Influence of Arab-Americans, Black Millennials, Latino Evangelicals and Asian-Americans Examined
AMERICA BY THE NUMBERS WITH MARIA HINOJOSA will examine voters whose power and influence are growing in a 2016 election special titled “The New Deciders.”
“The deciders in this year’s presidential election will be young people and citizens of color,” said Executive Producer Maria Hinojosa, who is also executive producer of the Peabody Award-winning weekly radio show, "Latino USA," and president and founder of the Futuro Media Group. “The racial, cultural and social landscape of America continues to change rapidly and we need to pay attention to the growing numbers of youth, Asians, Latinos, African-Americans, persons of mixed race and immigrants who are registering to vote, becoming politically engaged, and increasingly, will be determining the outcomes of elections.”
Researchers and political observers say demography and population change are factors that cannot be ignored in electoral politics, and AMERICA BY THE NUMBERS will track the link between population change and voting.
The program will explore individual communities and demographic groups that are redefining the electoral landscape in 2016 through four segments:
- “Arab-Americans Fight Islamophobia through the Ballot” – Traveling to Cleveland, Ohio, ABTN will explore how the growing Arab-American population in the U.S. is countering the rise of anti-Muslim rhetoric heard on the campaign trail by becoming more involved in electoral politics. ABTN will follow leaders in the Arab-American community in Cleveland to report how, in response to vitriolic sloganeering and threats of bans and deportations, Muslim and Christian voters of Arab descent are finding their political voice.
- “Black Millennials: Do Not Count on Us or Count Us Out!” – Young people between the ages of 18 and 33 now surpass Baby Boomers as the largest voting-eligible group in the nation. ABTN will look at the ways millennials are participating in politics by focusing on some of the most politically engaged youth in the country – African-Americans in North Carolina. In 2012, African-Americans in this swing state had the highest voter turnout of any voters in the nation. ABTN will profile black millennials on both sides of the political spectrum who say they are continuing the civil rights tradition and are building diverse coalitions to tackle local issues such as voting rights. ABTN will also examine if/how major political parties are taking notice.
- “Latino Evangelicals: The Unpredictable Evangélico Vote” – Latino Evangelicals, also known as “Evangélicos,” number at least 6 million and are growing into a powerful political force that is being courted by both parties. With Florida as the home to the third-largest Latino population in the nation, ABTN will see which candidates and issues are gaining traction among Latino Evangelicals and will document the power and influence of super-churches on this voting bloc in Orlando.
- “Asian-American Candidates Compete for the Asian Vote” – The Asian American and Pacific Islander community is the fastest-growing group in the U.S., increasing at four times the rate of the overall population. Projected to grow from 18 million in 2014 to more than 40 million by 2060, Asian Americans constitute the majority in more than a half-dozen cities in the greater Los Angeles area, and are becoming a dominant political and cultural force. ABTN will look at a state senate race between two Asian American candidates in Southern California – the only political face-off in the nation where Asian Americans will be running against each other in a non-primary race – to assess the political behavior of the AAPI population and their voting patterns in the future.
CONNECT:
AMERICA BY THE NUMBERS is on Facebook, and you can follow @ABTNTV on Twitter. Follow @Maria_Hinojosa on Twitter. #TheNewDecidersPBS
WATCH ON DEMAND:
Past episodes and clips from this series are available for online viewing.
CREDITS:
Produced by the Futuro Media Group in association with PBS and is being presented by WGBH with major funding provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
Extended Preview | The New Deciders
"Learn how Asian American
