Growing Up Latina
Growing Up Latina
Volume 5, Issue 1, January 5, 2014
When I was growing up it was not until I was actually out of high school that I learned about finances, bank accounts, credit cards, and growing an income. I actually did not learn about ownership of a business until my college years and that was years after having been in college and working for a while. I was not taught at an early age about how to become an entrepreneur or an owner of my own company.
Let’s face it in the era of the 1960’s the civil rights movement was in its development and it was not until the latter part of the 1960’s that it peaked and Latino’s as well as black’s had a voice in this country. So to be realistic I had not heard or seen a Latino role model who was a millionaire or a billionaire that was a self-made business man or business woman. My image of Latino leadership was not very impressive, no offense intended but the only one who was leading the way in the Mexican-American Movement in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s was the late Cesar Chavez who was a poor man fighting for human rights of farm workers. This was not the image of a millionaire or billionaire in the least, although he was a humble and wonderful inspiration for fighting for civil rights.
From what I do know now in the present, is one of the three most wealthiest men in the world is Latino among the top ten in the world, and the top billionaire at number one spot is Carlos Slim Helu & family of Mexico who have an estimated $69 billion net worth, coming in second spot as a top Latino is Amancio Ortega who came in fifth in the world with an estimated $37.5 Billion net worth from Spain, and the third Latino in the world is Eike Batista with an estimated $26 billion who is from Sweden. To be frank though I would not have known if I had not researched it today. These men rank in the top 10 of people around the globe who are billionaires or millionaires.
So just what do we need to do is turn this on its head so that Latino and Latina kids get a fair break to understand that they could be self-made billionaires or millionaires and be an owner of a business. Too many times Latino children are taught within there culture to find a job or position that brings in a steady income but they are not taught that they could be an owner or entrepreneur who hires employees for their own business.
When I was a child I was not taught to have or shown the opportunity of having my own business for example: a lemonade stand, or a hand car wash, or even a baking business. These types of ventures were only afforded to my counterparts of Anglo-Saxon persuasion, who at the time had that ability and were afforded that ability when I was growing up during the civil rights movement. We had barely been granted the rights for equal education and equal job opportunities, in addition, to the rights to become engaged citizens of the military. It was just getting started for the Latino culture.
So what other kind of things could be taught to develop entrepreneurship for youth Latino children? Recycling is a wonderful way to start because it could be started in the home and the child could develop a plan for savings and financial freedom and opening bank accounts. This way if the adult or parents in the home want to further develop a plan for a business enterprise the child will have the ability to gather much needed finances to invest in a business plan. Starting this type of financial plan is something that a child will take into consideration as they grow into adulthood.
Another way is to get them involved in a paper route early and start an active savings plan.
If the child likes to cook one of the most lucrative and fast growing businesses of this age is a bakery or baked goods chop that could not only pay off for the parents but the children as well. Cookies could be a jumping board to bigger and better baked goods for a child to grow a business.
Education for Latino’s
Just like I mentioned earlier when I was growing up the 1960’s and 1970’s was a battlefield for education for people of color. It was a starting point that we could be educated just like our counterparts and could become leaders just like our counterparts. However, we fall short in our goals to encourage Latino children to graduate from high school. It was reported by the department of education and and recorded by The Huffington Post on 12-03-2012 that Latinos lag in graduation rates and in achievement in the United States and the largest gap is reported to be in the State of Minnesota. Considering that it is only two years old that this was reported it really sends a message that the cultural divide for Latinos is great in the educational and still needs much improvement.
However, do not be discouraged the rate of Latino graduates is increasing although slowly it is still increasing. According to the Pew Research Company as of 2011 the rate of Hispanic enrollment in college exceeded 2 million and reached a record 16.5 percent share of all college enrollments. In addition to this improvement there have been a reported increase in recent years between 1972 and 2011 that latino engagement has grown from 2.9 percent to 16.5 percent among college students. Latino’s have also made huge gains in achievement where a record 140,000 latino graduates received a bachelor’s degree in 2010, also a record 112,000 who earned an associates degree. This was recorded by the National Center for education statistics of the U.S> Department of Education (Synder and Dillow, 2012).
We also must consider the geographic of Latinos in the United States which has grown to about 50 million in the United States that has ultimately changed with more immigrants and Latino citizens. Nearly 30 million are young citizens where 6 million are Latino citizens who are ages 18 to 24, about 6 percent of the population.
One of the most outstanding rulings to date is the Law license ruling that gave Sergio Garcia a license to practice law and who is an immigrant. This allows a wonderful pathway for immigrants who studied and who are studying here in the United States to practice a trade.
References
Retrieved from the Internet
http://www.latinbayarea.com/article/3-of-worlds-top-7-billionaires-are-latinos
http://www.pewhispanic.org/2012/08/20/hispanic-student-enrollments-reach-new-highs-in-2011/
