A Majority of Latinos

"Students after school in Glen Avon, east of Los Angeles.
Latinos now make up more than two-thirds of many cities
in that region."

          California's majority population is now Latino. Reading The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao about a Dominican-American boy's life between New Jersey and Santo Domingo, is not the only reason I chose to write about the gains Latinos are making in the United States. Only a generation ago, "California voters approved a ballot initiative that was seen as the most anti-immigrant law in the nation. Immigrants who had come to the country illegally would be ineligible to receive prenatal care, and their children would be barred from public schools." Yes, that's America for you, a great melting pot, accepting of ALL backgrounds, races, and languages. The law was later deemed unconstitutional and never achieved its true goal of its "backers": to push immigrants out and keep the demographics at a steady white majority.
           So now, the numbers just keep rising. Immigrants, mostly from Latin America, are pouring in awaiting their American Dream. The current and future estimations of demographics in California truly show what kind of country America is: accepting.
         
           In 1990, Latinos made up 30 percent of the state's population; they will make
           up 40 percent -- more than any other ethnic group -- by the end of this year, 
           and 48 percent by 2050, according to projections made by the state this month.

           Accepting. Is our melting pot accepting? We see many immigrants come in to make up extremely diverse demographics, but I don't think we are quite there yet. Our own Chicago remains the most segregated city. We don't mix in the melting pot. The course for the Chicago marathon takes you through many of Chicago's different ethnic neighborhoods, each one unique with lanquage, script, scents, sounds, colors, costumes of diverse parts of the world. The effort needs to come from both sides - it takes at least two to mix up the melting pot.