This area chart shows the percentage of the total Texas population at each U.S. census since 1850 falling into one of four mutually exclusive racial and ethnic groups: non-Hispanic white, black, foreign stock Hispanic, and Other (mainly Asian, Pacific Islander, and Indian). The state's black population which in 1850 constituted nearly 30 percent of the population today is less than 12 percent. The Hispanic population which was in 1850 little more than 3 percent of the total grew by 2000 to almost 34 percent. The Other category, almost empty for much of the period since 1850, began to grow in the 1970s and by 2000 made up more than 4 percent of the state's population. Altogether, minority populations represented just about 50 percent of the state's population by 2000 and since then have become collectively a majority. The non-Hispanic white population, still the largest group, is no longer claims majority status in Texas.