Latino population, 1980 (PDF):
Latino population, 2006 (Same link as above):
The 2010 maps will show even less lily-white "Real Murika" left. There's a reason Republicans are freaking out about brown immigration. Their current saving grace is the poor performance of Latinos at the ballot box. But that won't save them forever. Pew has a new study on Latino voters. Some highlights:
The Good
6.6 million Latinos voted in the 2010 elections, a record for a midterm.
The Bad
Latino turnout among eligible voters was still dismal -- just 31.2 percent of the 21.3 million eligible voters. By comparison, 48.6 percent of eligible white voters turned out, as well as 44 percent of black eligible voters.
The Good
Latinos made up 6.9 percent of all voters in 2010, also a record for a midterm election (they were 5.8 percent in 2006)
The Bad
Latinos make up 16.3 percent of the general population, so that 6.9 percent looks paltry by comparison. And it is.
The Good
There were 21.3 million Latinos eligible to vote in 2010, compared to 13.2 million in 2000, confirming projections of dramatic growth in this demographic.
The Bad
Just 42.7 percent of the total Latino population is eligible to vote. That compares to 77.7 percent for whites, 67.2 percent for African Americans, and 52.8 percent for Asians.
Why is that number so low? 34.9 percent of Latinos are below the age of 18 (compared to 20.9 percent of whites), and another 22.4 percent are not U.S. citizens.
Bottom line
The browning of this nation continues at breakneck speeds:
The 2010 Census counted 50.5 million Hispanics in the United States. Hispanics now account for 16.3% of the total U.S. population. The nation's Latino population, which was 35.3 million in 2000, grew 43% over the decade. The Hispanic population also accounted for most of the nation's growth (56%) from 2000 to 2010.
This all has clear implications on partisan electoral politics in cycles to come. This demographic flood is just too overwhelming for the GOP to stand against. They'll benefit a few more cycles demonizing brown people, but by the end of this decade, they'll either have to change as a party and embrace this nation's multicultural reality, or perish as an ongoing entity everywhere but in a few isolated geographic corners.