Scotch-Irish
will no longer be included in official US census figures
Shock
move by Census Bureau as new Irish American figures announced
By
BERNIE MALONE, IrishCentral Staff Writer
Published
Friday, January 6, 2012, 7:32 AM
Updated
Friday, January 6, 2012, 9:46 AM
Almost
35 million people currently living in the US claim Irish ancestry,
according to the just released figures from the Census Bureau’s
annual American Community Survey for 2010.
But
in a controversial move the figures for the numbers of Scotch-Irish are
no longer available. The Census Bureau has announced the change.
In
a statement they said “While the ancestry tables will all look the
same, the interpretation of the "Scotch-Irish" and "Other
groups" estimates will change… Individuals reporting
Irish-Scotch are no longer tabulated as "Scotch-Irish" but
rather are included in the "Other groups" category.”
That
information could well upset the millions of Americans who are of
Scotch-Irish heritage which will no longer now be acknowledged as a
separate heritage.
US
Senator Jim Webb of Virginia has been an outspoken advocate of the
Scotch-Irish and wrote a best selling book called "Born
Fighting” about them.
Among
the most famous Scotch-Irish are Andrew Jackson, Davy Crockett and
President Chester Arthur.
Much
of the appeal for Northern Ireland tourism efforts to woo American
tourists has been aimed at the Scotch-Irish, primarily in the south. Now
it will be far more difficult to locate them.
The
latest figures show a total of 34,669,616 people residing in the US claim
Irish ancestry.
Massachusetts continues to have the highest concentration of Irish, with
almost one-in-four claiming Irish ancestry.
Hawaii
has the lowest percentage, with less than one-in-twenty residents
claiming Irish roots.
The data shows that the Irish are the fourth largest ethnic group in the
US in 2010, representing a 11.21 percent of the population.
According
to the census, persons of Irish ancestry live in all 50 states. A total
of 11 states have more than one million persons of Irish or Scotch-Irish
ancestry.
The Florida Irish Heritage Centre reports that Florida
has the fifth largest population of Irish or Scotch-Irish ancestry
(2,068,006).
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