Latinos in the New Millennium: An Almanac of Opinion, Behavior, and Policy Preferences

449 Pages·2011·3.62 MB·English

by  Luis R. Fraga

LatinosintheNewMillennium
AnAlmanacofOpinion,Behavior,andPolicyPreferences
LatinosintheNewMillenniumisthemostcurrentandcomprehensive
profile of Latinos in the United States to look at their social charac-
teristics, group relations, policy positions, and political orientations.
Theauthorsdrawoninformationfromthe2006LatinoNationalSur-
vey (LNS), the largest and most detailed source of data on Hispanics
in America. This book provides essential knowledge about Latinos,
contextualizing research data by structuring discussion around many
dimensionsofLatinopoliticallifeintheUnitedStates.Theencyclope-
dicrangeanddepthoftheLNSenabletheauthorstoappraiseLatinos’
groupcharacteristics,attitudes,behaviors,andviewsonnumeroustop-
ics. This study displays the complexity of Latinos, from recent immi-
grantstothosewhosegrandparentswerebornintheUnitedStates.
Luis R. Fraga is Russell F. Stark University Professor and Professor
ofPoliticalScienceattheUniversityofWashington.Healsoservesas
Associate Vice Provost for Faculty Advancement and Director of the
DiversityResearchInstitute.
JohnA.GarciaisResearchProfessorandDirectorofCommunityOut-
reach,Inter-UniversityConsortiumattheInstituteforSocialResearch,
as well as Faculty Associate in the Center for Political Studies at the
UniversityofMichigan.
Rodney E. Hero is Professor of Political Science at the University of
California,Berkeley.
MichaelJones-CorreaisProfessorofGovernmentatCornellUniversity.
ValerieMartinez-EbersisProfessorofPoliticalScienceattheUniversity
ofNorthTexas.
GaryM.SeguraisProfessorofAmericanPoliticsandChairofChicano/a
StudiesatStanfordUniversity.

Latinos in the New Millennium
An Almanac of Opinion, Behavior,
and Policy Preferences
LUIS R. FRAGA
UniversityofWashington
JOHN A. GARCIA
UniversityofMichigan
RODNEY E. HERO
UniversityofCalifornia,Berkeley
MICHAEL JONES-CORREA
CornellUniversity
VALERIE MARTINEZ-EBERS
UniversityofNorthTexas
GARY M. SEGURA
StanfordUniversity
cambridgeuniversitypress
Cambridge,NewYork,Melbourne,Madrid,CapeTown,
Singapore,Sa˜oPaulo,Delhi,Tokyo,MexicoCity
CambridgeUniversityPress
32AvenueoftheAmericas,NewYork,NY10013-2473,USA
www.cambridge.org
Informationonthistitle:www.cambridge.org/9781107638730
(cid:2)C LuisR.Fraga,JohnA.Garcia,RodneyE.Hero,MichaelJones-Correa,
ValerieMartinez-Ebers,andGaryM.Segura2012
Thispublicationisincopyright.Subjecttostatutoryexception
andtotheprovisionsofrelevantcollectivelicensingagreements,
noreproductionofanypartmaytakeplacewithoutthewritten
permissionofCambridgeUniversityPress.
Firstpublished2012
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
AcatalogrecordforthispublicationisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary.
LibraryofCongressCataloginginPublicationdata
Latinosinthenewmillennium:analmanacofopinion,behavior,and
policypreferences/LuisR.Fraga...[etal.].
p. cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN978-1-107-01722-1(hardback)–ISBN978-1-107-63873-0(pbk.)
1.HispanicAmericans–Politicsandgovernment–21stcentury.
2.HispanicAmericans–Ethnicidentity. 3.Hispanic
Americans–Attitudes. I.Fraga,LuisRicardo. II.Title.
E184.S75L3695 2011
305.868(cid:3)073–dc23 2011027735
ISBN978-1-107-01722-1Hardback
ISBN978-1-107-63873-0Paperback
CambridgeUniversityPresshasnoresponsibilityforthepersistenceoraccuracyofURLs
forexternalorthird-partyInternetWebsitesreferredtointhispublicationanddoesnot
guaranteethatanycontentonsuchWebsitesis,orwillremain,accurateorappropriate.
Contents
Acknowledgments pagevii
1 LatinosintheNewMillennium:Knowledgeand
Misperceptions 1
2 ADemographicProfileofLatinosintheUnitedStates 29
3 CoreValues:Beliefsandthe“AmericanCreed” 56
4 LatinoIdentities:CommonalitiesandCompetition 76
5 LatinoTransnationalism:ContinuitiesandBreakswith
CountriesofOrigin 101
6 IntergroupRelations:ADiverseLatinoCommunity 143
7 CivicEngagement:EnteringthePoliticalProcess 188
8 LatinoMediaandTechnologyUsage 231
9 VoterRegistration,Turnout,andChoice 248
10 EvolvingPatternsandPreferencesinLatinoPartisanship 277
11 LatinosandGenderRoleAttitudes 319
12 LatinoIssuesandPolicyPreferences 345
13 HopeandRealityinLatinoEducationalAttainment 386
14 LatinosandtheFutureofAmericanPolitics 406
Index 423
v

Acknowledgments
A book of this scope would not have been possible without the support
andcontributionsofmanypeopleandinstitutions.
We are grateful to all of our funders, including Gil Cardenas at the
Institute for Latino Studies at the University of Notre Dame and the
Anney E. Casey Foundation; Paul Brest, Hewlett Foundation; Jacque-
lineBerrien,FordFoundation;LandeAjoseandAmyDominguez-Arms,
Irvine Foundation; Geri Manion, Carnegie Corporation; Aixa Cintro´n,
RussellSageFoundation;KenMeier,PrograminEquity,Representation,
and Governance, Texas A&M University; Edward Murguia, Mexican
AmericanandLatinoResearchCenter,TexasA&MUniversity;Barbara
Sabol, Kellogg Foundation; the Joyce Foundation; the National Science
Foundation;andtheUniversityofIowa.
Wealsowanttoacknowledgethecontributionsfromthemembersof
ourNationalAdvisoryBoard.Thememberswere:LawrenceBobo,Har-
vard University; Bruce Cain, University of California, Berkeley; Robert
Huckfeldt, University of California, Davis; Pei-te Lien, University of
California, Santa Barbara; Ken Meier, Texas A&M University; Vilma
Ortiz, University of California, Los Angeles; Lisandro Pe´rez, Florida
InternationalUniversity;KennethPrewitt,ColumbiaUniversity;Ricardo
Ram´ırez, University of Notre Dame; Denise Segura, University of Cali-
fornia, Santa Barbara; Christine Sierra, University of New Mexico; and
CarlosVargasRamos,HunterCollege,CityUniversityofNewYork.
The following served as research assistants at various stages of the
project:FranciscoPedraza(nowatTexasA&MUniversity),SethGreen-
fest,AnnFrost,andChristopherTowler,UniversityofWashington;Mor-
ris Levy, University of California, Berkeley; Matthew De Carlo, Cornell
vii
viii Acknowledgments
University; Andrew Parker and Jeanette Carmen Bustamante, Stanford
University;RyanSalzman,UniversityofNorthTexas;andSalvadorPer-
alta (now at the University of West Georgia), Gabriel Sanchez (now at
the University of New Mexico), and Marcela Garc´ıa-Castan˜on (now at
theUniversityofWashington),UniversityofArizona.
We have now been working together for many years on the Latino
National Survey. This would not have been possible without the full
supportofourpartners,spouses,andchildren.Insomanyways,it’sour
familieswhoinspireustodothiswork.Thankyouandweloveyou.
1
Latinos in the New Millennium
Knowledge and Misperceptions
PurposeoftheBook
ThemesandimageryaboutLatinosintheUnitedStatesoftenfocusonthe
rapidandsubstantialgrowthofthispopulationandprojectionsaboutthe
continuingimpactofthosedemographicchangesintothefuture.Portray-
alsinpolicydebatesandthemediahavedepictedthecentralfacetsofthis
fast-growing community – where they come from, how they are trans-
formingtraditionalcentersofmigrationwithnewdestinations,thetrials
andtribulationsofmakingitinAmerica,andhowthegreaterAmerican
society and its institutions respond to Latinos – imperfectly at best. The
faces,stories,andlifeexperiencesofLatinostendtobeportrayedlargely
through sketchily drawn caricatures of working-class, immigrant-based
communities trying to find an economic foothold to achieve the Amer-
ican dream; yet also holding steadfastly to traditions, cultural beliefs,
and practices that sometimes fit uncomfortably with contemporary
America.
But how accurate are these sketchy images, individually and collec-
tively? What is the reality of the Latino experience in the United States?
HowcanwebetterunderstandtheviewsandperspectivesofHispanicsin
Americansocietyregardingsuchissuesaseducation,politics,andpublic
policy? What hard evidence can be brought to bear on this large, grow-
ing,andcomplexpopulationthatwouldhelpussituatethegroupinthe
Americanpolity?
This volume sets out a broad-based profile of Latinos in the United
States, including their social characteristics, group relations, policy
positions, and political orientations. It draws on and provides a guide
through the abundant information contained in the Latino National
1