Are Whites becoming a minority in US? Population growth driven by people of color, says census
The US demographics are changing, according to a report, which stated that for the first time in US history, the population growth of people of color is far exceeding the growth of White population. The 2020 Census report coming out on August 12 and whose preliminary data was seen by The Washington Post, said that the growth of ethnic and racial populations has increased over the past decade.
The census data will disclose how the US’ White population is shrinking, and all population growth in the country has been driven by minorities. William Frey, a demographer at the Brookings Institution, said, “Twenty years ago if you told people this was going to be the case, they wouldn’t have believed you.” He noted that the opioid epidemic and lower-than-anticipated birth rates among millennials after the Great Recession are the reasons behind the decline of the White population. “The country is changing dramatically,” Frey added.
READ MORE
Washington Post podcast asks White people to form 'accountability groups' to atone for their race
'Deranged Hollywood wokism': Katy Perry, Orlando Bloom slammed for video on voting rights
According to reports, the most growth was seen among Hispanics, who have doubled their share of the population over the last three decades to around 20 percent. They are apparently behind half of the nation's growth since 2010 and are believed to be about half the growth in over a dozen states like Texas, Florida, Arizona, New Mexico, and Nevada.
On the other hand, Black population has stayed steady at nearly 12.5 percent; Asians who constituted about 3 percent of the population in 1990, could double their population in the 2020 Census. The number of White people could go below 60 percent in American history for the first time while most of the under-18 population will probably be non-White.
Frey also mentioned that the trend is likely to continue till 2045 when the White population will dip below 50 percent, removing any kind of racial majority in the nation. Besides, between 2015 and 2060, the Hispanic and Asian populations will probably increase double in size and the multiracial population is likely to get tripled because of both immigration and births.
Arturo Vargas, chief executive of NALEO Educational Fund, a Latino advocacy group, said that the changing demographics of the country should make state officials put Hispanics at the lead while making policies and drawing districts. “People haven’t recognized that Latinos are changing the face of the nation. There is a meaningful and significant Latino population in virtually all states, except maybe Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. … What I would hope is that policymakers begin looking at their decisions about resource allocation and other policies through a Latino lens,” Vargas noted, before adding, “We know people migrate to where there are economic opportunities. In cities in Kansas … the meatpacking industry was kept going because of Latino workers.”
On the other hand, Marc Morial, president and chief executive of the National Urban League, explained a possible reason why Hispanics living in the US may have avoided the census earlier. He said because of former President Donald Trump’s immigration policies and failed mandate to include a citizenship question in the 2020 census, people of color were not counted accurately by the Census Bureau. “I fear an undercount of people of color because of the way the census was conducted. It was politicized from the very beginning by the Trump administration, notwithstanding the valiant efforts by the Census Bureau to push back on that politicization,” Morial, whose organization sued the government over its decision to end the count earlier than planned, added.