Census: 2011 data confirm trend of population diversity
By Stephanie Siek, CNN
(CNN)– In what is a historic milestone, the population of minority children younger than the age of one has overtaken whites, the Census Bureau said on Thursday.
The bureau released estimates showing that 50.4% of children younger than one were minorities as of
July 1, 2011, up from 49.5% from the 2010 census taken in April 2010.
The United States remains largely white. The bureau says there were 114 million minorities in 2011, or
36.6% of the U.S. population, a bump of half a percentage point from 2010.
But the latest statistics - which also count the national population younger than 5 as 49.7% minority in
2011, an increase from 49% in 2010 - portend a future of a more racially diverse America.
"We've known it was going to come," said Kenneth M. Johnson, senior demographer at the Carsey
Institute and professor of sociology at the University of New Hampshire.
But Johnson said the question was what year the "crossover point" would happen.
"Little children are in the vanguard of all this change coming to America," the demographer said, calling the development a first in U.S. history.
Johnson sees the trend as an "opportunity" for more Americans to embrace diversity. More children are going to be exposed to a more diverse group of classmates, and that will affect attitudes and outlook.
The changes are going to be felt first in hospitals, as well as schools, where an increasingly diverse child population has to be absorbed. Hospitals would need interpreters and translators, for example. English as a second language would be an educational priority.
While many regions such as Atlanta have a diverse population, other regions lack racial and ethnic variety and will have to deal with a new kind of population, he said. In declining rural counties, he says, an influx of groups like Hispanics would serve to renew communities and changes would ensue.
"For a country that's aging, we need young workers, and the growth of the minority population will contribute to the size of the young adult workforce," he said. "This is breathing new life into the United
States."
The latest figures - which defines "minority" as anyone who does not identify themselves as white (as a single race) and non-Hispanic - count Hispanics as "the most populous" and "fasting growing minority group."
They numbered 52 million in 2011, and their population grew by 3.1% since 2010. The U.S. Hispanic population grew from 16.3% in 2010 to 16.7% in 2011.
"California had the largest Hispanic population of any state on July 1, 2011 (14.4 million), as well as the largest numeric increase within the Hispanic population since April 1, 2010, (346,000)," the Census said.

"New Mexico had the highest percentage of Hispanics at 46.7%. Los Angeles had the largest Hispanic population of any county (4.8 million) in 2011 and the largest numeric increase since 2010 (73,000).
Starr County - on the Mexican border in Texas - had the highest share of Hispanics (95.6 percent)."
Asians numbered 18.2 million nationally in 2011, making them the second fastest-growing minority group - up by 3% since 2010. Figures show that California had the largest Asian population of any state at 5.8 million and the largest increase since 2010 at 131,000.
"Hawaii is our nation's only majority-Asian state, with people of this group comprising 57.1% of the total population. Los Angeles had the largest Asian population of any county (1.6 million) in 2011, and also the largest numeric increase (16,000) since 2010. At 61.2%, Honolulu had the highest percentage of
Asians in the nation," the Census said.
African-Americans are the second largest minority group in the United States at 43.9 million in 2011, an increase of 1.6% from 2010. New York has the largest black population of any state with 3.7 million and
Texas has the largest increase from 2010 of 84,000. Cook County, Illinois, which includes Chicago, has the largest black population of any county at 1.3 million. Fulton County, Georgia, which includes Atlanta, has the largest increase since 2010 at 13,000.
The District of Columbia has the highest percentage of blacks at 52.2%. Mississippi has the secondlargest at 38%.
America's native population - labeled "American Indian and Alaska Native population" by the Census - was about 6.3 million in 2011, up 2.1% from 2010. California had the largest such population at
1,050,000 and the largest increase at 23,000. Alaska had the highest share at 19%. Los Angeles had the largest such population of any county, with 231,000, and the largest increase, 9,000 since 2010.
The population classified as "Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander" was 1.4 million in 2011, up
2.9% since 2010. Hawaii had the largest such population of any state at 359,000 and the highest percentage at 26.1. California had the largest increase since 2010 at 9,000. Honolulu has the largest population of any county at 235,000. Los Angeles County had the largest increase since 2011 at 2,700.
Of single race non-Hispanic white, California had the largest population at 15 million. Texas had the largest increase since 2010 at 80,000. Maine had the highest percentage of the non-Hispanic white alone population, 94.3 percent.
Four states and the District of Columbia have predominantly minority populations, Hawaii, at 77%, the
District of Columbia at 64.7%, California, at 60.3%, New Mexico, at 59.8%, and Texas, at 55.2%.
Minorities comprised the majority population in 11% of the nation's 3,143 counties.
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1.
The Bear
by the way, 95 % of blacks voting for obama is not racist? but if whites dont vote for him, they are, right? why has there not been ONE story about this double standard in the mainstream press? where are the real liberals?
May 17, 2012 at 10:33 am | Report abuse | Reply
2.
Bob
There goes the neighborhood...
May 17, 2012 at 10:33 am | Report abuse | Reply
3.
Melvin Painter
And you wonder why millions more got added to the foodstamp program. Democraps are turning our society into one big toilet.
May 17, 2012 at 10:32 am | Report abuse | Reply
4.
AC360
BS, most of them are too attached to their lifestyle and having kids would interfere.
May 17, 2012 at 10:31 am | Report abuse | Reply
5.
The Bear
kinda like england, where the most popular baby name is now mohammed.
way to go liberals...anything to try to make them like us....
and a president who loves stoking the divide, the anger, the tension...why? because he thinks it gets him votes...the hell with red america, blue america, were all america...what mullarkey from him..and you believed it! hahahahahah
May 17, 2012 at 10:31 am | Report abuse | Reply
6.
Bebe Gallini
THe comments on here are so depressing. I know lots of different people of different races and some are poor and some are rich. I have lived in the South, Southwest and Northeast. I have seen people of all colors fail to care for their children and abuse the welfare system including some of those who rich. I have seen people of all colors work hard to care for their families and not use or abuse the welfare system, some of them very. very poor. The fact that so many peopl (based on the comments here) believe that whites take care of their own and dont use or abuse the welfare system while minorities are all poor breeders milking the welfare system makes me sick. I am ashamed of you all.
May 17, 2012 at 10:31 am | Report abuse | Reply
7.
younger generation

I don't know what's the average age of people who commend on this board.
But we younger generation (early 20's) don't care about race. We have friends that play basketball with, go to concert with, study with.
I don't see their color. At all
May 17, 2012 at 10:31 am | Report abuse | Reply
8.
Name
We deserve everything that's gonna happen to us.
May 17, 2012 at 10:30 am | Report abuse | Reply
9.
InFormed
Pathetic. How many 'whites' who think they are white actually have mixed races in their genetic heritage? Statistics indicate 97% of people who have white skin and NOT genetically pure Scandinavians.
May 17, 2012 at 10:30 am | Report abuse | Reply
10.
Wild Texas Boy
Great this must make the deomocrats mouths just water, fresh meat for the taking as its getting more difficult to get dead people to vote!!! LOL
May 17, 2012 at 10:30 am | Report abuse | Reply
11.
bdunq
There goes America. Does this mean we are going to be like Mexico or Central America or South
Africa in 25 yrs time?
May 17, 2012 at 10:30 am | Report abuse | Reply
12.
davenport
Poor people, regardless of race, always have a higher rate of children than the rich, this has been true throughout human history. The white Americans of today are the desendents of the poor classes that overflowed the populations of every European country in the 17th, 18th 19th and 20th centuries.
They came here because they were poor, had large familes and were stuck at the bottom in the Old
Country.
May 17, 2012 at 10:29 am | Report abuse | Reply
13.
The Bear
america the great nation is slipping away....and CNN loves it...
May 17, 2012 at 10:27 am | Report abuse | Reply
14.
InFormed

It's funny to watch everyone mouthing off about skin color and how important it is. Wake up people, skin color is an evolutionary adaptation to a lack of sunlight. The genetic diversity in skin is FAR LESS than the genetic diversity between two siblings! Typical lack of education in the US leads to the standard uninformed opinions.
You take a group of black people and leave them to breed in a northern country and in a few thousand years their skin will BECOME WHITE. Take a bunch of white people and drop them off in Africa to breed for a few thousand years and their skin will evolve to BECOME BLACK.
What an unbelievable lack of education. Pathetic.
May 17, 2012 at 10:27 am | Report abuse | Reply
15.
serrano
Way to go all u out of touch liberals trying to help the diadvantaged ignoring the current state of unemployment forb americans born in this country. hell lets just give it al away close our borders NOW. ban immigration.