The Changing Face Of America As Shown By Census Data

The U.S. Census released their 2020 census data recently. The data, mandated by law, allows investigators and lawmakers to understand America’s demographics, economy, and sets how America is to be represented in government. The latest census data shows that the fear pushed forth by the great replacement theory is not as extreme as some white supremacists believe it is. Texas showed the greatest population growth of all states and those who identify themselves as Hispanic or Latino comprise a significant part of America’s population. However, the percentage in the decline of those who identify themselves as only White is not as significant as white supremacists would have readers believe. Most interesting is that Hispanics and especially multiracial population growth shows that America’s demographics are shifting towards people of color.

Texas’ population density, the number of people per square mile, is most noted in 13 counties like Denton, Collin, Tarrant, Dallas County and Hidalgo, among others. Interestingly is that except for El Paso and Hidalgo counties, most of the Texas counties bordering México registered moderate to little growth in population density between 2010 and 2020 suggesting that immigration has little impact along the border in terms of population growth. The census data also supports this by its population rankings of the Texas counties. Except for El Paso and Hidalgo, none of the other border counties appear on the top 20 highest populated Texas counties.

Texas was home to the largest population increase of all the states. Texas’ population grew significantly by 15.9% over the last ten years, compared to the 7.4% registered across the nation.

In Texas, Hispanics are slightly behind non-Hispanic Whites, 39.75% to 39.26%.

Voting Clout

The rise of the Latino vote is a myth that has carried over the last few election cycles. Latinos, contrary to popular belief, are not uniform voters voting along the same political ideologies. However, Texas’ population growth and its ongoing voting rights controversies may lead to further disfranchising of the votes of people of color, including Hispanics, because of the upcoming redistricting political map making.

Democratic strongholds like Austin and metropolitan areas like DFW, San Antonio and Houston saw significant increases in population growth while El Paso remained stagnant.

Clearly Texas is multiracial and Latino. What the redistricting voting maps will look like may not reflect what Texas’ population represents. This is true for most of America as the ongoing debates over critical race theory attests to, diminishing the understanding of what it is to be a Latino in America.