The United States Census Bureau estimates that America will be "minority white" by 2042.
The under-eighteen demographic is expected to go the same route by 2023, largely thanks to the declining birth rate among white Americans compared with Hispanic and Asian Americans. The number of white children in the United States actually shrank by 4.3 million from 2000-2010, while the number of Hispanic and Asian children grew by a total of 5.5 million during that same period, with Hispanics making up the bulk of this growth.
Also, for the first time in national history, the majority of young people in two states, California and New Mexico, now identify as Hispanic, according to census data released this year
Meanwhile, in Nevada, Arizona, Texas, Mississippi, Georgia, Florida, Maryland, and Hawaii, white children are already in the minority when compared with peers from other racial and ethnic groups combined..
In places like California, where the shift has been coming since the 1960s, the sea change is being met with less resistance than in other states like Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, and South Carolina, partially because the influx is happening so quickly in the latter states. South Carolina's Hispanic population increased 148% between 2000 and 2010, faster than any other state during that period, while California's Hispanic population only increased by 28%.
While figures like this generally prompt some kind of severe knee-jerk reaction about immigration, I would point out that, until the mid-1900s, America was much more of the "melting pot" it claimed to be. In 1910, 15% of people in the U.S. were born in another country — by 1970, that number had dropped to just 5%. It only recently got back up over 12%.
I'll spare everybody the standard lefty, Howard Zinn rant about how the white man stole this country from indigenous peoples, built it up with immigrants, and then started bitching about country-stealing furriners. But I'd rather leave you with this beautiful quote that dispenses with the whole conflict quickly and elegantly:
"I don't have friends from different ethnic groups," said Isaac Gonzalez, a fifteen-year-old in San Bernardino, California. "I just have friends who like baseball and friends who go to school and friends who I hang out with."
Something you'd never hear a Conk's kid say......
So, Conks, whatcha gonna do when that time comes?
Discuss.
