'Largest Minority' Still Means 'Nada'

Now that the statisticians have begun to crunch the numbers and interpret the information gathered by the 2010 census, get ready for a new epidemic of xenophobia.

It happens every 10 years. As census figures reveal that Latinos are multiplying at a faster rate than other segments of the U.S. population — even surpassing African-Americans and becoming "the largest minority" in additional cities, counties and states — more people get unnecessarily alarmed about the growth of the Hispanic community.

Of course, being "the largest minority" means absolutely nada. It's a completely worthless title that only serves to further scare those who already suffer from immigration paranoia. It exaggerates the false perception, shared by some white Americans, that Latinos are "taking over." And it makes some African-Americans — having lost their "largest minority" title — erroneously assume that Latinos are going after their small share of the American pie.

Perhaps the blame should go to all the politicians who have spent years telling Latinos that "soon, you will be the nation's largest minority group" — as if that would solve all our problems.

It was all lip service, a phony way of promising empowerment without having to do anything to help Latinos obtain it. They knew that mere population numbers would not automatically make Latinos the most influential minority — or even one that is represented adequately in politics. But they went ahead and flaunted the fabricated and fictitious "largest minority" milestone, perhaps without realizing that it could be used to scare those who already feel some apprehension about the growing number of U.S. Latinos.

Based on 2010 census figures being released gradually on a state-by-state basis from now until April 1, the media already are giving the impression that — as if the census were a magic wand — Latinos are about to gain significant political empowerment. Some people are scared by reports asserting that there are 50 counties and 21 states where Latinos already are "the largest minority" — as if that means anything! In fact, in most of those counties and all of those states, Latinos still are grossly underserved and underrepresented.

Unfortunately, these census-based news reports mostly serve as ammunition for race-baiting politicians, who use these figures to turn more Americans into xenophobes.

Here's the reality: Of the 48.4 million Latinos the U.S.

Yet when those more accurate 2010 census figures are in — still — fewer than half of U.S. Latinos will be eligible to vote. Political empowerment for Latinos, in proportion to population, is not exactly around the corner — not when the "largest minority" hoopla keeps scaring the xenophobes, not when those numbers are used to fuel anti-immigrant and anti-Hispanic measures in Congress and state legislatures throughout the country.

At a time when several states are trying to emulate Arizona's Draconian anti-immigrant and racial profiling measures and when a new crop of conservative extremists is getting ready to assault Latinos' civil rights in Congress, the news reports touting the growth of the Hispanic population could be a two-edged sword for Latinos. Unless they turn their growing population figures into a rising number of Latino voters, the census results will be more harmful than helpful.

Some Latino community leaders — in areas where the "largest minority" title now is being acquired, thanks to the 2010 census — still will argue that now they will have to be taken into account by the political establishment. Good luck!

But keep in mind that nationally, Latinos have been the largest minority since July 2002. That's when the Hispanic population reached 38.8 million, edging out the African-American population of 37.6 million. In many cities and counties throughout the nation, Latinos have been the largest minority for even longer. Yet that distinction has meant very little in places where the population figures are not converted into naturalization and voter-registration numbers.

The time will come when the U.S. Latino population (projected to be 132.8 million by 2050) is so big that even if half of them are voting, it would make a huge difference. But that time has not arrived yet. And even then, it should not be reason for anyone to be scared or apprehensive.

To find out more about Miguel Perez and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.

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