headlines." we have a special round table today in recognition of national hispanic heritage month which

runs from september 15th to october 15th. it celebrates the history the cultures and contributions of american citizens whose ancestors came from spain, mexico, the caribbean and central and south america. nbc 7 is here with local leaders to talk about the issues to hispanic communities. >> thank you, cheryl. before we begin, here is data from the u.s. census, if 2013, the hispanic population in the united states was 54 million making up the nation's largest minority group with 17% of the country's entire population. california has the highest hispanic members and if 2010, the bay area counted 1.68 million hispanics or more than 23% of our local population. now i've had the chance to cover many stories about our latino community. in in particular was about the name of a new restaurant in san francisco called banditos.

it is also spanish for bandit, outlaws. for most membersen americans it's an old ethnic slur. here's a story i filed in early september. this afternoon, they removed the restaurant with the glass on it. no word whether they will change the name entirely. they received many posts criticizing them. >> it's an outlaw, it's a criminal. it's someone who steps out of what is main stream and so for us to be per spech waited as such is no difference than being perpetuated as other derogatory terms. >> reporter: mar go stepped in. >> when they say it doesn't bother me. i say, wonderful, because the activists who came before you so you would never know that name.

gomez has been in touch with the owners of the restaurant. earlier they posted we never wanted to discriminate restaurant types. they received so many comments. it has to turn off all posting ability on facebook. a few blogs in los angeles wrote about it. how it offended many. >> call mae sambo child, which i'm no. you know, it's just nothing pleasant. >> reporter: one person wrote sometimes i think the pc police in this town goes too far. >> i'm happy to say the reaurant located in the castle changed its named. they decided to change it to echo, which means made in mexico or made in san francisco. we are joined by community advocated working hard to improve the social welfare of

our area thank you for being here. the executive director of the mission economic development agency i want to start with you miguel you were vocal about this huge boo boo, the naming of the restaurant. why were people so upset about the name band itos? >> first of all, thank you for doing that segment. i think it was important in getting the media out there and letting people know we were upset. people aren't thinking. banditos is a derogatory name. we're not outlaws, we're not criminals, we're people, a part of the community it's like when they called the taco houses roach coaches. but then after a while when

other folks started doing it, they became the chic and in types of things. so i'm glad the owners of the restaurant changed the name and it was important people understood our side of the story. >> quoting margot gomez says when young mech cans say it doesn't bother them. i say wonderful, because the activi activists before you not so you would never know that word. do you remember frito bandito. why was that so offensive? >> anything that puts the characterization of the community sort of as the character is not good. you are making a broad sweep that they are all like that. most often than not that character is not sort of a character that talks about academics or being sort of a

leader in the community it's more like a clown or an outlaw. that not us. that's not right. >> i remember as a child i remember thinking well, this character is mexican. he feel steal, he is steals the course, do you remember that? as a child i'm sure i didn't make the connection well are mexicans, do they steal? but in the back of your head you have to sort of think that way. and that's so wrong that it is. growing up in the mission district of san francisco we were told to us many times to our face is that the people who lived in the mission were criminals and were trash. you know, we didn't feel that way. at least we tried not to feel that way. we didn't want to feel bad. when you put people in a stereotypical role that way, you know, it's not right. we've come too far. we hope, right and that every community is celebrated by the gift to bring to this country.

>> i owant to ask you. is this an example of the disconnect that exists now say in the mission district of san francisco where have you people that live there so many years interacting with the so-called techies who have moved into the mission? >> absolutely. there is a real disconnect between the long-term residents of that neighborhood who are mostly tenants and then you, the residents who are tech workers and the challenge is that we see is that the tech workers are benefiting from the jobs, they're benefiting from the new housing. at the same time, the long-term latino residents are not benefiting from those jobs. they're also finding their housing really unstable. we just did a survey that shows 77% of those taking the surveys, mostly latinos, are having a strong fear of the victim. that's 77%. >> for those who know like

myself and hang out there, it's a very cool place. the sweater great. great restaurants, but explain, if you will, why so many people from the silicon valley want to move there when there are so many other cool neighborhoods in san francisco? >> well, i think perhaps the mission is the coolest. i think it is the weather. it is the restaurants. it is the br. it's new culture that i think attracts people there. i think it has that bohemian culture. at the same time how do we not lose the latino-ness of that neighborhood, as newcomers come in, i think we need to put ways, how do we not get rid of why people are coming to the neighborhood in the first place. >> of course, we are talking aboutification, which exists in other neighborhood cities, like, for instance, new york. when this happens, people say, there goes the neighborhood. how do we do that?

how do we co-exist and how do we maintain our culture? >> i think we have to connect people and place. i think the people we need to connect are long-term latino residents and make sure they have a place to be in their neighborhoods. that's one thing. one way to do that is by improving their financial standings. making sure they have the means to afford the housing in the neighborhood. i think it's really fortunate build more housing than is affordable w. that, more housing than is aaffordable. the problem will get works our latino long-term residents. >> i want to talk more about 24th street, which is the main and the most popular street in the mission district. when we come back, it's very important, it's a hot topic. important, it's a hot topic. stay tuned for more of our

...until we found a connection. you have the power to change your child's life. the boys town national hline can help. (tdd# 1-800-448-1433) . >> welcome back to the special round table edition of "beyond the headlines" in celebration of the latino heritage month. we are talking to latino leaders about the wider bay area community. in the studio are community activists from the evergreen

community college district. now, i want to talk again about the dialogue and the cultural district project. what has been done and i know that there was a lot more to do. >> it's a great project and it's still going on and basically what it is, is to sort of preserve the cultural aspect of 24th street and the greater missions. one thing as louis spoke to, getting people to understand they're coming into a community that is vibrant, that is alive. one of the biggest issues we had so far is people come to the mission to live or even play. they act like they're christopher columbus like no one else existed. we will continue to celebrate our culture. it was an effort supported by the mayor to give it a special des egg nation that would allow us to look at preservation of

our mural, of our cultural celebration as well as look to the need of more housing in the mission so that people can stay. >> so speaking of housing, the rental market and the mission district. but how do we protect our local businesses? for example, one that comes do mind which is on 24th street. i can't imagine living without it. how will it affect those businesses? >> i think it's an audio viewing audience. go to the formal rosarito. go to, you know, some of the businesses that have been there a long, long time. support the businesses that actually want to be a part of the community like pig and pie. they realize they are coming into a latino neighborhood. they want to keep some of the elements. >> they want to keep it like china town, true to the culture? >> you know, that's the best

part of san francisco, growing up here, we had those different communities, where you felt you were going into different parts of the world. in the mission, it's no different. if we can preserve our history and our celebrations, you know what, we go ahead and do it. >> thank you for being so patient and waiting. i want you to weigh in on this, studies have shown that people who have been displaced don't necessarily do well in college. why not? >> oh, i'm not being officially displaced from their homelands or displaced from one niebd another. well, obviously, the issue of continuity. the issue of individuals who are race in that community. suddenly they're in a different area and do not have access to the different resources or understand the resources in that community that support education and the like all of that impact was you do if college.

i did want to go back to the beginning about latinos in the united states. it's important to know, for example, in california. 62% of all individuals 18 years and younger are latino. it's already by majority. of course about 52% also okay 12 people are latino. we are talking about the future of california. we are talking about impacting the ability of having a work force for the majority of california. there is broad based concern. >> so why are we seeing access is diminishing for latinos? >> there is an association for the hispanic association of universities. question issed ourselves the same question. and the issue is it all has to do with who is in power in terms of the political sector and the bucket pieces associated with it. so in 1960, when we didn't look

around, california had amazing seconds e secondary situation. demographically, it's the same. there is an issue associated with what is important and what is the future coming from. so there is those as we said it's in our lands. california is the most popular state in the nation. it's the state that has the highest percent annual of latinos in percent annual of latinos in the nation. >> you call this the civil rights issue of the 21st century. do you agree in order to have social justice there has to be justice in education? >> it's the worst form of violence and it is, it's not a capitalistic statement by any means, but how do you access it? how do you support a family?

so, indeed, it begins there, it represents itself and acts of help, act of nutrition, domestic violence. so, indeed, it is the civil rights issue. >> this is about how to better prepare latinos for college. stay tun i love having a free with my unitedeageplusr mileageplus explorer card. i have saved $75 in checked bag fees. priority boarding is really important to us. you can just get on the plane and relax. i love to travel, no foreign transaction fees means real savings. we can go to any country and spend money the way we would in the us. when i spend money on this card i can see brazil in my future. i use the explorer card to earn miles in order to go visit my family which means a lot to me. ♪ (yawn) (ding!) toaster strudel!

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. >> welcome back to "beyond the headlines." on today's hispanic heritage month round table show. in the community, edadvocates. i want to continue our conversation with you, how to prepare kids for college? i know there are some high school programs that are very good and have made a difference with some students by helping them prepare and get into college? do we have enough of them? is there a lack of that? where do you see the root of the problem? >> they are obviously not enough. they are a great initiative. let me say particularly to the families out there, it begins prek, going to college gens with the ability of a child entering kindergarten havingg some level

of preparation. isn't it awful to understand if your child has never been to preschool, never been exposed to a school setting, you begin with a disadvantage. the other big marker is 3rd grade. if individuals, if our children are not reading appropriately by 3rd grade, there is a correlation of their inability to fulfill to finish the elemental school level to go on to junior high school, let alone graduate from high school because, if you ever took a child in 3rd grade who cannot read. he or she cannot access what comes after. i feel like a deficit few will, which is very, very damaging to children. now, it's never too late to trip to try to do something to intervene. you never given on your child but we must remember, latino families in if a child strarts reading by 3, in the high schools the assumption is your

child will prepare for college that's wrong. >> because there hasn't been a level playing field. >> not only that, high schools have different curriculum oftenings. they will prepare you for the requirements to go to the university of california. other high schools do not. it is a choice made locally to become very involved. it is absolutely unfair for a senior to go all the way to 4th grade and find out then to not be exposed to that kind of curriculum. it's not your fault. latinos in california continue to be 20%, which is unacceptable. quite frankly, when you know a non-high school graduate is really going to be earning $500,000 less in their lifetime. >> so no doubt a lot of doubts there.

louis, how does she help with that aspect? i know they have a number of programs, specifically education few want to talk about the other ones, be my guest. >> sure. right now. it's the lead agency. it's an initiative by this neighborhood nationally and the whole idea is to create a cradle to college continuum. so we start working with kids right from the beginning all the way through high school to college and career. i think that's the basic promise for this neighborhood, which is different is that in order for kids to do well academically, their families have to do well financially. with rehelping the kid and the adults with their academic achievement and the adults with basic stuff, including their credit, their debt, their savings, getting a job, starting

a business, owning a home. we are very much interested in families and academic achievement. >> i have to say some silicon valley families paired up to support them. so that's a positive as well. i also want to talk about something. i can't ignore this topic which we've heard in many venues which is rather controversial to some people and that is the number of unaccompanied minors coming from central america to the united states, crossing the mexican border, many ending up here. how is that going to affect our economy, our communities, our schools here? i'm going to throw it out to one of you. >> let's begin by saying this is a human rights issue. being concerned about the economy and education, oh, those

things are obviously important, but this is children. these are minors who have crossed a total number of tragedies from central america to the united states. so the issue then has to begin with a human rights violations that are going on, the support for these children and their families. quite frankly we have the resources with everything else to begin with the human being as an individual and i would say what we are addressing as a community is advocating for them first and foremost at all levels of policy. >> some people feel that perhaps we should send them back. what is the price of doing nothing? >> oh, no, we have to do something in the sense that they're here. so let's make sure that they get support services that these young people need to be successful while they're here

and, you know, you are going to have people on both sides of the argument. i'm saying, look, let's help them here. let's show our humanity. let's show what san francisco is really about. let support them. >> absolutely. i think their stories are different and more severe than many of our stories, but they're not that different a. lot of us came with a whole lot of these sources and not our way through. i think it's really important to make them a priority and figure it out. it's our responsibility. >> you can talk days on that. thank you very much. well, that's all the time we have today. thank you for being here and sharing all of your stories and insights and expertise. you can follow me on twitter and facebook. back to you, cheryl. >> thank you. for more information about today's program, go to our website abc 7 news doing we are also on facebook on abc 7 community affairs.

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