The other day I was on long distance to Dallas and my friend asked, "Where do Hispanics go in El Paso? Are there particular restaurants or nightclubs frequented by the Hispanic population? I had to think real hard about an answer to that one. Since El Paso is over 70% Hispanic, we go anywhere we please. El Paso's community is not polarized, we're the majority in a land that was originally Mexican territory. There are many Hispanic families in El Paso that have been here since before the area became part of the United States. The real immigrants here are non-Spanish speakers. The area's four hundred years of history is a blend of Mexican and anglo cultures.
You can live in El Paso an entire lifetime without ever needing to speak English. Spanish radio, television, newspapers, and other periodicals keep Spanish speakers informed of the major events in the community. Nearly all businesses have Spanish speaking staff.
El Paso Hispanics are on bank boards, civic and community boards, city council, county board, judicial bench, medical field, legal field, public school staff and administration, and more. There are a couple of areas where we are under represented such as in business ownership and top level administration positions in the business section. Needless to say, a certain percentage of the minority group don't like it, and that's too bad. Are there certain areas of town where Hispanics tend to live more than others? There's a small barrio area in central south El Paso, and the lower valley seems to be more heavily populated with Hispanics than other areas, but even the wealthier sides of town such as the East and far West side seem to be populated by Hispanics, more or less, in accordance with the Hispanic population in town. Ft. Bliss, located within the city limits, is just about the only exception to the 70% Hispanic population.
If you ever look for a job in El Paso, you will be asked by just about every employer if you speak Spanish. This causes many "letters to the Editor" from frustrated non Spanish speakers. Of course employers are not willing to pay extra for the above average ability of bilingualism. A significant percentage of local "anglos" speak fluent Spanish. Many families with obvious Hispanic semblance carry English surnames, often Spanish is their mother tongue. The same can be said the other way around as well.
The majority of our Hispanic population identifies with the Democratic Party. But there is an active and growing Hispanic Republican organization in town. Our major is Carlos Ramirez. Of the seven representatives to City Council five are Hispanic, Jesus Terrazas, Larry Medina, Presi Ortega, Barbara Perez, and Luis Sariñana. Out of the four County Commissioners two are Hispanic, Miguel Terán and Carlos Aguilar. The Superintendents to the two largest Schools districts in El Paso, Dr. Stan Paz and Mr. Anthony Trujillo, are both Hispanic. The Director of the County Hospital is the much beloved Pete Duarte and El Paso's "favorite son" is U.S. Representative Silvestre Reyes.
Kari Hutchison, spokes person for the El Paso Independent School District, gave me some statistics on the distric's Hispanic administrators and student population. 44% of the district's administrators are Hispanic. Schools in the most affluent areas in town, the far West side, count with 68% Hispanic at Coronado High School and 48% Hispanic at Franklin High. 78% of '97 graduates were Hispanic and the district's Hispanic drop out rate is a mere .8% The district wide drop out rate is also .8% which is lower than the statewide drop out rate of 1.8% Hutchinson continued.
Martha Dominguez with the Ysleta Independent School district reports that their Hispanic student population is 86.3%, and their drop out rate is 3.7%. Dominguez adds that the district's Hispanic Administration is 56.7% and out of 2,620 graduating Seniors (May '96) 2,086 were Hispanic.
Walli Haley, Public Relations Director at the University of Texas at El Paso, explains that the Hispanic student population at UTEP is 65%. Of 792 faculty members 168 are Hispanic. Haley added that the academic area with the largest number of Hispanics is Liberal Arts and the Engineering department runs second.
Public Affairs Officer Avelarde with the El Paso Police Department says that the Police Department counts with approximately 66% Hispanic Officers and their administrative staff is approximately 42% Hispanic.
Pete Parraz, President of the El Paso Hispanic Chamber of Commerce says that out of 20,000 businesses in the area 80% are small businesses and 70% of those small businesses are minority owned.
Manuel Ochoa, Vice President of Bi-National Trade with El Paso's Chamber of Commerce, says that over 100 of the Fortune 500 companies have branches in El Paso. There is continuos trade between Juarez, Mexico and El Paso. Our economic development very much depends on the other. Money is traded back and forth. In El Paso there are just over 700,000 people and in the El Paso-Juarez Metroplex there are over 2,000,000. It is hard to distinguish between the Juarez and El Paso economies. 35% of the Gross Sales are going to Mexico.
Intermarriage between ethnic groups in El Paso is not rare but common. Everyone knows how to cook tacos and enchiladas, and Mexican food restaurants are found everywhere - sometimes next to each other. We all celebrate birthdays with Piñatas. Many churches have bilingual services. The largest Hispanic Protestant church in the country is located in El Paso.
There are no "real" borders here since most families have
members on both sides of the border. Our cities, Juarez, Mexico and El
Paso, Texas, are linked by the economy, culture, history, and by blood
relations. Paseños enjoy life in a city that is seasoned with sabor
Latino.
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