Ind. 2010 census shows growing Hispanic population

IU sophomore Kem Reyes and his family love their native Mexico, but they said they couldn’t bear to live there any longer.

Political corruption, drugs and violence are the reasons Reyes said he and his family left.

The corruption in the government is the reason people flee, Reyes said. 

The 2010 Indiana census released data showing increased numbers in Hispanic and multiracial residents.

Indiana has greater diversity than ever before, according to the Indiana Business Research Center at IU’s Kelley School of Business.

The Hispanic population showed the most dramatic growth of any race or ethnicity with an 81.7 percent increase since the last census in 2000.

In addition, the Hispanic population accounted for 43 percent of Indiana’s total growth throughout this period.

“When I arrived 10 years ago, we didn’t have any Mexican grocery stores, only had Latino parties once a month and could count the very few members of the Hispanic community,” Bloomington resident Daniel Flores said. “Now, we have two or three grocery stores, gatherings every week because of the growing Hispanic community.”

However, IBRC state demographer Matt Kinghorn said data sets also reveal that, proportionally speaking, the Hispanic portion of the U.S. population is roughly two and a half times greater than in Indiana.

“While Indiana’s racial and ethnic makeup has shifted, the state remains less diverse than the nation,” Kinghorn said. “The share of Indiana’s population that is white is well above the U.S. mark of 79.6 percent.”

But Reyes said Indiana is catering to the Hispanic population even though the state itself is less diverse than the nation.

“Living in Hawaii, everyone spoke English, and there were no translators. Now, in Indiana, there are translators, and everything is written in Spanish,” Reyes said. “More students are speaking and being taught Spanish.”