[Sosfbay-discuss] Hawaii, DC, NM, CA and TX people of color now majority

[alexcathy at aol.com]

  The Los Angeles Times and the New York Times had articles on this subject also. 
 
 I wasn't going to write or blog on it because, to me, it was kinda "old news." 
 
 Nevertheleess, I noticed an interesting discrepancy between the CBS News story and the two stories I read. 
 
 Both the Los Angeles Times and the New York Times went into a lot of detail about the political implications. 
 
 Are you sitting down? Check out this little nugget I highlighted in boldfaced type buried in the NYT story: 
 
 
  = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =  http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/17/us/17census.html The New York Times, Thursday, May 17, 2007  New Demographic Racial Gap Emerges  By SAM ROBERTS With the number of nonwhite Americans above 100 million for the first time, demographers are identifying an emerging racial generation gap. That development may portend a nation split between an older, whiter electorate and a younger overall population that is more Hispanic, black and Asian and that presses sometimes competing agendas and priorities. “The new demographic divide has broader implications for social programs and education spending for youth,” said Mark Mather, deputy director of domestic programs for the Population Reference Bureau, a nonpartisan research group. “There’s a fairly large homogenous population 60 and older that may not be sympathetic to the needs of a diverse youthful population,” Dr. Mather said.  
 . . . 
 
 Dr. Mather said the three most homogeneous states — Maine, Vermont and West Virginia — spent the highest proportion of their gross state product on public education. “There does seem to be a correlation,” he said. John B. Diamond, a professor of education at Harvard, said that “there are patterns of school funding that suggest that may be a problem down the line.” But he also said the impact might be mitigated by two factors. Because of persistent residential segregation, he said, elderly white voters do not necessarily live in the same school districts as young members of minorities. And, altruism aside, older voters may be persuaded that their pensions and other benefits depend on the income and taxes generated by a better-educated work force. 
 . . . 
 
 = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =  
  My wife, Cathy Deppe, almost jumped off her chair when she read that one. Maine, Vermont and West Virginia spent the highest proportion of their gross state product on public education. 
  
  Wow! 
  
  Please note that those three are NOT rich states like Connecticut, New York, and California. 
  
  Shortly after Hurricane Katrina, Paul Krugman wrote a commentary in the New York Times: 
  Tragedy in Black and White by Paul Krugman 
  New York Times, September 19, 2005 
   . . . 
  
  And who can honestly deny that race is a major reason America treats its poor more harshly than any other advanced country? To put it crudely: a middle-class European, thinking about the poor, says to himself, "There but for the grace of God go I." A middle-class American is all too likely to think, perhaps without admitting it to himself, "Why should I be taxed to support those people?" 
  . . . 
   
  So true! So sad, but true. 
  
  We can work around it by appealing to the "better angels" of our nature, but that's just never gonna happen screwing around with Democrats and Republicans and their openly racist politics. 
  
 
  
  Alex Walker 
   


   
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