In a new report out Thursday, the U.S. Census Bureau projects the nation will become much more diverse by midcentury, with minorities forecast to become the majority population by 2042, experts said.
The growing national diversity is also a trend seen locally, particularly among Hispanics, experts said.
“It’s already happening on Long Island,” said Lee Koppelman, director of Stony Brook University’s Center for Regional Policy Studies, citing the influx of Hispanics. Recently released census data estimate that Hispanic residents constitute 12.4 percent of Nassau County’s population in 2007, up from 10 percent in 2000; and 13.3 percent of Suffolk County’s in 2007, up from 10.5 percent in 2000.
“Hispanics are primarily drawn here by economic opportunity,” Koppelman continued. “If the economy remains robust on Long Island, this population will continue to expand.”
Hmmm…will there be a “White†history month then, to celebrate the contributions of the new minority? Will there still be affirmative action, but with a new emphasis to help Caucasians? Will hate-speech/hate-crime laws be enforced to protect Caucasians? Will there be a new “White Entertainment Television†to complement the existing Black Entertainment Television [BET]? Will there be a United “White†College Fund to complement the existing United Negro College Fund (UNCF)?
I was born in 1963. I have seen a lot of institutional racism in my life, but all of it has been in [i]favor[/i] of minorities. Most likely, I will be dead by 2042, but I don’t want my children to have to swim upstream their entire lives like I had to, simply because they are of European descent. I’ve done the genealogical research. My family never owned slaves. By the time I became a self aware individual, there were no Jim Crow laws and things were integrated throughout our country. My wife is third generation Irish. Why should my children and grandchildren face the continued institutional racism of Black Entertainment Television, The United Negro College Fund (UNCF), Black History Month [etc.], Affirmative Action, and the myriad of “minority only” mentoring programs that exist in both government and corporate careers?
I welcome diversity. I welcome a society where all people are judged by the content of their character and not by the color of their skin. Will the future hold this? The present certainly does not. In my career in government, I have been told multiple times by different managers and senior peers that, because I am not a minority or female, my opportunities for advancement are slim to none. I am OK with that. I like what I do and I am satisfied with my compensation. I am not OK with my kids inheriting such a world.
It’s time for us to end things like Affirmative Action and shame those that publicly champion one particular race or ethnicity, such as BET and UNCF, etc. African-Americans should be in the lead on this issue. Hispanics do not share the corporate guilt that “White†people do and I suspect that the era of “tolerance†that the Black community has enjoyed since the 1960’s will come to an abrupt end.
It is time to finally level the playing field for everyone. Let’s actually live by the stated ideal or Dr. King’s dream, rather than use it for an excuse to exercise institutional racism in favor of particular minorities. The whole concept of making up for the past at the expense of people who were not even alive when the offenses occurred, and for the benefit of people who were not alive when the offenses occurred, is morally bankrupt and intellectually dishonest.
I don’t care one bit about what “color” is dominant in the coming decades. What I DO care about is that the American populous is educated, competitive and strong. If it’s not, we’ll be in big trouble.
So, when we read about 50 percent high school dropout rates among Hispanics and, in some places, African-Americans, when we continue to see a huge influx of illegal immigrants who are uneducated and low-skill workers, we had best get busy NOW. A few years ago, a nationally recognized speaker came to my city in Texas and gave dire predictions about what Texas would look like if changes weren’t made — a largely uneducated populous with low prospects and earnings would be dominant. My great state would turn into a wasteland of people working for minimum wage and depending on social services. The economy would be seriously affected with low buying power and companies would no longer want to locate here because of an unskilled, uneducated labor force.
We need to take our immigration laws seriously and enforce them. We also need to quit coddling the Hispanic population with bilingual programs and we MUST force them to become proficient in English at an academic level so they succeed in school and go on to college. We need an overhaul of our inner-city schools to reach inner city youths and help them achieve, not make excuses for them. To do less will ensure a bleak future.
my suspicion is that you can say bye bye to your history. they won’t care about it because they have no ties to it. once their interests start running the country we will no longer have a national identity with a shared history, there will only be pockets that honour and remember our forefathers here and there in the old states.
easy folks – lots of the term ‘they’ going on – aren’t you all God’s children?
Ironically, I believe that is also the year they are predicted Social Security to go bankrupt.
“Rugyplayingpriest”,
No, of course not. Only “to those who believed in Him He gave the power to be called the sons of God”. 🙂
But seriously, the American Experiment is not dependent on racial identity, but rather on acceptance of the ideals upon which the country was founded. As long as the ‘new face’ of America holds to those, then I am not worried.
However, I see in the millions of illegal immigrants who are coming here not a desire to adopt this country and its ideals but rather to exploit them for their own gain.
Sad.
Jim E.
no offence my fellow rugby fan, but i am not saying that they are NOT God’s children. what i am saying is just what i said; they won’t care about the history of this country that is shared by my own ancestors. come to houston and you will see a large minority community that does not speak english and does not know or give a flip about knowing who ben franklin or john adams or any other founding father was, the wars that were fought and for what reasons we are even here. i do know because i lived there and phoenix az where anglos are fast becoming a minority. i currently live in a german heritage community where everyone seems to act like they settled texas and no other heritage matters. so when i use the word ‘they’ i am being more inclusive than you think and am not implying anything other than what i said. thanks for listening and i hope i don’t sound too snippy.
Sick and Tired said:
[quote] Hmmm…will there be a “White†history month then, to celebrate the contributions of the new minority? Will there still be affirmative action, but with a new emphasis to help Caucasians? Will hate-speech/hate-crime laws be enforced to protect Caucasians? Will there be a new “White Entertainment Television†to complement the existing Black Entertainment Television [BET]? Will there be a United “White†College Fund to complement the existing United Negro College Fund (UNCF)? [/quote]
Thanks for the good laugh! The reason why we have a Black History month, BET and the UNCF is to provide uplift for the Black community. Carter G. Woodson created Black History Month to instill in African Americans a sense of pride in their heritage and contribution to civilization. At that time, the 1920’s, Blacks were taught by both Whites AND other Blacks to dislike their heritage and skin color. BET exists to give African Americans opportunities that ABC, CBS, etc didn’t give to non-White males. Also, the depictions of people of color were not the best at that time. Only seeing African Americans committing crimes or in menial positions isn’t the best instiller of racial pride. The same goes for the UNCF. UNCF was created to provide educational opportunities for Blacks when many white schoolteachers were discouraging Blacks from seeking higher education. Besides, Whites have their own college funds. How many Blacks can receive scholarship funds from DAR, Confederate Civil War groups, European ancestry based scholarship, etc? Very few. How many Blacks can tap social and family networks that most old/new money Whites have that keep their families successful generation after generations? Very few. The playing field isn’t even level amongst Whites, why would anyone think it would be level with any other groups?
-Vincent
[blockquote]”…to provide uplift for the Black community.”[/blockquote]
My point [b]exactly[/b]! That is racist. How about just providing uplift for THE community. Not the Black, or White, or Hispanic, or Asian community, but uplifting the whole community.
When was the last time Caucasians were allowed to publicly exibit “a sense of pride in their heritage and contribution to civilization” without being branded “White Supremicists” or racists?
[blockquote]”How many Blacks can receive scholarship funds from DAR, Confederate Civil War groups, European ancestry based scholarship, etc?”[/blockquote]
I am unaware of any European ancestry based scholarships. I’m not saying they don’t exist, just that I have never heard of them. Thousands of Blacks could be eligible for DAR scholarships.
Crispus Attucks, a black man and one of the first martyrs of the patriot cause, was one of the four men that died in the Boston Massacre in 1770. Black men were at both Lexington and Concord.
Peter Salem, a black man and freed slave, was standing on the green at Lexington facing the British when the shot that was heard around the world was fired. Prince Estabrook, a black man from West Lexington, was one of the last men wounded in that battle as the British ran back to Boston. 20 black men, including Peter Salem, were there at the Battle of Bunker Hill. Peter Salem actually fired the shot that killed Major John Pitcairn, the British officer who leading the Redcoats when they had attacked at Lexington. On August 29, 1778, the first all-Black military unit in America, the 1st Rhode Island Regiment, fought in the battle of Rhode Island on Aquidneck Island. They held their line for four hours against British-Hessian assaults, saving the entire American Army from a trap. Black men served in both the militias of the various states and in the Continental Line, despite adversity and racism. They were comrades in arms and patriots and heroes of the American Revolution.
So, THOUSANDS of black people would be eligible for DAR, SAR, etc. membership and scholarships. Isn’t America GREAT!
By the way, there were something on the order of 50,000-65,000 black Confederate soldiers, and a good portion of them were free men. Over 13,000 of them were in combat against Federal troops. Some of them are now buried right along side their White Confederate comrades. Their descendents would be eligible for the Stand Watie Scholarship if they are members of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, Children of the Confederacy, or United Daughters of the Confederacy. Membership in those societies is open to any descendant of any veteran who served honorably in the Confederate armed forces. Membership can be obtained through either lineal or collateral family lines and kinship to a veteran must be documented genealogically.
I think that it is high time to stop all racism. I think it is time that we stop being hyphenated Americans. I think you are either an American…or you aren’t. And if you are an American, you had better speak the English language because all of the documents that founded America were written in English.
[blockquote]By the way, there were something on the order of 50,000-65,000 black Confederate soldiers, and a good portion of them were free men. Over 13,000 of them were in combat against Federal troops. [/blockquote]
I call shenanigans.
Anti-shenanigans Links:
http://www.ncdcr.gov/news/2003/opa_2-26-03.pdf
http://www.nps.gov/apco/black-soldiers.htm
http://www.nps.gov/archive/guis/extended/MIS/MHistory/NatvGrd.htm
http://asp1.umbc.edu/newmedia/sites/chetah/pdf/WhiteheadConfedsRS3.pdf
http://www.gmu.edu/departments/economics/wew/articles/00/black_confederates.html
http://www.wavy.com/Global/story.asp?S=1114196
http://www.blackconfederates.com/
http://www.jackmaples.com/black_confederates/biographies.html
http://www.usgennet.org/usa/mo/county/stlouis/blackcs.htm
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=40553
http://www.rebelgray.com/BlackSoldiers.htm
http://www.37thtexas.org/html/Memoriam4.html
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1085357/posts
Please take special note of the “.gov” and “.edu” links.
For a real eye-opener, type “black confederate soldiers” into the Google image search.
#11 & #12
I didn’t say there were [b]no[/b] Black Confederates. I know my history better than that!
I objected to your statement that there were 50,000 or more Black Confederate soldiers. NONE of the articles you posted support your number — most of them discuss only a handful of soldiers, several of them have no citations to outside works, and one discusses how the Union army conscripted Southern Blacks in Louisiana to fight against the Confederates!
But this really isn’t an argument about numbers — frankly, I feel that your post #9 carries just a whiff of a “Lost Cause” reassessment of the Confederacy. As you should know, the “Lost Cause†theory is unsupported by history and not something for Christians concerned about racial harmony should be wasting our time with.
So let’s put aside the numbers argument and focus on the real meat of the matter: As a fellow Christian, will you join me in publically condemning the Confederacy for its ill treatment of African-Americans prior to the Civil War? As a fellow Christian, will you join me in publically condemning the former-Confederate states for what was done to Blacks during the Jim Crow Era? We can also condemn the North too – there is plenty of blame to go around! I don’t have an axe to grind against the South (or else my Texan wife would kill me).
To get back to the original post, as the country grows more diverse it is important to recognize both the good and the bad things that have happened in our own history. Sometimes liberals go too far in emphasizing the bad and sometimes conservatives go too far in emphasizing the good. Personally, I try to oppose all historical revisionism: whether liberal or conservative. Your #1 post shows a bit of a disregard toward the wrongs African Americans have suffered and I want to give you a chance to correct that — I’ll accept your 50,000 number (even though you haven’t provided any documentation for it) if you join me in condemning the evils of the Southern slave system and Jim Crow.
Deal?
I absolutely and whole heartedly condemn the evils of the slave system that occurred in Colonial America, the early United States of America, and the Confederate States of America. I also condemn the evils of the Jim Crow laws, segregation in Boston, etc.
My point wasn’t a specific number of Black Confederate Soldiers. I was refuting the “moral equivalency” of the UNCF with DAR & SCV scholarships. The former is open only to Blacks, while the latter are open to any ethnicity. My point was that the UNCF is racist because skin color is used as a determining criteria…which is completely at odds with Dr. King’s dream for our society. What would you think of a scholarship called the United White College Fund that was only open to Caucasians? Think about it. At the UNCF, no Hispanics, Asians, Jews, Native Americans, or Caucasians need apply because they aren’t Black. That’s racism my brother in Christ, plain and simple. Some folks will try to defend it by pointing out the past wrongs against Blacks in America, but as we all know, two wrongs do not make a right.
[blockquote]My point was that the UNCF is racist because skin color is used as a determining criteria…which is completely at odds with Dr. King’s dream for our society. [/blockquote]
UNCF scholarships are open to all students regardless of race. (Although, you are right, there are some scholarships out there that have a racial criteria.)
And I have nothing against BET either. I rarely watch it, because it isn’t really my cup of tea, if others want to watch programming that focuses on Black people/issues, why should I object? Surely there are enough other shows on television with 100% White casts that, if someone were so inclined, he could watch TV all day without seeing a person of color. Why is BET such a burden to you?
And actually, yes, hate crime/speech laws have been used to protect whites (c.f. Wisconsin v. Mitchell).
And actually, yes, it is a badly kept secret that some colleges have been quietly (so as not to disturb the diversity Apparatchiks) extending admission preferences to males and even *gasp* whites to make up for declining enrollment numbers in some campuses.
Look, I have a Libertarian streak so private race-based programs don’t bother me.
With regards to public programs, as a Christian, I am not very concerned with perceived slights against my “rights” if they help others who have been seriously wronged in the past. Didn’t Jesus say something about walking an extra mile? Jesus never insisted on his “rights” and never told us to do it either. I would rather be “wronged” if it helps African Americans who have suffered so much in the past, than to insist on my “rights” and cause any more hurt and pain.
No problems, Cuervo, but then shouldn’t I, as someone from an Irish immigrant background, also seek reparations and special treatments because of the anti-Irish laws and sentiment during the late 1800’s to even the mid-1900’s? the “No Irish Need Apply” (NINA) laws come to mind right off the bat, as well as seeing us fit only for subservient-type work (ditch-digger; coal miner; canal worker; rail road track layer; etc.).
EVERY minority group, even if we don’t LOOK like a minority group, have been discriminated against to one degree or another by some other group.
Jim E.
Sick and Tired:
The point I am making is that those organizations (UNCF, BET, etc) exist because they met a need that existed in America. Some would argue that they are still needed. That’s my only point. Blacks at that time stepped up to the plate and took matters into their own hands instead of looking for handouts. We had our own businesses, hotels, resorts, etc. Why? I think you already know the answer. Whites for the most part, do not need “racial uplift programs.’ American society and the world for that matter is “white’ orientated.
As an African American, I have been very blessed to have come from a family of college educated professionals who are connected socially to the larger White power structure. However, I am fully aware that most Blacks do not have such connections and that is a very big hindrance to success in America. I have had the same advantages as most upper middle class Whites in America. Yet, I don’t have the same marriage opportunities that upper middle class Whites have. Family connections are very important in the perpetuation of wealth and opportunity in America.
-Vincent
#16
I’m of Irish stock too — I’m even Catholic so that’s a twofer when it comes to discrimination! (All hail the great “Know-Nothing Party”!)
Here’s the problem (and I don’t want to minimize the wrongs done to other minority groups throughout American history): it is hard to overestimate the impact of [b]400 years of race-based chattle slavery and another century of legally enforced second-class citizenship[/b] on a group of people.
The Irish didn’t have to go through that, the Southern Europeans, the Chinese, the Poles — no other group had to go through what African-Americans went through. (Native Americans come close.)
I appreciate that most Whites today are not racist. I also know that the ancestors of most Whites were not slave owners. And I feel that, overall, things are getting better for Blacks in America. But the fact remains that — for centuries — Africans were under the heel of a world-wide system that crushed and de-humanized them. We Whites benefited from that — even if we didn’t play a direct role in it.
I was at a Promise Keepers rally once upon a time and I saw a White preacher apologize to and wash the feet of a Black preacher. At that moment I gave up my objection to Affirmative Action. I know, at the margin, it hurts White people like me and my children but I really don’t care about my personal “rights” in this area anymore. After 500 years of racism and oppression towards Blacks, it’s the least I can do.
Just a point of order: the Irish (and Scots) did go through that in their country of origin under that most benevolent of Empire builders, England (who kindly abolished slavery in their own land, but kept up the practice in their colonies).
Many of them saw the US as a place of new hope away from this enslavement only to find more of the same in the newly created slums (just for them!) of New York, Boston, etc.
It was only through sheer determination and unionization (the Molly Maguires) and joining the Armies of North and South that they were able to finally find a place they could call their own.
[blockquote] Just a point of order: the Irish (and Scots) did go through that in their country of origin under that most benevolent of Empire builders, England [/blockquote]
Are you saying that England subjected the Irish to chattel slavery?
I’m betting that by 2042 there will have been so much intermarriage between ‘whites’ and ‘Hispanics’ that the two will be considered one group. The same could be true with Asians.
St. Cuervo,
Oh, I most certainly am! I’ve been studying this for some time now. Since Henry VIII decided all Ireland and Scotland belonged to England, they practiced a form of chattle slavery.
In Ireland, the native Irish (as opposed to the English Irish who were sent over from England to oversee the Irish for England) were not allowed to practice their Catholic religion; could not attend school; could not own land (became tenant farmers) or weapons; could not vote or participate in government; were forbidden to speak their native language; were taxed almost to death; etc.
When the potato famine hit in the mid 1800’s, England ordered the exporting of all remaining food stuffs to England (about 75% of the crops other than potatoes were sent away), further reducing the population by starvation or forced emigration to the US or Australia.
In Scotland, much the same conditions existed. When England decided they needed land for their growing population, they simply drafted the men and [url=http://www.mysongbook.de/msb/songs/i/iwillgo.html]burned the homes behind them[/url], and then sent those left to Canada or the U.S. This in spite of the fact that the Scots regiments always excelled in any battle in which they were asked to fight. The [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Watch]Black Watch[/url] being a prime example.
Beannacht Dé leat!
Jim Elliott, of the Clan Elliot <><