No one knows exactly when, but sometime this spring—some had predicted March—Latinos become the largest ethnic group in California.
This is one of several milestones that will be reached regularly as Latinos become the nation’s largest ethnic group by around 2040. The U.S. Latino population reached 53 million in 2012 and is already having large effects on every facet of American society. Most Latinos in the United States are American citizens and millions of families have been here for generations.
In this column for CNN, Ruben Navarrette Jr. writes about the large and long-standing presence of Hispanics. He also deals, as others have, with the “sleeping giant” of unrealized Hispanic voting power.
These are a few of the themes we tackle in a new cultural competence guide. “100 Questions and Answers About Hispanics and Latinos,” which will be released about the time Latinos become California’s largest ethnic group.
