U.S. on the Verge of a Racial Revolution

The appearance of the average U.S. resident is likely to change dramatically in the near future, and for the first time in the country’s history the majority of American children will not be white. If the trend continues, the traditional image of a blond Anglo-American could soon become an anachronism.

The results of last year’s census are currently being summarized, and the preliminary results clearly do not bode well for the white majority. The growing number of non-white children means that in 20 or 30 years the country’s policies and economy will be shaped and defined by people who do not consider themselves descendants of the Anglo-Saxon colonists who conquered America during the previous centuries.

Kenneth Johnson, a sociology professor at the University of New Hampshire, explained the reasons for the future predominance of non-whites. He pointed out that women of Latin-American origin, compared to white women, give birth to more children. As such, the percentage of English-speaking people will decline gradually, along with the percentage of the white population. The Spanish language will begin making inroads against English by degrees.

It should be mentioned that the nature of the change in the racial pattern of the U.S. and Europe is not the same. Although whites are still the majority in the U.S. and European countries, it was formed in different ways. In the Old World, whites were the indigenous population, while immigrants from Muslim countries and black people were newcomers. In the U.S., everybody is an immigrant — whites and blacks, Hispanics and Asians. Indigenous people (Indians, Eskimos and Alaskan Aleuts) constitute about 1 percent of the population.

The history of Europe is much older than the history of the United States. However, the Old World today faces for the first time a clear change in the racial pattern of its population. It is different for North America, however. Today, the U.S. is going through what they were once already familiar with. It is just that the modern generation has never faced such a sudden transition.

It is believed that what is now U.S. territory was inhabited by 11 million Native Americans when Europeans arrived in the late 15th and 16th centuries. Accordingly, the number of whites increased during the following 100 years, while the indigenous population had a tendency to decline.

Another twist occurred in 1619, when the first African slaves were imported to the colony of Virginia. Later, the slave trade was regularized. As a result, the racial pattern of the population changed dramatically.

According to the 2000 census, blacks constituted 12.1 percent of the population. But that was not its largest extent. In 1790, for example, when only 14 years had passed since the U.S. declaration of independence, blacks accounted for 19.3 percent of the population, and in the southern states, the majority.

A year before the outbreak of the Civil War in 1860, they constituted 14.1 percent. In absolute terms, the black population has always had a tendency to grow, but in relative terms their number was falling until 1930, when they represented 9.7 percent of the population.

Large-scale immigration from Europe in the second half of the 19th and first half of the 20th centuries was the cause of a temporary reduction in the relative population of blacks in the U.S. As a result, the number of whites reached 80 percent of the population in some years.

Incidentally, the ethnic structure of immigrants from Europe would also change rather often. There were English, French, Spanish, Dutch and Swedish colonies in the United States. Also, there were Russian forts along the Pacific coast and therefore Russian settlers.

Anglo-Saxons prevailed in the country’s population by the time of the U.S. declaration of independence in 1776. However, Irish and Germans and, to a lesser extent, Dutch and Scandinavians, were among the newcomers in the U.S. in the mid-20th century. By the early 20th century, the immigration pattern changed again. It was dominated by immigrants from southern Italy and the Russian and Austro-Hungarian empires. A considerable percentage of newcomers were Jews, whose rights were violated in their homelands.

Chinese, Japanese, Koreans and Filipinos started to move to the U.S. in the first half of the 20th century. During the second half of last century, there was a massive flow of Latin Americans: Mexicans, Cubans and people from South American countries. In particular, there were many immigrants from Mexico, mainly because they only had to cross the U.S. border. As a result, Spanish sometimes prevailed over English in Southern and Western parts of the U.S. and in New York.

Incidentally, it was not that simple with Hispanics. Modern California, Texas and a number of other states in the Southwest of the U.S. were once the territory of Mexico. It is absolutely incorrect to consider Mexicans as newcomers. Puerto Rico belongs to the U.S. and its residents have U.S. passports (although they do not have the right to elect congressmen or senators).

In 2000, the racial pattern broke down in the following way: whites represented 69.1 percent of the population, 12.1 percent were blacks, 12.5 percent Hispanic and 3.6 percent were Asian. The remainder were Native Americans, the inhabitants of Oceania, or people of mixed origin like the mulatto Obama. Today, it is clear that for the last 11 years the number of whites has declined while the number of blacks and people of Hispanic origin has grown.

It is noteworthy that the racial pattern of those in power has been changing as well, slowly but steadily. Before the 1960s it was hardly possible to imagine a U.S. president of Irish descent. John Kennedy broke the stereotype. Italians, blacks, Hispanics and Asians were not allowed to hold power for a long time. Today, some of them are senators and congressmen. Obama has black and Irish ancestors.

A head of state with such origins was something unthinkable for the average American in the 1950s. However, in political terms the U.S. has remained loyal to the Anglo-Saxon political tradition for 225 years. In the 20th century, they gradually began to play the role the British Empire used to play. One should not be surprised by that. Originally, Anglo-Saxons were dominant, and the subsequent “layering” was so diverse that it could not displace it. Politicians of other origin had no choice but to adapt.

But the complete dominance of non-white children over white children is something the U.S. has never known before. When the percentage of Anglo-Saxons becomes extremely low, and the number of blacks and Hispanics surpasses it, this will surely affect U.S. policy. The mentality of these people is different, as are their priorities. Issues in Mexico will be much closer to them in spirit than England’s. At that point, U.S. foreign policy can expect major changes.