State’s Hispanic population continues growth

By Timothy Pratt

Thursday, Sept. 30, 2004 | 11:08 a.m.

The Hispanic share of the state's population is continuing the increase that has been evident for the past several years, even as that of blacks and Asians remains flat or drops, census bureau estimates released today show.

According to the estimates, in July 2003 the state's Hispanic population had grown to 491,376, or 21.9 percent of the total population of 2,241,154. The July 2000 estimates placed the Hispanic population at 19.8 percent. Today's numbers estimated blacks at 144,460, or 6.4 percent of the total population, and Asians at 102,162, or 4.6 percent -- compared with 6.7 percent and 4.5 percent in 2000, respectively.

In Clark County, Hispanics made up 24.4 percent of the population in July 2003 -- up from 22 percent in 2000, according to the estimates.

The numbers have implications ranging from the need for greater Hispanic participation in electoral politics to a growing sense of competition between the three main minority groups, experts said.

"Ultimately the issue will be how responsive government will be to these changes -- and in the meantime, whether that pits minority groups against each other," said David Damore, assistant professor at UNLV's political science department.

Andres Ramirez, state director for Voices for Working Families, a group that works on Hispanic voter education and registration, said "Obviously, it means that local governments and elected officials will start paying more attention to Hispanics as these numbers keep growing."

Also, Ramirez said, "As pertains to policy and funding and so forth, it means a greater amount will be going to Hispanics.

"The bottom line is, the government's job is to serve the community -- and if the community is increasingly Hispanic, then that's who has to be served."

But Damore said the Hispanic community may grow impatient if those services don't grow as fast as the population.

"Eventually, there will be rumblings of, 'What do we have to do to get representation,' " he predicted.

At the same time, he said "there could also be a tension among minorities -- a sense that the pie's only so big, particularly as there is more mobilization among Hispanics."

Ramirez said that federal, state and local funding for social services doesn't necessarily grow apace with population, meaning "some groups will gain and others will lose."

"There is potential for minority groups to constantly compete with each other," he said, adding that "this is already happening."

Dean Ishman, director of the Las Vegas chapter of the NAACP, would like things to turn out differently among Hispanics, blacks and Asians.

"I would hope common-sense leaders would come forth and say that as minorities we should be working together, since many times we face the same issues," Ishman said.

Ishman, however, said he didn't "'put much weight in these numbers in terms of accuracy."

"I call them 'guesstimates,' " he said.

Alan Chen, who handles public relations for the Chinese-American Chamber of Commerce, said politicians will "need to get a foothold into the community that is most rapidly growing."

In any case, as far as Hispanics go, Chen said that Asian businesses -- particularly restaurants -- employ many Hispanics and politicians "could be reaching out to (both) if (they) see this relation."

He also doesn't think the Asian community would necessarily be in competition with other minority groups, since "Asians don't have the same needs and wants as other groups."