Census Shows California's Asian, Latino Populations Growing
SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) - Latinos now make up 38 percent of California's population and Asians have become the fastest growing minority group in the nation, according to US Census Bureau numbers released Thursday.
Continuing a trend seen in years past, the new Census numbers show that California has no racial majority, although Latinos remain the largest non-white population in California.
Social policies created with the goal of preserving cultural identity while also fostering diversity will be tested by a younger, more ethnically diverse population that does not have a shared history of things like segregation, said Sam Sturgeon, president of Demographic Intelligence.
"Diversity can be very good. In other ways, diversity can be a little challenging, because it's hard to often times come together and agree on what needs to be done," he said.
Immigration is what's driving the growth of the Asian population nationally. In California, state officials predict that by 2060, Latinos will make up half the population.