The U.S. Census Bureau has revised its forecast of when America’s “minority” population will overtake the “majority” white population. It now says we’ll have a “minority majority” in 33 years, in the year 2042, not 2050 as previously projected.
The country is being redefined. More immigrants are arriving, most of them legally, and they are having more babies than native-born Americans. In fact, the number of births among immigrant families now is greater than the number of people migrating to the United States.
These numbers, now just data on a demographic spreadsheet, may turn explosive, emotionally and politically.Over the next three decades, America’s Hispanic population is projected to nearly triple; Asians will represent 9 percent of the U.S. population; the percentage of African-Americans will increase by only 1 percent by 2042.
Yet racial identifications remain imprecise and will continue to change as categories become more and more blended. In the 1960s, the Census Bureau had no specific category for Hispanics. At various times, Hispanics and some Asians have been categorized as white. Which box should black Hispanics check?
In other words, what defines “American,” and why does the issue generate so much angst in some circles? What about the growing number of Americans of mixed racial backgrounds?
At the turn of the 20th century, some newly arrived Irish Catholics, Italians, Germans and Eastern Europeans were dismissed as foreigners who resisted adoption of American customs and ideals. Today, some of their descendents express similar antipathy toward Hispanics, Asians and other newcomers.
This is xenophobia masquerading as patriotism, and in the long run, it will diminish us all.
Public, private and non-profit sectors must devote more human and capital resources to incorporating immigrants into the American mainstream. Our future quality of life depends on their success. This is no zero-sum game.
Immigrants, meanwhile, bear the responsibility for acquiring the skills they need to become active, participating American citizens. But to be able to do so, they need tools and access to English courses, parenting guidance, citizenship training and introductions to an array of local, state and national processes – everything from paying taxes to attending parent/teacher conferences.
Regardless of their parents’ lineage, children born in the United States are U.S. citizens. Today, 45 percent of American children younger than five years old are minorities. They will attendAmerican schools. And in 20 years, they will constitute a significant work force bloc, replacing millions of retirees from the baby boom generation. The contributions of this new work force will pay for the pensions and health care of graying Americans who are living longer than older folks of previous generations.
The impact of this shift will be transformational. The emerging demographic majority will alter virtually every institution in America. The abililty to trade and communicate across cultures and global markets will become ever more important.
But the trend is mathematical, not metaphysical. America needs to deal with it, not deny it. Some suggestions:
* Secure America’s borders, but don’t ignore the challenges immigrants who are here already face. Constructing border walls, denying drivers licenses and withholding public services may make some Americans feel better, but it’s not a very efficient use of limited resources – and it’s not a particularly useful way to prepare for the major changes the nation faces.
* Streamline the process through which immigrants can become naturalized citizens, and reduce the huge backlog of citizenship requests for tests to demonstrate their command of English and U.S. civics.
* New immigrants do not have to forsake their native cultures and languages. But they must master English and U.S. customs to thrive in the U.S. democracy. The truth is that multilingual and multicultural people are prized assets in a globalized world; they should be coveted, not demeaned as threats to the American identity.
The destinies of native-born Americans and newly arrived Americans are inextricably linked. Ask the Census Bureau: It’s simply a matter of counting. Americans, whatever their origin, must acknowledge what the future holds and begin preparing now.
Rachel, we have existing immigration laws to “welcome new Americans” who follow the proper path to join us. If you like, support liberalizing those laws and increasing immigration quotas. However, of the twelve to twenty million invaders who’ve infiltrated our borders or overstayed visas, how many are gangmembers, drug dealers, disease carriers, thieves, or terrorists? All are criminals. Why would you welcome them?
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In 1763, when my ancestor William Findley immigrated to Pennsylvania from Antrim, Ireland, he was regarded as a Scotch-Irish interloper, who didn’t fit in with the mostly Quaker residents of Pennsylvania.
Waves of immigrants characterize our history. Those of us who descended from immigrants can learn to welcome new Americans.
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It is amazing how many people still can’t tell the difference between immigration and invasion.
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Sounds like the best case in 140 years for secession.
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jjk I agree with you absolutely about going after employers of illegal aliens. Turning off the employment spigot is the only way to cut illegal immigration.
I presume that when you talk about “repressing” people into addiction to goverment programs, you include all the corporations who depend on considerable government welfare, tax-breaks, incentives, etc.–which has been flowing freely during the past eight years and which has, arguably, resulted in the near-destruction of the middle class.
I do agree War on Poverty was flawed although probably not for the same reasons that you do. However, almost all statistical analysis show that that the program did really reduce the poverty rate and helped move more people many people into the middle class, a trend that began to reverse during the Reagan years.
Those who rail against the “dependency” of the welfare state should have to cope with hard-core, no-help, no-hope poverty themselves for awhile. Those of us who have seen it first-hand in what we used to call the “third-world” would take welfare-state dependency any old day.
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As opposed to the Democrat party which panders to anyone who will vote for them and represses them into addiction to government programs. How’s that War on Poverty working for you after nearly fifty years? Since women own 60% of the country’s wealth, how do you ascribe all exploitation to white men? I am for enforcing our immigration laws and that includes indicting employers who hire illegals.
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Strange that so many commentators seem to believe that the fact that some immigrants are willing to slave for low salaries indicates anything other than desperation. Of course, when people become established and secure in their place in the country, they can stand up for themselves and demand value for value given.
Our problem in the meantime is to insure that those “rich, old white (or whatever color) men,” can’t exploti those who have no recourse but to sell themselves cheap. This is an especially acute problem since a labor pool of desperate, low-wage workers brings lowers the level for everyone else. Why do you think that the Republican party, which panders to bigots while serving the corporate interests is so torn over the issue of immigration?
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Your reference to “old white men” is insulting and shows a lack of history and understanding of the problem. Your argument also assumes that second generation Mexicans will have any more ambition than second generation Irish or any other nationality. There are many studies showing that second generation Mexicans are in fact doing what every group has done since the country started and that is having less ambition than their parents who understood the bounty of being able to live in a country with such opportunity compared to their homelands. The problem isn’t whether future citizens are Mexican or German. It is whether those people embrace American values, or whether they simply want to access our economy and continue to maintain their own culture. In a melting pot society, this is a recipie for disaster. The melting pot works. Dozens of smaller pots will only boil over into chaos.
I do agree with you on one thing. If the country moves to a more socialistic system, people will leave and they will take their wealth with them.
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You were being polite. You didn’t mention the old rich white men syndrome. They claim they made millions by working hard yet they fear non-whites, part of which are the minority Mexicans they hire that actually do work hard but for very little…at least for now. Put that same amount of gumption into business and Katie bar the door. Old rich white men will end up moving off shore near their foreign banks to live off their their trickle-down unless they can stop current immigration. One could possibly say the same for white workers who don’t have fat bank accounts and could end up mowing lawns or roofing houses for hispanic businessmen.
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Please see: Huns v Rome
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We are entering a very exciting time in the history of our nation. If we can maintain the stability of our cultural institutions, and convince people to see the nation as something to invest themselves in and contribute to, then the odds are the republic will eventually thrive again.
If the people who belong to so many different cultures, who hold to these many diverse belief systems, and who speak so many different languages do not find common ground, and instead choose to look for what they can take from America, then we will fall, and most likely fall violently and hard.
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