Hispanics and Latinos in New Jersey
The U.S. state of New Jersey is home to significant and growing numbers of people of Latino and Hispanic descent, nearly 1.8 million,[1] who in 2018 represented a Census- estimated 20.4% of the state's total population.[2] New Jersey's Latino population comprises substantial concentrations of Dominican Americans, Puerto Rican Americans, Cuban Americans, Mexican Americans, Central Americans, Peruvian Americans, Colombian Americans, and Ecuadorian Americans.[1] New Jersey is also home to a large Brazilian American and Portuguese-speaking population.[3] The state has multiple municipalities with Hispanic-majority populations.[4] Latinos and Hispanics form one-third of the population in the largest city, Newark settling in the Forest Hill, Broadway and Mount Pleasant neighborhoods which comprise mostly of Puerto Ricans and Dominicans. The northern part of Hudson County it was nicknamed Havana on the Hudson for the large number of Cuban exiles and émigrés living there. Little Lima, in Paterson, is the largest Peruvian enclave outside of South America. Many Latino and Hispanic people have been elected to public office in New Jersey, at both the state and local levels.
Places and populations
Municipalities with majority Hispanic populations are:[5] as of the 2010 United States Census.[6][7]
Places with over 100,000 people
- Elizabeth (59.5%)
- Paterson (57.6%), which includes Little Lima and La Ventiuno
Places with between 25,000 and 100,000 people
- North Bergen (68.4%)
- Newark (33.83%)
- Passaic (71.0%)
- Perth Amboy (78.1%)
- Union City (84.7%)
- West New York (78.1%)
Places with between 10,000 and 25,000 people
- Dover (69.4%)
- Fairview (54.6%)
- Guttenberg (64.8%)
Places with fewer than 10,000 people
- East Newark (61.4%)
- Prospect Park (52.1%)
- Victory Gardens (63.0%)
Center for Hispanic Policy, Research and Development
The New Jersey Department of Community Affairs Center for Hispanic Policy, Research and Development is designed to empower the Hispanic community of New Jersey by administering grant dollars and providing other assistance to Hispanic community-based organizations, creating training and employment opportunities for Hispanic college interns, conducting and supporting research on New Jersey's Hispanic community, and ensuring Hispanic access to services and programs.[8]
Public officeholders
There are officeholders of Latino background throughout the state.[9][10]
Statewide
- Esther Salas, federal district judge for the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey
- Faustino J. Fernandez-Vina, Associate Justice New Jersey Supreme Court
- Roberto A. Rivera-Soto, Associate Justice New Jersey Supreme Court
US Congress
- Bob Menendez, United States Senator[11][12][13]
- Albio Sires, Member of the United States House of Representatives 13th congressional district
State Legislators
- Marlene Caride (1963), 36th Legislative District.
- Gabriela M. Mosquera, State Assemblywoman, 4th Legislative District
- Nilsa Cruz-Perez, State Senator, 5th District
- Annette Quijano, State Assemblywomen 20th Legislative District
- Teresa Ruiz, State Senator, 29th Legislative District
- Eliana Pintor Marin, State Assemblywomen 29th Legislative District
- Vincent Prieto, State Assemblyman 32nd legislative district, Speaker of Assembly
- Angelica M. Jimenez, State Assemblywomen 32nd Legislative District
- Ruben J. Ramos, State Assemblyman, 33rd legislative district
- Caridad Rodriguez, State Assemblywoman 33rd Legislative District[14]
- Nellie Pou, State Senator, 35th Legislative District
- Kristin Corrado, State Senator, 40th Legislative District
Hudson
- Eliu Rivera, Freeholder District 4[15]
- Rudy Garcia-appointed mayor of Union City
- Felix Roque, Mayor of West New York
Newark
The percentage of Latinos in Newark, the most populous city in New Jersey, grew considerably between 1980 and 2010, from 18.6% to 33.8%; that of blacks has slightly decreased from 58.2% to 52.4%. Hispanics or Latinos of any race were 33.83% (93,746) or one-third of the population,[16] of which 13% of the total population was Puerto Rican.[17] While municipal elections have seen black-Latino coalitions, voting tends to remain racially polarized.[18][19][20][21]
Passaic
- Alex Blanco
- Jose "Joey" Torres
- Julio Tavarez, Councilmember representing 5th Ward in the City of Paterson, New Jersey[22]
- Bernice Toledo, Passaic County Surrogate Court Judge and New Jersey State Superior Court Deputy Clerk. Elected in 2011. Re-elected in 2016.
Bergen
- Carlos Rendo, Mayor of Woodcliff Lake
- Anthony R. Suarez, served as Mayor of Ridgefield, New Jersey[23]
Middlesex
Union
- Angel Estrada[24]
- Annette Quijano
Sports and arts
- Juan Pablo Ángel, professional soccer player for the New York Red Bull (Colombian-American)
- Amado Guevara, professional soccer player (Honduran American)
- Edward Fernandez, politician (Dominican-American)
- Carol-Lynn Parente, executive producer of Sesame Street (Puerto Rican-American)[25]
- Franck de Las Mercedes, visual artist (Nicaraguan American)[26]
- Tab Ramos, US national soccer team player (Uruguayan American)[27]
- Jorge Rojas, professional soccer player for the New York Red Bull (Venezuelan American)
- Pedro Sosa, professional American football player (Dominican-American)
- Paquito D'Rivera, nine-time Grammy Award–winning jazz maestro and writer (Cuban-American)
References
- "HISPANIC OR LATINO ORIGIN BY SPECIFIC ORIGIN 2013-2017 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates". United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on February 13, 2020. Retrieved May 7, 2019.
- "QuickFacts New Jersey". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved May 7, 2019.
- "Ethnic food NJ Brazilian". EthnicNJ.com. Retrieved May 7, 2019.
- Sen-Yuan Wu, "Growing New Jersey Minority Population Reaches Majority in Some Municipalities" Archived 2014-11-12 at the Wayback Machine, NJ Labor Market Views issue #7, NJ Department of Labor and Workforce Development, May 16, 2011.
- "Census data shows Hispanics as the largest minority in N.J."
- Census factinder for 2010 census retrieved 2014-07-13
- "Census report on Hispanic population based on analysis of 2010 U.S. census" (PDF).
- "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2010-02-08. Retrieved 2014-07-25.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
- "The 51 Most Influential Latinos in N.J. Politics, Elected and Nonelected". September 29, 2015.
- Gray, Jerry; Times, Special To the New York (February 23, 1991). "Hudson County a Harbinger of a New Hispanic Influence" – via NYTimes.com.
- "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2015-04-07. Retrieved 2015-04-04.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
- "Robert Menendez, a Politician Even at 20" The New York Times, December 10, 2005
- Wayne Parry, Associated Press (via the San Francisco Chronicle), Menendez Inspires Pride in Cuban-Americans, December 8, 2005
- "Candidates for November 3, 2009 General Election". Hudson County Clerk. Archived from the original on July 18, 2011. Retrieved April 5, 2010.
- "María DeCastro Blake Community Service Award 2007 Honoree". The Newark Public Library. 2007. Archived from the original on July 16, 2011. Retrieved April 5, 2010.
- Suarez, Monica (November 4, 2013). "Luis Quintana sworn in as Newark's first Latino mayor". NBC Latino. Retrieved 2013-11-29.
- "Profile of General Population and Housing Characteristics: 2010 for Newark city, Essex County, New Jersey". Census 2010. United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on 2020-02-12. Retrieved 2013-12-02.
- Perry, Ravi K (editor); Gillespie, Andra (2013), "Beyond Booker: Assissing the Prospect of Black and Latino Mayoral Candidates in Newark, New Jersey", 21st Century Urban Race Politics: Representing Minorities As Universal Interests, Emerald Group PublishingCS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
- Gillespie, Andra (2012), The New Black Politician: Cory Booker, Newark, and Post-Racial America, New York University Press, ISBN 978-0814732441
- Giambusso, David (September 22, 2013). "With Newark council president vote, Ras Baraka could win Latino support". The Star-Ledger. Retrieved 2013-12-04.
- Wharton, Jonathon L. (2013). A Post-Racial Change Is Gonna Come Newark, Cory Booker, and the Transformation of Urban America. Palgrave MacMilan. ISBN 978-1-137-27771-8. Archived from the original on 2013-12-13. Retrieved 2013-12-05.
- Archived February 18, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
- Llorente, Elizabeth (October 7, 2013). "In One New Jersey Town, Latinos Dominate Council, Bucking National Trend". Fox News Latino. Retrieved 2013-11-11.
- "Union County Freeholder Is 1st Latino To Serve As NJTPA Chairman". Cranford, NJ Patch. January 23, 2018.
- Rohan, Virginia. "Former fan now in charge of 'Sesame Street'", The Record (Bergen County), August 13, 2007. Accessed August 13, 2007.
- Levine, Daniel Rome. "Triunfador Franck de Las Mercedes", ABC News, August 16, 2007. Accessed August 18, 2008.
- Mifflin, Lawrie. "Doing a Star Turn for the Home Team, at Last", The New York Times, August 18, 1996. Accessed January 7, 2008.
Further reading
- Prieto, Yolanda (2009). The Cubans of Union City: Immigrants and Exiles in a New Jersey Community. Temple University Press. ISBN 978-1-59213-300-0.
- A partnership to help Latino-owned businesses blossoms in N.J.