News: America's Racial Demographics

Blacks Urge More Efforts To Improve Census Count

Black groups today urged the government to improve the count of African-Americans in next year's high-stakes census, saying they won't be satisfied with a tally that has historically overlooked millions in their community. The National Urban League, the NAACP, Revs. Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson met with Commerce Secretary Gary Locke to voice their concerns the Census Bureau might not be doing enough to ensure an accurate tally. Roughly 3 million blacks were missed in 2000, while many whites were overcounted. "The undercount of blacks in the last count and the overcount of whites by 1 percent is not just a Washington statistic," Rev. Sharpton (pictured with arm raised) said at a news briefing after the meeting. "It manifests itself in goods and services that cost us." He added, "We want what is ours."

The groups called for the Census Bureau to expand its paid advertising to cities such as Newark, N.J.; Oakland, Calif.; parts of Mississippi and other areas that have high percentages of hard-to-count blacks, many of whom are distrustful of government workers. They also are pushing for more census funding specifically targeted at black communities. About $23 million, or roughly 17 percent of the $133 million allocated for media buys, is currently earmarked for black communities to promote the census. The black leaders said they wanted to see a change in how the government tallies prisoners, so they are counted as residents of the cities in which they previously lived and not in the places where a prison is located.

The population figures, gathered every 10 years as required by the U.S constitution, are used to apportion House seats and distribute nearly $450 billion in federal aid.

White Americans' Majority To End By Mid-Century

The estimated time when whites will no longer make up the majority of Americans has been pushed back eight years — to 2050 — because the recession and stricter immigration policies have slowed the flow of foreigners into the U.S. Last year's estimate did not take into account a drop in the number of people moving into the U.S. because of the economic crisis and the immigration policies imposed after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.

The U.S. has 308 million people today; two-thirds are non-Hispanic whites. The total population should climb to 399 million by 2050, with whites making up 49.9 percent of the population. Blacks will make up 12.2 percent, virtually unchanged from today. Hispanics, currently 15 percent of the population, will rise to 28 percent in 2050. Asians are expected to increase from 4.4 percent to 6 percent. The point when minority children become the majority is expected to have a similar delay of roughly eight years, moving from 2023 to 2031.

With high immigration, the minority "tipping point" is moved up to 2040, two years earlier than the previous estimate. At that time, Asians would have a much larger share, at 8 percent, since their population growth is more dependent on immigration than birth rates. With low immigration, the "tipping point" arrives by 2045. Under a purely theoretical "zero immigration" scenario in which the U.S. effectively does not take in any immigrants, whites would remain the majority in 2050, making up 58 percent of the U.S. population. In such a case, the share of Hispanics would increase to 21 percent because of high fertility rates and a younger population.