Latino Youth and Politics :: essays research papers fc

We The Americans... As inhabitants of the United States and the world, we the young hispanics, latinos, and chicanos of America need to take a stand against those who would rule this country with disregard for our development as an appreciated and respected culture. Our parents have fought their whole lives to give us what we need to survive, but now is our time to fight. Even today, in our nation that is so focused on "equality" there is a silent prejudice that is tearing our country apart at the seams. As a country, we have made great strides toward learning to understand each other, but understanding is not enough. Our president George W. Bush and many others in power today are only doing what has to be done in order for us to maintain silence and keep working. Now, through education, political activism, youth leadership, and action, we will grow as a people. I fully believe that education is the key to the progression of our civil and human rights. Hispanics are a very intelligent people, now we must use the opportunities available to us to teach ourselves and our children how to be strong. According to the National Council of La Raza, the leading organization dedicated to the betterment of hispanic lives, "no issue is of greater concern to the latino community than the low educational status of its children." In today's schools, latinos are becoming a large minority in many schools due to the fact that "more than one third (35.7%) of Hispanics are under 18 years of age"(NCLR 9). Did you know that the "number one candidate to drop out of high school is latina girls"(NCLR 3). These are our mothers and daughters, the ones who teach and care for our children. How can we let our children be raised by uneducated women? Our children are learning in schools that are "overcrowded, underfunded, and ill-prep ared to provide rigorous academic instructional and intervention services"(NCLR 9). Since George W. Bush has basically shown in his budget proposal that he is not interested in helping latinos with their education, by this I mean he has not chosen to increase funding of any of the latino focused educational budget items, and he has even chosen to cut the funding of the number one college preparation program for low income areas GEAR-UP by 68 million dollars or 1/4 of their budget (White Paper 5).