2.1 Diglossia, assimilation, and bilingualism among the hispanics  (Page 14/17)

First is the demographic data. According to the data of the U.S. Census Office in the year 2000, the Hispanic population ascended to 35.2 million, which was equivalent to 12.5% of the American population, about 281 million people. The total number of Hispanics grew 60% in comparison with the census of 1990, and 25% compared with the 1970 census. With this data, the Hispanic population has become the “largest minority community of the nation,” exceeding the African-Americans in number for the first time. In 2003, the Hispanic population reached 40 million people (44 million including the inhabitants of Puerto Rico), a number that surpasses the population of Colombia (almost 41 million) and that is equal to that of Spain. Among the Latin American countries at the present time, only México, with more than 100 million, has a greater population. In a scenario of continued immigration and moderate rate of natural growth, the Hispanic population will continue to grow until reaching 25% of the North American population in 2050, equaling 103 million people.

To understand the sociolinguistic meaning of this accelerated growth of Hispanics in the U.S., one has to reflect on the derived consequences of this simple numerical amount, on the composition by ages of the population pyramid, as well as on its geographic distribution in states and cities that are crucial in the electoral processes and in the economic and cultural march of the country. Thus, by the mere fact of being more than 40 million, the Hispanic community becomes the second largest population of the Hispanic world after Mexico. This means that its degree of visibility in the American multiethnic mosaic increases considerably, and this greater presence reinforces the identifying characteristics of time that demands a greater recognition of the rest of the society.

The composition by ages of demographic structure of the Hispanics reflects a population pyramid typically youthful where the infant and adolescent groups have a remarkably superior percentage representation, not only to the adult groups, but those of the same age groups in the North American society in general and the Anglo-Saxon society individually. Inversely, the age group between 45 and 54 among Hispanics is remarkably inferior to the same age group of the total American population. If the different fertility and birth rates of the Hispanic community are added to this, including African-Americans, one must conclude that Hispanics are a group with a high growth potential and, therefore, an emergent group in scopes of the economy, politics, and culture. And although it is shown that second or third generation Hispanics demonstrate a preference for the English language, we conjectured that a series of sociological and political factors can be neutralizing that tendency.

But it is the geographic distribution of the Hispanic establishments along the U.S. that best characterizes this ethnic group as an emergent minority of growing visibility and crucial importance in the movement of electoral processes. Thus, the states with the largest percentage and absolute number of Hispanics are California (11 million), Texas (6 million), New York (3 million), Florida (2.5 million), and Illinois (1.5 million). If we consider that the mentioned states show the greatest political weight of the Union regarding the allocation of electoral votes, representing 31% of these votes, it is easy to conclude that the Hispanic vote, in spite of its little political participation to this day, can make a great difference in the balance of electoral confrontation, as it has in fact happened in the presidential elections of 2000 with a Republican victory in Florida with a Latin majority, as well as with Democrate victory in New Mexico, also with a Latin majority. It is certain that this political potential of Hispanics has not yet given all of its results in the first place because half of the Hispanic population is composed of “non-citizens;” secondly, because the Latin naturalized immigrants vote less than Hispanics born in the U.S.; thirdly, because Hispanics are concentrated in non-disputed states like California and Texas, which means that their votes have little repercussion; and fourthly, due to the structure of the electoral process, the demography growth demands the creation of districts that allow the Latinos to obtain positions at local and state level, but do not contribute to a noticeable influence in the national elections. For that reason, as affirmed by Rodolfo O. De la Garza (2004), although the demographic growth has pushed the Latinos to the center of national politics, it does not bear a narrow relation with the political influence that the Hispanic community has at this moment.