Majorities are the New Minorities Gregory Rodriguez, author of, Mongrel America, evaluates the importance of ethnicity

y in the United States. Describing racial categories as, increasingly irrelevant, Rodriguez contributes the exponential growth of the Mexican-American population as the cause of change in Americas viewpoint regarding ethnicity (Rodriguez, Mongrel America). Indeed, the Mexican-American or Latino population has disproportionately increased in comparison to other minority groups, which has resulted in the creation of several minority-majority cities in states, including California, New York, Texas, and Florida (The U.S. Census Bureau). Although minoritymajority cities, such as Los Angeles, New York, Houston, and Miami have the possibility to increase opportunities for all minorities, these attempts often are unsuccessful. A signicant proportion of Latinos and other minority groups, including African-Americans and Asians, who reside in these cities endure the lack of basic resources, which results in an unequal opportunity for success (Price-Spratlen 311). While the Latino population is considered the majority in urban areas, limited congressional representation hinders their ability to maintain legislation used to combat several socio-economical issues. In order to alleviate these disparities, it is necessary to consider increasing minority representation at both the state and federal level to facilitate congressional reform for education, poverty, and discrimination. Education in urban areas for minority students often lack the foundation required to provide a quality learning experience. Inadequate resources, deteriorating institutions, and the presence of crime are several contributors, which hinder public education in minority-majority cities (Zhou 140). Furthermore, federal and state funding for school districts has historically contributed to the inequality of public education. According to Rupert Richardson, the state of Texas enacted legislation in the 1990s to allow property taxes to assume the majority of local school districts expenses, which eventually resulted in a disproportion of education funding (387). While afuent districts received an average of $49,000 per student, economically disadvantaged urban districts received a mere $5,900 per student (Richardson 387). While this is a grave injustice, states such as California and Texas were the rst to repeal their afrmative action legislation as, it [was] no longer clear what diversity [meant] or what the goals of integration policies should be (Rodriguez, Mongrel America) . Unfortunately, the absence of legislation to protect minoritys rights is counter-intuitive, which is evident in the actions of the Los Angeles Unied School District or LAUSD. Following the repeal of afrmative action laws in California, the LAUSD was legally allowed to deny Latino applicants admittance to their magnet program, based solely on their status as a majority in the city, although they experience a socio-economic status comparable to any other minority group in the United States (Rodriguez, Mongrel America). Poverty in urban areas has historically been a social issue, which has restricted the lives of minorities for decades. Although poverty affects all ethnicities throughout the nation today, Latinos have one of the highest minority poverty rates in the U.S. at 21.9% (The U.S. Census Bureau). While the majority of minorities are concentrated in urban areas and have political power to elect minority representatives, signicant progression to reform legislation is often difcult. Most congressionally elected ofcials are represented by whites, who are the overall majority of the U.S. population (Richardson 372-373). Ironically, minority representatives themselves become minorities within a legislative body, either at the state or federal level. Therefore, increasing funding for subsides and entitlement programs, in order to assist the poor are regularly met with a large opposition. The poor, who would benet most from these programs, instead suffer from a lack of sustainable resources, including food, healthcare, and housing (Price-Spratlen 311). When coupled with unemployment or underemployment, the issue of poverty among minorities worsens due to unmet needs (Zhou 143). According to Haya El Nasser, even when Latinos or other minorities become more afuent, most remain in poorer neighborhoods, thus unable to fully reap the rewards of their success (Nasser, Richer Minorities). Unfortunately, this demonstrates to other individuals within these communities that if success is indeed acquired, ones socio-economic status does not improve. Therefore, many minorities assume that there is no need to seek higher-education in order to acquire success,

because the idea itself will be in vain. Discrimination, coupled with poverty, has hindered Latinos and other minority groups in the United States. From the Jim Crow Era to the present, discriminatory practices against minorities have affected their ability to attain wealth, political power, and a higher socio-economic status (Blake, Race and Money). With the repeal of afrmative action laws, several states including California and Texas are no longer legally responsible to provide preferential treatment for those who are minority-majorities (Rodriguez, Mongrel America). Moreover, the need for afrmative action laws is apparently benecial to minority in several areas, including employment, education, and housing under equal opportunity legislation (Price-Spratlen 311). Advocacy organizations, such as the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), have urged congressional leaders to protect the civil rights of all minorities, including African-Americans and Latinos. The NAACP and LUCLA, created in the 1900s has over 1 million active members, and has facilitated several ground-breaking cases for the rights of minorities, including Brown vs. Board of Education Topeka, Smith vs. Allright, and Mendez vs. Westminster (Price-Spratlen 305; Richardson 288, 354-356). With the repeal of afrmative action legislation in minority-majority states, these advocacy organizations must increase their work to ensure that the rights of minorities are maintain. In the meantime, discrimination will progress as future court cases will determine the lives of minorities in America. Minority communities, with emphasis on the Latino population, are a continuously growing socio-economic class in the United States. In 2050, minorities are predicted to be the majority population in the U.S. (The U.S. Census Bureau). While a signicant portion of minority-majority cities are comprised of Latinos, to consider that their population no longer suffers from socio-economical disparities, because they are a majority in various cities is insufcient. This notion ignores the social issues that the Latino and other minority communities regularly endure. In order to change these disparities, minority groups must have additional representation in congressional bodies, both at the state and federal level, to ensure that their interests are met. Unfortunately, these disparities will increase, unless more representation is provided for these groups. Minority-majority states, such as California, Illinois, and Texas, will continue to endure disparities, such as a 50% high school graduation rate for Latinos, poverty rates of over 24%, and a disproportion of education funding between urban and suburban areas schools of $40,000 per student (The U.S. Census Bureau; Richardson 387). While it is claimed that the Untied States is becoming a, Mongrel America, it is not because of racial-mixing (Rodriguez, Mongrel America). There is evidence to consider that the cause is attributed to the social suppression of minorities in the U.S. If society is determined to reform these injustices, it must recognize the issues and reform legislation to reect its goals. Works Cited Blake, Rich. "Race and Money: Study Finds Wealth Gap Between Blacks and Whites Has Quadrupled" ABC News (2010). Web. 06 August 2011. Nasser, Haya El. "Richer minorities seen living in poorer neighborhoods USA Today (2011). Web. 07 August 2011. Price-Spratlen, Townsand. The Urban Context of Historical Activism: NAACP Depression Era Insurgency and Organization-Building Activity. The Sociological Quarterly 44.3 (2003). JSTOR. Web. 07 August 2011. United States Census Bureau. Fact Finder Sheet for a Race, Ethnic, or Ancestry Group U.S. Census Bureau (2010). Web. 06 August 2011. Zhou, Min. Underemployment and Economic Disparities among Minority Groups Population Research and Policy Review 12.2 (1993): 139-57. JSTOR. Web. 05 August 2011.

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