According to the US Census Bureau, 48 percent of all births in America are to minority mothers in the 12 months ending July 2008. The 50 percent benchmark will be reached before the end of this year. The Census Bureau estimates that within the next 30 years a majority of the nation’s populations will be minority and that a majority of Americans under the age of 18 will be minority within 10 years.
What are the implications to this data? I live in the first majority-minority state, New Mexico. But 10 more states will be minority-majority within 8 years. Many states now have a minority-majority in our schools. We need to adjust our classrooms and curriculum to deal with this melting pot reality. We need to recruit more dual- and even triple-speaking educators as these populations grow. And we are mistaken if we believe that the only language that teachers must learn is Spanish. We have a growing Vietnamese and Chinese speaking population as well.