The Pico-Union and Westlake areas light up with red and green dots for households that speak Oaxacan Zapotec and Mayan K’iche’. The U.S. census does not track the number of people from Mexico and Guatemala who speak Indigenous languages. The other represents nearly 1,300 of those households where at least one member said they prefer to speak an Indigenous language. But Gaspar Rivera-Salgado, director of UCLA’s Center for Mexican Studies, said that since the map reflects those who received cash assistance, it probably leaves out middle-class Indigenous families. Better data collection, he said, could ensure that families that primarily speak an Indigenous language are offered the support that they need and help educators evaluate the creation of Indigenous language programs.

Source: Los Angeles Times July 07, 2021 12:56 UTC