Interesting stats. Why do we keep track of race in this country? Should we just eliminate race from the census criteria?
Posted on: Thursday, August 9, 2007
More whites, fewer Asians in Hawaii By Christie Wilson
Advertiser Neighbor Island Editor
Census Bureau data released yesterday show a continuing shift in Hawai'i's racial makeup, with the percent of Asians in decline while the white population increases.
The state's population overall increased an estimated 6.1 percent in the past year, to 1.285 million.
Population estimates for July 2006 show that people who claimed Asian descent alone or in combination with other races accounted for 55.6 percent of the state's total population, down from 58.2 percent in 2000.
Meanwhile, the white population (alone or in combination) accounted for 42.6 percent of the state's total population in July 2006, up from the 40.3 percent in 2000.
The white-alone population increased to 28.6 percent, or an average of 9,227 people a year from 2000 to 2006, said Eugene Tian, a research and statistics officer with the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism, who provided analysis of the census data.
The population of Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders (alone or in combination) made up 21.4 percent of Hawai'i's total population, a decline from 23.4 percent in 2000. The largest decline in the Hawaiian/Pacific Islander population was in Honolulu County, which lost 12,623 members during that period, according to Tian.
The other counties showed a net increase in the Hawaiian/Pacific Islander population, but the Honolulu loss was enough to overwhelm the Neighbor Island gains, and the state as a whole showed a loss of 8,664 Native Hawaiians/Pacific Islanders from 2000 to 2006.
However, researchers who study the Native Hawaiian community have long disputed Census Bureau methods and say there are plenty of signs the population is actually growing.
The sum of percentages exceeds 100 percent because a person can be counted more than once, depending on how many races he or she claims.
In national rankings, Honolulu County led the nation with a population that was 59 percent Asian. The only other U.S. county with an Asian majority was Kaua'i.
In terms of numbers, Honolulu County had the nation's largest population of Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders (177,000), and Los Angeles County was second (59,000).
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