For several years now, whether “regular” Americans like it or not, the reality is that Latinos are the fastest growing racial/ethnic minority group in the U.S. in terms of total population. This particular trend really isn’t that noticeable in the west or southwest where Latinos are already very visible and populous. Instead, these trends are much more significant in areas that have not been used to seeing large numbers of Latinos -- particularly in the south, as the New York Times reports:

In October, Frankie [Ruiz] and a classmate, Kristen Galarza, made local history when they were named homecoming king and queen, the first time Hispanics won both titles in the same year. The coronation stirred astonishment, jubilation and some outrage in this Southern town [Pearson, GA], which is being transformed by Latino migration and is still struggling to adapt to its evolving ethnic identity.

While Hispanics now account for more than 20 percent of the population here, they still live mostly on the margins of society, largely invisible in local politics and the upper echelons of business. As adults, Hispanics, blacks and whites rarely mix socially. But in the bustling classrooms of Atkinson High, Hispanic teenagers are slowly but steadily integrating into student life. The transition is sometimes awkward and painful, but young people here are casually challenging the traditional social hierarchy in ways once unimaginable.

As Hispanic migrant and factory workers, Frankie’s relatives have long been considered outsiders. But Frankie, the American-born son of a Mexican father and a Puerto Rican mother, is the ultimate insider at Atkinson High. “Everyone knows me,” said Frankie, 17, an affable joker who swings easily between English and Spanish and savors cornbread as much as tortillas. “I live in both worlds.”

Admittedly, the article portrays only one person’s and one high school’s story about the sociological impacts of the burgeoning Latino population in the south, but for the most part, it’s been a relatively positive transition from a virtually all White environment to a multiethnic one. Of course there’s going to be some tensions and the occasional conflict here and there, but hopefully nothing like the turmoil that surrounded the integration of Blacks into such schools and neighborhoods.

Hopefullt Atkinson High’s experience can serve as a model for demographic and cultural change in the evolving American racial landscape. Either way, we need to prepare for this trend of Latinos entering the American mainstream because the demographics of the situation simply cannot be denied, nor will it be reversed any time soon.