Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month 2010
This week I’d like to share with you a story that I’m a little embarrassed about, but given the fact that we’re celebrating Hispanic Heritage month, I feel compelled to go ahead and tell it anyway. A number of years ago, when my son, Danny, was six or seven years old, my grandfather was trying to have a conversation with him in Spanish. The questions he was asking were simple enough, yet my son would only stare back at him with a blank expression on his face. After several unsuccessful attempts to illicit a Spanish response from Danny, my grandfather reluctantly gave into English, and asked him, “When I speak to you in Spanish, do you understand what I’m saying?” My son looked him right in the eye and said, “The only thing I know how to say in Spanish is ‘casa’”. Hearing that, I knew I was in trouble. How was it possible that my son, a García-Tuñón, did not know how to speak, or even understand, Spanish? My grandfather was not pleased, to say the least, and he made me promise that I would remedy the problem.
We’ve come a long way since then – both Danny and I. While my son, now 12 years old, has improved considerably in speaking and understanding Spanish, I have come to appreciate the importance of bilingualism both culturally and professionally. But it hasn’t been easy. According to a study by the Pew Hispanic Center, “… from one generation to the next, immigrant families grow more proficient with their new language and less with their old. The 2009 National Survey of Latinos finds that these generational shifts are quite dramatic among Hispanic youths. For example, among foreign-born 16- to 25-year-olds, 48% can carry on a conversation in English, but among their native-born counterparts, the likelihood of speaking proficiently in English more than doubles, to 98% for the second generation and 97% for the third generation.” The issue, then, is not that second and third generation Hispanics have a hard time assimilating and speaking English, many of them are losing the ability to speak Spanish, if they ever acquired that ability at all. Thanks to my grandfather, I came to realize that I was actually doing Danny a disservice.
According to a recent AOL Jobs report, “Thirty-one percent of executives speak two languages. An additional 20 percent speak three languages, 9 percent speak four languages and 4 percent speak more than four. Whether companies are conducting business overseas or trying to grab a larger market share at home, employers are increasingly seeking out bilingual workers, or people with the ability to speak and communicate in more than one language. In fact, a recent CareerBuilder.com keyword search turned up more than 6,000 job postings seeking bilingual applicants. Employees who are bilingual in English and Spanish are particularly in demand.”
Those of us who are Hispanic living in Miami don’t need to read a report to know that being fluent in both Spanish and English is a tremendous advantage. For decades Miami has consistently ranked among the leading cities for Hispanics to live, work and study. As a result, South Florida has produced some of our nation’s most influential Hispanic leaders who have lifted their voices to impact the national dialogue on Hispanic issues. When considering the great strides that Hispanics are making across the entire country, I can’t help but feel a sense of pride for the contributions that our very own South Florida Hispanic businesses have made, particularly in the last fifty years, which have paved the way for Hispanics everywhere in the U.S.
On a national scale the numbers are staggering: In May 2007, the official U.S. Census estimate of the U.S. Hispanic population was 45.5 million which represents about 15% of the total U.S. population. If current trends continue, nearly 25% of the U.S. population will be Hispanic by the year 2050. The U.S. Hispanic purchasing power is growing at triple rate of the overall U.S. population increasing from $212 billion in 1990 to $736 billion in 2005, a 347% increase over the 15 year period. By 2050, some state the Hispanic consumer marketplace will be worth between $2.5 and $3.6 trillion!
Florida’s share of Hispanic businesses (190,900) come in all shapes and sizes. The Top 20 Florida companies in the Hispanic Business 500 Ranking produced revenues of $9.8 billion and employed 16,802 people in 2008. All but one of these Top 20 Hispanic companies are located right here in South Florida. In fact, Miami’s own Brightstar Corporation, managed by CEO R. Marcelo Claure, has been the number one company in the Hispanic Business 500 for several years in a row with $3.57 billion in revenues in 2008. The Top 20 list also includes several multigenerational family-operated businesses such as Coral Gables-based BMI Financial Group and , El Dorado Furniture.
In addition to the professional and financial advantages we can afford our children when encouraging them to speak and understand Spanish, there exists a much more valuable benefit – helping them preserve their culture and identity. If we teach our children and grandchildren to honor their past, understand where they come from, and appreciate the sacrifices made by their parents and grandparents, we will help them look forward to the future. That’s priceless.