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Since the settlement of Jamestown in 1607 and the start of the Colonial period, the U.S. has been predominantly white.
But the white share of the U.S. population has been dropping, from a little under 90% in 1950 to 60% in 2018. It will likely drop below 50% in another 25 years.
White nationalists want America to be white again. But this will never happen. America is on its way to becoming predominantly non-white.
The U.S. federal government uses two questions to measure a person's race and ethnicity. One asks if the person is of Hispanic origin, and the other asks about the person's race.
A person is defined as white if he or she identifies as being only white and non-Hispanic. A minority, or nonwhite, person is anyone who is not solely non-Hispanic white.
[...] Whites were not the first people to settle in what is now the U.S. The first immigrants were a people known today as American Indians and Alaskan natives, also commonly referred to as Native Americans. They arrived in North America around 14,000 years ago.
When Christopher Columbus arrived in America in 1492, there were around 10 million American Indians living in the lands north of Mexico. But by the 1800s their numbers had dwindled to about 1 million. They are now the smallest race group in the U.S.
The first sizable stream of immigrants to what is now the U.S. were whites from England. Their arrival at Plymouth in 1620 in search of religious freedom marked the start of large waves of whites coming to this land.
When the U.S. was established as a country in 1776, whites comprised roughly 80% of the population. The white share rose to 90% in 1920, where it stayed until 1950.
[...] Although the majority of the U.S. population today is still white, non-whites account for more than half of the populations of Hawaii, the District of Columbia, California, New Mexico, Texas and Nevada. And, in the next 10 to 15 years, these half dozen "majority-minority" [PDF] states will likely be joined by as many as eight other states where whites now make up less than 60% of the population.
Census Bureau projections show that the U.S. population will be "majority-minority" sometime between 2040 and 2050. Our research suggests that this will happen around 2044. Indeed, in 2020, there are projected to be more non-white children than white children in the U.S.
Source: phys.org; original at The Conversation.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by bradley13 on Thursday May 02 2019, @09:28AM (26 children)
Well, no, it's not that simple. Slavery was and is evil. However, it is not and never was a white-vs-black issue, nor an issue particularly tied to the US - except in children's history books and people looking for simple explanations to complex problems. Just as an example, allow me to point out that the International Agreement for the suppression of the White Slave Traffic [wikipedia.org] was only signed in 1904. It wasn't even the last such treaty - it had a number of successors.
Anyway, TFA is waving the white-supremacy flag in a typical effort to demonize people who object to immigration. That's not correct, but it does intimidate a certain number of people, which is the purpose of the tactic. The real issue isn't about race, though, it's about culture. The US has developed a particular culture over the past decades and couple of centuries. This culture can maintain itself against a certain level of immigrations, as the immigrants and their descendents adapt. However, if the rate of immigration becomes too high, the integration may go the other way: the host culture being overwhelmed by the culture of the immigrants.
That is the real issue, and what many people actually fear. Trying to avoid this issue by crying "racist" is an old trick, and it doesn't work so well anymore.
Everyone is somebody else's weirdo.
(Score: 3, Informative) by aristarchus on Thursday May 02 2019, @09:45AM (12 children)
Bradley, you are a racist. Are you really so afraid that Americans might actually start eating spagetti with marinara sauce? It would be the death of the British roots of American culture, you know. Here, read some non-racist shit:
From a rejected aristarchus submission, https://soylentnews.org/submit.pl?op=viewsub&subid=33318 [soylentnews.org] which it may benefit you to read, original source at https://www.salon.com/2019/04/29/fox-news-and-the-synagogue-shooter-right-wing-network-airs-similar-views-every-day/ [salon.com]
You should know better than this, Bradley, since you are living in a multi-ethnic and multi-lingual non-American country. Try to represent your native country better, you know, non-racistly??
(Score: 5, Insightful) by bradley13 on Thursday May 02 2019, @11:02AM (10 children)
No, exactly not. I am perhaps a culturist. Some cultures are better than others, or at least the results of those cultures are better. Would you rather live in Canada or in Somalia? In Ireland or in Pakistan?(*) Where do you think the differences come from? The short answer is: culture, which underlies social behavior, which in turn is the foundation of the economic and political systems. The immigrants demonstrably agree that the culture they are moving to is better, else there would not be millions of them risking their lives to get there.
Mind, I have nothing against any individual immigrant, as long as they adapt to their new culture. However, I do object to mass immigration, because too much immigration, too fast, prevents integration and endangers the receiving culture.
--
(*) It would be absolutely fair to note that a Pakistani might well prefer Pakistan to Ireland. That's fine - too much Irish immigration to Pakistan could threaten the dominant culture there as well. There's nothing wrong with appreciating your own culture - and also nothing wrong with wishing to see it preserved and protected.
Everyone is somebody else's weirdo.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by aiwarrior on Thursday May 02 2019, @11:41AM (9 children)
I actually review myself in this way of seeing things. Quite simple but I cannot find a non knee-jerk way of refuting what Bradley says. Alas, i think it reflects the common folk prudence, and I think you could put any race in this common folk bag. People have their lives in a cultural context and fear change they do not understand nor desire.
They do not mind Mohamed or Juan as long as they are nice folks who have the same core(cultural) values as them. They like their children including their daughters, they are trustworthy and honest people. They also like to be able to perceive these traits, so having understanding of the language is crucial. Without understanding of cultural values and customs Mohamed and Juan become "they" and there is where things are bad for both the values of Ms Johnson as well as Juan.
I just reminded myself about the mayor of London being of Pakistani descendence, and i highly doubt he would be comfortable with much of the customs of his ancestors being applicable in London. Hell this just proves the point that it is not about race, it is about culture. The community recognized his values as being part of the community and that is it. I am so fed up of this American racism/non-racism wars it stinks.
@Aristarcus you are an agitator, disguised with a fancy classical pseudonym, but the truth is that you are sophist of the modern kind. Pretending to be high and righteous but dogmatic when the time to battle arguments comes. Evidence is that when you start your answer you do an ad-hominem calling Bradley a racist first and foremost.
The article talks about a demographic transformation in the United States. Race and ethnicity is a demographic subject matter so what is wrong in bringing it to debate. Even for the case where this would be a trojan horse for racist ideologies, dogma is never the answer.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Thursday May 02 2019, @12:10PM
Well said.
A side musing about the good ole US: it's not even that unlikely to have a Juan Johnson here, though pronunciation rules would have to be a bit confusing.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Phoenix666 on Thursday May 02 2019, @01:12PM
I think you and Bradley are stating it well. I'd chime in that I like the cultural enrichment that immigrants bring; I like the Melting Pot. But I don't like cultural replacement, because the core American ethos has triumphed spectacularly in producing the world's sole superpower and measurably increasing freedom and opportunity across the world. After all, who is it that is buying the products made in China, India, the Philippines, Vietnam, and many places around the world that are lifting millions of people out of poverty? Whose system of higher education is it that has opened its doors to the world's best, who are actively and avidly producing technical and scientific innovation? Whose robust agriculture has produced such bounty that it feeds the world? Whose leadership was it that produced the League of Nations and later United Nations in an effort to avert future world wars by solving national differences through dialogue?
Those qualities, and many more, are worth preserving and fighting for. They are worth welcoming others to come and share them, not overwhelm and discard them.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 02 2019, @02:13PM
Yet his culture has now polluted London which has resulted in the streets becoming more like the middle east with every passing year.
Acid attacks, knife murders, uncontrolled thieves, pack rape, child sexual exploitation and grooming. Soon London may be just like Pakistan. Well done you!
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 02 2019, @02:27PM (2 children)
https://gellerreport.com/2017/08/ayling-kidnapped-muslim.html/ [gellerreport.com]
England is screwed. Time to move somewhere else.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 02 2019, @03:17PM (1 child)
Actually, I think you are the one who is screwed if you are relying on the Geller Report for your news. Just sayin'.
(Score: 0, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 03 2019, @06:15AM
Are you saying there is anything on that site that isn't true? If so feel free to point it out.
Here's a start: https://gellerreport.com/?s=muslim+rape [gellerreport.com]
Are you an England Muslim Rape Denier?
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Thursday May 02 2019, @02:39PM
Amen, Brother! Praise the lord, and pass the ammunition, and we'll go hunting some agitpropists! Very nearly all of Aristarchus rejected submissions are agitprops.
(Score: 2) by aristarchus on Thursday May 02 2019, @07:14PM (1 child)
It's just my name. Are you racist toward Greeks, as well?
Which is it? High and mighty, or down low and dogmatic? Do you know what "dogma" means?
Not an ad hominem when it is true. Do you think he is not? Rather more quiet about it than some of the nut-job islamophobes here abouts, but read his posting history.
(Score: 2) by aiwarrior on Thursday May 02 2019, @08:26PM
Truly a sophist :)
As i am in a good mood and it is holiday tomorrow.
> It's just my name. Are you racist toward Greeks, as well?
Greeks? Who spoke about Greeks? The whole classical period encompasses history in the whole Mediterranean Sea[1]. Given my nationality (portuguese) and skin color being racist against greeks would be akin to this Dave Chappelle sketch. Here, relax [2] see the sketch and see how racism is really exposed.
>Which is it? High and mighty, or down low and dogmatic? Do you know what "dogma" means?
Oh yes I do, and again I can back it up with a citation [3]: "a fixed, especially religious, belief or set of beliefs that people are expected to accept without any doubts". You see where the righteousness and mighty is connected to you and dogmas? There is no low or highs in dogma, there is expectation to accept truths absolute with no discussion as when you did not even start by answering your peer's thesis. Instead you insulted him. This is the true path of a sophist, mincing words and etymologies in the hope of distracting from the core of the matter.
> Not an ad hominem when it is true. Do you think he is not [...]?
So you say. Ipse dixit [4]. This time from the Romans so you get to assume I am racist against all the Roman empire and get the meaning of classical right.
In plain english, what i mean is chill out. People have the right to have different points of view, and if you disagree with them try to bring them to your side. Not create divides that further degenerate. Even if he is a racist, his argument was a good window into understanding what makes people uncertain and unsure about the changes in the world. Here in Europe the debate is the same and people have the right to feel proud in their cultures. It is their identity. Ottomans, Austro-Hungarians and some others have tried stripping away the identities of the peoples and this led to massive nationalistic movements that created world nightmares.
I know the topic is about the US but some things may apply. Europeans are for the first time joining in a very unique political union so that the peoples cultures and customs are not threatened or diluted. For the first time Europeans come to accept that Polish or Estonian values have the same roots and goals as that of the Portuguese, the Spanish or the German. This is a lot to get on people's minds and it is an extremely delicate balance that is put to question the first time there is a breeze. Adding an uncontrolled amount of people with new values and cultures to this balance leads to knee jerk reactions and the rise of things that fortunately we did not see for a long time. Do not be idealist, be practical. Border control is a practical administrative affair not a discriminative one. The parallel to the US is similar. People are open to latin american peoples moving in and trying to climb the ladder. They are open to them wanting to thrive and add something to the culture. What they are probably not open is that their way of life becomes diluted and less important than the one from people they welcomed to their house.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_antiquity [wikipedia.org]
[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBC-9k3y1ew [youtube.com]
[3] https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/dogma [cambridge.org]
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Alfred on Thursday May 02 2019, @02:11PM
then aristarchus said
LOL.
Did bradley even hold up a pike before aristarchus skewered himself on it?
It's almost like "If you come at me you are going to throw a left hook." *Throws Left Hook
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 02 2019, @12:04PM (10 children)
And it lost it cca 2000. There's no original culture in US right now, almost no culture at all (except aristarchus and a few others), only the Super Eternal September remained.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by The Mighty Buzzard on Thursday May 02 2019, @12:12PM (9 children)
Pffft. Culture oozes from our every orifice. It's just not like yours or sanctioned by the intelligentsia, so you discount it. The sad fact that you're one day going to realize is that being a much more populous nation, we produce far more things of cultural significance to your nation than you do to ours.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Thursday May 02 2019, @01:32PM (4 children)
Here, the AC is bragging because they knew the internet before it got flooded by a bunch of newbies. Not because it was any better. Exclusivity.
One thing forgotten about culture is that its primary purpose is to homogenize. To give people common reference and models for ideas and behaviors. Your office foe has contrived it so that no matter what you do, you still have to wash the coffee pot? It's checkmate. Little things turn into big misadventures? It's a three hour tour. Want to describe what happens when a zillion people permanently join your niche community? It's an eternal September.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 02 2019, @02:23PM (3 children)
No, "status signalling" has nothing whatsoever to do with it. It's about identity. Most people's identity are directly tied into the the delusion or race or a slightly better that of ethnicity. Threaten that and you are threatening a portion of the individual's identity. There is nothing more panic inducing than to be threatened with a realization that you might not be the person you are, or that the culture you most dominantly identify with is anything less than superior. Or that said culture might actually be changing or (heavens forbid) diluting due to external influences. So the fooforaw about culture isn't that one wants to signal superiority, it's that one's existence is being challenged.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Thursday May 02 2019, @03:47PM (1 child)
We get that your identity is special because you have all these exclusive cultural experiences.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 03 2019, @02:15AM
Lol, what a stupid response to that GP, you really highlight your own ignorance.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 02 2019, @05:32PM
I think you're somewhat confused about what ethnicity is. Ethnicity is a cultural grouping that may or may not be from folks of a similar genetic background.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnic_group [wikipedia.org]
Recently, ancestry.com updated my genetic information based upon increased sample sizes. It's something I did a few years ago out of curiosity and it really reinforced the reality that nation of origin is frequently a poor indicator of grouping if you're not also sharing the cultural values of the people there.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Thursday May 02 2019, @02:50PM (1 child)
Counter view to culture? I think you're old enough to remember when crossing state lines could result in "culture shock". Even regions within a single state had different cultures.
Today, much of that culture has been lost. You can criss-cross the US today, and never be far from a Wal-mart, a Pilot, or a McDonald's. Unless you go looking for it, you can miss regional cooking entirely. Corn festival, lobster fest, and others have all been replaced by Beer Fest, Octoberfest, and Mardi Gras. No one has time for any of the other old festivals.
I wouldn't mind returning to the days when everyone from West by-God Virginia was a hillbilly, and proud of it. It was the Clinton clan that convinced some asswipe of a governor in W. Virginia to take down the signs. "Welcome to Wild and Wonderful West Virginia!" Now, the state is just another stop on the interstate.
You're actually an Okie, right? Don't you miss any of what has been lost in Oklahoma in the past fifty years?
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Friday May 03 2019, @12:46AM
Still does. TN is massively different than OK, culture-wise. The question "do you work" is a legitimate thing to ask folks in the south, apparently. I've been asked it multiple times and I don't look anywhere near retirement age. In OK or TX working's a given unless you're tending house or extremely disabled.
Nah, just a few specific expressions of it. That's been happening since culture was a thing though, so it's just one of those punches you gotta roll with. When I can get a Braum's sundae in TN, I may start considering your position to have merit.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 02 2019, @06:43PM (1 child)
In your case, much of it seems to "ooze" out of your asshole. Or, so it seems to me.
(Score: 3, Funny) by The Mighty Buzzard on Friday May 03 2019, @12:47AM
That's my penchant for hot wings. Unavoidable side effect.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by exaeta on Thursday May 02 2019, @03:54PM (1 child)
The Government is a Bird
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 02 2019, @06:22PM
Right?
We have so many racist law enforcement personnel that they have been fomenting a race war for a long time. So much oppression by racist using the cover of law to excuse their immoral behavior.
We should really work on fixing up those laws. Let the racist assholes continue their existence, but demolish the systems of oppression they built.