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Census figures Hispanic growth provides an opening for change 03/14/2001 It's a brand new dia in Dallas, Tejas. Census figures released Monday indicate that the city's Hispanic population doubled over the last decade. In a stunning development that took many by surprise, Hispanics now account for 422,587 – or 35.6 percent – of the 1,188,580 Dallas residents. That makes Hispanics the city's largest minority, continuing a trend that has already taken hold in most of the nation's 10 largest cities. Statewide, Hispanics represent 32 percent of Texans, a 54 percent population increase from 1990.
There are other cities and states that have undergone similar transformations, and folks elsewhere have not always adjusted well to the change. The political landscapes of such places have been marred by anti-immigrant rhetoric, increased hate crimes against Hispanics, English-only laws and, in California, a 1994 ballot initiative aimed at denying health care and public education to the children of illegal immigrants.
In recent years, Texas has done a much better job of dealing with diversity. In a state that has long been a stew of different races, ethnicities and nationalities, a growing Hispanic community – and the Hispanic immigrants helping to fuel that growth – would seem to be just the latest ingredient.
As we watch history unfold before our eyes, our newest challenge is to embrace the rapid growth of the Hispanic community for what is: not a liability, but an opportunity. A lot will be said and written in the coming days about what it means. Regional politics are sure to change. So will economics and the social fabric.
The new figures provide una apertura – an opening for positive change. The test will come not in how our political institutions adjust to the new paradigm but how our people do. Now that the stew has been given more flavor, we will find out what we are made of. |
