Changing Demographics

The big news today, at least for those who are interested in demographics and how they are constantly changing, is that for the first time in United States history, non-Hispanic white births dipped below 50%.   It isn't much lower than 50%, but it signals a changing face to America.  The country that was founded by European settlers is now taking on a more worldly look, or at least it will in the future.  The United States used to be called a melting pot (it still might be, but I am not up on my terminology), but it seems that the term was once used to mean the integration of one European race with another, say Irish with Polish.  There has always been debate over the term "melting pot" as it signifies a blending of different races and cultures, and in turn, a certain detachment from one's original ethnic origins.  People have always been concerned over preserving their "home" culture, their roots if you will, while at the same time integrating with other cultures, races, and ethnicities.  People don't want to forget their roots, and while I agree that it is important to remember where one came from and the family history that is unique to each individual, I also feel it is important to adopt the American culture, to change and adapt, to move forward.  The big question now is, how well has integrating races and cultures gone?  While the term melting pot was once used to refer to whites integrating with other whites, to what extent has it gone beyond that to include integration among all races and ethinicites.  Personally, I don't think we have gone far enough. 

If you look at the ethnic landscape of America, you will see that it is not quite the melting pot that we purport it to be.  Furthermore, we are still dealing with difficult issues of race and ethnicity in relation to discrimination and injustice.  While the makeup of our country may be reaching an equilibrium of sorts, it is merely on the charts and has not quite reached reality yet.  Have we improved from 50 years ago?  Absolutely, but there is still a lot of work that needs to be done to reach a point where all ethnicities and races can say they are treated equally and fairly.  To illustrate why we need to work on inequality and injustice, one simply has to look back 2.5 months to the case of Trayvon Martin, the young black teenager who was killed in a gated community in Florida.  This is not by far, the only case that is racially charged and a red flag signalling where we need work, but it is merely the latest.  To drive the point home of working towards true equality and fairness, one only has to look as far as the hallowed halls of Congress to see how much work needs to be done.  When one gets a glimpse of Congress, one sees mainly a sea of white with specks of color interspersed.  Granted, we have come a long way since the days of slavery, segregation, and Jim Crow laws, but we have not reached equilibrium in all areas.  Yet another area that will show how relatively un-equal we are is education.  We have still not figured out how to create an equal opportunity education system.  We have tried and tried, but we have not reached the point where everyone is educated equally.  This perhaps is the area that will need the most work if we are to truly become the melting pot that is the United States of America.

Lets be frank here, is America a bad place to live?  I personally don't think so, but then again, I am a non-Hispanic white person, so my answer might not adequately reflect the majority.  Yet, despite that fact, the opportunities every citizen has (while not always perceived to be equal), provide the basis for creating a true melting pot where almost everyone can be considered equal.  Will we ever reach a point where everyone can consider themselves equal to everyone else?  Optimistically, yes; realistically, no.  The only reason I say no is because no matter how hard we try, there will always be some group that feels disenfranchised, impeded upon,  or discriminated against.  It is simply human nature, there will always be some people who feel the need to be better than others and that will have an effect on our national identity and culture.  We can still improve, in fact we have a lot of improving to do, and I do think we can reach a point where there is minimal discrimination and feelings of ill will, but it will take a lot of work to get there.  Look, I am proud to live in the United States.  Having said that, I truly hope that we can create a society where every culture, race, religion, etc can feel welcome and equal to everyone else.  In light of our changing demographics, we need to become more open and accepting of everyone, not just people who look like us or believe like us.  This is, after all, the melting pot of all cultures, races, and ethnicities and maybe one day we will reflect that.  (Article linked here)