December 5, 2013
By Martha Blumm
A major demographic change is occurring in the U.S. population.
“This is starting to create a racial dialog for the first time since the John F. Kennedy era,” said George P. Bush, cofounder, Hispanic Republicans of Texas.
“African-Americans and Asians are a piece of the pie but Hispanics are going to be the overwhelming majority of minority growth until 2050,” explained Bush during a presentation at the Connect with Your Customer 2013 Illinois Commodity Conference.
Another important demographic trend is by 2030 baby boomers will be more than 65 years old.
“Anglos are having fewer children and Hispanics are having many more children, which is creating a demographic change our country hasn’t seen before,” Bush said. “Hispanics are 15 percent of our country’s population, but over 50 percent of our country’s growth because they are having more children.”
One misconception is that the growth of the Hispanic population is occurring as a result of illegal immigration, the attorney said.
“Sixty percent of the growth is coming from having children,” he added.
In 1980, the U.S. Census Bureau for the first time asked if the respondent was Hispanic. At that time, the U.S. population totaled 226 million people and 14.6 million Hispanics.
“Of the 3,100 counties, 47 counties represented the majority of where Hispanics lived in Southern California, Southern Texas, New York, Chicago and Southern Florida,” Bush said.
The U.S. population increased to 248 million people by 1990 and 22.4 million Hispanics, and 10 years later, the population reached 281 million with 35 million Hispanics. In 2010, the U.S. population reached 309 million and 50 million of them are Hispanic.
Bush, who grew up in politics, said his first political memory occurred when he was 3 years old and his grandfather, George H.W. Bush, announced in Houston he was running for president.
“The highest calling perhaps outside the military that one can take on is serving in public service,” he said.
The son of Jeb Bush has worked in a variety of campaigns, including in 1994, 1998 and 2002, when his dad ran for governor of Florida.
“My first real political experience was in 1994 working in Little Havana reaching out to the Cuban community,” Bush noted. “Although I’m of Mexican descent, I learned about grassroots politics in south Florida.”
He also was involved in the Bush-Cheney campaign in 2000 and 2004.
“I worked in southern California to help my uncle win the nomination and the general election while I was going to law school,” he recalled.
In addition to being an attorney, Bush served in the military, and he currently is a lieutenant with the U.S. Navy Reserve.
“My crowning experience was serving in Afghanistan where I learned about true leadership in the face of the enemy,” he said.
In 2008, a poll asked Hispanics to indicate their top issues as it related to the presidential election.
“The top four issues in the Hispanic community have nothing to do with immigration,” Bush said. “The top four issues, I call kitchen table issues, are education, cost of living, jobs and health care.”
These issues mirror the Anglo community, the attorney said.
“Hispanic issues are American issues,” he added.
A troubling trend is the growing spread between registered voters and eligible voters in the Hispanic community, Bush noted. In 2012, 23.7 million Hispanics lived in the U.S. and 11 million voted.
“That will be problematic for the community that wants to have a voice in Washington, D.C.,” the attorney said.
It is important for presidential candidates to reach out to the Hispanic community, Bush said.
“As a Republican, we need to get 30 percent of the Hispanic vote to win,” he added.
“President Obama beat us on the messaging and spending,” he said. “He outspent the Romney campaign by 2 to 1 for TV, online and radio.”
Bush outlined his proposals to help the Republican Party get back on track.
“The party needs to lead and champion immigration reform,” he said. “We need to deal with the huge labor shortage because it’s tough to remain competitive if we don’t recognize we have significant labor needs.”
It is important to connect with the Hispanic community well in advance of Election Day.
“We can’t show up at the Hispanic community the day before the election — we have to show up the day after election and make our presence permanent,” Bush said.
“We need to build a fresh list of candidates to get out there and run,” he noted. “We need to get back to the grassroots level.”
Bush reported that many Hispanics now own their own businesses.
“We have a growth rate in small businesses of over two times versus the rest of the U.S. population,” he reported.
However, the agricultural industry is a little different situation.
“According to a study by the Food and Agricultural Education Information System, only 4.5 percent of students studying agriculture are of Hispanic origin,” Bush said. “That is a challenge the industry faces to bring more minorities into the fold.”
It is important, he stressed, to close the achievement gap for Hispanic children.
“We need more charter school opportunities both public and private for Hispanic children,” he said.
By 2050, it is predicted the Hispanic community will represent 33 percent of the U.S. population, making it the majority minority in the country.
“It’s exciting because over 250,000 small businesses in Texas are owned by Hispanics and 2.5 million businesses in the country,” Bush said. “The values of my community are the values of this great country.”