Latinos in U.S. say Iraq war top issue

http://www.denverpost.com/headlines/ci_4800066

By Eunice Moscoso
Cox News Service
12/08/2006

Washington - U.S. Latinos believe the Iraq war is the No. 1 problem facing the country, a survey released Thursday found.

Among Latino U.S. citizens, 30 percent said the war was the most pressing issue, about 15 percent cited the economy, 8 percent said illegal immigration and 4 percent cited education, according to the independent survey funded by nine foundations, including the Ford Foundation and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.

Among noncitizens, 33 percent said the war was the top issue, 15 percent said illegal immigration, 12 percent cited the economy and about 5 percent said education.

The report also examined how Latinos identify themselves and found that 87 percent feel a "somewhat" or "very strong" Latino identity and 65 percent feel a "somewhat" or "very strong" American identity. The questions were separate, allowing respondents to choose more than one.

John A. Garcia, a political science professor at the University of Arizona and one of the researchers of the study, said the results show that U.S. Latinos feel a "multiplicity of identities."

"Identity is not an either-or possibility," he said at a forum at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, where the survey results were announced. "Being Latino is an American identity."

Findings are surprising

The survey also found that 60 percent of first-generation Latinos believe that being a Christian is "somewhat" or "very important" to being American and about 35 percent of first-generation Latinos believe that being white is a "somewhat" or "very important" to being American.

Researchers said those findings were surprising and needed further examination.

The survey also found that 51 percent of respondents said that Latino or Hispanic constitutes a different race and that most mark "other race" when asked to choose between black, white, Asian and others.

The Census Bureau considers "Hispanic" an ethnicity and stresses that Hispanics can be of any race.

The survey included 8,634 interviews with adults from a random sample of Latino households in 15 states and the District of Columbia metropolitan area. Those areas contain 87 percent of the nation's Latino residents.

Four states - Arkansas, Georgia, Iowa and North Carolina - were chosen to represent emerging Latino populations.

The survey also found:

About 34 percent of Latinos said they view President Bush "very favorably" or "somewhat favorably." Of those, a quarter said the main reason they liked him was for his policy positions, 25 percent cited his leadership, 19 percent said it was because he relates well to Latinos, 15 percent cited his commitment to his Christian faith, 9 percent cited his "likability" and 5 percent said his ability to speak Spanish.

Hispanics support the Democratic Party by a 2-to-1 ratio, but that support drops significantly when they become naturalized citizens. Among Latinos who have naturalized, 40 percent support Republicans and 39 percent support Democrats.