Coalition of Communities of Color Latino Report
Community & PSU reports detail need for urgent action to address disparities facing Latinos
(Portland, Ore.) January 24, 2011: On January 25 the Coalition of Communities of Color and Portland State University released their newest research report on the status of racial disparities facing the Latino community in Multnomah County. The event also featured the release of the policy agenda for Latino progress at the state level, with the simultaneous release of the Oregon Latino Agenda for Action (OLAA). Urgent action is needed to eliminate the inequities that exist for Latinos across the region.
Findings show troubling experiences across the community:
- · Disparities are worse here than across the nation, with incomes, poverty rates, homeownership rates and educational attainment all showing that Latinos locally are slipping behind their national comparators
- · 44% of the Latino population has not completed high school, compared with only 6% for Whites. That number is not likely to improve any time soon as only 45% of Latino students successfully graduated high school in 2010
- · Household earnings have deteriorated since 1989, while those of Whites have remained constant
- · Homeownership levels (the key engine for generating wealth) are dramatically worse locally than nationally: only 31% of local Latinos own homes, while nearly 50% of Latinos nationally own their own homes. Sixty percent of local Whites own their own homes
- · While White families experience a boost of their incomes compared with their national counterparts, Latino families experience a diminishment of their incomes – at levels as high as $6,200 less than Latinos nationwide
Recommendations include the establishment of institutional commitments and policies to identify and address racial disparities, along with redirection of funds to culturally-specific organizations which are better forms of intervention and support for Latino community members. Says the report’s author, Dr. Ann Curry-Stevens, “the depth and breadth of these inequities were surprising, revealing how urgent it is that concrete policy reforms gain priority in the region.” Coalition member, Carmen Rubio (and Executive Director of Latino Network) amplifies this urgency, saying “it is imperative that our leading policy bodies read this report and make firm commitments to progress for Latinos across the region.”
From OLAA, priorities center on the following:
- · Greater engagement and involvement of Latino parents in school
- · Fortified investments for Latino entrepreneurs
- · More substantive investments in public health and prevention education
- · Immediate measures to ensure that undocumented residents can access drivers’ licenses
Says Consuelo Saragoza, OLAA’s co-chair (and Senior Advisor to the Multnomah County Health Department), “we knew we were on track with holding this historic statewide summit when we saw how many Latino professionals it attracted and how ready people were to get to work on policy reforms.” The OLAA policy priorities are expected to inform an advocacy agenda for the coming years.
