Though Latinos are the largest non-white demographic in the U.S., our federal government is disproportionally white. In early 2020, less than 10% of the U.S. House of Representatives were Latino, despite Latinos making up 18.5% of the population. Only 4 of 50 U.S. senators were Latino. But that’s starting to change. In the November 2020 election, voters elected more Latinos to Congress, both Republicans and Democrats. Although Latino representation in Congress still needs improvement, the election of these representatives signifies progress.
Which Latinos Were Elected?
Voters elected Latinos to both chambers of Congress. New Mexicans elected Democrat Ben Ray Luján to the Senate, making him the 5th Latino senator. He will join senators Bob Menendez (D-New ...
The prospect of homeownership remains out of reach for many Latinos as incomes fail to keep up with rising property values. The community land trust model is a shared ownership model designed to protect people, neighborhoods, and businesses at risk of gentrification and displacement due to development and the upward pressure of urban land markets. This model can be used for housing, small businesses, agriculture, and community resources. There are roughly 277 community land trusts across the US, many addressing housing instability. Community land trusts could play an important role in supporting economic recovery during and after COVID-19.
Unfair Urban Land Markets Leave Many Families Behind
Property rights in America were not created equal. They have excluded Latinos, ...
Apply now for the 2021 Éxito! Latino Cancer Research Leadership Training program and optional $3,250 internships from the Institute for health Promotion Research (IHPR) at UT Health San Antonio! Each year, Éxito! recruits 25 U.S. master’s level students and professionals to participate in a five-day, culturally tailored Éxito! summer institute to promote pursuit of a doctoral degree and cancer research. COVID-19 postponed the 2020 Éxito! program. Now applications for 2021 are open with limited spots available. At the next Éxito! summer institute, set for June 7 -11, 2021, in San Antonio, participants will interact with Latino researchers, mentors, and doctoral experts. They will learn about Latino cancer, succeeding in a doctoral program, and the diversity of careers ...
The CVS Health Foundation, American Heart Association, Alliance for a Healthier Generation have launched a new initiative to help reduce vaping in schools. The Tobacco-Free Schools Initiative gives schools resources that focus on positive reinforcement for tobacco cessation and prevention, rather than traditional forms of punishment. Addressing the rise in vaping and e-cigarette use for young people is urgent. “Youth vaping is one of the biggest obstacles we face in helping to create the first tobacco-free generation,” said Eileen Howard Boone, SVP of Corporate Social Responsibility and Philanthropy, CVS Health and President, CVS Health Foundation, in a press release. “Coming together with the American Heart Association and Healthier Generation allows us to support ...
You don't have to stop smoking in one day. Start with Day 1. On Thursday, Nov. 19, 2020, you can join thousands of people who will begin their smoke-free journey with the Great American Smokeout. This annual event from the American Cancer Society encourages smokers to make a plan to stop smoking. Need help? Sign up for Quitxt, a free English or Spanish text-message service that turns your phone into a personal "quit smoking" coach from UT Health San Antonio. To join Quitxt, text "iquit" (for English) or "lodejo" (for Spanish) to 844-332-2058. "For the Great American Smokeout, we're excited to share Quitxt to provide real-time help with motivation to quit, setting a quit date, handling stress, and much more, all on your phone," said Dr. Amelie G. Ramirez, director of the ...
As Latinos became the largest racial/ethnic minority in the U.S., researchers expected them to have a larger turnout in the 2020 Election compared to previous years. They were right — 20.6 million Latinos voted this year, a 63% increase from the last presidential election. While Latino voter turnout usually ends up being less than half of eligible voters, 64% of eligible Latinos turned out to vote. The majority of Latinos voted for Joe Biden, but a growing number of Latinos voted for Donald Trump, surprising many Democrats and media outlets. As we reflect on the 2020 Election, we find several takeaways about the Latino voting bloc: Latino voters vary in gender and age, the number of Latino voters increases each election, and the diversity within the Latino community ...
The United States continues to see record-high rates of new coronavirus cases for a single day. The majority of those infected—a single-day record 144,000 new cases on Nov. 11 after a then-record 136,000 cases on Nov. 10 and 125,000 new cases on Nov. 6—come from the Latino community. Worse, that community has also experienced the pandemic’s harshest outcomes, including economic impacts, social upheaval, and, most significantly, mortality rates. The hard data, which illustrates the unthinkable disparities hurting people of color amid COVID-19, should aptly illustrate these problems, according to Dr. Rogelio Sáenz, a professor of demography at the University of Texas at San Antonio. “One thing is certain,” Sáenz writes in a recent piece for Poynter. “Americans of ...
Across the board, Latinos are underrepresented in clinical research. Without adequate Latino and minority representation in clinical trials, researchers cannot find differential effects among groups nor advance public health and medicine. To address this, researchers across the country, like those at the Glenn Biggs Institute for Alzheimer’s and Neurodegenerative Diseases at UT Health San Antonio, are creating educational interventions to recruit certain racial/ethnic groups in diseases like Alzheimer's that are on the rise among minorities. "Studies should represent the demographics of the country," Dr. Jonca Bull, an assistant commissioner on minority health at the Food and Drug Administration, said in a recent statement. "We need to close that gap so we can better ...
As we reach the seventh month of the COVID-19 pandemic, researchers are pointing to a new cause in an uptick of cases: pandemic fatigue. “Pandemic fatigue refers to feeling overwhelmed with still having to maintain a state of constant vigilance, in this case six months after the pandemic started, and a weariness to abide by restrictions,” according to Gavi Vaccine Alliance. Understandably, people are tired of the daily inconveniences caused by avoiding the COVID-19 virus and want their lives to return to normal. However, if we fall complacent and begin disregarding guidance from public health officials, we take part in moral disengagement and it becomes more difficult for our communities to put an end to COVID-19. When we disengage morally from safety and virus prevention, ...
