By Ronald Wong

There have always been “Two Americas.” More than 30 years ago, Governor Mario Cuomo described a “Tale of Two Cities” during his keynote address at the Democratic National Committee. Cuomo’s speech was in response to President Ronald Reagan’s characterization of America as a, “shining city on a hill.”

“But there’s another city; there’s another part to the shining city; the part where some people can’t pay their mortgages, and most young people can’t afford one; where students can’t afford the education they need, and middle-class parents watch the dreams they hold for their children evaporate,” Cuomo declared in his keynote address.

The inequities and poverty which Cuomo spoke of in 1984 are even more dramatic today. Sadly, indeed, the rich have gotten richer, and the poor poorer.

But nothing has brought the divisions within America more to light than the recent election of Donald Trump as President of the United States and leader of the free world. America has never been more divided: divided by race; divided by class; divided by gender; and divided by most every attribute which defines human existence.

America is not only more divided, but it is more diverse and growing more diverse by the day. In the United States today, more than 21 of the top 25 most populated counties are more than 50% multicultural. In California, a majority of the population (57%) is Latino, Asian Pacific Islander (API) or African American-22.2 million out of California’s total population of 38.8 million are people of color. Latinos alone outnumber Caucasians in California (14.99 million vs 14.92 million, respectively).

Other states with more than 50% multicultural populations include Hawaii, New Mexico, Texas and the District of Columbia. Emerging majority-minority states include Nevada, Maryland, Georgia, Arizona, Florida and New York.

Immigration is fueling America’s increasing diversity. APIs are the fastest growing ethnic group in America, followed by Latinos. In California, Latinos and APIs will provide virtually all of the growth in California’s population over the next 45 years.

The U.S. Latino population topped 54 million (17%) as of July 2013, an increase of 2.1% over 2012. Meanwhile the API population grew to 19.4 million (6%), with a growth rate of 2.9%.

America’s diversity is inevitable-but are divisions as well? In our country’s brief history, we have embraced diversity; in fact, our country was built upon it. Immigration has always fueled our country’s growth and success.

Regardless of the current political climate and the views of our President, immigration has been and will always be an essential part of the American story-all of our stories; whether we are recent immigrants or have been here for generations.

Diversity is part of the American fabric. Companies which embrace and celebrate it are being richly rewarded. Here in California, most companies market and reach out to ethnic communities as a matter of course.

As the buying power and social influence of ethnic groups continues to expand, it becomes indispensable for marketers and advertisers to understand their expectations and preferences. The buying power of U.S. Latinos now exceeds $1.2 trillion annually. (Nielsen-Hispanic Spending on Packaged Goods, 2015). Latinos Consumer Spending is expected to grow by 85% over the next 10 years, compared to 50% of non-Latinos.

API buying power was $770 billion in 2014 and is expected to increase to $1 trillion by 2018. APIs are the most affluent of the multicultural segments.

In reaching the Latino and API communities it’s important to remember that these are immigrant communities and reaching them isn’t as easy as advertising in the mainstream English-language media. 90.4% of APIs speak a language other than English at home. Of that, 57.5% report speaking English less than “very well.” 74% of APIs and about half of Latino adults are foreign-born, so their preferred language may not be English.

Nearly half of people of color prefer watching ethnic television. 45% percent of all African American, Latino, API, Native American and Arab Americans prefer ethnic television, radio or newspapers to their mainstream counterparts. These “primary consumers” also indicated that they access ethnic media frequently. In addition to the 29 million “primary consumers,” ethnic media also reaches another 22 million ethnic adults on a regular basis. The overwhelming majority (80%) of the ethnic population is reached by ethnic media on a regular basis.

Communicating to ethnic audiences in their language of preference is only the first step. It’s not as easy as simple translation. To truly motivate behavioral change, sell a product, change an opinion, or create brand loyalty you have to meet the people where they are and talk to them in ways that demonstrate a sincere understanding of their hopes, their fears, their dreams and aspirations.

This is why we created Imprenta Communications Group, an award-winning public affairs, ethnic marketing and campaign firm which specializes in reaching diverse audiences. Imprenta’s mission is to empower communities of color by giving them a voice and communicating to them in ways which respects their diversity and understands their culture.

This respect of diversity and deep understanding of communities of color has fueled Imprenta’s radical growth and success. For 2 years in a row, Inc. Magazine has recognized Imprenta as one of the fastest growing companies in America. The company is also one of the most decorated public relations agencies in the country, including being recognized as the 2016 Boutique Agency of the Year, among many other awards and recognitions.

By embracing and celebrating diversity Imprenta is helping its clients succeed and win in the market place. Inclusion and tolerance has always made America a winner on the world stage - companies which are in tune to the changing dynamics and implications of a truly multi-ethnic global market will continue to thrive.

America has the most talented workforce and the strongest economy in the world. We can’t deny that our diversity as a nation has been a big part of that success - it’s a unique strength given added importance as our nation’s population becomes ever more diverse.

Whatever your political leanings or social views are, the market will speak and determine our fate. Companies that ignore or dismiss this evolution of the American consumer do so at their own peril.

Ronald Wong is the CEO of Imprenta Communications Group

A study by Renew Our Economy, org

Immigrants hail from a wider range of countries now than at any other point in U.S. history, and today, New American Economy released new research showing that a more diverse America benefits both high- and low-wage workers.

The report—an analysis of data from the U.S. Census Bureau—tracks individual workers in 160 U.S. metropolitan areas between 1991 and 2008, and measures how their wages change as their cities or workplaces become more diverse. Diversity, as defined by the authors, means that it is more likely that two people in a city or workplace, chosen at random, are from different countries. Metropolitan areas can become more diverse in multiple ways—by shrinking their native-born population, growing their foreign-born population, or absorbing immigrants from a wider variety of countries. The report shows that when diversity increases through immigration, meaningful wage benefits accrue to all workers—from the highest earners down to the lowest.

“This report should encourage the many U.S. cities and firms creating policies to welcome and integrate immigrants,” said John Feinblatt, Chairman of New American Economy. “With Congress gridlocked, local leaders are taking the initiative – and increasingly bringing the economic benefits of diversity to their communities.”

The report, The Riches of the Melting Pot: How Diversity in Metropolitan Areas Helps Grow the Wages of Low- and High-wage Workers, finds:

• Both low- and high-wage workers gain when U.S. cities become more diverse. When a city experiences a diversity boost, the average person living in the metropolitan area sees their wages rise by about 6 percent. These wage increases are broadly shared: Workers in the top 25 percent of all earners see wage increases of 6.6 percent, while workers in the bottom 25 percent of all earners experience a 7.1 percent wage boost on average.
• Increases in diversity among the highest earners in a city result in dramatic wage gains for all income groups. A diversity boost concentrated among the top 25 percent of earners in a metropolitan area results in an 18 percent wage jump for other high-wage earners in the area—or an average increase in wages equivalent to $13,000 per year. Local workers in the bottom 25 percent of earners, meanwhile, see their annual wages rise by 16.2 percent on average, or by about $4,100.
• Low-wage workers benefit from rising diversity in the bottom half of the labor market. A diversity boost among the bottom 50 percent of wage earners in a metropolitan area raises the average local wages of workers in the city overall by 1.6 percent. That effect, however, is driven by dynamics at the lower end of the labor market: While other workers see a statistically insignificant effect, the lowest 25 percent of earners see their wages rise by 2.1 percent on average.
• Increasing diversity among the lowest earners has either a positive or neutral effect on others. When the lowest 25 percent of earners in a given workplace experiences a diversity boost, the wages of other workers at that company—across all income tiers—rise. At the metro level, such a diversity boost appears to have no significant effect—either positive or negative—on the income of other local workers.

Read The Atlantic’s CityLab coverage of the report by staff writer Tanvi Misra, “Diverse Metros Mean Higher Wages For All.” Contact Sarah Doolin Roy, [email protected]

Your Editor Recommends: Look around and diversify

Hosffman Ospino, delivers the fifth annual Hispanic Innovators of the Faith Lecture

By Andrea Acosta

Hispanics in the Catholic Church are not a problem to be solved, but a blessing and an opportunity, said Hosffman Ospino in a Jan. 31 talk at The Catholic University of America in Washington.

The growing number of U.S. Hispanic parishioners puts a new face on the church, forces it to renew itself, pushes it to redefine its commitment and presents dioceses with a challenge, he said. Ospino is a professor of theology and religious education at Boston College and director of graduate programs in Hispanic ministry there. He is well-known as a leading voice in Hispanic ministry and theology.

More than 20 million immigrants from Latin America and the Caribbean are transforming the U.S. Catholic experience, according to Ospino. He calls this phenomenon a “tsunami.”

Hispanics are the fastest-growing community in the U.S. They make up the largest minority group in the country and, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, they will surpass the 132 million mark by 2050. By then, Hispanics will represent 30 percent of the nation’s total population, according to data from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

But the church has not reacted at the same speed to welcome them, according to Ospino. “Dioceses, schools and parishes have been on ‘cruise control’ for more than 70 years and a renewal, a new dynamic, is needed,” he said. “We have to read the signs of the times in light of our faith.”

Immigrants bring along families, friends, talent and treasure, he said. They form groups that adapt to faith communities, thus nurturing the church.

“They look for places to live, opportunities for advancement, and (they) did not cross the border, for the border crossed them,” Ospino said.

Explaining the immigrant experience, he stressed how common it is to find those who are part of such a long and difficult integration process say: “I’m an American, and I am Hispanic.”

Ospino also mentioned the Fifth National Encuentro on Hispanic/Latino Ministry to be held in September 2018 in Fort Worth, Texas. It will be the culmination of parish, diocesan and regional encuentros, in which the U.S. Catholic bishops anticipate more than 1 million Catholics participating over the next two years.

“We become the church we serve, that’s why the U.S. church has become a Hispanic church,” said Ospino, who is a new columnist for Catholic News Service. His monthly column, written in English and Spanish, is titled “Journeying Together/Caminando juntos,” explores topics of interest to both Hispanic and non-Hispanic Catholics.

Latino Catholics represent 71 percent of the country’s Catholic growth. During the 1960s, 10 percent of Catholics identified themselves as Hispanic; today approximately 30.4 million people in the United States self-identify their religion as Catholic and their ethnicity as Hispanic or Latino.

Ospino explained that growth comes from the nation’s Southern and Western region. He said 38 percent of parishes with Hispanic ministry are located in the South, and 23 percent are in the West. Catholic Hispanics are throughout the nation, but there numbers are growing in places such as Hawaii and Alaska, he said, adding that Canada, too, is seeing growth in its Hispanic population.

Catholic education is key to passing on the values of the Catholic faith values to succeeding generations and strengthening those values. Ospino urged school construction where Hispanics live. “It’s a unique opportunity to build and rebuild the church,” he said.

He also cautioned that because Hispanic Catholics have switched to other religions, the church cannot take it “for granted that Hispanics are to continue in Catholicism.” “The church’s present and future depend on them, so it’s important to redefine pastoral plans and commitments” to serve Hispanics, he said.

The National Catholic Educational Association reports that 15.3 percent (296,903) of students registered for the 2014-15 school year were Hispanic. That means that from the total school-age Hispanic population (12.4 million nationally), just 2.3 percent attend a parochial school. So 97 percent of school-age Hispanics grow up in a Catholic home but do not benefit from a Catholic education.

“Only 10 percent of those registered in Catholic universities are Hispanic,” Ospino added.

In the face of the booming Hispanic population, the church is called to offer Catholic education to that population, he said. Acknowledging the cost of Catholic education and the closure of numerous Catholic schools because of a lack of resources, Ospino said one solution is more lobbying for a tuition tax credits to help families meet those costs.

Saying the Hispanic church is the present and future, Ospino said church leaders should pay attention to where Catholicism is growing. Statistics show that more than most other groups in the church, Hispanics as a group baptize their children and see that their children receive first Communion, but at the same time church ministry shows resistance to that reality, he said.

“There’s a lot of energy and possibilities among immigrants,” said Ospino, referring to Hispanic youths. Hispanic immigrants’ average age is 28 years. About 60 percent of Catholics under 18 are Hispanics. Ninety-three percent of them were born in the U.S. and are not committed to the church life.

The U.S. Catholic Church is one of the most culturally diverse institutions in the country, and it will become even more diverse, according to the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate, based at Georgetown University. A USCCB-commissioned study released in late 2016 said, “Parishes, schools and colleges, hospitals, charities and other ministries need to adapt and prepare for this growing diversity.”

“We have to change the concept from a church that serves Hispanics to a church that is Hispanic, because Hispanics ‘are’ the church,” remarked Ospino.

Your Editor Applauds: Diversity