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Latino/Hispanic
Heritage Month 2006
As Hispanic/Latino
Heritage Month, 2006, winds down, we hope it’s been one of pride,
reflection, and new and re-dedication towards personal and collective
growth.
To help put the
Latino experience into perspective, the Pew Hispanic Center published
this month the results of a comprehensive study, “Hispanics at
Mid-Decade”. Visited through 32 statistical tables, the study presents
a detailed picture of the great strides made by Latinos in the new
millennium; the figures indicate areas of lagging growth as well. In
addition, the stats are illuminating in their own right, as data.
For instance,
Table 1 charts the rise in the Hispanic population of nearly 7 1/2
million people since 2000, an increase comprised of a 4 1/2 million
boost in the native born and an almost 3 million jump for foreign-born
Hispanics. Comparisons with the populations of other racial groups are
also shown here.
Table 3 compares
foreign to native-born Hispanics broken down according to country of
origin, with Mexico leading, of course (26 3/4 million or 63.9% of all
Hispanics), with Puerto Rico second (4 million, or 9.1%), and Uruguay at
the bottom; only 50,000 Latinos claim to be of Uruguayan origin.
(Paraguayans are not represented at all in the population figures; they
are probably included in the Other South American category. Neither
Brazil nor the Philippines are included in the study.)
Most interesting
is the survey’s confirmation and charting of the significant increase of
Hispanics coming into the Southern states, a trend that is having a
major impact on life there. (See a recent NY Times feature that
addresses the problems in communication between blacks and Latinos in
the South:
“A Racial Rift That Isn’t Black and White”
Arkansas, for
example, has shown a defining change in an increase of the Hispanic
population of over 58% in the last 5 years, increasing from 82,000 to
130,000. Tennessee and North Carolina are not far behind, with jumps of
51% and 48% respectively.
But, better than
have us recite decontextualized stats, why not view them yourself, glean
information and insight and draw your own conclusions?
A Statistical Portrait of Hispanics at Mid-Decade |
