[Ciberblade]

By ALICIA A. CALDWELL, Associated Press Writer 2 hours, 20 minutes ago

EL PASO, Texas - Texas has become the fourth state to have a non-white majority population, the U.S.
Census Bureau said Thursday, a trend driven by a surging number of Hispanics moving to the state.

According to the population estimates based on the 2000 Census, about 50.2 percent of Texans are now minorities. In the 2000 Census, minorities made up about 47 percent of the population in the second-largest state.

Texas joins California, New Mexico and Hawaii as states with majority-minority populations � with Hispanics the largest group in every state but Hawaii, where it is Asian-Americans.

Five other states � Maryland, Mississippi, Georgia, New York and Arizona � aren't far behind, with about 40 percent minorities.

Public policy analysts said these states and the country as a whole need to bring minority education and professional achievement to the levels of whites. Otherwise, these areas risk becoming poorer and less competitive.

William Frey, a demographer at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C., said lawmakers need to start with immigration reform, while striving to bring minorities' education and salary levels in line with Anglos.

"Immigration is good for the United States ... it's important for us to keep our doors open, but we need to keep an eye on the people coming in," Frey said. "While initially it will be a state problem, eventually it will be a national issue, and education is the best way to deal with it."

Complications from the cultural shift aren't likely to be exclusive to states that already have majority-minority populations, Frey said.

Nevada, for instance, has seen a massive influx of minorities in the last 15 years, reducing the percentage of Anglos since the 1990s from nearly 80 percent to about 60 percent. Such a rapid shift is likely to cause growing pains that include trying to balance the needs of a bigger and younger minority community with an aging Anglo community, Frey said.

"That's the kind of state that is going to have to deal with quick transition," Frey said.

Though some areas may never see this shift, the country as a whole is expected to continue the trend first noticed more than a decade ago.

The nation should be more than half minorities by 2050, said Steve Murdock, a demographer at the University of Texas at San Antonio.

"If you look in the 1990s, in every one of the 50 states, non-Anglo Hispanic populations grew faster than Anglo populations," Murdock said. "It's a very pervasive pattern."

Alright...there are many things that can be pointed out here....but for now, I will only bring up a couple

First up ~ "minority education and professional achievement" levels -- While on the surface this may sound like a good idea...but what is it really saying? The states provide the same education to all people, regardless of their level of tan.

Second ~ Just have to laugh at the part where by 2050 there will be more than half minorities....erm, isn't that a majority

[linskyjack]

No, the States do not provide the same education to people regardless of their level of tan. Fact is they dont provide education at all. What the states do is set minimum requirements to grant promotions and degrees. It is the job of the local school board to see that the requirements are met, and they depend on property taxes to attract good teachers, maintain schools and create after-school activities.

[Ciberblade]

You are missing the point -- If I go to the EXACT same classes with a so-called 'minority' student...then upon graduation, I decide to gain an additional 4-year degree with a couple of certifications -- while the other student takes time off from school. Naturally I will garnish a position at a higher wage in the professional world. We would have started from the same point, yet end up in different positions...and it would have nothing to do with the state/school/level of tan.

[plschwartz]

actually I think that Texas has become a Minority-Majority state.

Hey how long befor the whitest parts of Texas insist as Texas can, to become its own state

[linskyjack]

I dont think thats what the article was saying. The article was saying that since minorities are or are becoming the majority in many states, their level of educational acheivement must be analyzed. The fact is, that as the majority, they will wield power and at present, they are lagging in educational acheivement. The author simply said that that states with majority minority populations will find it difficult to compete with other states. This is not a Bakke case--this is a deep-rooted problem that public policy experts are concerned about.

By the way, I dont think you can solve this problem.

[Ciberblade]

I don't think any of us can solve this 'problem' -- the achievement comes from hard work -- some do it, others don't. It's true of all peoples. Kind of like cheese. Most every cow produces milk...yet only 6 to 8 percent supply cheese.

[kronus]

So called minorities can only have a majority if they form a coalition. We had a report like this in Vancouver several years ago. It pegged whites as about 40ish percent of the population. Next highest was Chinese, at somewhere near 28 percent. Various other 'minorities' made up the other groups. Still more whites than any other group.
As for the education thing, might language barriers contribute to the disparity? In the workforce and in education, english is the preferred language in North America.

[Ciberblade]

Language is the primary problem with Illegal immigrants...The expectation seems to be that we learn and adapt to their language. Those who come here legally must learn english to do so...and by doing so, it removes that barrier.

[slickoe]

YES! I once worked with a Mexican who had been living here SEVEN YEARS and spoke virtually no English. We need to rid the US of "for English press one" once and for all, and NO I AM NOT A RACIST, I am just being practical. Immigrants need to assimilate, not Balkanize our nation. I know that Sweden has a language test that must be passed in order to emigrate there and they are not a racist nation. Just practical.

[linskyjack]

I agree--English is the language of the US and thus, if you want to improve your lot here--you must become adept at it.

[Ciberblade]

Yes, English is the language of the land -- and in order to communicate properly, one must be able to speak and read it.

I've started responding to the questions of "habla espanol?" with "habla english?" -- surprisingly, many do....but don't seem to want to.

[kronus]

I used to get random wrong number phone calls from chinese people. I felt obliged to try to explain to them they had dialed the wrong number. They spoke no english, but they felt obliged to explain something to me that I had no chance of understanding. Odd. Maybe they were apologizing. Eventually, I hung up.