A nation where the minority is larger than the majority
Ryan McCullough
America is in transition. The United States now boasts more than 50 million Hispanics. From the 2000 census, the Hispanic population grew by 43 percent. This means that Hispanics make up 16 percent of the total population.This is a trend that is only going to keep on going. If Hispanics saw a 43 percent population increase in only 10 years, their numbers will shoot through the roof in a span of say 20 years. Along with Hispanics, Asians saw a significant population increase.
Media corporations took notice in 2000 but now they are starting to take steps to target a more Hispanic audience. News Corp., who owns Fox Networks, announced that they are starting Fox Hispanic Media because of the 2010 census data.
Arizona is one state that definitely needs to take heed of these numbers. Behind Nevada, Arizona is one of the states with the largest population increases.
Then, I think about all the legislation that comes about in this sunny state of ours. SB 1070 is obviously one of the most glaring pieces of backwards legislation to spring up.
Then there is the “Birther bill,” which was luckily vetoed. Even though the bill did not specifically target Hispanics, it is an attack on minorities in general, on those that don’t look “American.” Is there even a general “American” look? I don’t think so.
This new data messes with that idea of what an “American” looks like even more than before. It means that the laws that are proposed and passed need to be more sensitive to the issue of immigration.
We, as Arizonans, cannot just simply take a black and white approach to the issue. It is not a yes or no question.
With ever increasing minority populations, there are plenty of legal residents that look like those that are here illegally.
It seems that Russell Pearce and the likes are holding onto the idea of what “Americans” are. The U.S. is a nation built on immigrants and they are still coming.
These legislators will have to rethink their political strategies. Eeventually they will have to cater to a larger and larger minority population.
