One of the Hispanic community's vocal leaders says Hawaii has been a welcoming place.

"I think that Hawaii is very Latino-friendly," says José Villa, publisher of the Hawaii Hispanic News, president of Latin Business Hawaii and a creator of the Hispanic Center of Hawaii. A Puerto Rican whose wife is Mexican, Villa has been in the islands for 25 years after growing up in New York City.

"The weather, the fruits, the vegetables, a lot of the things that we grow up with in some of the tropical countries," he said. "The locals, they hug each other and kiss each other, the extended family and the respect for the kupuna, the elders ... and a lot of love for the kids. That's very much the way it is in the Hispanic community."

Nationwide, people who self-identify as Hispanic or Latino have been rising in numbers, from 22,354,059 (9 percent) in the 1990 Census to 35,305,818 (12.5 percent) in the 2000 Census and now to an estimated 48,356,760 (15.8 percent) in the 2009 American Community Survey. The Census Bureau projects [xls] that more than 100 million Hispanics will make up a quarter of the U.S. population by 2050. The term includes Mexicans, Cubans, Puerto Ricans as well as those who can trace ancestry to Spain or Spanish-speaking countries of Central or South America.

Hawaii's 9 percent Latino population in the 2009 survey was far from national leaders such as New Mexico (45.6 percent), California (37 percent) and Texas (36.9 percent). But it was high enough for Hawaii to rank 18th out of the 50 states. (Data from the 2010 Census has been released for Hawaii and a swath of other states, but not for all 50 and not for the country as a whole.)

Source: Civil Beat analysis of 2009 American Community Survey data

"To me, what's been different is that our community is finally getting some respect," Villa told Civil Beat. "We've been here since 1794, and just blended in so people didn't realize that there was a growing Hispanic community here."

He said Hawaii's Latino community differs from those on the mainland in that many of those here established themselves somewhere else in the U.S. before venturing out to the islands. Many of Hawaii's Hispanics have a college or graduate-level education, the vast majority read and speak English, and they haven't kept to themselves in working class, primarily Hispanic "barrios" the way they have in Los Angeles, Miami, Dallas, Chicago and New York, Villa said.

"There's almost a self-segregation, if you will, within the Hispanic community. Here in Hawaii, we don't have that," he said. "Because there was no established neighborhood, and there were no large, all-encompassing Hispanic organizations, there has been just this melting into the fabric of the community."

The data supports Villa's anecdotal evidence. The Big Island has the highest proportion of Hispanic residents — 11.6 percent — while the City and County of Honolulu has the lowest at 8.1 percent.

Meanwhile, 73 different towns (Census-Designated Places) have more than 10 percent Latinos, and 78 towns have less than 10 percent. Just four towns have more than 20 percent and just nine have less than 5 percent.

Source: Civil Beat analysis of 2010 U.S. Census data

Source: Civil Beat analysis of 2010 U.S. Census data

Villa said most, but not all, of the community is documented, and that the increase in population includes "a cadre of young, talented, well-educated Latinos that have moved here in the last couple of years."

Still, stereotypes prevail. He thinks too much of the mainstream media coverage of the Hispanic community focuses on immigration, drugs and violence. His newspaper has tried to tell positive, inspirational stories about Latinos as members of the broader Hawaii community — the ideal that Hispanics are striving for in the large mainland cities.

When people new to the islands ask him where all the Latinos are, he tells them, "They're all around you."