The Change Is Happening (And A Fence Won't Stop It)

The Black, Asian, and Hispanic portions of our population are growing much faster than the White portion. The result is that it is predicted that Whites will lose their majority status in the U.S. somewhere around the middle of this century.

According to the Pew Research Center, some 97 counties lost their white majority between 2000 and 2013 -- 78 with a population of 10,000 or more. Here in Texas, 16 counties with at least 10,000 inhabitants lost their white majority. They join a growing list of counties in South Texas, West Texas, and the Panhandle. And a huge county is soon to join than -- with Tarrant county (home of Fort Worth) having their white majority reduced to 50%.

This demographic change is happening faster in Texas than in most other states. Whites have already lost their majority status in Texas schools (K-12). It won't be long before minorities make up the largest portion of the Texas population.

This is scaring the hell out of Republicans -- and it should. Their racist and xenophobic policies are not appreciated among minority voters. They could change those policies to be more inclusive of minorities, but they refuse to do that because it would anger their teabagger base (and they are afraid those teabaggers would leave and form their own party -- something they have threatened to do).

Republicans have been strong supporters of closing (and fencing) the border, and deporting the undocumented immigrants in this country. But that is not going to help their political predicament. The fact is that as of a few years ago, most of the minority growth became due to those born in the U.S. -- not those arriving illegally. That means most of the minority growth is due to new citizens -- people that will be able to vote when they grow up.

Republicans have also tried to stave off this demographic change by gerrymandering and by implementing restrictions on voting. But those are temporary measures at best. As the minority population grows (and gets registered), neighborhoods (including in the suburbs) will become more diverse -- and that will make gerrymandering hard to do.

The change isn't just coming -- it's already happening, and no fence (or legal shenanigan) can stop it.