The New California
Demographic Shifts Bring Major Changes to Nation's Largest State

August, 2002 -- All Things Considered presents a four-part series on the changing demographics in California. Huge influxes of immigrants from Latin America and Asia are forcing the state to come to terms with diversity on an unprecedented scale. As NPR's reporters discovered, the changes are affecting all areas of public life, sometimes in surprising ways.

In Part One, NPR's Mandalit del Barco tells the story of Pedro Rivera, a one-time undocumented immigrant who now owns his own record label in Los Angeles. His story shows how the diversity of California's population is often a reason for entrepreneurial success, not a barrier to it.

In Part Two, Holly Kernan reports on a controversy over school integration in San Francisco that has spurred the city's normally apolitical Asian-American community to action. The issue shows just how powerful this constituency has become in California.

In Part Three, NPR's Ina Jaffe reports on how the growth of the immigrant community has given California's labor movement new opportunities for organizing and expansion.

In Part Four, NPR's Richard Gonzales takes a look at the effect of "reverse migration" from the coast into the Central Valley.

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