TABLE 1.1 Population by sex, race, and Hispanic origin, 2004 [CONTINUED]
| TABLE 1.1 | |
|---|---|
| Population by sex, race, and Hispanic origin, 2004 [CONTINUED] | |
| Sex, race and Hispanic or Latino origin | Population estimates |
| July 1, 2004 | |
| *"In combination" means in combination with one or more other races. The sum of the five race groups adds to more than the total population because individuals may report more than one race. | |
| SOURCE: Adapted from "Table 3. Annual Estimates of the Population by Sex, Race, and Hispanic or Latino Origin for the United States: April 1, 2000 to July 1, 2004," NC-EST2004-03, U.S. Census Bureau, Population Division, June 8, 2005, http://www.census.gov/popest/national/asrh/NC-EST2004-srh.html (accessed December 9, 2005) | |
| Two or more races | 1,959,721 |
| Race along or in combination* | |
| White | 102,477,751 |
| Black | 19,599,721 |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 1,825,491 |
| Asian | 6,951,816 |
| Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander | 400,502 |
| Hispanic or Latino | 19,974,997 |
| One race | 19,681,246 |
| White | 18,423,502 |
| Black | 784,408 |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 292,271 |
| Asian | 129,978 |
| Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander | 51,087 |
| Two or more races | 293,751 |
| Race along or in combination* | |
| White | 18,681,913 |
| Black | 919,983 |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 401,819 |
| Asian | 215,820 |
| Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander | 84,551 |
According to the Census Bureau, 41.3 million Hispanics lived in the United States in July 2004. Representing 14.1% of the population, they were the largest minority group in the nation. (See Table 1.1.) Their population in the United States grew rapidly in the second half of the twentieth century. The Census Bureau reports that in 1950 Hispanics comprised less than 3% of the population. By 1980 they represented 6.4% of the population (14.6 million). In 1990 Hispanics totaled about 22.5 million, representing 9.1% of the total U.S. population. The 2000 census counted 35.6 million His-panics living in the United States. The Census Bureau predicts that by 2050 there will be 102.6 million Hispanics living in the United States. (See Table 1.2.)
Immigration and high birth rates are two major reasons for the large growth of the Hispanic population. As a result of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (PL 99-603), by 1992 about 2.6 million Mexicans were granted legal status in the United States. In Estimates of the Unauthorized Immigrant Population Residing in the United States: 1990 to 2000 (January 2003, http://uscis.gov/gra-phics/shared/aboutus/statistics/Ill_Report_1211.pdf), the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) estimates that as of January 2000 approximately seven million illegal aliens also lived in the United States, up from 5.8
FIGURE 1.1 U.S. citizenship of the foreign-born Hispanic population by year of entry, 2002
In The Hispanic Population in the United States: March 2002 (June 2003, http://www.census.gov/prod/2003pubs/p20-545.pdf), Roberto R. Ramirez and G. Patricia de la Cruz count all people in the United States regardless of legal status, although illegal aliens are likely to be undercounted because they are reluctant to provide personal information to government officials. Many members of the Hispanic community, particularly those who immigrated to the United States in recent years, have yet to become citizens. While 73.3% of Hispanics who entered the country before 1970 became citizens by 2002, only 7.3% of those who entered the country between 1990 and 2002 became citizens by 2002. (See Figure 1.1.)
Hispanic Origins
Hispanic Americans trace their origins to a number of countries. Ramirez and de la Cruz report that in 2002, 66.9% of the Hispanics in the United States were of Mexican heritage. Approximately 14.3% were of Central and South American origin, 8.6% were of Puerto Rican heritage, 3.7% were Cuban, and 6.5% were from other origins. The differences in origin can often mean significant variations in where Hispanics live, their education, income, and living conditions. (See Figure 1.2.)
Geographic Distribution
In 2002, 44.2% of Hispanic Americans lived in the West. Another 34.8% lived in the South, 13.3% lived in the Northeast, and 7.7% lived in the Midwest. (See Figure 1.3.) Despite the uneven distribution of Hispanics in
TABLE 1.2 Projected population of the United States, by race and Hispanic origin, 2000–50
| TABLE 1.2 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Projected population of the United States, by race and Hispanic origin, 2000–50 | ||||||
| [In thousands except as indicated. As of July 1. Residen population] | ||||||
| Population or percent and race or Hispanic origin | 2000 | 2010 | 2020 | 2030 | 2040 | 2050 |
| *Includes American Indian and Alaska Native alone, Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander alone, and two or more races. | ||||||
| SOURCE: "Table 1a. Projected Population of the United States, by Race and Hispanic Origin: 2000 to 2050," in "U.S. Interim Projections by Age, Sex, Race, and Hispanic Origin," U.S. Census Bureau, March 18, 2004, http://www.census.gov/ipc/www/usinterimproj/natprojtab01a.pdf (accessed December 9, 2005) | ||||||
| Population | ||||||
| Total | 282,125 | 308,936 | 335,805 | 363,584 | 391,946 | 419,845 |
| White alone | 228,548 | 244,995 | 260,629 | 275,731 | 289,690 | 302,626 |
| Black alone | 35,818 | 40,454 | 45,365 | 50,442 | 55,876 | 61,361 |
| Asian alone | 10,648 | 14,241 | 17,988 | 22,580 | 27,992 | 33,430 |
| All other races* | 7,075 | 9,246 | 11,822 | 14,831 | 18,388 | 22,437 |
| Hispanic (of any race) | 35,622 | 47,756 | 59,756 | 73,055 | 87,585 | 102,560 |
| White alone, not Hispanic | 195,729 | 201,112 | 205,936 | 209,176 | 210,331 | 210,283 |
| Percent of total population | ||||||
| Total | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 |
| White alone | 81.0 | 79.3 | 77.6 | 75.8 | 73.9 | 72.1 |
| Black alone | 12.7 | 13.1 | 13.5 | 13.9 | 14.3 | 14.6 |
| Asian alone | 3.8 | 4.6 | 5.4 | 6.2 | 7.1 | 8.0 |
| All other races* | 2.5 | 3.0 | 3.5 | 4.1 | 4.7 | 5.3 |
| Hispanic (of any race) | 12.6 | 15.5 | 17.8 | 20.1 | 22.3 | 24.4 |
| White alone, not Hispanic | 69.4 | 65.1 | 61.3 | 57.5 | 53.7 | 50.1 |
Mexican Americans
Many Hispanic Americans are descendants of the Spanish and Mexican people who lived in the West and Southwest when those regions were first Spanish (starting in the 1500s) and later Mexican territory (after Mexico gained its independence from Spain in 1821). Their forebears were absorbed into the United States when Texas revolted, broke away from Mexico, became a republic, and then finally joined the United States during the 1840s. The Mexican-American War (1846–48) added California, Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Colorado, and the Rio Grande boundary to the United States with the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848. As a result, Hispanics living in those areas became Americans.
The Mexican-origin population, which more than doubled in the last two decades of the twentieth century, continues to grow in the twenty-first century. In March 2002 Mexican Americans represented 66.9% of the Hispanic population in the United States (see Figure 1.2), or about twenty-five million people, up from 20.6 million in 2000. Ramirez and de la Cruz report that Mexican Americans remained concentrated for the most part in the West (54.6%) and in the South (34.3%).
FIGURE 1.2 Hispanics by origin, 2002
Nearly half of all Hispanics (45.6%) lived in central cities in 2002, compared with only 21.1% of non-Hispanic whites. Only 8.7% of Hispanics lived outside non-metropolitan areas, but Mexican Americans were more likely to live in these areas than other Hispanics. In Profiles of General Demographic Characteristics 2000
FIGURE 1.3 Population by Hispanic origin and region of residence, 2002
Puerto Ricans
The situation of Puerto Ricans is unique in American society. The Caribbean island of Puerto Rico, formerly a Spanish colony, became a U.S. commonwealth after it was ceded to the United States by the Treaty of Paris in 1898, which ended the Spanish-American War. In 1917 the Revised Organic Act (the Jones Act) granted the island a bill of rights and its own legislature. It also conferred U.S. citizenship to all Puerto Ricans.
Following World War II (1939–45), an industrialization program was launched in Puerto Rico. While the program benefited many, it sharply reduced the number of agricultural jobs, driving many rural residents to the cities. Combined with a high birth rate, this led to unemployment, overcrowding, and poverty. Since 1993, when President Bill Clinton eliminated tax exemptions for manufacturing firms in Puerto Rico, industries have moved away in search of cheaper labor, further compounding the economic problems. According to Ramirez and de la Cruz, in 1940 fewer than seventy thousand Puerto Ricans lived in the contiguous United States; in 2002, 3.2 million called the United States home. Partly because of the relative ease with which Puerto Ricans can travel in the United States, many move freely between the United States and Puerto Rico.
Most of the first Puerto Ricans who arrived in the United States settled in New York City in the Manhattan neighborhood of East Harlem, which came to be known as El Barrio (the Neighborhood). Eventually, Puerto Rican immigrants moved in greater numbers to other boroughs of the city and into New Jersey.
In 2002 Puerto Ricans represented 8.6% of the Hispanic population living in the United States. (See Figure 1.2.) Ramirez and de la Cruz report that Puerto Ricans were more likely to live in the Northeast (58%) than in other areas. Puerto Ricans were even more likely than other Hispanic groups to reside inside central cities in metropolitan areas—57.4% of them live in these areas.
Cuban Americans
Many Cubans fled Cuba during the early 1960s after the Fulgencio Batista regime was overthrown by Fidel Castro; Cuban immigrants tended to settle in Miami, Florida, and in the surrounding Dade County. Most of these political refugees were older, middle class, and educated. Many fled to maintain a capitalist way of life, and many succeeded in achieving economic prosperity in the United States. While language differences caused initial difficulties, most adapted well, and Cubans are the most economically successful of the Hispanic ethnic groups. Unlike Americans of Mexican and Puerto Rican backgrounds, who began migrating throughout the country during the 1990s, the Cuban population has generally remained concentrated in Florida, although large numbers also live in New Jersey, New York, and California.
In Mariel Boatlift (April 2005, http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ops/mariel-boatlift.htm), GlobalSecurity.org reports that in 1980, 125,000 people seeking refuge from Castro's government fled Cuba in what became known as the Mariel Boatlift, named after the town in Cuba from which they sailed. Because most of these new immigrants were from less wealthy and less educated backgrounds than their predecessors, and some were actually criminals or people who were mentally ill, many had difficulty fitting into the existing Cuban communities in the United States. Also, unlike the Cubans who came before them, they had spent twenty years living under a dictatorship that was vastly different from the democratic government they encountered in the United States.
In 1993 and 1994 more than twenty-nine thousand Cubans tried to enter the United States after fleeing a severe economic crisis in their own country. Most attempted the trip by boats and rafts but were intercepted by the U.S. Coast Guard and taken back to Cuba, where they were detained at the U.S. Air Force base at Guantánamo Bay. By January 1996 most detainees had been allowed to enter the United States, and the detention camps were closed.
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