Our Changing Complexion

On this evening's CBS news program, an Hispanic man who lives on the Texas border was showing how multiple groups of illegal aliens cross his property to enter the U. S.  The bottom line of the segment was that we are being invaded and the border needs to be secured.  Governor Rick Perry of Texas called out 1000 National Guard Troops today to help with the crisis.


There have been predictions for many years that by 2025 or at least 2050, there will be no more majority in this country.  A lot of people in their high rise apartments in New York and Washington, D. C., and their weekend homes in the Hamptons, don't seem all that concerned about this.  They are still believing we should be admitting all those little children who appear at our doors.  Since it is unlikely very many of them will be arriving in their digs, why should they be stressed?


I cannot imagine what it is like to live in Texas, Southern California, Arizona, etc., where there is a never ending stream of illegal aliens.  I can simply give you an example of what it is like to live in lower middle class apartments in middle America.  In order to live here, one must be able to buy a share in a coop and pay a monthly maintenance fee ($220 monthly at this time).  It is worse in rental complexes.


We have been proud of our diversity in the past.  We've had white, African American, Hispanic, Middle Eastern and Asian Americans since before I moved here in 1996. 


To understand the following information, please use this key. 


            DK, don't know.  NA, Native American. C,  Caucasian.  H, Hispanic


Building 1, six apartments


1996     C / C / C / C / NA / C
Now     C / C /  H   /  H /   H  /  H


Building 2, four apartments


1996      C / C / C / C
Now      H / C / C / C


Building 3, four apartments


1996     C / C / C / C
Now     C / C / C / H


Building 4, four apartments


1996     C / C / H&C / C
Now     C / H /H / DK


In eighteen years, we have gone from one Hispanic individual in my immediate surroundings to eight Hispanic families.  That Americans born here, aside from Hispanics, will no longer be a majority here by mid century, seems an understatement if this is a true representation of what is happening everywhere.  It looks to me like another two years and we'll have a new Hispanic majority.  Is that okay with you in the High Rises?  Well, it's not okay with Texans, Californians, and the people of Arizona where it is worse than middle America.


I've told you before that some of these Hispanics are better neighbors than some of the Caucasians in these buildings.  Yet, even with that in their favor, there are a few chuckles to living with it.  Virtually every Hispanic family I know buys a car for every family member of driving age.  When the car dies, it is frequently left parked where it died.  The owners faithfully renew the license plates even though they can't use the cars.  As long as the tags are up to date, nothing can be done.  So, we have to keep creating more and more parking areas -- and we are running out of ground.  Two men who own dead cars don't even live here anymore.  One does come and check on his family's two apartments and the people living in them, but one has not been seen for years.


But enough with the details!  Becoming a minority takes a lot of adjustment for many of us.  It was especially true in the workplace where supervisors, people of other races or cultures, paid us back for what other Caucasians had been accused of doing to members of their race.  It is but somewhat better in our communities.


I hear that the illegals are a great expense to us.  Certainly those who don't pay taxes are not helping to carry the load.  But then, I've no expertise in determining just how great either of these costs are to our communities.


I'm simply pointing out that our complexion is changing at a very rapid rate, and we need to slow it down ASAP.  We need some time to adjust and reorganize before the mid-century is here.