According to the latest figures from the U.S. Census Bureau, a little more than 50% of the children younger than one year in the United States are classified as non-white.  And in at least five states, including Hawaii, the District of Columbia, California, New Mexico, and Texas, whites are in the minority.

www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archive...

www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-18108845

The minority groups include black, Hispanic, Asian, and mixed-race people.  A growing proportion of Americans will be biracial.

The largest minority group is Hispanics, of which there were 52 million in the U.S. last year.  This was followed by about 44 million African-Americans.

Unfortunately, in response to the growing non-white population, there is also a rise in hate groups.

abcnews.go.com/US/militias-hate-groups-g...       

   

Not really anything new, but a milestone of sorts.

But there are some points to be made concerning the statistics. Which, BTW, are a bit muddled, since they are presented in a way which mix racial (black,white) and non-racial (Hispanic) categories, and actually include a category (Asian) which is a catchall for several races and many unrelated ethnic groups. 

The "mixed race" or bi-racial segment especially bears comment.  The notes sate: "Unless otherwise specified, the statistics refer to the population who reported a race alone or in combination with one or more races".   This is non-rigorous as far as the statistics are concerned.  As I understand it, someone who is, say,  3/4 white and 1/4 Hispanic, and reported themselves as white-Hispanic, would be counted as Hispanic.  So the statistics are a bit slanted towards over-counting minorities.

But looking forward, a converse point can be made is about mixed marriage (there was another study a while back reporting on the rapid increase in this).  Mixed marriages are increasingly common among Hispanics and Asians.  So we should expect the bi-racial population to expand even more rapidly going forward.   And this is a good thing; this sort of immigration/assimilation has been going on forever in the US, is probably one source of our vitality as a nation, and is certainly nothing to be feared; except, as noted, by the fear-mongers; but this is nothing new either; go back a hundred years and substitute the  words "Irish" or "Jew" for "Hispanic" and you will see that little has changed.

But these trends seem not to apply to African-Americans, who ironically have been here the longest. Their percentage of the population is not growing; black-white mixed marriages are not  common.   Notably, our most famous African-American is not descended from an African-Americans but from an African immigrant.  Unlike what I see as regards other minorities, there seems to be something unhealthy at work here.  Lingering racism plays a role, but surely, in the age of Obama, there is more going on.  Until and unless something changes, I worry that African-Americans  are going to fail to fully share in this new multi-racial nation; as will, BTW, as always, our Native Americans.

Good.

We need more diversity. 

Yes ...

"Race" is a SOCIAL Construct -- not a Biological Reality ...

My (adopted) Son's "Birth Mother" is Vietnamese and his "Birth Father" is "African-American" ... So ... of what "Race" IS he ... ???

When he was little, on the Census Form I made my OWN entry under his "Race" Category: "Human" ...

May 22, 2012 -- 9:23AM, Nepenthe wrote:

A bi-racial population?

No, we are all still the human race. 

May 22, 2012 -- 11:51AM, mytmouse57 wrote:

May 22, 2012 -- 11:04AM, teilhard wrote:

Yes ...

"Race" is a SOCIAL Construct -- not a Biological Reality ...

My (adopted) Son's "Birth Mother" is Vietnamese and his "Birth Father" is "African-American" ... So ... of what "Race" IS he ... ???

When he was little, on the Census Form I made my OWN entry under his "Race" Category: "Human" ...

May 22, 2012 -- 9:23AM, Nepenthe wrote:

A bi-racial population?

No, we are all still the human race. 

I agree. "Race" is a conctruct, with no basis in objective reality. 

All true.

But this does not alter the point, which is that America is changing.  As it has always changed.  Some people have always opposed the changes, there were anti-immigration political factions in the 1800s as there are now, there were anti-Catholic factions and anti-Jewish factions as there are now anti-Islamic factions.  But those groups, as with the new Americans today, enriched the country.  Those groups assimilated, but maintained enough of their identity that we can now all celebrate St. Patricks Day, or Chinese New Year,  and put German Christmas trees and statues of Dutch St. Nicolas in our houses in December.  Why not add Cinco de Mayo to the mix?

Except the blacks and the native Americans, who keep ending up at the bottom of the heap.