A new Census Bureau report says 48.6 percent of babies born in America in 2009 had minority parents -- black, Hispanic, Asian, American Indian, Pacific islander, etc. A tipping point, when traditional white babies will drop below half of U.S. births, is projected within a year or so.
A new Census Bureau report says 48.6 percent of babies born in America in 2009 had minority parents -- black, Hispanic, Asian, American Indian, Pacific islander, etc. A tipping point, when traditional white babies will drop below half of U.S. births, is projected within a year or so.
Intermarriage keeps snowballing, producing mixed-race children. Scholar Michael Lind says "the beiging of America" is an unstoppable trend -- and a good one, boosting equality in the social melting pot.
For years, the Census Bureau has projected that standard whites will become a U.S. minority around 2040. More than a decade ago, President Bill Clinton told Oregon university students:
"Today, largely because of immigration, there is no majority race in Hawaii or Houston or New York City. Within five years, there will be no majority race in our largest state, California. In a little more than 50 years, there will be no majority race in the United States. No other nation in history has gone through demographic change of this magnitude in so short a time.... [These immigrants] are energizing our culture and broadening our vision of the world. They are renewing our most basic values and reminding us all what it truly means to be American."
Since Clinton spoke, California, Texas and New Mexico joined Hawaii as states where non-Hispanic whites comprise less than half the population. The District of Columbia and six other large metro areas also are "minority majority." Minorities have climbed above 40 percent in Maryland, Georgia, Nevada, Arizona, New York and Mississippi.
Most senior West Virginians grew up in an era when WASPs (white Anglo-Saxon Protestants) dominated America's culture overwhelmingly. The Mountain State is one of the few places where that pattern survives. The rest of America is turning relentlessly into a multicultural hodgepodge.
The transformation disturbs some whites. But it's pointless to stew over the inevitable. Remember the great prayer asking for wisdom "to accept the things I cannot change."
America is evolving steadily into the world's first major cosmopolitan society. Like it or not, the shift is coming. Nobody can deter the demographic trends. Everyone should relax and watch the fascinating new culture taking shape.
A new Census Bureau report says 48.6 percent of babies born in America in 2009 had minority parents -- black, Hispanic, Asian, American Indian, Pacific islander, etc. A tipping point, when traditional white babies will drop below half of U.S. births, is projected within a year or so.
Intermarriage keeps snowballing, producing mixed-race children. Scholar Michael Lind says "the beiging of America" is an unstoppable trend -- and a good one, boosting equality in the social melting pot.
For years, the Census Bureau has projected that standard whites will become a U.S. minority around 2040. More than a decade ago, President Bill Clinton told Oregon university students:
"Today, largely because of immigration, there is no majority race in Hawaii or Houston or New York City. Within five years, there will be no majority race in our largest state, California. In a little more than 50 years, there will be no majority race in the United States. No other nation in history has gone through demographic change of this magnitude in so short a time.... [These immigrants] are energizing our culture and broadening our vision of the world. They are renewing our most basic values and reminding us all what it truly means to be American."
Since Clinton spoke, California, Texas and New Mexico joined Hawaii as states where non-Hispanic whites comprise less than half the population. The District of Columbia and six other large metro areas also are "minority majority." Minorities have climbed above 40 percent in Maryland, Georgia, Nevada, Arizona, New York and Mississippi.
Most senior West Virginians grew up in an era when WASPs (white Anglo-Saxon Protestants) dominated America's culture overwhelmingly. The Mountain State is one of the few places where that pattern survives. The rest of America is turning relentlessly into a multicultural hodgepodge.
The transformation disturbs some whites. But it's pointless to stew over the inevitable. Remember the great prayer asking for wisdom "to accept the things I cannot change."
America is evolving steadily into the world's first major cosmopolitan society. Like it or not, the shift is coming. Nobody can deter the demographic trends. Everyone should relax and watch the fascinating new culture taking shape.
