shear2019). The Trump administration immigration policy made it more diﬃcultfor families to claim asylum at the border and gave authorities the power todetain families for unlimited periods. Implementation of these policies saw asurge of family separations, with infants, children, and adolescents held indetention, separated from parents who were often deported back to theirhome countries. The detention of immigrant and refugee children has resulted in deaths numbering in the thousands, and separations that at times resulted in immigrant children being adopted by U.S. families without due process. The Trump Wall and immigration policies fostered fear and bigotry,ラテンアメリカ研究年報 No.40（2020年）

9based on a power and cultural hierarchy that advocates for white supremacy;
creating a cultural divide not only between U.S. and Mexico, but also between Christians and Muslims, heterosexuals and homosexuals, whites andAfrican Americans (Yang 2017).
With life becoming more diﬃcult for Latinos in the U.S. under President
Trump s leadership, the question of new and future leadership emerges.
Future Leadership
In light of the demographics and policy realities under the Trump administration, what leadership will be required in the future to move towards moreequitable and just conditions for Latinos in the U.S.? What would the impact
be of electing a Latino/a president? When would that even be possible? Popular opinion posited that by 2020 (30%) or by 2024 (38%) a Latino president
could be elected in the U.S. (Lily 2012). These poll results beg the questionof whether a female president, a Latina, could be elected. The current landscape has seen the appointment of a Latina, Justice Sonia Sotomayor, to theU.S. Supreme Court, and the election of a Latina, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez,to U.S. Congress. In the current 2020 congressional senate race in Colorado,a young Latina in her 30 s, Lorena Garcia, petitioned to get on the ballot forthe 2020 primary election. These three Latinas begin to deﬁne a presence of
Latina leadership in the U.S., and perhaps a forecast of what might be diﬀerent if more Latinas were in leadership positions.
What is required given the complexity of divisions in the U.S., is a leader
that will be unifying across demographics, religion, and cultural perspectives.
These Latinas follow on the pioneering leadership of the Latina activist Dolores Huerta. A leader advancing the cause of migrant farm workers in California, Huerta, emerged as symbol of the power and strength of Latina leadership. A farm worker herself, emerging from La Colonia in Parlier, California,

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Current Issues and Challenges for Latinos in the United States

Huerta championed civil rights for laborers alongside Cesar Chavez, initiallyin the San Joaquin Valley, and then nationally. The emergence of Latinas inelected oﬃces and appointed positions gives hope that a change in leadershipis slowly emerging and may bring beneﬁcial, unifying change in the U.S.
While male leadership has dominated the ﬁeld, female leadership has rivaled male leadership for eﬀectiveness. Characteristics emerging in female
leaders includes the strength of inclusion, and holding a radar view of problems and solutions, as opposed to a laser view characteristic of men. These
female characteristics may serve to unite a broader constituency, rather thandivide us. The leadership elements of belonging, power, and culture could
serve as the heart of a leadership renaissance. With the growing Latino/apopulation in the U.S., there is a need to acculturate and integrate, as opposed to assimilate or diminish. A leader that values inclusion and canstrengthen the sense of belonging of all residents in the U.S. will be a force
to be reckoned with. Viewing power as a source of unlimited potential as opposed to a limited resource for a few, with inculcate the value of growing everyone s capacity to contribute to a greater good. And ﬁnally, seeing culture
from a strength-based perspective will allow the participation of the full diversity that currently resides in the U.S.
Identity, immigration, and education were three themes used to capture thecomplexity of the Latino/a experience in the U.S. Reﬂecting on how these
themes continue to shape the landscape for the lived experience of Latino/asin the U.S., a renaissance in leadership is proposed. Leadership that exempliﬁes unifying characteristics is needed now more than ever in the U.S. My
lived experience underscored the presence of the three themes over time, anddemonstrated that although change has occurred, these three themes continue
to play a central role in understanding the complexity of the Latino experience in the United States.

ラテンアメリカ研究年報 No.40（2020年）

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