US census tallies indicate that there are now more Latinos than African Americans living in the US. Projections indicate that in under 20 years, over 20% of Americans will be Latino.
The 2000 census asked individuals if they considered themselves Hispanic, and 35.3 million individuals indicated that they were. This is 12.5% of the US population. In comparison, African Americans made up 34.6 million individuals, or 12.3%. The total population reported in the year 2000 was 281 million.
Hispanics tend to have more children than many other races in the US, and are also immigrating at high rates. As a result, estimates are that by the year 2020, Hispanics will make up 21% of the US population.
Hispanics in US in 2000: 35.3 million
All People in Canada in 2004: 31.9 million
All People in New York City in 2003: 8 million
What you may not have realized is that given the option to include a more defining or descriptive declaration of their identity, example Hispanic and Black or Hispanic and Asian, those counts would be entered as both Black and Hispanic or Asian and Hispanic. Then if you take this into account, if one were to say Hispanic and White, then they would be counted in both Hispanic and White categories. So what are the real numbers concerning population statistics?
Are we being manipulated and are the numbers being blurred to help manipulate the demographical information?
Well I have an opinion on this and any who wish to add an opinion please feel free to email me so your opinion might be added to this article. Bare in mind that this is just my opinion and nothing more.
When the Holidays have just passed me by, and I have spent time with my family I think, what is it to be Hispanic? Can we really be put into such limited and confining categories? I do not think so. The reason is that I have family from both Central America and The Caribbean Islands. These were places of trade ports where settlers came from all different countries. These were places where traders brought slaves that were occasionally set free or they bore children to the slave owners of the day. My family hails from places where we share almost every ethnicity is included.I found it interesting to see that they included Haitian as an African ancestry when many Haitians have French lineage.
I remember days when I was growing up, I used to sit and fill out the forms asking me what my race was and I would laugh and check them all off. My father has Mayan (aboriginal)and Hispanic (Spain) ancestry in him. Possibly since there were slaves brought through that area even African ancestry. My mother Aboriginal (Black foot), Dutch, French, Irish, African, Hispanic (Spain) and Aboriginal (Archaic Indians Island of Puerto Rico). So does that means that I am all of those things, or does it mean that the ones who designed the census have not yet come to understand that within almost every Hispanic American beats the blood of many ancestors?
I, for one, am of the opinion that we should be counted as Hispanic. Do we not all live in the same neighborhoods? Do we not all share the same families? Suffer the same issues? Though our culture is different amongst ourselves is it not true that outside of the Hispanic world we are all lumped into one group? Yes I understand that it would be nice for others to appreciate our diversity but at what price? The price of our unity and our national identity? To add our numbers in places where we do neither find strength or support for our communities? I think Hispanic should be good enough to include all those within our families. It is what I see when I look about in my community. It is what I feel when I meet another Hispanic far away from any rooted community. I see Hispanic. Colorful? Yes! Diverse? Yes! But family and community! Hispanic says it all!
Please do write to me and share your thoughts and opinions.
Please see my reccommended books available at Amazon.com below if you would like to read more about Hispanics in America.
Reading About Hispanics In America
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