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Whites are no longer a majority in Phoenix???
When I was living in Los Angeles County in 1995 I was happy to learn that Whites dropped below 50 percent of the population and that I was now a minority. It's taken over 10 years but the same thing is now happening in Phoenix. Now Whites are only 46.5 percent of the population of Phoenix. Census shows racial disparity amid Phoenix districts by Michael Clancy - Jun. 25, 2012 12:42 PM The Republic | azcentral.com It's a tale of two ends of the city. District 2, which covers northeast Phoenix, has the highest number of non-Hispanic Whites and Asians of any district in the city. It has the fewest Hispanics, Blacks and American Indians. District 7, in southwest Phoenix, shows the highest number of Hispanics, and its neighbor to the east, District 8, the highest number of Blacks. District 7 has the fewest Whites and Asians. The numbers come from the city, which used 2010 census figures to redraw proposed district lines and balance the population in each at about 181,000. That is an increase since 2000 of 16,000 people per district, as the city's population climbed from 1.32 million to 1.45 million. Overall, the Hispanic population of Phoenix increased to 41 percent from 33 percent of the population. The White population declined to 46.5 percent from 55.8 percent. The number of Hispanics jumped to 591,000 from 450,000. The number of Whites declined to 673,000 in 2010 from 737,000 in 2000. Whites and Hispanics together make up 87 percent of the population. Blacks comprise 6.5 percent and Asians 3.5 percent. The remaining 3 percent are American Indians and Pacific Islanders, as well as those who marked "other" or "non-Hispanic two or more races" on their census forms. Districts 1, 2, 3 and 6 are majority White; the rest are majority Hispanic. The Hispanic population percentage increased in every district except District 8, while the White population declined in every district. Those numbers are unlikely to change much for the foreseeable future, said Tom Rex, associate director of the Center for Competitiveness and Prosperity Research at the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University. "The growth of the Hispanic population will be slower because of the state's employer-sanctions law," passed in 2008, Rex said. Illegal immigration into Arizona has declined to virtually nothing because of the law, he added. The economic slowdown and reduced birth rates also have slowed growth among the Hispanic population, Rex said. If the issue of young people who are not citizens is not resolved, Hispanic growth will slow even further, he said. For Phoenix, a higher Hispanic population means a less well-educated population, a poorer community and a city and state still embroiled in issues of language and citizenship, Rex said. City Councilman Daniel Valenzuela noted that the Hispanic population is growing nationwide, and that majority of Hispanics -- -- even in cases of those who are poor and uneducated -- aspires to success. "The responsibility of the city government stays the same," he said. "But it is beneficial for government to reflect the community." Phoenix has five White council members, two Hispanic and one Black. District 4 is the only district to have a non-minority representing a population of mostly minorities. Rex said a decline in the White population reflects the loss of high-end jobs in electronics and aerospace, along with lower birth rates than any other group. He said it is almost impossible to speculate on future trends. "It's awfully hard to look ahead with all the legal issues," Rex said. |