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Census data confirms Americas enduring ability to bring the world home

Census data confirms Americas enduring ability to bring the world home

The United States has crossed a demographic tipping point,driven by changes in immigration,fertility and mortality patterns. By now,more than half the babies born in the US belong to a racial or ethnic minority. The US Census Bureau has confirmed what was clear ever since the 2000 census,where 49.8 per cent of infants under one were members of a minority more than a quarter was Hispanic,13.6 per cent blacks and 4.2 per cent Asian. Almost one in 20 births was a mixed-race baby. Of course,this counting is complicated. For instance,many mixed-race people and Latinos consider themselves white. However,it is clear that the United States of America is set to look markedly different than it did a few decades ago.

But before congratulating itself on its more globalised,multi-ethnic future,the US must consider how its older,predominantly white population will frame policy to address the needs of its young,who look and think differently from them. Inequality is still colour-coded,and there are many in the mainstream who oppose bilingual education,diversity as a hiring principle,restrict immigration,etc. Samuel P. Huntingtons Who Are We? encapsulates the idea that the US,a white,Protestant,English-speaking nation,is in danger of hosting a separate Spanish-speaking nation within it.

Formed by tidal waves of immigration,America has long thought of itself as a grand exception and these statistics will be taken as further proof of its openness. For the rest of the world,especially Europe,struggling with questions of multiculturalism,these statistics are a lesson in nation-building of a citizenship constructed by participation in common institutions. After all,even minorities who face discrimination in America rarely question their identity as Americans. That they hold on to a broad solidarity as Americans is a pretty remarkable achievement.