Dear Sticky Wicket,
Is it true that there is a fear among whites/Caucasians regarding the reports that we will be a nation of minorities by 2050, and that they may become the new minority because of the projections that the Hispanic population is the fastest growing minority in the country?
~Fearful in San Diego
Dear Fearful,
Recent United States Census data suggests that by the year 2050 minorities will be the majority in America. Minorities already constitute a third of the population according to the figures, which will reach 54 percent as reported in a recent CNN.com news article.
The Census Bureau defines minorities as those of any race other than single race whites and non-Hispanics. The Census Bureau's population projection branch predicts the Hispanic population will triple by 2050.
Some believe there may be trepidation among whites who for several decades enjoyed majority status in America.
Dr. Charles Gallagher, chair of the sociology department at La Salle University in Philadelphia, is currently researching recent trends in racial attitudes. Some of what he’s found suggests that a sizable portion of the white population has arrived at a tipping point where perceptions of equality have pushed aside structural explanations of racial disparities between groups.
“Nationally representative survey data on racial attitudes paints a picture where equity, equality and the perceived absence of discrimination is now the everyday common sense understanding of race relations for many white Americans,” he says.
Gallagher pointed to information from a 2007 Gallup poll showing that out of 71 percent of white Americans, 43 percent were satisfied with the way society treats blacks. Close to half of white Americans in the poll believed that racial discrimination towards blacks was not serious at all.
However, 42 percent believed that racism against whites was widespread in the United States.
“If you connect the dots on these surveys, what emerges is a picture of society that is absent of the racial barriers of our past,” Gallagher says. “By some measures whites believe that they, like racial minorities, are victims of discrimination because of their race.”
Kenneth Hines, a St. Joseph Mo., psychologist, says he believes there are three possible responses among American Caucasians about the growing number of minorities. One is abject acceptance coupled with a hope that everyone will forget the past and not hold it against them. Another is total denial of the facts. Lastly, there is the fear that 400 years of slavery, demands for border guards, and other acts of discrimination against minorities will come home to roost.
“I’d say the breakdown is about a third with each experiencing lots of unconscious blending of these ingredients in moments of total privacy,” Hines says.