Scary New World? Minority to Become Majority in 2040s

An older and more diverse nation by mid-century – Report released by the Census Bureau

What predictions can we make from a majority-ethnic minority population in the future?

More liberal politics? Increase tolerance of difference? An end to white privilege, institutionalized discrimination and racism?

IT tells us nothing. Women are the majority-minority and yet that fact is not reflected in electoral politics, the gender make-up of Fortune 500 CEOs or reimbursement of the ‘second-shift‘ for that matter. A sheer majority in numbers cannot make much of a difference without institutional power and/or support.

But it is clear that a majority-minority population cannot be ignored:

But the mere numbers require that Latinos move beyond low-wage and low-skilled jobs, said Mark Salling, a demographer at Cleveland State University.

“When they are a third of the population, you can’t ignore them,” Salling said. “I don’t care if they’re citizens or not, you can’t ignore them.”

The Center for Immigration Studies did not pass up an opportunity to use the projected figures to trump up their hue and cry over immigration:

“The point here is what does it mean for the quality of life, the quality of the environment – profound questions,” he said. “It’s not the weather – this isn’t happening because Americans are choosing to have large families. It’s happened primarily, not entirely, but largely because of a federal program, immigration – that is, the toleration of illegal immigration and very generous legal immigration.”

What they failed to mentioned is that the percentage of people that would require social security and medicaid in 2040 would necessitate a larger percentage of the working age population than currently projected. We either need to redo our health and pension plans, ensure that people don’t live past 64 or allow more legal immigration.