Washington — President Obama says the Latino community in the United States has been hard hit by the economic crisis and high unemployment, but he urged Latinos to remember the perseverance and determination that sustained earlier generations as they join other Americans in overcoming current hardships.
Speaking in Washington October 12 at a White House forum on the American Latino heritage, Obama honored the estimated 54-million-member community and said diversity “has always been America’s strength.”
The United States is richer because of their presence and the impact they have had on the country, he said.
“You’ve helped us build our cities, grow our economy, defend our country. And today, for the first time in history, there is a Latina in my Cabinet and a Latina on the bench of the highest court in the land,” the president said, referring to Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis and Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor.
That Latinos have done so much and come so far “is a testament to the vision that has sustained you,” Obama said. “It’s a vision that says maybe I never had a chance to get a good education, but I want my daughter to go to college, maybe get a second degree. Maybe I started out working in the fields, but someday I’ll own my own business. Maybe I wasn’t born in this country, but I’ll sign up to fight for it. Maybe I have to make sacrifices, but those sacrifices are worth it if it means a better life for my family.”
These values need to be remembered today, he said, because “times are especially tough right now and they’ve been tough for a while.”
Even before the 2008 economic crisis began, the United States had seen a decade of the rich getting richer, the poor getting poorer, and the middle class getting squeezed, the president said, and the Latino community knows the impact of the crisis “better than most,” since the unemployment rate among Latinos is “one of the highest in the country.”
“America should be a place where you can always make it if you try, a place where every child, no matter what they look like, where they come from, should have a chance to succeed,” he said.
“The problems we face today were a long time coming, and solving them will take time. In a global economy, it will require us to have the best-educated workforce, the strongest commitment to research and innovation, the most reliable communications and transportation networks,” he said.
The president urged Latinos to press U.S. lawmakers to approve legislation he has proposed to create more jobs, saying it would bring relief to their community and other Americans.
“We all have a stake in this recovery, and it’s up to every single one of us to fight for a better future,” Obama said.