The United States grew steadily more diverse last year, with Hispanics 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 Hispanic population grew by 1.4 million in 2007 to reach 45.5 million people, or 15.1 percent of the total U.S. population of 301.6 million. Non-Hispanic blacks ranked as the second-largest minority group, at 37 million people.
Overall, the nation’s 102.5 million minorities accounted for 34 percent 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 non-whites.
Redefining America’s minorities
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.”
Legal and illegal immigration
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 living in the country, and a patchwork of laws cracking down on them and mandating English as Americans’ official language has flourished at the local, state and national level.
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 Hispanic population last year, about 38 percent of that growth was attributable to new immigrants entering the country — both legal and illegal.
“There’s a real perception among some Americans right now that immigration is suddenly at their front door,” said David 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.”
The growing population of Hispanics will change the nation’s politics, at least, increasingly forcing politicians to court them and adding to the pressures mounting in Washington for some type of comprehensive immigration policy.
Highlights from the 2007 census data
‘Majority minority’: Four states and the District of Columbia are regarded as “majority minority,” meaning that more than 50 percent of their population consists of non-whites. Hawaii led the nation with a population that was 75 percent minority in 2007, followed by the District of Columbia (68 percent), New Mexico (58 percent), California (57 percent) and Texas (52 percent).
Hispanic population: California had the largest of any state last year, with 13.2 million Hispanics accounting for 36 percent of the total population. Texas was next, with 8.6 million (also 36 percent of the population), followed by Florida, with 3.8 million (21 percent).
Increase in Hispanics: Texas had the largest numerical increase in Hispanics between 2006 and 2007 (308,000), followed by California (268,000) and Florida (131,000).
In New Mexico: Hispanics comprised the highest proportion of the total population, at 44 percent.
Nationally: Hispanics were the fastest-growing minority group, with a 3.3 percent population increase. Asians were the second fastest-growing group, with a 2.9 percent increase. The black population grew by 1.3 percent, and the white population grew by 0.3 percent. Native Americans grew by 1 percent and native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders grew by 1.6 percent.
Fountains of youth: Hispanics are considerably younger than other groups. They had a median age of 27.6, compared with the population as a whole at 36.6. For blacks, the median age was 31.1; for Asians, it was 35.4; and for whites, it was 40.8.
MORE INFORMATION
The complete 2007 figures can be found at the U.S. Census Bureau Web site, www.census.gov.
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In Illinois
35%
The state’s minority population reached 35 percent, ranking it 15th in the nation. The number of blacks (2 million) and Hispanics (1.9 million) was nearly even, although the Hispanic population grew by 3 percent while the black population was nearly unchanged.
Tribune reporter Darnell Little contributed to this report from Chicago.
