KMAX: News of the West

The black-haired newborn slumbering peacefully in a hospital bassinet on Wednesday is part of the new majority in California. As of July 4, 2001, a majority of the babies being born in the state are Hispanic, according to a new study.

From July to September 2001, there were 138,892 births in California of which 69,672, or 50.2 percent, were Hispanic, according to a recent review of birth certificate data by the UCLA Center for the Study of Latino Health and Culture.

``The long-anticipated Latino majority has arrived,'' the center's director, David Hayes-Bautista, told reporters at a news conference called to announce the milestone. ``In 2003, it is learning how to walk and will shortly learn to talk.''

Non-Hispanic whites accounted for 31.4 percent of the California births, followed by 11.3 percent for Asians and Pacific Islanders, and 6.1 percent for blacks.

The birth rate among Hispanics has been dropping for years, but not as steeply as the birth rates among other ethnic groups. More than two-thirds of the Hispanic babies were born in Southern California, which has more job opportunities than other parts of the state.

Hayes-Bautista said the generation of Hispanic children now growing up will be the majority in California's schools in a decade, in its work force in two and possibly at its voting booths soon after that. He predicted other states with large Hispanic populations will soon follow that lead.

``They're American citizens. They will be defining the American dream. It's in their hands, basically,'' he said of the emerging majority.

He called on California to invest in programs to ensure that the Hispanic population, which has lagged economically and academically, receives proper education.

If Hispanics who turn 18 in 2019 are deprived, uneducated and do not take part in the state's politics, Hayes-Bautista warned, ``the state's future will be quite grim.''

At the UCLA Medical Center, Esmeralda's mother, Maria Castellanos of Inglewood, recalled her own mother in Mexico had 18 children. She said she plans to stop at six.

``Many children, there's a lot of joy,'' said her 63-year-old husband, Juan, a retired construction worker. ``Unfortunately, we don't have enough money.''

Nearby, Salvadoran immigrant Magaly Deras, 33, was watching her fourth child, a daughter, sleeping in a plastic bassinet. Her husband, Rafael, said he wants the children to succeed without losing their culture.

``They're Americans because they were born here but they're Latino in their roots,'' he said. ``I want the best for them. I want my son to be a lawyer. I'd like my daughter to be a doctor ... There's opportunities here for everything.''

^ =

On the Web:

UCLA Center for the Study of Latino Health and Culture: http://www.cesla.med.ucla.edu