Texas is already a state where minorities make up the majority of people living in the state. And the fastest growing portion of the population is composed of Hispanics -- who made of about 65% of the total population growth in the last 10 years. Even African-Americans made up a larger percentage of the population growth (12.2%) than did Whites (10.8%). Whites still make up the largest voting bloc in the state, but as minority populations continue to grow and more become citizens (and voters) that is going to change. The only question is how fast it will change.
The current Republican efforts are a lot like closing the barn door after all the livestock has already escaped. It may make them feel better, but it's not going to change the future. If they were smart, they would be reaching out to Hispanics. But that would make the racists in the party angry, so instead they are trying to deny citizenship and voting rights. They're going to have to make a decision -- either embrace diversity and minority rights, or see their power dwindle until they lose their hold on power.
Here are the current population totals and their percentage increase:
Total Population..........25,145,561 (increase of 20.6%)
Whites..........11,397,345 (increase of 4.2%)
Hispanics..........9,460,921 (increase of 41.8%)
African-Americans..........2,886,825 (increase of 22.1%)
Asians..........948,426 (increase of 71.1%)
Minorities total..........13,748,216 (increase of 38.6%)
Can you imagine what these totals are going to look like in 2020 (or 2030) if the current trends continue (and there's no reason to believe they won't continue)? It's easy to see why the Republicans are scared as hell. With their policies, the future doesn't bode well for them.
I've commented on my own blog about just how self-defeating the Republican embrace of KKK-style racism is. Immigrant populations are generally quite conservative -- very religious, strong believers in family, rarely divorce, believe in hard work and earning your way, etc. They are a natural base for a conservative party -- assuming, however, that said conservative party has not embraced outright racism the way the Republican Party has.
ReplyDeleteThing is, relying on the incompetence of your opposition as your plan for victory relies on having an opposition willing to just sit down and roll over, as the Israelis found out the hard way in 2006 in Lebanon when Hezbollah handed their ass to them on the ground. In other words, yes, the demogrpahics look Democratic for the future, but that assumes that the Democrats are going to actually run strong candidates with a strong platform -- something which just isn't happening in most Texas races, for no reason that I can fathom.
- Badtux the Demographics Penguin
Your point is well taken. Just looking at the last two or three Democratic candidates for governor proves your point.
ReplyDeletewe need to be out beating the bush signing up the minorities into the democratic party and oust the 'white republicans'.
ReplyDelete