Today, everything is recorded instantly by
television or the internet. The stark reality of those kamikaze attacks is
etched indelibly in our memories. It is the type of visceral memory that will
stay with you forever. It is a day that you will always remember where you were
when the news was delivered. In my case, it compares to the day John F. Kennedy
was assassinated in Dallas.
Probably like many of you, I thought that the first
attack was an accident, a plane that went awry. However, when the second plane
hit you knew that it was no accident.
We indeed live in a different world today than the one
I grew up in during the 1950s and 60s. We also live in a different United
States of America. Our nation has always been a melting pot. However, we are
really a diverse pot of gumbo today.
My childhood was typical and exemplified the America
of 60 years ago. I grew up on Maple Street in Troy, Alabama. Most folks were
born and raised in small towns across America. We grew up in a Norman Rockwell
world where we got up on summer mornings and played baseball in our front yards
with our neighborhood friends. By the way, we had not locked our doors when we
went to bed the night before. We were either white or black and we primarily
went to Baptist or Methodist churches on Sunday.
Today’s demographical world more likely reveals a
scenario where the average child born today is not sure of his ethnicity. If he
is born in a metropolitan location, like New York or Los Angeles, when he walks
out his front door on a summer morning, instead of curveballs he is dodging
bullets from the neighborhood gangs.
Census figures reveal that last year for the first
time ever Caucasians recorded more deaths than births. This statistic confirms the
aging of the white population as well as lower birth rates than minorities.
Whites currently make up 64% of the U.S. population. Demographers predict that
by 2050, if current trends continue, whites might become the minority.
During just the past year, the United States’
population had a 3% growth in the Asian population. Hispanics grew 2.2% and now
represent close to 17% of the U.S. population. Approximately one in six
Americans is Hispanic. They are a larger part of the U.S. population than
African Americans, which comprise 13% of America’s population. Blacks grew by
only 1.3% last year. White growth was zero.
This reflects a common thread that has prevailed for
several years. In the next few years, folks born during the 1930s and World War
II will turn 80. These people will be followed by the first baby boomers. Most
of these Americans are white. Therefore, it is inevitable that the white
population will continue to shrink in America.
William Frey, a demographer at the Brookings
Institution, predicts that white retirees will be on the receiving end of an
economy, which will be fueled largely by the efforts of Hispanics, African
Americans and Asians. Frey sees the next few decades as almost an inversion of
the 20th century when the white middle class was the engine of our economic
growth.
In this century, the United States’ young people are
from Mexico, Guatemala, China and India. These immigrants by and large will
inherit America. They will be the ones who will be taking care of us baby
boomers. This trend does not bode well for the Republican Party nationwide.
See you next week.
About the author: Steve Flowers is Alabama’s leading
political columnist. His column appears weekly in more than 70 Alabama
newspapers. Steve served 16 years in the state legislature. He may be reached
at http://www.steveflowers.us.
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