Thread: Hispanic community growing in size , diversity in central Fl

June 9, 2008


From Orlando Sentinel
Hispanic community growing in size, diversity in Central Florida
Victor Manuel Ramos | Orlando Sentinel Staff Writer
8:50 AM EDT, June 9, 2008

Orlando's Hispanic population is not only growing but also becoming more diverse.

Aside from Puerto Ricans and Cubans, who have been coming to Florida for decades, the Latino population of Metro Orlando now also includes significant numbers of Mexicans, Colombians, Dominicans and Venezuelans.

During the next 40 years or so, Hispanics are projected to continue growing in the region, the state and the nation.

It's a community that remains in flux. The Hispanic population includes immigrants from Latin America and U.S. citizens born and raised in the U.S. or its territories.



Related links
Hispanic immigrants cherish old, new cultural ties Researchers say that over time, more of them will be born and bred in the United States.

"We have a growing population of what we call 'second-generation Hispanics,' " said Jeffrey Passel, a senior demographer with the Pew Hispanic Center in Washington, D.C. "A larger and larger share of the young-adult population is going to be U.S.-born with immigrant parents. While there may be some identity as Mexican-American, Puerto Rican or Cuban-American, the fact that they are growing up here changes everything."

Those Hispanics of the future, Passel said, may by and large prefer to speak English; could have more tenuous connections to their heritage; and will likely continue to spread out beyond urban areas where immigrant communities have historically settled.

The U.S. Census Bureau used to count "Hispanics" or "Latinos" -- both terms are used interchangeably on census forms -- as Mexicans, Cubans and Puerto Ricans while lumping the rest into "other Hispanics." The "other" category has grown steadily as immigrants from other parts of Latin America seek economic opportunity and flee political and social turmoil in their countries of origin.

Puerto Ricans make up about half of the Hispanic population in Orlando, according to the latest U.S. Census Bureau figures. During the past two decades, Mexicans have become the second-largest Hispanic subgroup here. Cubans, now the fifth-largest Hispanic subgroup in Orlando, have been settling in the area since the 1970s but continue to concentrate mostly in South Florida.

Among those in the "other Hispanic" category, tracked by the census since 2000:

*Colombians, many of whom have fled their country's violence, have become the third-largest Hispanic group in Orlando.

*Dominicans, who follow Colombians in population size, have moved here from New York and their Caribbean nation in search of a middle-class lifestyle.

*Venezuelans have increasingly found their way to Orlando, in many cases seeking asylum after their country's Socialist President Hugo Ch�vez took power in 1999.

*Although smaller in numbers, thousands of Hondurans and Ecuadoreans also have settled in Orlando.

While Latino immigration -- particularly from Mexico and Central America -- has been the subject of much controversy and public-policy debate over those in the country illegally, some say the increase in Hispanics is not unlike the flow of previous generations of immigrants that made the U.S. the racially and ethnically diverse nation it is today.

"This country has been shaped by diversity," said Jos� Maunez Cuadra, director of the Latin American, Caribbean and Latino Studies Program at the University of Central Florida. "These diverse groups we see here now will at some point meld with the rest of the population, making way for other new groups to grow."


Victor Manuel Ramos can be reached at vramos@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-6186. See printed edition for chart details.

Aside from Puerto Ricans and Cubans, who have been coming to Florida for decades, the Latino population of Metro Orlando now also includes significant numbers of Mexicans, Colombians, Dominicans and Venezuelans.

I hardley call that diverse. Thats like saying a white community is diverse because we have English, Irish, and Scottish there. Glad to see they have become so open to tolerate others of their own race....now to see if any others manage to melt in.

Check out the crime rate in Orlando .... hows that for diversity

"This country has been shaped by diversity," said Jos� Maunez Cuadra, director of the Latin American, Caribbean and Latino Studies Program at the University of Central Florida. "These diverse groups we see here now will at some point meld with the rest of the population, making way for other new groups to grow."

There is nothing "diverse" about Latinos/Hispanics coming into our country illegally from Mexico and other Latin American countries. All we get are the same thing - illegal immigrants.

The problem with illegal Hispanics is that they will never "meld with the rest of the population". They refuse to become part of America or its culture. They seperate themselves off into cliques and remain that way.

Cant we have studies published by people other than Hispanics on this subject? There would be a whlole different slant, and it would be truthful.

There is nothing "diverse" about Latinos/Hispanics coming into our country illegally from Mexico and other Latin American countries. All we get are the same thing - illegal immigrants.

Exactly. All segragated in their own little conclave speaking Spanish and hiding each other out. Thats not diversity.

There is a legal American Latino population we are supposed to prioritize on fighting those Latinos who are illegal on the basis of their illegality not their Latino-ness.

Richard--very often-- I do not have a clue as to what the message is in some of your posts.
"There is a legal American Latino population we are supposed to prioritize "
Who in the world are we supposed to "prioritize"" , what does that mean??

"we are supposed to prioritize on fighting those Latinos who are illegal on the basis of their illegality not their Latino-ness"

I am not sure what that means. Did you inetrpret one of the prceding messages to be anti-Latino?? I have not seen anyone here who was opposed to anyone except based on their legal or illegal presence in out country.
Of course, I could be wrong. I do not read every post here.

Richard--very often-- I do not have a clue as to what the message is in some of your posts.

Sometimes I don't either, but then I wonder if I what I mean is clear.

In this article it's this attitude that "diversity" means they suddenly tolerate their own race from different countries. That's like saying a totally white "community" is diverse because people from Ireland and England and Wales, who all speak English, are getting along. Where's the stretch? Where's the "diversity"?

I know people from different hispanic cultures and in a way it is a stretch because they are different and don't always like each other. Kind of like the "white" Americans who didn't like the Irish when they landed. But it's not "diverse" if it's all white people who get along. That's "racism" because they don't include blacks and asians etc. It's not "diverse" when it's hispanic people who are happily living together in their "community" with legal and illegal people. I mean they aren't overcomming a drastic language barrier like whites had to, race barrier, cultural clash, relegious division, food difference to any extreem degree......that's like singing the praises of an American, Australian, Canadian and English person getting along. They have 90% more in common than they could ever have any differences even if they were different races. Because we already did the race thing and are already more racially diverse than most other countries. Does that make sense? I just don't see the real stretch to diversity that this article wants to sing the praises of. There isn't anything "diverse" about it. I mean if this is a really big deal for them and their defination of "diverse"......it just proves who the racists are because it sure doesn't include anyone really different to challenge their views.