Culture is like an iceberg, said Tanya Gonzales, supervisor of the Richmond Hispanic Liaison Office.
“(It’s) like an iceberg, which is poking out and you can’t see the large body underneath,” she said.
As part of the Multicultural Leadership Speaker Series, Gonzales spoke Monday about her role as a community leader for the area’s growing Latino population. She drew the analogy between the visible indicators of culture, like food and dress, and the unspoken rules of culture, like codes of conduct and personal contact.
Gonzales said there was also a lack of trustworthy information for immigrants. But that is changing, she said, thanks to groups like the Hispanic Liaison Office and other service providers making an effort to offer bilingual and bicultural support.
The 2000 census reported about 25,000 Latino and Hispanic people live in the area, Gonzales said. From her interaction with the community, she estimated the figure is probably closer to 100,000.
In her position, she said she works to educate the large segment of the Latino and Hispanic population that doesn’t know how to work in accordance with U.S. labor laws. Many fall for scams that provide them with fake international drivers’ licenses or false promises to take care of their taxes, Gonzales said.
Most of the immigrants that come to Central Virginia encounter language difficulties, she said. This often leads qualified professionals, like architects and lawyers, from other countries to undertake menial jobs in the United States.
“We have a large amount of human potential that is not being used for a variety of reasons,” she said.
To advise leaders about diversity, Gonzales said, “You can never take for granted that every voice is being heard around the table.”