Minorities become the majority

[Oh, Gee!!]

Minorities become the majority in 10 percent of U.S. counties



WASHINGTON (AP) -- Whites are now in the minority in almost one in 10 U.S. counties.

And that increased diversity, fueled by immigration and higher birth rates among blacks and Hispanics, is straining race relations and sparking a backlash against immigrants in many communities.

"There's some culture shock," said Mark Mather of the Population Reference Bureau, a Washington-based research agency. "But I think there is a momentum building, and it is going to continue."

As of 2006, non-Hispanic whites made up less than half the population in 303 of the nation's 3,141 counties, according to figures the Census Bureau is releasing Thursday. Non-Hispanic whites were a minority in 262 counties in 2000, up from 183 in 1990.

The Census Bureau's report has population estimates by race and ethnicity for every county in the nation. They are the first such estimates since Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast in 2005, scattering hundreds of thousands of people.

rest of story: http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/08/09/minority.counties.ap/index.html

[Oh, Gee!!]

I wonder what kind of creative re-districting plans repubs will draw up now

[fyatuk]

I thought it was bigger news when a couple states crossed that line a couple years ago.

And uhh, there's no guarantee that this would affect any voting patterns anyway. Minorities don't ALL vote Democrat. Hispanics in South Florida tend to vote Republican, etc.

And it's not like the Democrats haven't pulled some "creative" re-districting plans. See TX in the early to mid 80s (IIRC on the time frame). The Democrats are just as likely to try redistricting weirdly to get their votes in districts that are borderline.

[smeagol]

C'mon Latinos!!!!!

[Extra Stout]

And uhh, there's no guarantee that this would affect any voting patterns anyway. Minorities don't ALL vote Democrat. Hispanics in South Florida tend to vote Republican, etc.
Given the rancor of the recent immigration debate, don't count on too many Hispanics voting GOP this time around.

[ggoose25]

It won't matter. They still won't register to vote.

[Cant_Be_Faded]

I Smell Future Gerrymandering!!!!!!

[SRJ]

Tribalism sucks.

[Nbadan]

....oh boy, I see a sequel to Cesar Chavez's 'wet lines' ....

[fyatuk]

Given the rancor of the recent immigration debate, don't count on too many Hispanics voting GOP this time around.

Well, considering in South Florida it's mostly Cubans and other Carribeans that were basically granted political asylum to get in instead of going through immigration, that might not make that much of an impact on them. The biggest issue for them (from what I've read and the few I've talked to) is that they view the Democrats as being soft on Cuba and Castro, and fear they might lift the embargos, etc.

It'll probably have a bigger impact on Texas voters than Florida voters.