Economy Little Help to Latinos, Gore Says

Vice President Al Gore on Monday credited Latinos with helping fuel the U.S. economic boom that has raised wages, lowered inflation and created a winning climate for investment.

But Gore, at the annual conference of the National Council of La Raza, told the audience of 2,200 that Latinos aren’t sharing fully in the economic good times.

“Not enough Latinos are participating,” Gore said. “We have a lot of work to do, and we will not rest until everyone in every community shares fully.”

His comments before the conference of the nation’s largest Latino advocacy group underscored a report issued earlier in the day that showed much of the vast Latino community remains in the shadows of America’s shining economic picture of recent years.

The first-time study on Latino economic status released by La Raza shows a third of Latinos are in poverty and trail other ethnic groups in educational levels, home ownership and health insurance protection.

The nation’s Latino population is put at 32 million; in 10 years, Latinos are expected to be the largest U.S. minority.

“What happens to the Hispanic community is important to what happens to America,” said Raul Yzaguirre, president of the Latino advocacy group. “Whether America has a Social Security system that is viable, whether America has a Medicare system that is viable will be determined by Hispanics.”

Gore, who peppered his remarks with Spanish phrases, credited the ingenuity of Latinos and other groups with forging “a new economy in America” by opening domestic and foreign markets for business.

“We have renewed the American dream itself,” Gore said. “This country is better because of diversity.”

Gore said the new economy has created 12.5 million new jobs, raised incomes--including the minimum wage--and boosted the stock market by 150%.

But the sobering fact is that Latinos aren’t enjoying the benefits of the growth, Gore said.

“We must bring that prosperity to everyone,” Gore said.

Figures in the report were compiled from a range of university studies and census data. The report represents “a mixed bag” of indicators for Latinos but “the negative stuff is pretty serious,” said Sonia Perez, director of research for La Raza.

“The positives give us some promise of what we need to build the strength of the community,” Perez said.

But positives in the report are few. Chief among them are that Latino men have the highest labor participation rate, meaning they are more likely to be working or in search of work.

Another hopeful sign was that the ranks of Latino women classified as managers or professionals increased from 14.7% to 17.5% from 1990 to 1996.

But the good news was overwhelmed in a sea of statistics indicating Latinos being trapped in a cycle of low-paying jobs, poor education and a lack of health insurance that is sapping the community of its vast potential, Yzaguirre said.

“Every other group has a higher income than Latinos,” Yzaguirre said. “Hispanics are the only group that dropped in median income. We are the poorest.”

In 1995, 53.4% of Latinos graduated from high school, compared to 83% of whites and 73.8% of blacks.