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Front Page Talking Points
FOR THE WEEK OF MAY 21, 2012

Population turning point: Nonwhite parents account for more than half of recent U.S. births

Look for coverage of a minority group resident, worker or business executive in your community or elsewhere. Is race the main focus or not mentioned?

Now try to find an article reflecting cultural diversity – an example of food, entertainment or art that shows your area or state has people of many backgrounds.

Race and ethnicity can be sensitive topics. Is there a news story that reflects this, such as one about immigration policies or the Florida shooting of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin?

The Census Bureau has eye-opening news: White newborns no longer are a majority in this country. Hispanics, blacks, Asians and mixed-race parents accounted for 50.4 percent of births in the statistical year ending last July -- "a milestone for a nation whose government was founded by white Europeans," as The New York Times said after last week's report. In 1990, births to minority group parents were 37 percent of the total.

Whites remain a large majority overall. The last national Census counted more than 114 million Americans who are racial and ethnic minority group members, or 36.6 percent of the total population in 2010. Those groups currently make up a majority of residents in four states -– Hawaii (77 percent), California (60 percent), New Mexico (60 percent) and Texas (55 percent).

The trend toward greater minority births has been building for years as large numbers of immigrants arrived since the 1980s. Hispanics make up the majority of immigrants, and they tend to be younger -- and to have more children -- than non-Hispanic whites. Experts see the new data as an important turning point for the economy, politics and America's identity. "If the U.S. depended on white births alone, we’d be dead. Without the [income tax and Social Security] contributions from all these other groups, we would become too top-heavy with old people," notes Dowell Myers, a University of Southern California professor.

Blogger says: "It's official. The United States is officially 'tan.' " -– Marcia Dawkins, author and educator at Brown University in Providence, R.I.

Professor says: "This is an important landmark. This generation is growing up much more accustomed to diversity than its elders." -- Roderick Harrison, sociologist at Howard University in Washington, D.C.

Population scholar says: "It's a major turning point for American society. We're moving from a largely white and black population to one which is much more diverse and is a big contrast from what most baby boomers grew up with." -– William Frey, Brookings Institution, Washington, D.C.

Front Page Talking Points is written by Alan Stamm for NIEonline.com, Copyright 2012
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