Ethnic diversity in constant flux

The population in the United States, the third largest country in the world, has experienced a dramatic shift in ethnic diversity since the decennial census was last taken in 2000.

According to a U.S. Census Bureau report from May 2009, the minority population reached an estimated 104.6 million, or 31 percent of the nation's population, on July 1, 2008.

For the most part, immigration has caused the increase in minorities, along with better opportunities and better education, adjunct counselor and psychology professor Andrea Phillips said.

One example is people coming from India for better technological opportunities, she said.

Phillips said the largest minority groups in the population are Hispanics, accounting for about 15 percent of the population. African-Americans are the second largest minority group, followed by Asian-Americans with the third largest.

The U.S. Census Bureau report states that rise is also attributed to an increase in birth rates. The natural increase alone of Hispanics from April 1, 2000 to July 1, 2008 was 7,257,703, according to the report.

Hispanics are made up of people of Mexican, Puerto Rican, and Cuban descent, and several other ethnic groups from Central and South America.

The U.S. Census Bureau reported that by 2050, minorities are estimated to make up more than 50 percent of the U.S. population. The report also speculated that Caucasians in pre-grade school population will be the minority in 2021.

In a report written by senior demographer William Frey from the Brookings Institute, he said that areas where Caucasians dominate the population are more concerned about issues affecting health care and retirement security when addressing minority groups.

Phillips said much effort is needed to stray from the "Eurocentric norm" and cultures need to fight for their inclusion in this country.

Intermarriages are also a leading contributor to ethnic diversity. A Pew Research Center survey showed that more than one-fifth of all American adults have a close relative who is married to someone of a different race.

People are beginning to be more understanding and open to other cultures, though some cultures still try to keep to themselves, Phillips said.

Yet, the 2000 census was the first time people could mark themselves as having more than one race or ethnicity.

Although minorities make up more than one-third of the population, the ethnicities are not spread out evenly across the country, Phillips said.

In the Census Bureau's 2006 American Community Survey, the largest number of immigrants were shown to have moved to California, New York, Texas, Florida, New Jersey and Illinois.

California is one of the most ethnically diverse states in the entire nation, Phillips said.

This is the first time in the country's history where a minority ethnic group made up so large a share of the youngest Americans, a Pew Hispanic Center article said.

Two-thirds of Hispanics were born in the United States, most being descendants of the ongoing wave of Latin American immigrants who began coming to the country around 1965, a U.S. Census Bureau report said.

With the increase in ethnic diversity also comes the rise in cultural diversity, Phillips said.

"I think cultural diversity is understanding people's languages, and it is still evolving," she said. "We need to have more classes teaching ethnic diversity at this college.

"We need to have more conversations to give (students) the historical significance of ethnicities, racism and what all of it means," she said.

Contact Alexandra Waite at awaite.advocate@gmail.com