African Americans and Hispanics working together as one monority to address political, cultural, communication, and community can make a huge impact on improvements for both communities. Views and opinions pertaining to these issues should be similar for both groups because of the common struggles with poverty, employment, education, immigration, healthcare and **** in the communities. At a political standpoint, the majority of African Americans and Hispanics side with the Democratic Party but party choices do not always represent political positions in the ethnic community. According to Zogby International, 80% of minorities, in which the majority are African American and Hispanic, support liberal issues such as using the federal surplus to provide health insurance for the uninsured. Hispanics alone make up 22.4 million of the US population (1990 U.S. census) so imagine how the voices of Hispanics and African Americans combined can make a difference in America. Strengthening the relationships between African Americans and Hispanics within the US is something that is very important to these two communities. Both these populations are from the African decent which is relevant and visible in their communities today. The problem is ignorance to the different values and different styles of life between these cultures. Understanding each other’s history and also fully understanding each other’s common struggles could help solve this problem. One approach to strengthening the relationships is by educating. Holding forums in communities, where the majority of the population is African-American and/or Hispanic, explaining each ethnic’s background and the different problems going on in both communities and most importantly showing how working together could make a vast difference. Historically Black College and Universities need to continue to support the needs of African American students and the needs of the growing Hispanic population because Blacks and Hispanics today are constantly reaching boundaries that were never reached before. We have African American and Hispanic Governors, Mayors and possibly will have an African American President. These are accomplishments the world would have never imagined fifty or sixty years ago. Education is the key to this success and now that minorities are proving their excellence, providing support to these ethnic backgrounds will just encourage this process. Black Colleges and Universities can do numerous things to continue to support African Americans and Hispanics in education. One major approach would be to continue offering scholarships and Fellowships. Funding education is a huge problem in African American and Hispanic communities. Being able to pay for college would be a huge push towards promoting higher education for Blacks and Hispanics to continue to bring forth prestigious and highly motivated individuals within the US.
