http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/front/3305600 More than half of Texans are minorities For the 1st time, fewer than half of state residents are Anglos, statistics show By JAMES PINKERTON Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle Rio Grande Valley Bureau HARLINGEN - A shift in the state's population to minorities as the majority presents a tremendous challenge in the areas of education and economic opportunity, experts said today as the U.S. Census Bureau released new statistics. Fueled largely by the burgeoning Hispanic population, Texas joins the ranks of California, New Mexico, Hawaii and the District of Columbia as areas where minority residents as a whole have become the majority. Based on estimates from the 2000 Census, about 50.2 percent of Texans are considered minorities compared to about 47 percent when the census was taken. A report last August noted the Anglo population has slipped to slightly less than 50 percent for the first time. At 32 percent of the state's population, Hispanics make up the largest minority group in Texas. Hispanics also are the largest minority group in California and New Mexico. The population shift as reported by the Associated Press comes as no surprise to demographers and educators who say that the growth pattern has major implications for Texas unless educational and professional opportunities for minorities are improved. State demographer Steve Murdock said Hispanics and blacks historically have low levels of educational attainment and high rates of poverty. He noted that in 2000, about 30 percent of the state's Anglo adults had a college degree, compared with 15.3 percent of blacks and 8.9 percent of Hispanics. During the same period, the incomes of blacks and Hispanics were two-thirds of Anglos, and two to three times more Hispanics and blacks lived in poverty. "If we don't change those kinds of socioeconomic differences, clearly Texas will be poorer and less competitive than it is today," Murdock said. "The challenge is really to ensure that all Texans have the education and skills they need to be competitive in the increasingly international marketplace." A statewide shift While Murdock said the state has made "some progress" in narrowing the gaps, there is a "substantial way to go." "Without it (improvements) we will be a state with lower consumer expenditures, which is important to the private sector, and fewer resources to spend in the public sector," he said. "While at the same time we'll have a population with increasing ... needs for state services." Murdock said it also is a common misconception that gains in minority populations are mostly in South Texas, or along the border. "The growth of the non-Anglo population is not a South Texas phenomenon; the biggest Hispanic city in terms of the number of Hispanics is Houston, not San Antonio," he said. "If you look at our four largest cities — Houston, Dallas, El Paso and San Antonio — the single largest ethnic group is Hispanic." Educators along the Texas border have long struggled to meet the challenge of educating residents of a region beset by some of the nation's highest rates of poverty. 'Unbelievable struggle' At Texas A&M International University in Laredo, President Ray Keck said the region's pervasive poverty is the major obstacle to education. Keck said only a quarter of Laredo's high school freshmen graduate and go on to some form of higher education classes. "It is a socioeconomic crisis," said Keck, who noted that 94 percent of the student body is Hispanic. "Our enrollment stops when we run out of scholarship money." And he disputed assertions that the Hispanic culture does not place a high enough value on education. "I've never met a parent of any child in Laredo who said, 'I don't want an education for my child.' What they tell you is the unbelievable struggle just to finish high school," he said. The college president said innovative state grant programs for poor college students are excellent, but severely underfunded. "If we don't reach out and make the blessings of higher education available to this population, we're going to face a state that I think none of us wants to live in," he said. "It's not sound economically, socially or morally. We'll have lots of people who are unprepared to ... take a productive role in society."
technically, anglo is still the majority. your only a minority if its white vs. all minority groups. the people of the sun have reclaimed AZTLAN!
Can't let it go, huh? If you want to get into technicalities...don't you have to have >50% of the population to be "majority?" So technically, anglo hasn't been a majority in a looooong time. Ever read the book..."How to Lie With Statistics?" Its generally not a good idea to get into technicalities with stats because anybody can be proven right.
actually the terms minority/majority have more to do with political power than numbers. blacks were a minority in South Africa, though they far outnumber whites there.
its really not that difficult. looking at all ethnic groups, anglo is still the largest. therefore, i wouldnt quite call them a minority (yet). when the hispanic population overtakes the anglo population than you can call it a minority.
As an anglo, I have absolutely NO problem with this. America is the 'Great Melting Pot', and I think we are all stronger for the ethnic diversity that it brings. It's also ironic that the fastest growing segment of the population is Latino, most of whom have strong Native American heritige. J
thank you trader jorge... TEXAS MINORITY GROWTH • 2005: 50.2 percent • 2000: 47 percent Source: U.S. Census Bureau estimates http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/front/3305600
