Try tortillas this Fourth of July

Celebrations this 4th of July might include less hot dogs and burgers and more tortillas, ceviche, menudo and tostones.
 
Hispanics accounted for 56 percent of the U.S.’s population growth from 2000 to 2010.
 
The 2010 Census counted 50.5 million Hispanics in the United Sates, making up 16.3 percent of the total population. One in 6 Americans is Hispanic.
 
Those who now fear Hispanics will sing the national anthem in Spanish or that English will cease to be this country’s language, you can relax.
 
Naturalized foreign-born U.S. citizens and immigrants in general are the most devout and patriotic of Americans.
 
People who complain that Mexican, Colombian or other Latin American flags are waved at gatherings would do well to understand that waving a flag from one’s native country has nothing to do with feeling less American. For most immigrants, to live in the United States is a success story, one that is envied around the world.
 
Hispanics of Mexican, Puerto Rican, and Cuban origin or descent remain the nation's three largest Hispanic country-of-origin groups, according to the 2010 U.S. Census. Immigrants from El Salvador, the Dominican Republic, Guatemala and Colombia comprise the combined fourth largest group.
 
More than 6.6 million Hispanics voted in the 2010, a record for a midterm election, according to an analysis by the Pew Hispanic Center. Hispanics also were a larger share of the electorate in 2010 than in any previous midterm election, representing 6.9 percent of all voters, up from 5.8 percent in 2006.
 
With the coming congressional reapportionment changes, Hispanics will likely play a larger role in national politics in the future. Florida, a key swing battleground in recent presidential elections, has gained two House seats due in part to the growth of the Hispanic population.
 
We will do well this 4th of July to reflect on the dramatic shift in the racial and ethnic makeup of the American population. Fewer than half of the nation’s 3-year olds are Caucasian, supporting the premise that the America of tomorrow will be comprised of a “minority” majority.
 
This new tapestry of people in America will continue to live under the “All men are created equal” of the Declaration of Independence, no doubt, for centuries to come.