Social and Political Education

The African proverb “Until lions have their historians, tales of the hunt shall always glorify the hunters.” touches on the challenges facing a growing number of our nation’s public education systems in dealing with the emerging “majority” of Latino students, taxpayers and voters.  Efforts by the Texas State Board of Education to revise and minimize the history and contributions to Texas by Mexicans and Tejanos in public school textbooks, and the recent enactment of legislation to ban ethnic studies in Arizona’s public schools may not be enough to stem the tide of our nation’s cultural evolution.

The phenomenal population growth of Latinos in the United States is arguably the most significant demographic event in our nation’s 234-year history.  Yet, a review of historical records and mainstream news media reports indicate that many non-Hispanics remain unaware of the roles Latinos and their ancestors have played in the growth and development of the United States, particularly in the Southwest.

In 2000, the U.S. Census found the nation’s Hispanic population had increased 58 percent over the 1990 census and represented nearly 15 percent of the U.S. total.  In what seemed like a blink of an eye, retailers, marketers and public organizations began taking notice of this burgeoning population and its attendant consumer, social and political appetities.  The 2010 Census results will undoubtedly underscore this continuing growth rate.

Sheer numbers alone have made Latinos in the U.S. the focus of increasing attention by corporations, not-for-profit organizations — and a growing number of public supported agencies — wishing to establish positive relationships with this fast-growing segment of the population.  The proliferation of products and services aimed at Latinos is a direct result of business, political, public (and even education) institutions attempting to shift their respective image-building and outreach initiatives toward a changing and increasingly diverse society.

Trends identified in earlier U.S. Census counts hinted of such a population explosion, but it wasn’t until the 2000 Census trumpeted the arrival of this historically ignored “Sleeping Giant” that the nation’s mainstream began to take notice.  The Census uncovered the fact Latinos had — without much fanfare — reached parity with African Americans in national population numbers.  Latinos had become a blip on the nation’s radar screen and the country had reached a “tipping point” in matters related to ethnicity and race relations.

As a result of the rapid growth of ethnic populations, four states and the District of Columbia had become majority non-white.  In 2007, Hawaii led the nation with a population that was 75 percent non-white, followed by the District of Columbia at 68 percent, New Mexico at 58 percent, California at 57 percent and Texas at 52 percent.  In four of the Lone Star’s five largest cities: Houston, Dallas, San Antonio and El Paso, non-whites were now the majority.

According to the Texas State Data Center, the non-white population increased faster and had become a substantial portion of the state’s population.  With 308,000, Texas had the largest numerical increase between 2006 and 2007.  New Mexico had the highest proportion of Hispanic population at 44 percent, followed by California and Texas with 36 percent each.  It is important to understand that the rate of growth was due largely to U.S. citizen births and not to increased immigration.

The Texas Office of the State Demographer projected that between 2000 and 2040, the non-Hispanic white (NHW) population will only increase by between 4.1 to 11.8 percent, while the African American population will increase by between 40.5 and 71.0 percent, and Hispanics will increase by between 181.9 to 358.9 percent.  By 2040, the percentages of the Texas population for the following groups are expected to be: 23.9 to 32.2 percent NHW, 8.0 to 9.5 percent black, and 52.6 to 59.2 percent Latino.

By 2010, non-whites are projected to constitute the majority of the population of many of the largest U.S. urban centers.  As a result, the labels majority and minority are taking on new social, political and numerical meanings across the U.S.   Many within the declining majority view these increases among historically perceived minority populations with concern and trepidation.

Potentially detrimental efforts are afoot to exclude the role and contributions of Latinos and other ethnic groups in modern public school textbooks by elected officials who control our public education systems.  They are charged with representing the interests of all citizens, taxpayers, voters — and students.  Yet, despite demographic trends, the soon-to-be minority wants to maintain its perspectives of history, even if it means ignoring the growing number of historical resources available to them that will allow for broader and more inclusive versions of reality.

Why is it important that history reflect the roles played by members of our ethnic populations in the development and progress of our nation?  If we don’t accurately reflect the positive contributions by all Americans and their antecedents to the majority of public school students, too large a number of ethnic students will predictably lose interest in an educational system — and a society — that continues to minimize them, their cultures, and their communities.

Can we as a nation afford to disenfranchise the majority of tomorrow’s workforce and taxpayers?  What kind of leadership example will today’s policymakers provide to the future majority of Americans by continuing to pretend that the history of our nation began — and continues to be determined — by wave after wave of white immigrant settlers into the Southwestern United States?

Decisions regarding what to include (or exclude) in public textbooks are teachable moments. There is no argument against the need for U.S. history and insights into the individuals who founded and contributed to our nation’s image as the ideal example of “One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” History is the glue that unites us and must be taught to all current and future U.S. citizens and residents — yes, even to those whose ancestors inhabited this land before the arrival of the first freedom seeking immigrants who first set foot on Plymouth Rock.

Conversely, the history of the land and the people who established social, political and economic systems well before the Mayflower dropped anchor in New England must also be shared with all Americans.  If not, as today’s minority begins to outnumber the majority, the hunt for cultural relevance and inclusion in a more accurate history could result in glorifying the lions rather than the hunters.