U.S. Census: Big Demographic Changes Coming

The U.S. Census Bureau predictions were published today and foretell some significant changes in store for the U.S  

-  Non-Hispanic whites, who are two-thirds of the population today, are older, dying off faster and producing fewer children than other groups, Vincent said. By 2050, they'll number 203 million in a nation of 439 million.

-  Hispanics are projected to triple by 2050, when they'll be nearly a third (133 million) of the population. Spurring Hispanic growth is the group's large natural increase — birth rate minus death rate — which Vincent attributed mainly to its youth and fertility. Immigration is an important but lesser factor, she said.

-  The black population is projected to increase by just 1 percentage point, from 14 percent this year to 15 percent (66 million) in 2050. At that point, Hispanics will outnumber blacks by two to one, the report said.

-  The Asian population will grow from 5 to 9 percent of the population (41 million) by 2050, according to the projections.

-  American Indians and Alaska Natives are projected to rise from1.6 percent to 2 percent (9 million) of the population.

The changes will show up first, obviously, in children.  Less than half will be non-Hispanic whites by 2023.

The implications of the shift are large, particularly with respect to education and developing strategies for addressing the changing demographics needs to begin now.

"If we don't invest in educating and training African-American kids, immigrants and Latino kids, we won't have a middle class," said Mark Sawyer, the director of the Center for the Study of Race, Ethnicity and Politics at the University of California at Los Angeles. "We'll have a very, very poor disposable class that's largely black or brown."

This will, no doubt, stir up controversy, but shifting demographics have been common throughout American history.

The Census Bureau’s projections are likely to fuel debates over immigration policy, overpopulation and the changing electorate, and recall earlier eras when the Irish, the Italians and Eastern European Jews were not universally considered as whites. As recently as the 1960s, Hispanic people were not counted separately by the census and Asian Indians were classified as white. (Link)

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[NoMoreAnchorBabies]

Ugh , is there any GOOD news these days