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  1. #1
    biogrl's Avatar
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    New Baby Boom

    http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12680174/

    By D'Vera Cohn and Tara Bahrampour

    Updated: 10:56 a.m. ET May 10, 2006
    WASHINGTON - Nearly half of the nation's children under 5 are racial or ethnic minorities, and the percentage is increasing mainly because the Hispanic population is growing so rapidly, according to a census report released today.

    Hispanics are the nation's largest and fastest-growing minority group. They accounted for 49 percent of the country's growth from 2004 to 2005, the report shows. And the increase in young children is largely a Hispanic story, driving 70 percent of the growth in children younger than 5. Forty-five percent of U.S. children younger than 5 are minorities.

    The new numbers offer a preview of demographic shifts to come, with broad implications for the nation's schools, workforce and Social Security.

    One in three Americans is now a member of a minority group, a share that is bound to rise, because the non-Hispanic white population is older and growing much more slowly. The country already is engaged in a national debate about how government should respond to growing immigration, legal and illegal.

    Glimpse into the future
    In some parts of the country, the transformation is more visible than in others. Large swaths of the upper Midwest are still mainly non-Hispanic white. But minorities are a majority of children younger than 5 in the Washington area, according to previously released census numbers. That is also true in Miami, Houston, Los Angeles and other high-immigration regions.

    William H. Frey, a demographer with the Brookings Institution, predicted that the United States will have "a multicultural population that will probably be more tolerant, accommodating to other races and more able to succeed in a global economy."


    • More national coverage

    There could be increased competition for money and power, he added: "The older, predominantly white baby-boom generations will need to accommodate younger, multiethnic young adults and child populations in civic life, political decisions and sharing of government resources" in places such as the Washington suburbs.

    In some suburban communities, government officials face a cultural generation gap as they weigh demands from older white residents for senior citizen centers, transportation and other aid against requests from younger, mainly minority residents for translation assistance, preschools and other services.

    Emphasis on early education
    Experts say immigrant families are becoming more concerned with the quality of their children's early education, aware that it can affect their future academic success. That is one reason there is a waiting list at the Child and Family Network Centers, a preschool in Alexandria.

    The centers, which also operate a preschool in Arlington, provide free and subsidized preschools for about 200 children from low-income families. They serve many immigrants, including those who don't qualify for other programs. The waiting list is 150 children long. Eight out 10 speak English as a second language, and 70 percent are Latino.

    "Oh, here's the chrysalis," said teacher Maria Cruz, pointing to a picture in a book as 4- and 5-year-olds crowded around her for story time yesterday. "Every day, the chrysalis looks the same -- we can't see anything happening, but inside, something is happening."

    Emely Lopez, 5, raised her hand and pointed to a real butterfly cocoon in a container by the window. "Hay una alli" -- there's one there -- she said in Spanish, pointing at it. Cruz nodded encouragingly.

    "Yes," she replied in English, "it's the same thing we have happening here."

    In the next room, bilingual signs displayed the English and Spanish words for "computer," "rest time" and "snack." Across the hall, a group of children sang a song in Spanish.

    Cruz said she has seen a huge difference in children's abilities from when they start the program and when they move on to kindergarten. She pointed at a 5-year-old girl from Mexico who was prattling about butterflies in English: Last year, Cruz said, "she came with zero English -- zero."

    No end to trend in sight
    William O'Hare, a senior fellow at the Annie E. Casey Foundation, said he is not sure the country is prepared to provide the extra help that immigrants' children often need to become well-educated workers and the future supporters of retirement programs for a predominantly white elderly population. Some Americans, he said, will not welcome the news that minorities are nearly the majority among young children.

    "Part of the people will see this and say, 'Gee, these kids are really our future parents and workers, and we need to take care of them,' " O'Hare said. "The other would say it is time to send them all home."

    The census figures show that the number of Hispanic and Asian children younger than 5 grew by double-digit percentages since 2000. The number of black children grew more slowly. The number of non-Hispanic white children younger than 5 declined for two years this decade before increasing again.

    The nation's Asian population growth still is dominated by immigration, the census report shows, but among Hispanics, births added more to the population growth than immigrants did this decade.

    That means the growth trend among the youngest Hispanics "is only going to accelerate under almost any scenario you can think about, even without immigration," said demographer Jeffrey S. Passel of the Pew Hispanic Center. "As the children age, they are the ones who in 20 years will be having children."

  2. #2
    biogrl's Avatar
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    more tolerance?

    This is the part that gets me:

    William H. Frey, a demographer with the Brookings Institution, predicted that the United States will have "a multicultural population that will probably be more tolerant, accommodating to other races and more able to succeed in a global economy."
    What planet doe these people live on?
    We are not seeing tolerance. We are seeing and feeling resentment because many of us are being forced to give up our national identitiy and to compromise our standards for people who break our laws. I recognize that we are dealing with human beings, and I have compassion for them, but I am not willing to delude myself into thinking that having millions of poor, illiterate people pouring into my country is somehow going to bring the human race closer together. More than half of these kids are not getting educated, despite tax payer efforts. Come to any high school in America. You will not find integration-you will find hispanic kids speaking spanish in their own group, caucasian kids in their group etc. In spite of all the money spent on multicultural education and english as a second language mandatory training for every teacher, hispanic kids are still not getting an education-I am constantly frustrated by the number that won't even come to class.
    What good does it do us to have a permanent underclass? I feel like we are already being blamed for whatever short comings they perceive-how much more resentment will exist in 10 -30 years when the population has doubled? Also, who is paying for all of these births at the emergency room?

  3. #3
    Senior Member bearpaw's Avatar
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    Just like rabbits
    Work together for the benefit of all mankind

  4. #4
    Senior Member loservillelabor's Avatar
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    Experts say immigrant families are becoming more concerned with the quality of their children's early education, aware that it can affect their future academic success. That is one reason there is a waiting list at the Child and Family Network Centers, a preschool in Alexandria.
    Why do I think there is more truth in some of the other reasons not discussed in this story?
    Unemployment is not working. Deport illegal alien workers now! Join our efforts to Secure America's Borders and End Illegal Immigration by Joining ALIPAC's E-Mail Alerts network (CLICK HERE)

  5. #5
    Senior Member crazybird's Avatar
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    We are paying. Our population of babies isn't as high because we were raised to have to be able to afford them, as well as try and have a better life. Not to breed just because you can and have 30 people in 1 apt.
    Why isn't social services sticking their nose into their living conditions?
    Lord knows "neglect" would be the least of their findings.
    Join our efforts to Secure America's Borders and End Illegal Immigration by Joining ALIPAC's E-Mail Alerts network (CLICK HERE)

  6. #6
    Senior Member lsmith1338's Avatar
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    First on their agenda when they enter our country illegally, drop that anchor baby.
    Freedom isn't free... Don't forget the men who died and gave that right to all of us....
    Support our FIGHT AGAINST illegal immigration & Amnesty by joining our E-mail Alerts at http://eepurl.com/cktGTn

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