2050美国半数以上少数族裔

The United States census bureau has predicted that ethnic minority communities will make up more than half of America's national population by 2050%26#46;

The bureau also reported that Texas has become the fourth US state in which minority groups, taken together, account for a majority of the population%26#46; This was mainly driven by a rising number of Hispanics%26#46;

The Lone Star state joins California, New Mexico and Hawaii, which also have minorities of non-Hispanic whites%26#46;

Maryland, Mississippi, Georgia, New York and Arizona - each with minority populations of about 40% - are next in line, according to the study of state and county population estimates by race and Hispanic origin%26#46;

According to 2004 estimates, Texas had a minority population of 11%26#46;3 million, comprising 50%26#46;2% of its total population of 22%26#46;5 million people%26#46; Immigration accounted for half of the increase while the other half was a result of the excess of births over deaths among the Hispanic population%26#46; Hispanic women are having children at a rate of three for every woman, compared with 1%26#46;9 among non-Hispanic white women%26#46;

"In some sense, Texas is a preview of what the nation will become in the long run," Steven Murdock, the Texas state demographer, told the New York Times%26#46;

There are 293%26#46;66 million people currently living in the US, 95%26#46;81 million of whom - or 32%26#46;6% - are non-whites or Hispanic%26#46;

Public policy analysts said the country as a whole needed to bring minority education and professional achievement to the levels of non-Hispanic whites to prevent both from becoming poorer and less competitive%26#46;

William Frey, a demographer at the Brookings Institution in Washington, said lawmakers need to begin immigration reform, while striving to raise education and salary levels for minorities%26#46;

美国人口调查局近日做出预测，到2050年底，少数族裔社区居民数量将占到该国人口总量的一半以上。目前美国人口总数为2%26#46;9亿人，其中32%26#46;6％，也就是9581万人为少数族裔。这里所说的少数族裔是指各个非白种人族裔以及西班牙裔白种人。

据英国《卫报》8月13日报道，得克萨斯州已成为美国第4个少数族裔居民在总人口中所占比例过半的州，造成这一局面的主要原因在于西班牙裔人口数量的快速增加。而其它3个这样的州分别是加利福尼亚、新墨西哥和夏威夷。此外，由于少数族裔人口比例已达40％左右，马里兰州、密西西比州、佐治亚州和亚利桑那州也将在不远的将来步入前面4个州的行列。

德州人口统计学家史蒂文·默多克说：“从某种意义上说，得克萨斯的今天就是全美国的明天。”华盛顿布鲁金斯学会的人口统计学家威廉·弗雷认为，立法者应尽力提高少数族裔的受教育和工资水平，同时还应在外来移民管理方面做出相应的改革。