Today, the Census Bureau released numbers confirming what demographers had predicted for some time now: at some point in 2014, Latinos would pass whites as the largest ethnic group in California.
The LA Times reports that “The new tally, released in late June, shows that as of July 1, 2014, about 14.99 million Latinos live in California, edging out the 14.92 million whites in the state.” And that’s just a sign of what awaits the entire country. Since 2000, the nation’s Latino population has grown 57%, and Latinos have accounted for most of the US population growth in the last ten years — 56%, to be exact, according to the Pew Research Center. This news comes on the heels of news that the U.S. is now the second-largest Spanish-speaking country in the world after Mexico, outpacing even Spain.
“Where L.A. goes is where the rest of the state goes and where the rest of the country goes,” John Malson, the chief demographer for the state finance department, told the newspaper. “We announce demographically speaking, the future for the rest of the country.”
Now would probably be a good time for Ann Coulter to take a Xanax.