Hispanic birthrate is changing state's look

Tennessee will be more diverse if trend continues
By CLAUDIA PINTO
Staff Writer

The Hispanic birthrate in Tennessee is exploding, far outpacing the national rate.

The number of Hispanic babies born in Tennessee grew from 444 in 1990 to 7,885 in 2006, according to state Department of Health data. Hispanic births almost doubled in the U.S. during this same time period.

There's great disagreement on what this trend means to the state and America. Some say it's destroying American culture and burdening American taxpayers. Others argue that diversity is good for the country and that immigrants are a boon to the economy.

However, there's one thing everyone agrees on. Tennessee and the nation are beginning to look different and will be even more diverse in coming years. The Pew Hispanic Center report released this week shows that if current trends continue, whites will become the minority in the nation by 2050.

"The face of America is changing, and it's becoming more apparent," said Jeff Passel, a demographer for the Pew Hispanic Center, a nonpartisan research group. "Go back 15 years and there were almost no Latinos in the southeastern United States. The growth of the Hispanic population in Tennessee and the Southeast has been notable."

The state doesn't ask whether the parents are in the country legally.