LatinaLista — Many politicians like to invoke the facts that “we are a nation of immigrants” or that our nation was built on the back of immigrants. Either phrase implies that people from all over the world have had and continue to have a hand in being a part of our nation’s history.
Those simple facts have had a profound impact on the racial makeup of our country. In fact, a Brookings Institute analysis cites the US Census projection that by 2045 the United States will be “minority white.”
During that year, whites will comprise 49.7 percent of the population in contrast to 24.6 percent for Hispanics, 13.1 percent for blacks, 7.9 percent for Asians, and 3.8 percent for multiracial populations.
The fact that we are a diverse nation is not lost on the younger generation. After all, it’s this generation fueling the ‘minority majority’ in the not-too-distant future. Neither is it lost on today’s youth that when it comes to including a diverse line-up in government, media, Silicon Valley, management, corporate boards, universities, etc., their faces aren’t there. Faces that look like them or their friends and families. Faces that mean communities of perspectives aren’t just being represented but being heard.
Seventeen-year-old Julianna Portillo-Del Valle of Miami, Florida noticed this lack of diversity. She feels the issue is too important not to speak up. So, she decided to speak out.
