After my second trip in as many weeks to the DPS (the Texan version of the DMV), I'm 6-8 weeks away from receiving a Texas drivers license in the mail. I'm not going to run out and buy an Andre Johnson jersey or anything, but it's looking more and more like I'm a real-life resident of the Lone Star State.
Of course the wait at the DPS was terrible, and of course I ended up leaving during the peak of rush hour traffic. So I decided to wait it out at a nearby Barnes and Noble. I bought a book called Relentless Pursuit: A Year in the Trenches with Teach for America, which I had borrowed from Jeff "The Baseball Tourist" Aucoin while we were visiting Memphis over Thanksgiving break. I'm only 70 pages in, but the book describes in honest, accurate, and sometimes brutal detail the experience I've had with Teach for America so far. But we'll save that for another post.
After that, I thumbed through a book that caught my eye by none other than Geraldo Rivera called The Great Progression: How Hispanics Will Lead America to a New Era of Prosperity. The topic was much more interesting than Rivera delivered it, but in addition to claiming that Hispanics won the election for Obama, he mentioned something that I thought was worth repeating here.
In 2007, the average age of the US Population was 36.4 years old. Meanwhile the average age of the Hispanic US Population was 27.4 years old. By now, it shouldn't be much of a surprise that in the immediate future, American demographics will shift drastically. I grew up in a monochromatic pocket of the world where this kind of change was spoken of under furrowed brow. ...but no longer (I am 6-8 weeks away from holding a Texan License, after all).
Texas is a minority-majority state and Houston is a minority-majority city, meaning that less than 50% of their populations are white (non-Hispanic white, that is). The 2000 census showed that Houston's racial make-up was 25% African American and 49% White. In addition, Hispanics and Latinos made up 37% and non-Hispanic whites made up 30% of Houston's population.
I'm more than a little excited about the fact that in my lifetime, America will become a minority-majority country (or more accurately, a country where no one racial or ethnic demographic has the majority). As a member of the future former majority, I'm excited to see how we respond, because how we respond will be part of what defines us as a generation. Will we thrash desperately under the fear that diminishing percentages mean diminishing power and unprecedented oppression? Will we embrace the inevitable diversity, drinking in its richness?
Another interesting factoid I picked up on Wikipedia is that an estimated 400,000 illegal immigrants reside in the Greater Houston area. I also found this cool map.
I understand that as you read that, you may feel a variety of emotions or responses. One reasonable response might be "That's 400,000 people who are enjoying the benefits of my taxes without paying their fair share. Give em the boot!"
Me? I don't really know. I mean, among those 400,000 are some of the kids I teach. Among those 400,000 are their families. It might be naiveté, but after seeing some of the faces of illegal immigration, I want them to find everything in America that I have found: education, employment, acceptance, opportunity...
Bush was supposedly on the verge of an important Immigration bill when September 11th put it on the back-burner. Obama announced in June that he wants to "recognize and legalize" undocumented immigrants, so I'm excited to see what comes next.
Rather than further oversimplifying a complex topic that I know little about, I'll open it up at this point to reader reactions and rebuttals...
On a One Horse Open Sleigh,
-Andy
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If Internet blogger's, the national and rural newspaper comments, forums or bulletin boards, are a national grading of passing Comprehensive Immigration Reform--FORGET IT! IT JUST ISN'T GOING TO HAPPEN! I follow the commentaries very carefully and my observation show a very negative response to any new law that indicates giving the 20 to 30 million illegal immigrants a more or less free passport to the road of citizenship. Under normal circumstances it would be an impossibility to pass any AMNESTY? But when the headlines scream that 15 million irate Americans and legal residents cannot find employment, the chances of giving another AMNESTY, is impossible--and absolutely, incredulous that they would even try? Advancing this insane reform law under the noses of middle class Americans is going to be a expiration of Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV), Speaker Pelosi, Napolitano and a whole mis-match of Democrats who are thinking they will be re-elected. Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) champion of his government in Mexico and throughout Central and South America will--NOT--survive his incumbent election. No tourist or student overstays are equally unwelcome in this nation of laws. CALL ALL YOUR SENATORS AND EVEN CONGRESSMEN/ WOMEN. NOW and urge them--NOT--to support COMPREHENSIVE IMMIGRATION REFORM. IT'S NOT NEEDED? THE ! THE 1986 IMMIGRATION REFORM BILL WAS NEVER, EVER ENFORCED. The Capitol Switchboard's telephone number is 202-224-3121. REMEMBER TO SEND IN YOUR 28Cent POSTCARDS NOW! WE MUST DEFEAT THIS IMMIGRATION REFORM PACKAGE.
ReplyDeleteThere must be heavy consequences to illegally settling here, such as upgrading the unauthorized entry to a felony. In the future we must have an orderly immigration recruitment system, but only for people with highly skilled qualifications. Guest Workers must be equally vetted and not just given permission without strict--return instructions home, after completing their contract. No family reunification, because this has been rife with fraud as sponsors end up reneging on the financial aspect. All this issues can easily be resolved with amendment to the 1986 immigration bill. What to do with 20 to 30 million illegal aliens from across the world, slowly repatriate them using the SAVE ACT. We are unable to afford the costs attributed to illegal immigration. Learning in the Sanctuary State of California has collapsed from the massive surge of illegal foreign nationals into the school system.
Observe CNN TV documentary this week, "California in Crisis" The state may still implode under the huge burden of supporting financially the illegal aliens with large families. Unrevealed billions of dollars are skimmed from state treasuries, to pay for the immigrants that cannot sustain themselves around this nation. The demented politicians in Sacramento are already talking about raising taxes. No state remains untouched by the unparalleled invasion of this great sovereign country.Understand the immigration enforcement gradings of your politicians at NUMBERSUSA. Understand how taxpayers have been taken for a ride for decades and the unrevealed costs to you. See what JUDICIAL WATCH has to say about CORRUPTION in WASHINGTON. IF AMNESTY PASSES WE ARE JUST A SHORT INTERLUDE FROM OVERPOPULATION AND A THIRD WORLD COUNTRY EXISTENCE.
What the hell just happened here?
ReplyDeleteI think you've made it big time, Andy. You've incited the comments from a politically-charged blogger anonymous.
ReplyDeleteComing from a part of that cool map that is mostly of German descent, being in a city like Houston where I am a minority for the first time has been thrilling and a refreshing change. Houston is unique in that it has historically been a prospering city of minorities, and will be a great place for the rest of the country to look to for guidance on how to peacefully and productively move towards the future.
Totally, you've made it big when you get comments from Racist Bot. I almost stopped reading after the misplaced apostrophe in the word bloggers. But I decided to hear the angry cutter-paster out. It got a little more confusing when it said that passing immigration reform would be "a expiration" of Harry Reid, I couldn't tell if that was a grammar/vocabulary defecit or threat on the part of the poster.
ReplyDeleteBut what really ended up making me stop reading was when Robo-hater randomly brought Luis Gutierrez into the mix. You probably don't know anythying about rep Gutierrez. As it turns out, neither does Britticus. According to our poster, Gutierrez is a Mexican infiltrator who works on behalf of his ethnic heritage rather than the country he calls home. Of course, that would require him to have been born in Mexico right? He was born in Chicago. At least his parents would have been Mexican, right? I mean, with a name like Gutierrez, he's gotta be Mexican, and probably illegal too, right? His parents are Puerto Rican, which makes them US citizens too.
Charming.
I think we're ignoring the biggest immigration threat from Mexico: killer bees.
ReplyDelete