WASHINGTON — Latinos are taking a more prominent role in President Barack Obama's second inauguration, from the first Hispanic Supreme Court justice swearing in the vice president to a star-studded celebration of Latino culture.
Eva
Longoria, a co-chairwoman for Obama’s campaign, is hosting a salute to
the president Sunday evening. Antonio Banderas, Rosario Dawson, Marc
Anthony and other entertainers are scheduled to appear in “Latino
Inaugural 2013: In Performance at the Kennedy Center.” The lineup also
includes Prince Royce, Frankie Negron, Rita Moreno and Mario Lopez.
Vice
President Joe Biden and his family appeared onstage to help open the
concert. He said he wanted to thank Latinos for their support in last
year’s election.
Biden said something profound happened with the
enormous Latino support for Obama, and he said the Latino community
underestimates its power.
“You spoke in a way that the world … could not fail to hear,” Biden said. “This is your moment. America owes you.”
Jose Feliciano opened the show by singing the national anthem.
San
Antonio Mayor Julian Castro, who gave the keynote speech at last year’s
Democratic National Convention, will also address the audience.
Meanwhile,
Justice Sonia Sotomayor, an Obama appointee who is the first Hispanic
justice on the highest court, administered the oath of office Sunday
morning to Vice President Joe Biden.
Latinos have a distinct
presence at this inauguration after showing their growing political
influence in the 2012 election. Hispanics voted 7 to 1 for Obama over
his challenger, Republican Mitt Romney, whose Hispanic support was less
than any presidential candidate in 16 years. Analysts said Romney’s
hardline stance on immigration was a factor.
San Antonio
philanthropist and business leader Henry Munoz III, who is coordinating
the Latino inauguration event with Longoria and other Obama supporters,
said this is a special moment when the Latino community is positioned to
take an expanded role in shaping the country’s future.
“Without
question, the presidential election of 2012 proves that Latinos are
perhaps the most important influence from this point forward in the
election of the president of the United States,” Munoz said. “It’s
important that the leadership in Washington view us not as a narrow
interest group but as a vibrant political force” that carries not just
votes, but influence and financial resources.
Organizers planned a
series of symposiums, dinners and events ahead of the inauguration to
keep people talking about issues that matter to Latinos, from
immigration reform to building a Latino history museum on the National
Mall. Munoz led a presidential commission that called on Congress in
2011 to authorize such a museum within the Smithsonian Institution, but
Congress has not yet passed such a bill.
Munoz said it’s important
to keep Latinos engaged in the nation’s capital to push for their
policy priorities through the inauguration and beyond.
“Our work
is not done. It doesn’t end,” he said. “We have a tendency to look at
this phenomenon as ending on Election Day, when the reality is now it’s
time to get to work.”
Longoria said this is her first
inauguration. She has taken on a new role as political advocate since
her days on “Desperate Housewives,” helping to push for a Latino museum
and co-chairing Obama’s re-election campaign.
Even though this is
Obama’s second inauguration, Longoria said there is still much to
celebrate, including Sotomayor’s role swearing in the vice president.
“I
think there’s something beautiful to a recommitment to the people of
this great nation,” Longoria told ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday.
Longoria
said she hopes to help influence policies, including immigration
reform, and that Obama will make that his top priority as an economic
issue.
“I’m trying to do my part as a citizen and my part as a
Hispanic and as a woman and as an American,” she said. “I think
everybody should be civically engaged in a level that would affect
policy. That’s the point; that’s how our government is set up.”
