Leonel Betancoodt came to the United States from Mexico 25 years ago. For eight years, he has been the owner of Rosticeria Cancun, a Mexican restaurant in East Boston, and despite many challenges, he says he has been successful.
Betancoodt is one of the estimated 85,000 Latinos living in Boston and 430,000 living in Massachusetts, according to 2000 U.S. Census data.
Over the past 10 years, the Latino population nationwide has nearly doubled, and Massachusetts’ Latino population has grown similarly. But as the nation celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15, Latinos in Boston, as in other parts of the country, are at a crossroads.
As their population continues to grow, Latinos face obstacles to success, such as language barriers, poverty and discrimination.
Betancoodt said he believes success is possible for those who work hard for it.
“There are enough opportunities [for Latinos in Boston]. They just have to take advantage of them,” he said in Spanish.
But for others, the obstacles facing Latinos, while not insurmountable, are hard to overcome.
Giovanna Negretti, executive director of Oiste, the Massachusetts Latino Political Organization, said it is increasingly difficult for Latinos to become successful, largely due to educational barriers.
The percentage of Latinos attending college is low, not only because of the financial burden, but because of the lack of a support network for students, Negretti said.
Often students cannot graduate from high school, or they graduate with a poor education, because parents who are working two jobs and are illiterate can’t support their children, Negretti explained.
“If you don’t have a good education, you’re not going to have significant jobs [in society],” she said.
One way of solving the problems plaguing the Latino community is through active political participation, which is what Oiste aims to achieve.
Training Latinos to run for political office, educating them on issues affecting their community and teaching them to lobby their legislators on such issues are a few of the ways Oiste works to increase what Negretti calls “civic engagement.”
Currently, there are four Latinos serving in the State Legislature: Sen. Jarrett Barrios (D-Cambridge) and Reps. Cheryl Rivera (D-Springfield), Jeffrey Sanchez (D-Boston) and Will Lantigua (D-Lawrence) Negretti said these legislators serve as role models for young Latinos.
“It’s really important to see these people not only run, but succeed,” she said.
Many Latino immigrants come from nations with tumultuous political situations, leading to a “disposition against politics,” Negretti said. “They have a very negative view of what politics means, and we have to work against that.”
But there are also Latinos coming to the U.S. with a positive attitude toward politics and a willingness to participate in civic activities, Negretti noted.
Such diversity is one of the hallmarks of the Latino community in Boston. In California and Texas, where the Latino populations make up almost half of the estimated 41 million Latinos nationwide, the Latino community is largely Mexican.
But Boston’s Latinos come from many countries, ranging from the Caribbean to Central and South America.
“There are a lot of national identity differences,” Negretti said. “The Dominican experience might be different from the Puerto Rican experience … and it’s just difficult to get people on the same page on issues.”
Carmen Garcia-Francisco, an interpreter from Hyde Park, said that disunity among Latinos is a problem, but it can be overcome.
The Latino community is less divided along national lines now than several years ago, Garcia-Francisco said, describing how people of many nationalities in Jamaica Plain came together to buy the Blessed Sacrament Church, which was going to be shut down.
“It’s good that people are united now no matter where they come from,” Garcia-Francisco said.
Besides Oiste, several other organizations serve this increasingly diverse community.
For more than 30 years Concilio Hispano has been serving Latinos by teaching English as a second language and high school graduation requirements. The organization also increases awareness about HIV and AIDS and helps non-Latinos work with the Latino community, according to Gina Plata, coordinator of Concilio Hispano’s Spanish language program.
Many Latinos don’t know how to obtain necessary services because they don’t speak English when they arrive in the U.S., Plata said.
“It’s very hard for them to be able to be self-sufficient,” she added.
Centro Latino, which is based in Chelsea but serves the Greater Boston area as a whole, also aids Latinos through education, health and economic development programs in an effort to promote “self-determination” among Latinos, according to Victor Velasquez, Centro Latino’s office manager.
Centro Latino is also helping Latinos stay in touch with their native culture. Next month the organization will have a celebration in honor of Hispanic Heritage Month that will include cultural activities, AIDS awareness programs and arts and crafts, Velasquez said.
While the challenges facing the Latino community are significant, there is no doubt that the Latino community has already achieved a certain level of success which it can build upon as it moves forward.
“We’re not a majority Latino state [in Massachusetts], but for what we are, I think we’re doing well,” Negretti said.