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posted by martyb on Thursday May 02 2019, @06:27AM   Printer-friendly
from the for-various-definitions-of-"soon" dept.

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.


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  • (Score: 4, Insightful) by Kell on Thursday May 02 2019, @09:44AM (38 children)

    by Kell (292) on Thursday May 02 2019, @09:44AM (#837751)

    I too used to be a subscriber. No more, I'm afraid. I shall never again comment on the green site, but I'm rapidly losing my patience with this one too.

    Soylent News was always the people that made it up, but now I'm not so sure that we're the people we used to be.

    --
    Scientists ask questions. Engineers solve problems.
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  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by The Mighty Buzzard on Thursday May 02 2019, @09:55AM (30 children)

    I'm pretty sure it isn't the community that's changed. Even just four years ago we could have at least discussed the fact that national demographics are changing without anyone wanting to take their ball and go home.

    --
    My rights don't end where your fear begins.
    • (Score: 2) by Alfred on Thursday May 02 2019, @01:45PM (4 children)

      by Alfred (4006) on Thursday May 02 2019, @01:45PM (#837849) Journal
      As a bunch of nerds I would think we could discuss statistics and numbers to find something unexpected or interesting without going crazy over the related text.
      • (Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Friday May 03 2019, @12:52AM

        Zactly.

        --
        My rights don't end where your fear begins.
      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 03 2019, @02:24AM (2 children)

        by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 03 2019, @02:24AM (#838256)

        Would totally be able to do that if it wasn't for the massive amount of racism that floats around here, direct and otherwise. Even then, without racism the only comments would be "soooo what?" Who the fuck cares about the ratio of light to dark skinned humans that live in the country?

        • (Score: 2) by Alfred on Friday May 03 2019, @02:14PM (1 child)

          by Alfred (4006) on Friday May 03 2019, @02:14PM (#838403) Journal
          Such fear of possible racism and finding it everywhere it isn't prevents an accurate analysis of the data. Preoccupation with finding racism causes a bias where you reflexively discard any data-supported-conclusion you don't like. Therefore bias propagates bias and you should be ashamed of yourself.

          Who cares? Anyone bright enough to read statistics or observed differences in culture. For hyperbole, one culture is more likely to see education as good and another is more likely to shoot cops (because their culture glorifies it in song). These cultures don't perfectly line up with race but most people round it off to race which isn't truly correct. But when you are concerned about your safety you err on the side of caution and round it off to be safe.
          • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 03 2019, @06:08PM

            by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 03 2019, @06:08PM (#838490)

            Thanks for making my point for me, clutch yer pearls harder dipshit. You start off by criticizing fear of racism, then you go off on a racist rant.

            QED motherfucking racist asshole

    • (Score: 4, Insightful) by exaeta on Thursday May 02 2019, @04:29PM (3 children)

      by exaeta (6957) on Thursday May 02 2019, @04:29PM (#837955) Homepage Journal

      I agree. One of my pet peeves is the quasi-religious villification of white people.

      Anyone who wants to discuss facts is autolabelled a racist or neo-nazi, misogynist, etc.. This has the unfortunate side effect that the term "nazi" has lost all significance and when someone is called a nazi I longer give any weight to the claim. One person's neo-nazi is another persons rational memo writer (like James Damore).

      I think James Damore is a good case example. There was nothing remotely misogynistic about his memo. The neo-feminists reacted to his memo with vitrol and made his life uncomfortable. That was quite the failure of social justice. Even if we don't agree with him, we should be allowed to rationally discuss the issues. But there in lies the problem with neo-liberals (SJWs) in general, they aren't rational, and they wont discuss.

      There are some real issues with racial and gender equality, affecting multiple groups. The only way I expect we can peacefully resolve these conflicts is by genuine legal equallity. Trying to obtain equality of outcome will lead only to more bickering about which side is being favored unfairly. Eventually riots, and finally we will end up with something like IRA. I don't think the neo-liberal agenda will end peacefully if they continue to stay in power.

      The resurgence of neo-nationalism (which is far more common than literal nazism) is a problem, indeed. But we have to take a step back and face certain realities, that supressing speech is an evil in and of itself. The whole reason people turn to neo-nationalism is becauss they percieve that there is a threat of white genocide, however unlikely that is from your perspective. Calling them mean names is not likely to convince them that they are wrong, and just dehumanizes you to them.

      Truth be told, they believe it because there are legitimate instances of whites being discriminated against, and the neo-liberals refuse to acknowledge that it is a problem. Why neo-liberals can't just say "all discrimination is bad" and give up affirmative action ia beyond me.

      I've been saying this for a LOOOOONG time. Affirmative Action WILL lead to continuing and escalating violence. At current rates of tension, I estimate we have about 5 to 10 years before a bloody civil war. Why the hell can't we just put the sticks down and start treating people fairly and also maintain room for free speech?

      Free speech is the answer to this conflict. If people can calm down and just talk about the issues rationally, maybe we could come to see the evident solutions, such as not discriminating on race or gender, and recognizing the inherent gender biases we have (including mind you, the ones that favor women unfairly), and counteract them. But free speech also means not attacking people for using a different pronoun than you prefer, tolerating people calling you mean names, etc. Free Speech includes a "deal with it" provision that neo-liberals seem to have forgotten.

      --
      The Government is a Bird
      • (Score: 0, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 02 2019, @06:26PM (2 children)

        by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 02 2019, @06:26PM (#838027)

        What a bunch of whiny snowflake bullshit.

        "But free speech also means not attacking people for using a different pronoun than you prefer"

        We already have laws against assault, if you feel like you have been wronged you are free to file a police report and prosecute to the full extent of the law.

        Oh, wait. You mean "attacked" verbally... So it is ok for YOU to be an asshole but if someone calls you mean names because they don't like your behavior then THEY are the ones who need correcting and to respect your "freedom of speech".

        Whiny entitled hypocritical bullshit.

        • (Score: 2) by exaeta on Friday May 03 2019, @12:17AM (1 child)

          by exaeta (6957) on Friday May 03 2019, @12:17AM (#838200) Homepage Journal
          I'm actually referring to the literal violent attacks figurative attacks on people via employment status, retaliation against individuals by school boards, and courts sending fathers to jail for using the wrong pronoun (such as the Canada case) etc. I have no issue with the bickering back and forth, but I see no reason to tolerate the type of retaliation we actually see, which goes far beyond that.
          --
          The Government is a Bird
          • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 03 2019, @09:52PM

            by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 03 2019, @09:52PM (#838578)

            Some of those are overboard reactions, some are not. How about you go tell the religious abortion clinic bombers to go fuck off before you start whining about social consequences?

            Clue Alert: there is no "solution" to social consequences. If you do something incredibly distasteful and others find out about it there is nothing you can do to stop them from not wanting you around. Perhaps labor laws are the solution you're looking for, and if those don't include exemptions for "personal beliefs" then you should start working locally to get such protections in place. *SPOILER ALERT* those protections will probably help out people conservatives don't like so good luck with that.

    • (Score: 2, Insightful) by Azuma Hazuki on Thursday May 02 2019, @05:18PM (20 children)

      by Azuma Hazuki (5086) on Thursday May 02 2019, @05:18PM (#837991) Journal

      I warned you, Uzzard. You've been playing to the alt-right and white supremacist crowd, and the decent people are leaving. Now they're leaving in droves. You didn't listen. None of the eds listened.

      There is a saying you're fond of, "what you subsidize, you get more of." Hmm. There may be an application here...

      --
      I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 02 2019, @06:11PM (1 child)

        by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 02 2019, @06:11PM (#838021)

        the decent people? lmao.

        • (Score: 3, Informative) by Azuma Hazuki on Thursday May 02 2019, @07:00PM

          by Azuma Hazuki (5086) on Thursday May 02 2019, @07:00PM (#838046) Journal

          Yeah, the ones who aren't like you. We've been reduced to this...

          --
          I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
      • (Score: 2) by exaeta on Friday May 03 2019, @12:21AM (11 children)

        by exaeta (6957) on Friday May 03 2019, @12:21AM (#838202) Homepage Journal
        I don't see how disagreement or talking about issues makes you a White Supremacist. I think that both sides deserve to be heard, even if it's just to give the rest of us an opportunity to see which side is the dumb one.
        --
        The Government is a Bird
        • (Score: 5, Informative) by Azuma Hazuki on Friday May 03 2019, @12:40AM (10 children)

          by Azuma Hazuki (5086) on Friday May 03 2019, @12:40AM (#838210) Journal

          Neither of those do. But as someone said upthread earlier, it's possible to be stating a fact and still have an agenda.

          Here's an example: the people saying "its OK to be white." Virtually no one is saying otherwise, and the few who are are just nuts. But think about what this statement is supposed to preload: it is supposed to "prime" people to believe that there is some kind of credible threat to "being white," that the person making the statement is some kind of underdog, and then there's the attempt to co-opt the language of actually oppressed underclasses.

          And then they get all huffy when someone points out what they're doing, no less. It's a nasty little sleight-of-hand, and not many people are quick enough on the draw to catch it and point it out. These people are not arguing in good faith, and it shows; tweak them a bit and they go into full-on 14 Words mode.

          --
          I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
          • (Score: 2, Disagree) by exaeta on Friday May 03 2019, @03:52AM (9 children)

            by exaeta (6957) on Friday May 03 2019, @03:52AM (#838290) Homepage Journal
            There's plenty of evidence showing that being white gives you a disadvantage, particularly in academics. Affirmative action is all over the place. The belief that whites are favored is false in many areas of the U.S..
            --
            The Government is a Bird
            • (Score: 2, Flamebait) by Azuma Hazuki on Friday May 03 2019, @02:30PM (8 children)

              by Azuma Hazuki (5086) on Friday May 03 2019, @02:30PM (#838412) Journal

              You...cannot...be...serious. Even limiting the scope to education alone, do you just ignore how much public schools suck in largely minority districts? That's to say nothing of everything else from housing, safety, lead in the paint, lead in the goddamn drinking water, poverty, violence, crime...

              No one in this day and age of internet access to the relevant facts has any right to say something like that. The amount of sheer willful ignorance it takes to look at life in the US and conclude that of all groups us whites have a disadvantage is staggering. You have crossed the threshold over which Hanlon's Razor loses its edge, where incompetence itself becomes malignant.

              --
              I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
              • (Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 03 2019, @09:56PM

                by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 03 2019, @09:56PM (#838580)

                Sadly they are completely serious and bitching about the 10% handouts given to correct such systemic fuck ups. These fuckers just want all the privileges.

              • (Score: 2) by exaeta on Saturday May 04 2019, @06:17PM (6 children)

                by exaeta (6957) on Saturday May 04 2019, @06:17PM (#838913) Homepage Journal

                I have every "right" to say what I want. You're free to think/say I'm wrong, of course. I am of course, not talking about disadvantage of outcome, but disadvantage in government treatment.

                Poor neighborhoods do provide less effective education, but affirmative action is based on race and not wealth, so it's not exactly a good argument for race based affirmative action.

                When I said white people are being disadvantaged by the government, I mean the government specifically discriminates against white people. You can argue it is "justified" because of racial disparities, but pretending this is not discrimination is not rational. The facts as you might say already show that the government can and does discriminate against whites in admissions for the "compelling purpose" of "racial diversity". Court judgments by the Supreme Court explicitly allow this discrimination.

                Specifically, discrimination against whites intended to "fix" other discrimination by "balancing it out" is still discrimination. A lot of people feel this way, and as far as they are concerned you are oppressing them by giving non-whites special favors. And you know what? They're correct in that they are being discriminated against.

                Neo-liberals refuse to admit this fact, which makes the alt-right quite afraid of them, and rightfully so, it seems. The fact you even refuse to discuss whether or not this racial discrimination is justified, too much, too little, etc. shows that you are disrespecting their humanity. So I completely understand why people are driven to the alt-right. The alt-right is a product of fear, not racism.

                --
                The Government is a Bird
                • (Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Saturday May 04 2019, @07:49PM (5 children)

                  by Azuma Hazuki (5086) on Saturday May 04 2019, @07:49PM (#838942) Journal

                  I've said several times I believe affirmative action is not the solution we need, that it's a liberal white-guilt bandaid on a festering, spreading, 300+-year-old lymphoma of systematic, de jure, and de facto racism. Obviously you'd rather have the bandaid than nothing at all, but it's gotten too many people complacent.

                  No, if lawmakers (including self-proclaimed "liberals") were serious about this, they'd be addressing the problems that ethnic minority groups face far, far earlier, before birth in fact. Someone who grew up in substandard housing with poor food, a broken family, danger all around, and crap primary school is not going to be served by getting admitted into a college he or she was never properly prepared for. Fix the fucking water supply in Flint first, for example.

                  But no politician, of *any* stripe, seems to even want to admit this, let alone do anything about it.

                  --
                  I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
                  • (Score: 2) by exaeta on Saturday May 04 2019, @08:18PM (4 children)

                    by exaeta (6957) on Saturday May 04 2019, @08:18PM (#838949) Homepage Journal
                    The de jure discrimination ended a long time ago. Currently there is active discrimination against poor people, most of whom happen to be black. I assure you though, it's not any better for poor white people. Small governments (municipalities) have issues with corruption. We need to ensure they are held accountable. But they never are, due to various legal immunities. The same thing leads to unjustified murders of unarmed citizens. I'm in favor of repealing the 11th amendment/banning all immunities, or at least an amendment restoring the 11th Amendment to its original meaning v.s. judicial reinterpretation.
                    --
                    The Government is a Bird
                    • (Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Saturday May 04 2019, @10:40PM (3 children)

                      by Azuma Hazuki (5086) on Saturday May 04 2019, @10:40PM (#839006) Journal

                      You are speaking to someone who knows very well what challenges face the poor. It *is* slightly better to be poor and white than poor and black, but at this point, not enough to make much difference. We need to unite, and we needed to do it yesterday.

                      --
                      I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
                      • (Score: 2) by exaeta on Saturday May 04 2019, @11:00PM (2 children)

                        by exaeta (6957) on Saturday May 04 2019, @11:00PM (#839012) Homepage Journal

                        I disagree, but I also think it depends on what part of the United States you live in, so I do understand why you might not believe it. Over here there are affirmative action programs helping out poor blacks but not poor whites. Some states don't allow that, some do. The Supreme Court gave these types of things a thumbs up, unfortunately.

                        One problem, though, is that throwing money at a problem rarely fixes it. Sometimes thebest correction is deregulation, as scary as that sounds. Deregulation can enable bad actors, but it also enables good ones. In some areas, the benefits from enabling more people into an area (like renting, etc.) can outweigh the potential downsides.

                        One way to fix housing problems is to deregulate zoning so more homes can be built, simplify the building permit application process, etc.

                        Making homes meet rigorous standards is likely to prevent new ones being built, ironically, because people find the beuracracy a pain in the ass and just decide to leave the old buildings in place instead. Either that or the cost gets added onto the home's price tag upon sale. Don't limit the number of people per dwelling, and allow anyone to rent. There are lots of things that can get done, but likely wont, because suburban soccer moms don't give a f*** about anyone but themselves. (I'm going to bet half of our problems can be explained by the voting habits of this particular block)

                        --
                        The Government is a Bird
                        • (Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Saturday May 04 2019, @11:49PM (1 child)

                          by Azuma Hazuki (5086) on Saturday May 04 2019, @11:49PM (#839020) Journal

                          Don't light a furnace to burn a hair. Utter deregulation will just produce more lead-tainted slums. These new homes need to meet certain minimum standards in order to be fit to live in, if only because the effects of substandard housing down the road are more expensive and more deleterious to society than the effects of building codes. Zoning needs to stop being stupid, yes, but no more lead paint and no more structurally-unsound building.

                          --
                          I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
                          • (Score: 2) by exaeta on Sunday May 05 2019, @12:18AM

                            by exaeta (6957) on Sunday May 05 2019, @12:18AM (#839029) Homepage Journal
                            I have no problem with basic building codes, but in practice it's like "pay the city $1000 for a permit to resurface your driveway" and such. So it goes way beyond what is sensible in a lot of cities.
                            --
                            The Government is a Bird
      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 03 2019, @12:26AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 03 2019, @12:26AM (#838203)

        No one screaming that, ever left anywhere without getting banned. And more often than not, getting rid of the pest requires banning multiple sockpuppet accounts.

      • (Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Friday May 03 2019, @12:54AM (4 children)

        Traffic patterns do not support your assertion.

        --
        My rights don't end where your fear begins.
        • (Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Friday May 03 2019, @12:58AM (3 children)

          by Azuma Hazuki (5086) on Friday May 03 2019, @12:58AM (#838221) Journal

          So a good chunk of this thread never happened then...? Riiiight.

          --
          I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 03 2019, @06:12PM (2 children)

            by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 03 2019, @06:12PM (#838495)

            I truly don't believe TMB is racist, however that makes him a colossal fucking moron trying to play the "free speech just facts" card.

            • (Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Friday May 03 2019, @06:26PM (1 child)

              by Azuma Hazuki (5086) on Friday May 03 2019, @06:26PM (#838505) Journal

              He's not the kind of racist who would don a white sheet with holes in it and a dunce cap and go burn a cross on black peoples' lawns. His is more the casual (I won't say benign...) form of it, that either doesn't know or knows and doesn't care about the structural and de facto problems with race in this country and is perfectly okay with it. It's the difference between actively hitting someone with your car vs. seeing it happen and rubbernecking around to take pictures instead of calling 911.

              --
              I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
              • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 03 2019, @09:58PM

                by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 03 2019, @09:58PM (#838581)

                Yaaaa, I'm ever hopeful that shit-stains like him are just deluded "free thinkers". Hell, I'm one of them!! I frequently give people the benefit of the doubt even though it is usually statistically a bad idea.

  • (Score: 5, Informative) by Phoenix666 on Thursday May 02 2019, @01:22PM (4 children)

    by Phoenix666 (552) on Thursday May 02 2019, @01:22PM (#837839) Journal

    If you don't like the stories that are submitted, submit better ones. If you don't like the stories that get chosen for the queue, volunteer to be an editor and join that conversation on IRC. Heck, just go to the IRC channel and participate in the conversation as a non-editor.

    Communities only work when everyone pitches in to make it work. When people substitute complaint for action, communities break down. Those doing all the work get worn down and walk away. Then everyone loses.

    --
    Washington DC delenda est.
    • (Score: 3, Funny) by aristarchus on Thursday May 02 2019, @06:02PM (1 child)

      by aristarchus (2645) on Thursday May 02 2019, @06:02PM (#838015) Journal

      If you don't like the stories that are submitted, submit better ones. If you don't like the stories that are submitted, submit better ones.

      Tried that. Didn't work.

      • (Score: 0, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 03 2019, @12:30AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 03 2019, @12:30AM (#838205)

        Spamming the site with inane sophistry, certainly won't. However much you wish otherwise.

    • (Score: 2) by Kell on Friday May 03 2019, @02:42AM (1 child)

      by Kell (292) on Friday May 03 2019, @02:42AM (#838264)

      It's fair comment, but honestly it's only the rare story that bothers me. Generally it's the hyper-politicised comments, of either stripe. I have no problem with people discussing politics, it's just that that isn't what the green site or what this site were originally intended to be. Thus, it no longer appeals to me as much.

      --
      Scientists ask questions. Engineers solve problems.
      • (Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Friday May 03 2019, @12:59PM

        by Phoenix666 (552) on Friday May 03 2019, @12:59PM (#838374) Journal

        This is a hyper-politicized time. It makes me sad to observe that, but it is.

        I don't know of any place besides this where both sides can and still do speak in the same space. It's often rough, but it's healthier than everybody retreating into discursive bubbles or, worse, silence.

        You gotta do what you gotta do, but just thought I'd put that out there.

        --
        Washington DC delenda est.
  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 02 2019, @03:05PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 02 2019, @03:05PM (#837907)

    but now I'm not so sure that we're the people we used to be.

    Exactly the point of TFA. Thank you.

  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by tangomargarine on Thursday May 02 2019, @03:26PM

    by tangomargarine (667) on Thursday May 02 2019, @03:26PM (#837918)

    Me three. There used to be civil conversation here, but now it's mostly a handful of people screaming at each other, calling each other names, and dubious political rants.

    The last thing I fucking need is a guy impersonating Donald Trump to constantly remind me that asswipe is still around, either.

    Really not sure why I still come here. /. died and SN followed it the last year or two.

    --
    "Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"