The Latino New Wave.

• Author: VILBIG, MARTIN
• Position: Hispanic Americans impact on US society and culture

RICKY MARTIN MAY BE ITS COVERBOY, BUT AMERICA'S LATINO EXPLOSION GOES WAY BEYOND POP CULTURE, SHAKING UP EVERY ASPECT OF AMERICAN LIFE

When Rosana Estevez, 15, snuck out of her high school homecoming dance on a recent Saturday night and made a beeline for Casa Blanca, Tampa's hot Latin teen club, all she wanted to do was dance. Tampas Dominican-born Estevez pushed her way onto a hardwood, floor jammed with Peruvian, Puerto Rican, and Cuban kids, all busting their moves together under a glittering disco orb.

"At the homecoming dance, people were standing around and only five people were dancing," Estevez says. "Here, people will dance and they don't care about what people think."

But Estevez's cross-cultural dance hopping represents only one small part of a much larger cultural shift at work across the United State--and more people dancing may be the least of it. Latinos--the catchall word for people whose families come from Spanish speaking countries--are creating what may be the nation's largest demographic and cultural change since the turn of the last century, when waves of European immigrants changed America forever.

Hot Latin ingredients have punctuated our pop music and spiced up our food. Spanish has entered the language faster than you can say que pasa. Latino entrepreneurs are accenting the business world, while Latinos' newfound political clout has this year's Presidential candidates taking Spanish lessons.

THE POWER OF NUMBERS

Part of their power comes from sheer numbers: The Latino population has increased 38 percent since 1990, becoming the nation's fastest growing ethnic group. By 2005, they will surpass African-Americans as the country's largest minority group. By 2050, one in four Americans will be Latino.

"We're having a tremendous impact on all parts of the culture," says Larry Gonzalez, of the National Association of Latino Elected Officials. "I don't want to get too giddy and say we've arrived. But we've got our foot in the door and we're just trying to open it a little wider."

Latinos are no newcomers to the American feast. Latino outposts in what are now Texas, Florida, and New Mexico date back to the 1500s, decades before the Mayflower. But they were always outposts, on the margins of American society. Today, they are merging with the mainstream, making up the majority in cities from Miami to San Antonio, Texas, and significant minorities in heartland cities like Chicago and Milwaukee.

The trend's most visible arena is popular music. Suddenly last summer, all of America seemed to be dancing to...