Majority-Minority States

[Beta Ray Bill is the best pony]

So far there are 4 states where the majority of people are not white. California, Texas, New Mexico, and Hawaii. All of the territories and D.C. also.

Are any states on the verge of "joining the club?" When will the nation as a whole no longer have whites as the majority? Because minorities are usually liberals, will the nation becme more Europe-like by the time this happens?

This has probably be discussed to death, but hey, I'm the one with the new topic button.

[MilesC56]

I heard Alan Grayson say in an interview that Florida will be at least plurality-Hispanic within the next decade. Still, the Hispanic population in FL is growing slowly relative to other southern states.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

Nevada is the next closest, and probably will in the 2020 census.
Poor Mitt, all his Mormons there are outvoted now.

[greenforest32]

This Wikipedia article has some good information on each state: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_the_United_States#Breakdown_by_state

Also:

[greenforest32]

Also came across this site a few weeks ago: http://www.censusscope.org/2010Census/index.php

It has some good information on historical ethnic %s by state and you can make partial projections based on the demographics of the children.

[MilesC56]

Impressive tables, greenforest.

[bgwah]

http://www.brookings.edu/opinions/2011/0826_census_race_frey.aspx

[greenforest32]

Impressive tables, greenforest.

I didn't make them

http://www.brookings.edu/opinions/2011/0826_census_race_frey.aspx

Oh man, Arizona is going to be fun to watch:

[timothyinMD]

So far there are 4 states where the majority of people are not white. California, Texas, New Mexico, and Hawaii. All of the territories and D.C. also.

Are any states on the verge of "joining the club?" When will the nation as a whole no longer have whites as the majority? Because minorities are usually liberals, will the nation becme more Europe-like by the time this happens?

This has probably be discussed to death, but hey, I'm the one with the new topic button.

If this indeed happens it will be a sad day for America.

It's truly sad that the Democrats can't win unless they rely on a massive influx of immigrants and their children

[Smash255]

So far there are 4 states where the majority of people are not white. California, Texas, New Mexico, and Hawaii. All of the territories and D.C. also.

Are any states on the verge of "joining the club?" When will the nation as a whole no longer have whites as the majority? Because minorities are usually liberals, will the nation becme more Europe-like by the time this happens?

This has probably be discussed to death, but hey, I'm the one with the new topic button.

If this indeed happens it will be a sad day for America.

It's truly sad that the Democrats can't win unless they rely on a massive influx of immigrants and their children

And Republicans wonder why minorities don't vote for them......

[asexual trans victimologist]

It's truly sad that the Democrats can't win unless they rely on a massive influx of immigrants and their children

Why do you hate that which built America?

[Sibboleth]

It's truly sad that the Democrats can't win unless they rely on a massive influx of immigrants and their children

Why do you hate that which built America?

That was different. Those immigrants were white.

[Jack Vance RIP]

It's truly sad that the Democrats can't win unless they rely on a massive influx of immigrants and their children

Why do you hate that which built America?

That was different. Those immigrants were white.

Except when they weren't 'white'.

[ottermax]

Nevada looks like a good candidate, although we will have to see what the effects of the recession do to racial changes. It's inevitable that it becomes minority-majority, but when is the question.

Maryland also looks like it will become minority-majority very soon. And I think that there is a stronger pull for immigrants currently, so it might happen before Nevada.

Arizona and Florida both get tons of White migrants from other parts of the country, but everything is slowing down now. Still the youth population makes it inevitable here too.

It'll be interesting to see what happens in some states like Mississippi. It looks like it will be minority-majority in two decades. Will that change voting patterns down there?

[Senator Snowstalker]

As Hispanics integrate, they will be lumped more into the existing racial categories. I'm Cuban, but look indistinguishable from an Italian or Greek person. Plus, like immigration from Ireland, Italy, Germany, etc, immigration from Latin America will eventually slow, and may be doing so already.

[Sibboleth]

Except when they weren't 'white'.

A most excellent point but, of course, they became white with time. And are thus o.k. More or less.

[dpmapper]

Some media outlets described George Zimmerman as a white Hispanic... 

And I'm always a bit weirded out by the fact that Manu Ginobili (totally Italian) or Nestor Kirchner (German/Croatian) count as Hispanic in the US. 

[wormyguy]

"Hispanic" is a ridiculously over-broad racial category in the US because "Mestizo" and "Mullatto" are considered to be offensive terms.

[Padfoot]

As Hispanics integrate, they will be lumped more into the existing racial categories. I'm Cuban, but look indistinguishable from an Italian or Greek person. Plus, like immigration from Ireland, Italy, Germany, etc, immigration from Latin America will eventually slow, and may be doing so already.

I think this is a good point and may be one of the reasons that Hispanic/Latino is not actually considered a race but an ethnicity.  I think that Hispanic Americans are likely to begin assimilating into the culture in the same way earlier waves of European immigrants were able to.  Many people who identify as being Hispanic have virtually no outward physical characteristics to distinguish them as being such.

[ottermax]

As Hispanics integrate, they will be lumped more into the existing racial categories. I'm Cuban, but look indistinguishable from an Italian or Greek person. Plus, like immigration from Ireland, Italy, Germany, etc, immigration from Latin America will eventually slow, and may be doing so already.

I think this is a good point and may be one of the reasons that Hispanic/Latino is not actually considered a race but an ethnicity.  I think that Hispanic Americans are likely to begin assimilating into the culture in the same way earlier waves of European immigrants were able to.  Many people who identify as being Hispanic have virtually no outward physical characteristics to distinguish them as being such.

While I believe that Hispanics will integrate more and already have, the source of immigration - Mexico - means that many of these immigrants have disconnected from their original homeland. Also looking at Hispanics in places like New Mexico there is still a sense of "otherness." Because of their skin color, Hispanics still are treated as "others" rather than "Whites," and likely will remain that way for longer than other immigrant groups.

What's more likely to change voting patterns in my opinion is the increasing wealth of Hispanics so that they are more moderate voters like Asian-Americans.

[GM Griffin]

Georgia could be majority-minority by 2020.



Georgia had the fastest growing African-American population over the past ten years and is now has more African-Americans than any other state. The Latino population is also growing rapidly. These two races alone account for 39% of the state's population. Whites have dropped by roughly 6-7 percentage points each decade and if trends continue, Georgia would be roughly 49-50% White by 2020.

[politicus]

"Hispanic" is a ridiculously over-broad racial category in the US because "Mestizo" and "Mulatto" are considered to be offensive terms.

That's really strange. Eurasian is also considered offensive by some Americans. Why did those practical descriptions of people of mixed race became "offensive"?

[wormyguy]

"Hispanic" is a ridiculously over-broad racial category in the US because "Mestizo" and "Mulatto" are considered to be offensive terms.

That's really strange. Eurasian is also considered offensive by some Americans. Why did those practical descriptions of people of mixed race became "offensive"?

The Spanish race descriptions (Negro, Mulatto, Mestizo) all went out of fashion around the same time, the latter two perhaps 10-20 years before the first.  Mulatto was a term frequently used in the South as a term of abuse - if you wanted to pick a fight with a man you would accuse him or his wife of being a Mulatto (this was also somewhat true among blacks; it had a connotation as an epithet similar to "oreo" today).

[Padfoot]

"Hispanic" is a ridiculously over-broad racial category in the US because "Mestizo" and "Mulatto" are considered to be offensive terms.

That's really strange. Eurasian is also considered offensive by some Americans. Why did those practical descriptions of people of mixed race became "offensive"?

Eurasian is offensive?  I've never heard that term used in a racial/ethnic context.  I've always heard it in a geographical context.

[tallguy23]

I have two Latino co-workers who hate the term Hispanic/Latino. One of them is Cuban and identifies as white while the other is Dominican and identifies as black. I think it's an overly broad term to use as an identifier of people.