Census shows Hispanic surge By Rebecca Rivas Adelante Staff Writer Early Census estimates show that Hispanics are taking the lead as the nation’s fastest-growing minority group. Hispanics are even rivaling African-Americans in total population with about 35.3 million, compared to between 34.7 and 36.4 million African-Americans. The Hispanic population surpassed expectations, growing at a rate of 58 percent nationwide over the past 10 years — and in the Midwest, the rate is higher than anywhere else other than in the South (51 and 61 percent, respectively). In Central Missouri, the final count is likely to be even more startling, based on school enrollment data for Boone County. Those numbers, which are considered a more reliable indicator of growth than the census, jumped more than 140 percent in the past decade. Official Census Bureau estimates of the Hispanic population for Missouri are widely believed to be very low in some counties, including several in Central Missouri. In Boone County, for example, the official estimates show a July 1999 figure of 2,010 Hispanics, an increase of 63 percent since the 1990 census. But public school enrollment figures over nearly the same period show an increase in Hispanic enrollment of 141 percent, more than double the growth rate indicated by the Bureau estimate. And many local officials think even the 141 percent rate is low. John Blodgett, a demographic data specialist at OSEDA, is one who thinks the numbers for Boone and many other counties in the state will be dramatically higher than the official estimates. The Census Bureau admits that its estimated numbers are liable to be low. “I think everyone is pretty much agreed that the estimates are low,” said Blodgett. “We’re just waiting to see how low.” Preliminary analysis by the Census Bureau indicates that Hispanics were almost three times as likely to be missed in the census as non-Hispanic whites. However, Christina Vasquez Case with the MU’s rural sociology department said that the undercount could be as high as 25 percent. In a research project, Case studied the Latino populations in Sedalia, California and Columbia and her department believes that thousands of immigrants in central Missouri did not fill out the Census forms. Other local community members attribute the undercount to lack of interest. Silvia Tribble, who works with many Hispanic families in the Columbia area at St. Martin Deporres House, explained that many non-English speaking residents could not understand the forms and did not want to request them in Spanish. “It is a turnoff for most of these people,” Tribble said. “It’s one more thing in this weird country that they don’t understand.” The Adelante staff is on standby, awaiting the more detailed local returns. In our April edition, we’ll present their findings, along with an analysis of the far-reaching impacts of this human tide.