Over the past few days, festivities across Texas have marked the 146th anniversary of a historic feat accomplished by the Mexican army. The occasion was the defeat of a much larger French force at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862.
Commonly known as Cinco de Mayo (May 5), this day of celebration is a symbol of national pride for people of Mexican ancestry and is observed with unique celebrations in numerous nations around the world, much on the order of St. Patrick’s Day, Oktoberfest, and the Chinese New Year. It also serves as an opportunity to highlight Mexican culture, especially music, dancing, and food (my personal favorite). Although virtually ignored in Mexico, the special day has been celebrated in California continuously since 1863 and has seen rising popularity across the US, especially for Americans of Mexican heritage. Nowhere is the party longer or louder than in Texas, where we can embrace this vital part of our culture and reflect its growing importance to our economy (you knew I would get it in there somewhere).
Since 2005, Texas has been a minority-majority state, joining Hawaii, New Mexico, and California where minorities represent more than 50% of the residents. Currently, some 52% of Texas’ population is other than Anglo. Much of this phenomenon reflects a rapidly expanding Hispanic population which is dominated by those of Mexican origin.
Five other states now have more than 40% minority population, i.e., all people excluding non-Hispanic single-race whites. The states that are well on the way toward the minority-majority status are Maryland, Mississippi, Georgia, New York, and Arizona.
According to the Census Bureau, the US Hispanic population now exceeds 45 million, reflecting approximately 15% of the nation’s total. In 2000, Hispanics comprised 12.6% of the nation’s residents. During the 2000-2007 timeframe, Hispanics accounted for about half of the aggregate population growth in the US.
The unprecedented swelling of the Hispanic population in the 1990s was because of immigration. Since that time, some 62% of the increase in Hispanics has been due to births. This dramatic augmentation is attributable primarily to the relatively young age of this group and its tendency to have larger families.
From 2006 to 2007, the number of Hispanics living in the country rose 3.3%, as compared to 2.9% for Asians, 1.3% for African Americans, and 0.3% for non-Hispanic whites.
The most recent data provided by the Census Bureau indicates that Texas had a 308,000 increase in its Hispanic population from 2006 to 2007, which was the largest of any state. Hispanics at 8.6 million now represent about 38% of the Texas population, second only to California’s 13.2 million.
While the Hispanic population gain in Texas ranks it first among all states, the leader in percentage increase for 2007 was South Carolina with 8.7%, a slight dip from the 9.1% increase the previous year. Texas’ 3.7% change from 2006 to 2007 placed it among 28 other states which experienced Hispanic growth between 3.0% and 6.0%.
Over the past several years, Hispanics have been moving further away from their traditional Southwestern residential patterns to live in urban centers across the country. The shift has been in response to increased employment opportunities in those areas.
The growing diversity of the US population is particularly important to the states of Texas and California where almost one-third of minorities reside. According to recent US Census Bureau estimates, projections suggest that minorities will constitute a majority of the overall US population by 2050. This pattern brings some challenges in providing educational opportunities and overcoming various achievement and occupational gaps, but it also brings an incredible resource to drive future market development and economic success.
The increase in Hispanics across the nation is likely to extend the Cinco de Mayo celebrations to more locales across the US in the future in recognition and appreciation of the ongoing contributions of the nation’s largest minority population. What could be better?