A New People

Abstract

IF ONE is going to build a wall, it is best to ask first what is being walled in and what is being walled out. I borrow this thought from Robert Frost, but I was prompted to bring it up by those in Congress who want to build a wall along the Rio Grande and the school principal in Kansas who suspended a child for speaking Spanish in the hallway. These people have a lot in common. Dismiss the idea that a wall will keep out terrorists or that suspending one Hispanic kid with the effrontery to speak his native language will protect American values. Fear makes us do strange things. Instead of spending a pile on the false security of a cement wall, why not instead provide guest-worker permits that would free up immigration officials to focus on border crossers who are seeking more than just a job? And if politicians object to hearing Spanish on the street, why do they cut funds for adult literacy classes that have waiting lists of English-language learners? For educators who don't know or don't want to know how to deal with and respect another culture, I have a piece of advice: get a grip. To quote a recent report by the Metropolitan Center for Urban Education at New York University on the challenges ahead, this nation is becoming a new people. The demographics are not something that can be walled out or suspended, and the sooner educators and policy makers acknowledge what is happening in this country, the quicker we can move forward. Behind the rhetoric about our growing diversity are some startling statistics that should inspire much more than fear. For example, who will make up our future work force--from those who clean buildings to those who design them? Analyzing census data, the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education concludes that in a decade and a half the white working-age population will have declined to 63% (from 82% in 1980). This is happening because larger numbers of younger workers are members of ethnic minorities, and larger numbers of white workers are retiring. The largest increase among young workers will be among Hispanics. Because the fastest-growing populations are ethnic minorities, the work force that will propel our economy and shape our society--and also provide the Social Security check of almost everyone reading this--could have a lower level of personal income than current workers. Unless something is done to close the education gap, according to the study, the most highly educated generation in the history of the U.S. could be replaced by a generation with far lower levels of (as measured by high school and college completion rates). While ethnic minorities reside in all states, 90% of Hispanics live in 16 states, and 90% of blacks live in 21 states. This means that inequalities in terms of and income will exist between the states as well as within them. Another study, by the Pew Hispanic Center, presents equally dramatic data. The Hispanic population is growing faster in the South than anywhere else in the country. Among the six states studied, the increase in the percentage of Hispanics ranged from 204% to 394%. In some counties, the growth rate exceeded 1,000%. Between 1990 and 2000, the school-age population of Hispanic children in these states grew by 322%, and the rate of growth was even faster in the preschool population. During the same time span, the number of students with limited proficiency in English climbed from 18,000 to 64,000. By next year, Hispanics will make up at least 10% of the population of these states. The Pew study points out that the current impact of Hispanics in the states is only beginning to be felt because most of those who have recently arrived are young men. But as these men bring families into the country, the schools will experience an even larger surge in the number of Hispanic students (the black population in these states increased by 18% as well). …