Framingham: Majority-Minority City? (Boston: private school, statistics, budget)

[BostonBornMassMade]

Has anyone been to Framingham recently?

The 2021 Census estimates put it as a slightly majority-minority for the first time.

https://censusreporter.org/profiles/...framingham-ma/

https://data.census.gov/cedsci/table...SDP1Y2021.DP05

Roughly breaks down as follows

49% White
19% Latino
10% Asian
10% Mixed Race
7% Black
5% 'Other'

in 2018 it was

60% White
20% Latino
8% Asian
6% Black
5% Other
1% Mixed Race


So the change is dramatic only because two or more races was probably underestimated in 2018.

For one frame of reference in the 2021-2022 School year Framingham Public Schools were

42.8% white
41.3% Latino
6.6% Black
4.9% mixed Race
4.4% Asian

in the 2018-2019 School year Framingham Public Schools were:

55.7% White
27.4% Latino
7.6% Black
4.9% Asian
4.3% Mixed Race

So while both show an increase in diversity they show it in very different ways.

I havent spent meaningful time in Framingham in probably 15 years, Felt like a mostly white suburban city with some diversity but not one I would guess would be majority-minority any time soon. These estimates fluctuate pretty widely from year to year.

I'll admit this mix doesn't seem improbable for Framingham and given illegal immigration it probably is majority-minority. But I don't know- haven't been there in a while,

• Has anyone else noticed a change in Framingham in terms of diversity?
• How has it been received by the town if so?
• Does anyone say Framingham is less diverse than this or has it been this way for years and underreported?

Generally, I believe this is a diversity is a good thing but I really have no vested interest in Framingham just wondering if others did.

[Boston_Burbs]

Are Brazilians considered Latino?

[scorpio516]

Originally Posted by Boston_Burbs

Are Brazilians considered Latino?

Depends on who asks.

The Office of Management and Budget, so the feds, define Latino as a person of Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin regardless of "race".

So anyone from South America is Hispanic per the feds. Dutch from Surinam, English from Guyana, French residents from French Guiana. Welsh or German immigrants in Argentina. All Hispanic in the eyes of the federal government.

I don't know if the state has a different definition.

[robr2]

Originally Posted by scorpio516

Depends on who asks.

The Office of Management and Budget, so the feds, define Latino as a person of Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin regardless of "race".

So anyone from South America is Hispanic per the feds. Dutch from Surinam, English from Guyana, French residents from French Guiana. Welsh or German immigrants in Argentina. All Hispanic in the eyes of the federal government.

I don't know if the state has a different definition.

The Federal Government does not consider Brazilians to be Hispanic as an important definer of Hispanic is Spanish culture or language.

[BostonBornMassMade]

Originally Posted by Boston_Burbs

Are Brazilians considered Latino?

depends on them, they self-identify. Some times the census may reclassify folks, especially this past ear. Also they have to fill in a lot of gaps esp. on an estimate like this.


I would suspect they're a good portion of the "two or more races" and "some other race" groups though.

Would you consider them latino?

It seems the schools are showing a recent a definite influx of Latino youth though.

[msRB311]

Many Brazilians are of European decent. Im not sure why they would identify as Latino in that case. I always thought Latino was basically the same thing as Hispanic.

Giselle Bunchden for example is not a Latina but she is Brazilian

[robr2]

Originally Posted by msRB311

Many Brazilians are of European decent. Im not sure why they would identify as Latino in that case. I always thought Latino was basically the same thing as Hispanic.

Giselle Bunchden for example is not a Latina but she is Brazilian

They don't identify as Latino. They often are identified as such in the US because it's easier.

In Brazil, the government breakdown is:

Brancos (White)
Pardos (Mixed)
Pretos (Blacks)
Caboclos (Indigenous)
Amarelos (Asian)

If left up to Brazilians, they could identify themselves as one of almost 200 descriptors. Just looking at my cousins, there is a range from White blonde to Iberian to darker skinned people.

[MikePRU]

I grew up in Framingham and even when I graduated from High School decades ago it was pretty diverse. It strikes me as even more diverse now especially given the statistics you've provided.

Interesting that when you compare the breakdown of the town's overall population to the makeup of the population in the school system that the percentage of caucasians drops off so much. I'm wondering if caucasians in Framingham have fewer kids or if maybe a lot of the caucasians in Framingham are older and empty nesters. It would be interesting to know the reason behind that.

[msRB311]

Originally Posted by MikePRU

I grew up in Framingham and even when I graduated from High School decades ago it was pretty diverse. It strikes me as even more diverse now especially given the statistics you've provided.

Interesting that when you compare the breakdown of the town's overall population to the makeup of the population in the school system that the percentage of caucasians drops off so much. I'm wondering if caucasians in Framingham have fewer kids or if maybe a lot of the caucasians in Framingham are older and empty nesters. It would be interesting to know the reason behind that.

The caucasians probably send their kids to private school too.

[lrfox]

Originally Posted by Boston_Burbs

Are Brazilians considered Latino?

I believe in the U.S. they are considered Latino since "Latino" simply means being from Latin America. Hispanic means being from a Spanish Speaking population. There's obviously a lot of overlap, but there are many cases where someone can be Hispanic and not Latino (i.e. being from Spain), or vice versa (i.e. being from Brazil). Most Brazilians are Latino since Brazil is in Latin America, but most are not Hispanic since it's a predominantly Portuguese speaking country.

Of course there are exceptions even within Brazil. And since the U.S. Census is self-identifying, "official" definitions don't matter all that much as people will report themselves as whatever they feel fits their identity best.