http://nypost.com/news/nationalnews/24930.htm

MUCHOS MAS HISPANICS

WASHINGTON — One of every seven people in the United States is Hispanic, a record number that probably will keep rising because of immigration and a birth rate outstripping non-Hispanic blacks and whites.
The country's largest minority group accounted for one-half of the overall population growth of 2.9 million between July 2003 and July 2004, according to a Census Bureau report being released today.

The agency estimated there are 41.3 million Hispanics in the United States. The bureau does not ask people about their legal status; that number is intended to include both legal and other residents.

The population growth for Asians ran second. Increases in both groups are due largely to immigration, but also higher birth rates, said Lewis Goodman, an American University expert on U.S.-Latin American relations.

"If we didn't have those elements, we would be moving into a situation like Japan and Europe . . . where the populations are graying in a way that is very alarming and endangering their productivity and endangering even their social security systems," he said. Most immigrants to the United States tend to arrive in their 20s, when many people have children. A far greater percentage of whites than Hispanics is 65 or older; the opposite is true of those under 18.


The Hispanic growth rate for the 12 months starting July 2003 was 3.6 percent compared with the overall population growth of 1 percent. From 2000 to 2004, the percentage change was 15.9.


The growth rate was 3.4 percent for Asians, 1.3 percent for blacks, 1 percent for American Indians, and 0.8 percent for whites.

At the beginning of July last year, the population was an estimated 294 million with the following breakdown: 240 million whites, 39.2 million blacks, 14 million Asians, 4.4 million native Indians and Alaskans, and 980,000 native Pacific islanders. AP

THEY TOOK OUR JOBS!!

they can have my job!

NO BUENO!

The fact that the Mexicans who are settling here refuse to become a part of the pre-established culture like everyone else who has ever showed up (read: LEARN THE FUCKING LANGUAGE) is disturbing and could have serious social consequences in the near term. The last thing a melting pot needs is cultural nationalism.

The area I teach in is the poorest sector of town, and it's like 80% hispanic, 10% black, 10% caucasion. The hispanics there are very cool, and most of them are trying very hard to adapt to and ultimately embrace this new culture they're fitting into. They aren't all learning the language, but they push their kids very hard to learn it and be a part of America rather than see themselves as a misplaced Mexican.

I agree, and they'd probably have more success if American society was more welcoming towards them. I personally don't understand all the Mexican-bashing there is these days.

Conversely, it would be nice if we as Americans learned a second or third language in school as early as possible. There is no good reason not to, and taking two years in high school just as a college prereq. doesn't count if you can't use it. I very much wish I had learned Spanish in school; I could really use it. I had a friend in the 5th grade who moved her from Yugoslavia and she learned her native language, plus English, plus French, all of which were taught in her country prior to 5th grade 'standard'. She ruled.

c-

Neither do I - its not like these numbers are some surprise, the same sort of reports and complaints have been ongoing since the early 1970's where I grew up (San Jose, California)

We don't seem to have very many Mexicans in Canada at all. In fact the closest to a Mexican I've witnessed personally was my Costa Rican friend who really hated Porta Ricans.

So do Mexicans and Dominicans. I don't know why, but it seems like none of the Hispanic groups get along.

There will be a lot more cute Hispanic chicas running around, anyway.

Open up the borders!!!

wow,the oposite is true here.It must be 1 out of3 .

As the article says,the national # of Hispanics will increase and increase too.Towering the African American population.

eating places I go to that mostly Blacks worked in a few weeks ago is now all Mexican with Spanish music blaring from the radio.

So, what about how Hamtramck in the early 1900s was all Polish speaking? That's where my grandmother grew up. Only the kids in Hamtramck spoke English, the adults spoke Polish only. Sound familiar?
Or parts of San Francisco that are all Russian, Chinese, etc?


I was actually going to start a thread about this, but we may be able to use this one.
I don't understand the insistance that people must speak English to be in the United States. If you're so fed up and frustrated when you "have" to speak to someone who has limited English, imagine how difficult it is for THEM to live here and survive in a country dominated by English speakers. Walk 10 feet in their shoes, not a mile.
There has always been immigration into the US. Be it from Ireland, Italy, Cuba, or Mexico. I just get really uncomfortable with the intolerance that I see from people towards Mexicans or other Central Americans, when this is a nation of fucking immigrants.

There was a letter to the editor in the newspaper by some idiot claiming the difference is that "these people are coming illegally. Our ancestors came legally." The reasoning was that back before the US was formed, all immigrants were technically legal because there were no laws or some crap like that.

Now it's really sad that people are trying to find was to justify their obvious racism. There are European immigrants coming here all the time, and you don't hear anybody complain about them. They don't speak English, they take the low-paying jobs, but nobody has a problem. Why? Because their culture is not as different, they don't look different, etc. Technically, my own grandmother is here illegally, and she won't get deported (even though she lives between Tucson and Mexico), because she is white.

I used to think these people were against immigration for economic reasons and such, but the more and more people talk, the more and more it appears to be a racial issue instead.

While I agree fully with your statement, there is one difference between the immigrants of today as opposed to 100 years ago. In 1900, people were coming from all over Europe (and elsewhere) and speaking MANY different languages. Polish, Italian, Yiddish, Russian, Greek, etc. They lived in their small ethnic enclaves and their children learned English and eventually they assimilated into American culture.

Todays immigrants speak one language primarily, Spanish. When there are so many people all speaking one language, there is less incentive to leave the old language behind and assimilate into the new culture. Maybe it won't make any difference because the new Latino immigrants will determine that the only way to get ahead in America is to learn English, just as the immigrants of the last century did. But I think what people fear is that if 25% of the population is a first or second generation American of Hispanic background, then there will be a push for Spanish as a second official language.

There are people who believe that a culture is defined by the ethnicity of its people, or by a common religion, or other common philosophy or values. I do not. I believe that a culture is defined by a common language, because diversity of all other kinds can exist and thrive as long as the people have the common language to communicate with each other their differences. And it's not just a liberal touchy-feely way of looking at this. The words we use to define our culture do in fact define our culture.

Look at any country in the world where there are multiple languages spoken officially. You will also find multiple cultures. I think our Canadian friends can attest to this. Even small subcultures within our own country often define themselves by their language, even if it is a variation on English. If a surfer, a hillbilly, an LA gansta, and a fratboy were all put together in a room, they would not be able to communicate with one another if they spoke in the fashion that they normally speak with others like them. They have to resort to "English" as it is commonly spoken as the universal thread that ties their distinct jargons together. Add a Spanish speaker, and you're shit out of luck, because there is NO common language to fall back upon. The more distinct the language differences, the more distinct are the cultural divides.

So yes, I believe that in order to keep America American, we must have one official language and it must be American English. People of all ethnicities, religions, colors, and politics are welcome, but learn the language if you want to be considered an American.

No offense, but bullshit. A person used to arrive and come through a checkpoint to register. This checkpoint provided the US with a means to verify who was here, who wasn’t, if they were immunized against disease, etc.

There are many reasons that people want immigrants to use the proper channels, and to cry racism because someone is fed up with all the illegals is really just being lazy and not thinking about all the issues, IMO.

The problem is, there aren't any proper channels. We won't let them use the proper channels. There are two choices: (1) they enter legally, and (2) they enter illegally. It's going to be one of the two. They're coming, whether we like it or not.

I'm not saying immigrants shouldn't use proper channels. However, that's not the issue. The issue is people simply don't want them here. People are pushing for closed borders, not more opportunities for legal entry.