By: tito guerrero iii  (Page 2/7)

Demographics

In the 2000 United States census, a total of 281.4 million residents were counted. [That figure excludes the populations in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (United States Census Bureau.)] Up from 249 million, the growth in population between 1990 and 2000 represents the largest growth in population than in any previously recorded decade (Business – Higher Education Forum). The number of Hispanics or Latinos within that total of 281.4 million came to 35.3 million (or 12.5 percent). Mexicans accounted for 7.3 percent of the total population of the United States, Puerto Ricans 1.2 percent, Cubans 0.4 percent, and other Hispanics 3.6 percent. (Keep in mind that the population of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is not included in this total.) (United States Census Bureau)

People of Hispanic origin, in particular, were those who indicated their origin was Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Central or South American, or some other Hispanic origin. For example, respondents who indicated that they were of Mexican origin could either have been born in Mexico or be of Mexican heritage. Of course, people of Hispanic origin could be of any race (United States Census Bureau).

Even before Census 2000, the Census Bureau predicted that the non-Hispanic White share of the population in the United States would fall from the 1995 figure of 74 percent to 64 percent in 2020 and to 53 percent in 2050. Between now and 2050, the Bureau projected that Hispanics would represent the largest share of population growth and the African American population would nearly double (Business – Higher Education Forum).

Census 2000 marked the first time that the term “Latino” appeared on the census form. Respondents who marked “other Spanish/Hispanic/Latino” had additional space to note Hispanic origins, such as Salvadoran or Dominican, a practice that was started in the 1990 census. In the 1990 and 1980 censuses, respondents were asked if they were of “Spanish/Hispanic origin or descent” and, if so, to choose Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, or other Spanish/Hispanic (United State Census Bureau).

Surprisingly, the census in 1970 was the first to include a separate question specifically on Hispanic origin, although it was only asked of a 5 percent sample of households. In that census, respondents were asked to choose whether their origin or descent was Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Central or South American, or other Spanish. Prior to the 1970 census, Hispanic origin was determined only indirectly. For example, the censuses of 1960 and 1950 collected and published data for “persons of Spanish surname” in the five southwestern states of Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas, whereas the 1940 census identified people who reported Spanish as their “mother tongue.” Mexican was used as a category within the race question only in the 1930 census (United States Census Bureau).

The Hispanic population increased by more than 50 percent since the 1990 census. In the ten-year period between the 1990 census and the 2000 census, the Hispanic population grew from 22.4 million to 35.3 million (an increase of 57.9 percent). That compares with an increase of 13.2 percent for the total U.S. population. The rate of growth among Hispanics varied according to group. Mexicans increased by 52.9 percent, from 13.5 million to 20.6 million; Puerto Ricans increased by 24.9 percent, from 2.7 million to 3.4 million; Cubans increased by 18.9 percent, from 1.0 million to 1.2 million; and Hispanics who reported other origins increased by 96.9 percent, from 5.1 million to 10.0 million. As a result of those growth rates, the distribution among Hispanics according to origin changed. In 2000, Mexicans comprised 58.5 percent of all Hispanics (down from 60.4 percent in 1990), Puerto Ricans represented 9.6 percent (down from 12.2 percent), Cubans were 3.5 percent (down from 4.7 percent), and the remaining 28.4 percent were of other Hispanic origins (up from 22.8 percent). Among the 10.0 million other Hispanics in 2000, 1.7 million were Central American, 1.4 million were South American, and 765,000 were Dominican (United State Census Bureau).