Latinos still the largest,
fastest-growing minority, census shows
Patriots protest
mass illegal Mexican immigration into U.S
They account for 15% of the U.S. population, according to new 2007
data. Minorities overall make up 34%.
The United States grew steadily more
diverse last year, with
Latinos holding on to their rank as the nation's largest and
fastest-growing minority group, a trend with far-reaching implications
for American politics and immigration policies.
Newly released figures from the U.S.
Census Bureau show that the
nation's Latino population grew by 1.4 million in 2007 to reach 45.5
million people, or 15.1% of the total U.S. population of 301.6 million.
Blacks ranked as the second-largest minority group, at 40.7 million.
Overall, the nation's 102.5 million
minorities accounted for 34% of the
U.S. population, a new milepost on America's inexorable journey toward
greater diversity and a harbinger of the growing political clout of
nonwhites.
The latest population figures
"certainly do suggest some dramatic
changes, particularly in states like Texas and California that have
experienced these population shifts first and fastest," said Karl
Eschbach, the official Texas state demographer and a professor at the
University of Texas at San Antonio. "What does this imply for the
future of our country? That's a complex question. I would predict that
by 2040, we would have a very different definition of majority and
minority in America."
Tensions over America's growing
Spanish-speaking population have been
mounting in recent years, driven by the fears of many political
conservatives that the country is being overrun by both legal and
illegal immigrants, the majority of them from Mexico.
Anti-immigrant groups commonly
estimate that 12 million illegal
immigrants are currently living in the country, and a patchwork of laws
cracking down on them and mandating English as Americans' official
language have flourished at the local, state and national levels.
But the new population figures shed
little light on that debate,
because the Census Bureau does not attempt to determine immigration
status as part of its surveys. What census officials are able to say is
that of the 1.4 million increase in the Latino population last year,
about 38% was attributable to new immigrants entering the country,
legally or illegally.
"There's a real perception among
some Americans right now that
immigration is suddenly at their front door," said David A. Shirk,
director of the Trans-Border Institute at the University of San Diego.
"They are not used to it. They are not convinced that those groups are
going to effectively assimilate. And they are very concerned that our
way of life in the United States is going to have to change as a result
of that."
Highlights from the 2007 census data:
* Four states and the District of
Columbia were regarded as
"majority minority," meaning that more than 50% of their population
consists of nonwhites. Hawaii led the nation, with a population that
was 75% minority in 2007, followed by the District of Columbia (68%),
New Mexico (58%), California (57%) and Texas (52%).
* California had the largest Latino
population of any state last
year, with 13.2 million accounting for 36% of the total population.
Texas was next, with 8.6 million (also 36% of the population), followed
by Florida, with 3.8 million (21%).
* Texas had the largest numerical
increase in Latinos between 2006
and 2007 (308,000), followed by California (268,000) and Florida
(131,000).
* In New Mexico, Latinos constituted
the highest proportion of the total population, at 44%.
* Illinois' minority population
reached 35%, ranking it 15th in
the nation. The number of blacks (2 million) and Latinos (1.9 million)
was nearly even, although the Latino population grew by 3%, while the
black population was nearly unchanged.
* Nationally, Latinos were the
fastest-growing minority group,
with a 3.3% population increase. Asians were the second-fastest-growing
group, with a 2.9% increase. The black population grew by 1.3%, and the
white population grew by 0.3%. Native Americans grew by 1%, and native
Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders grew by 1.6%.
* Latinos are considerably younger
than other population groups. They
had a median age of 27.6, compared with 36.6 for the population as a
whole. For blacks, the median age was 31.1; for Asians, it was 35.4;
and for whites, it was 40.8.
Complete 2007 figures can be found
at the U.S. Census Bureau website, www.census.gov.
