Hispanic Community College Attendance Decreases in 2020-21
Enrollment of Latinos at U.S. Community Colleges fell by 10.6 percentage points overall according to a May 2021 report of the Education Trust in Washington DC. Hispanic men’s enrollment fell nearly a whopping 17 percentage points versus a decline of 6.2 percentage points for Latinas. Those figures are not expected to get much better this Fall with many community colleges announcing in late summer they were going to stay remote and masked. The gender difference reflects a general trend in college that is being noted in all news media recently: Some 60 percent of college attendees overall are female and that is the same regardless of race or ethnicity. Part of the reason may be that many students from financially struggling homes are attracted by many entry-level jobs and jobs only needing certificates, that are now aggressively recruiting with minimum pay at $15 or more, some offering bonuses. Some educational critics write that colleges have become “over feminized”.
Hispanic Voters, Legislators Leaning Conservative?
Liberal Democrats seem to be getting worried about Hispanic voters -- a demographic that, like Black voters, Democrats have taken for granted as “theirs” for decades. But the Democrats’ long-standing assumption is starting to look less secure. According to the PEW Research Center, “although Biden won the Latino vote with a 59-38 percent margin over Trump in 2020, he trailed Hillary Clinton’s 2016 margin by 17 points”. Now even the Wall Street Journal in an editorial on Sept. 17 questioned “Are Latino voters tiptoeing right?” “The dip of especially Hispanic men (voters) was evident,” writes the WSJ.
It has long been said that Hispanics, especially over the age of 50, are natural American conservatives: oriented towards small business entrepreneurship, not government bureaucratic careers; and valuing close extended families and their religious faith (about half are Catholic, but there is a large proportion of Hispanics in Arizona, Utah, New Mexico, Idaho and even California who are Mormon; Texas has a large proportion of Hispanics who are evangelicals and Southern Baptists - Ted Cruz for example - as well as Sephardic Jewish).
There is no doubt that the 57 Hispanics in Congress (including those of mixed race) are diverse. Of the 95 members of the progressive caucus, only 2 (about 2 percent) are Hispanic while of the 19 members of the Democratic Blue Dog coalition – who favor low federal debt and immigration enforcement -- four are Hispanic (about 20 percent). In national polls on various issues, Hispanics regularly rank jobs, health care, educational opportunities (including charter schools that the Democratic leadership - especially teachers’ unions – oppose), and the economy as their top issues. Many lean libertarian, supporting small government that still secures the national border. More Latinos than Blacks serve in the U.S. military; many become police officers after their service. The majority of male border patrol officers are of Mexican and Central American heritage.
Many young Hispanics may approve of the Democrats’ push for free community college education and seniors for more Medicare benefits, although they don’t want to pay higher taxes. But most Hispanics have mixed feelings about illegal immigration. However, the top issue for Latinos that Democrats rarely mention at Latino voter rallies, is abortion. “Pro life is the number one issue we hear most about from Hispanic voters”, says Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick. Congressional Hispanic Caucus leader Henri Cuellar of Texas was the only Democrat to vote against the abortion rights bill passed in Congress Sept. 24—the “Woman’s Health and Protection Act” (WHPA). Tightening laws against abortion, if not banning it altogether, having school choice and protecting the border are the three most cited reasons Latinos give for voting Republican.
Yet on Tuesday Sept. 21, President Biden, along with nine aides, met with 12 Latino organization leaders to talk about the Democratic agenda for Hispanics emphasizing voting rights and relaxing immigration enforcement. Democratic leaders plan to expand the party’s outreach to Hispanics in every state well before the Nov. 2022 midterm elections, even though Hispanics in many red states oppose vaccinations and masking, a strong Biden issue. Will such issue disconnects impact the governor’s election in Virginia on Nov. 3, 2021? At press time the former Democratic governor Terry McAuliffe is now unexpectedly in a dead heat with Republican Glenn Youngkin, who particularly supports charter schools, tightening immigration enforcement and abortion restrictions as well as allowing individual choice on children wearing masks in schools.
Hispanic Heritage Fiesta in DC “Devela” (unveils) Spanish Heritage.
The colorful, dance-filled street FiestaDC2021 held Saturday Sept. 21 in DC to celebrate Hispanic Heritage month was covered by many local newspapers as a happy diversion from the demonstrations nearby on the Capital Mall protesting the imprisonment of Jan. 6 Capital protesters, and supporting voting rights legislation. The happy Hispanic fiesta was featured in the Washington Post Spanish language newspaper Washington Hispanic, as a joyous event, unveiling the heritage of Hispanics: “costumbres y tradiciones que develan la herencia hispana”.
