There's an interesting piece over at the website of Institute for Southern Studies today about the rise of multi-racials in Census data. When we got our form, I was fine with putting in a couple of different races but from a data perspective, I knew immediately that I wouldn't want to have to parse those data. From a personal and social justice perspective, I've told friends for a long time that I believe racism usually involves hatred of one particular group of people. I wonder if the rise of multi-racial Americans makes the problem of racism better or worse? Can you hate 30% of someone who isn't the same race as you? Or does this rise just lead racist people to insist on some purity test, as in all white or all black? It's going to be interesting to see how this all plays out as politicians seek to draw in racial/ethnic voting blacs.
By Marisa Trevino LatinaLista The U.S. Census released a report last week that showed something that everyone has known to be on the horizon for a while now -- the growth in numbers of people of color.
According to the U.S. Census' figures, which are still based on the 2000 Census and updated by Census staff using a variety of resources, the minority population now makes up 35 percent of the nation's population.
When the groups are looked at separately, it's no big surprise that the group seen with the biggest gain is Latinos, who now comprise 16 percent of the population versus the black population that only comprises 12 percent of the population.
However, what is a surprise for many is the rise of a new demographic -- multiracials.
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