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It’s finally happened. What anti-multiculturalists the likes of Rush Limbaugh, Rick Santorum and Pat Buchanan have railed against – at least since September 2001 – has finally come to fruition: ethnic minorities are being born at a higher rate in the United States than the traditional, European majority.
For the first time ever in American history – well, not ever ever, but since the early settlers began slaughtering the natives – White babies are a minority, with blacks, Latinos and Asians taking their place as the majority. If the trend continues, America should eventually become a truly multicultural, multiethnic, multiracial nation.
The majority-minority switch is due in large part to the Latino population explosion of the past decade.
Census data from 2010 showed that Latino population growth accounted for more than half of all growth in the U.S. since the turn of the new millennium. Latinos are also a younger group, with their median age somewhere under 28 (while blacks have a median age somewhere in the early 30s and the median age of whites is at 42). Children under five is the largest age group in the Latino community; the largest age group for whites is between 50 and 54.
Yet, despite all the signs hinting toward a significantly tanner future, white America has nothing to fear from the country’s increasingly shifting cultural identity.
This may come as a jolt to the sensibility of some, but America was never technically a white country to begin with. America – it must be reaffirmed time and again – is nothing other than a set of founding principles: secular government; of, by and for the people; promoting liberty, justice and equality. It’s not an Anglo-Saxon nation, as is often expressed so subtly by the TV personalities over at Fox News; and it’s certainly not a Christian nation, as is proclaimed on repeat by the Old Grandpa Party. Sure, the nation was founded by WASPs (not the ones that fly, but just as dangerous), yet there is nothing in the fundamental idea of America to suggest that America can’t be anything but primarily white, Anglo-Saxon and Protestant.
America belongs to any man, woman or child who strives toward its greatest ideals.
While those constituting virtues may have been first articulated by white Christian men from Britain, no one can deny that successive waves of immigration from Germany, Italy, Ireland and Eastern Europe added special ingredients that have produced the America that exists today. And let’s not ignore the fact that jazz, one of America’s most important contributions to human civilization, sprang from the black and Latino seasonings.
If history is a predictor of the future, then ethnic minority babies surpassing their white cribmates bodes well for the minority groups their being born into. It means that, in the not-too-distant future, Latinos and blacks will be considered as integral to the American fabric as the Germans and the Irish are today.
So, yes, white America – the Spanglish are coming. But I assure you that they come in peace; not to conquer, but to contribute.
About Hector Luis Alamo, Jr.
What the what? Ok, I have seen the studies, and yes, I understand the impact. Can we try not to conjure up the same old “spice” and “ingredient” language used to describe minority participation in the U.S? (kinda cliche’d–what are we–dip?). Also, the sweeping statement without qualification of opinion–which is exactly that– is misleading as if factual.
“This may come as a jolt to the sensibility of some, but America was never technically a white country to begin with. America – it must be reaffirmed time and again – is nothing other than a set of founding principles: secular government; of, by and for the people; promoting liberty, justice and equality. It’s not an Anglo-Saxon nation, [...] there is nothing in the fundamental idea of America to suggest that America can’t be anything but primarily white, Anglo-Saxon and Protestant.”
1. “America” as founded (not as the Native Americans probably referred to the land mass) was “technically” founded by white, for whites. Deny this at your on detriment. I find it absurd to lean on the “America was not founded as a white country” as if somehow, the brown natives had a say in “America”.
2. That the rules lent themselves (at convenient moments in history) to more than one demographic is arguably politically motivated, nevertheless advantageous to us now.
3. Just because the numbers are growing, doesn’t really mean anything. The country is still mostly white (for decades to come) and will continue to be that way until the minority population numbers actually equal the white number.
If this is somehow supposed to be a rallying point–I find it premature. All this means to me, is that more Latinos will be around in the future. What do the numbers say about that population? Sad to say: Lower academic attainment, lower median salaries, higher instances of teenage pregnancy and higher instances of incarceration. Until we can address those issues inherent to our people, the future is not looking too bright to me. #Truth.
I really hate to be a debbie downer, but we need to make use of this information, not simply rest on our population-growth laurels.
Why I find Spanglish odd I think its weird how people are demonizing it. Spanglish is simply a linguistic progression of the mixing of English and Spanish.
Even modern Spanish that many of you are passionately defending is nothing more than vulgar Latin mixed with the various European Tribal languages spoken on the Iberian Peninsula and later Arabic.
Telling others to speak proper Spanish, or any of the Romance languages for that matter, is the equivalent of telling someone to speak proper Hillbilly or proper Ebonics.
Pero no es ninguna realidad nueva. Hace años que los Estados Unidos tiene la tercer población más grande (luego de México y Colombia) de hispanohablantes. Además, el territorio del país que era parte de España es mucho más extenso que las ex-colonias británicas. ¡Spanglish es, ha sido y ya será la realidad estadounidense!
ALL THE WAY!
From California to Florida. We were here already.
No spanglish!!! People sound fing stupid!!! Then they claim they can speak Spanish. one time i called verizon and i didn’t want to wait for 20 min for the English line. thus i press 2 and this guy started speaking in spanglish and i just couldn’t take his stupidity any more and i told him to either learn Spanish or just answer the English line. he got mad but it was the reality.
C’mon! – we been faced out by chinos. Those fools are on every commercial, movie, show and magazines. There’s always one and funny the chinas are all married with white dudes para la citizenship. We only get expose to play the mexican and the chinos are the real Americans to the white peeps! Bring on the hate … you know y’all know this…just watch! Mirenlo!!!
All I would like to add is, weeppaa!
ugh–Spanglish really had nothing to do with this article.
SMH… We have been here and it is kinda stupid to say ” Latinos” as a separate race here. There are Chinese Cubans, Koren Ururagarians, Italian Venezuelans, and Germanic Colombians. Even though they don’t consider, Japanese Brazilians. So Basically, WE have been around from the start of filmmaking to expoloring the “Americas”. WE are a melting pot from north through south of the Americas. So basically I feel we were never a minority. My parents never raised us like that and taught us to have self confidence within ourselves. We have been here for a looooong Time.
Loved your post! Made me laugh too, my favorite parts were the, just as annoying Wasp’s, the Old Grandpa party and especially ‘This was not technically a white country to begin with!’ Keep writing!
I saw the title as a takeoff on the old movie “The British are coming, the British are coming”.
“The British are coming! The British are coming!” is what Paul Revere yelled out during his famous midnight ride during the Revolution. Thanks for reading, everybody!
English is English and Spanish is Spanish say no to Spanglish!
No SPANGLISH! !!!! LEARN SPANISH AND CHINESE!!!!! THE FUTURE! !! IAM LUCKY IAM CHINESE/CUBAN AND SPEAK ENGLISH SPANISH AND CHINESE IAM SOOOOO HAPPY TO BE MIXED!!!! THE ORIGINAL X-MEN:))))
Diana, why? Spanglish is the perfect language for Latino America. It embodies exactly who we are as a community — completely here and completely there at the same time.
Because spanglish sounds stupid and ignorant. some people can’t even understand spanglish because people make up words all the time. will you write a resume or a professional paper in spanglish? No because they are going to laugh in your face and presume you are mentality challenge.
American English is kind of like British Spanglish. Spanglish and languages like it are a quintessentially American.
Coming???? It’s BEEN here.
No is not. spanglish is not recognize as a language.
No here in this country we speak Standardized English, Which means there are grammatical rules, which indicates a language. There are no rules for Spanglish. It sounds horrible. I speak and read it and guess what speak both languages correctly does give me a market in the film making world to be the few Latina bilingual script supervisor in the east coast! Love it !! and I have such a respect to work with Sofia Vegarda. Bite me!
There are more black people in my neighborhood but they speak spanish or they are in a interracial relationship.
Actually Revere said “the regulars are coming”. But who really cares what group is majority or not? I don’t care who comes here as long as they assimilate, immigrate here legally, and respect the laws, not just when it’s convenient for that group.
Yup!
and it’s certainly not a Christian nation,
Maybe it is not Protestant but remember that also their are White Catholics. Especially in the Irish community and some Anglo Saxon are also Catholics.
Actually it is a Christian Nation. Majority of Latinos are Roman Catholic which is Christian. I know Mexicans are 64% of the Hispanic/Latino population and the majority over 70% are Roman Catholic. They always have the Virgin Mary as their symbol and the last 2 Popes have visited Mexico. Also in Mexico I think it is 80% or higher that is Roman Catholic. This is still a Christian Nation.
Keep languages pure. Learn them and master them.