Despite the Browning of America, Things May Not Still Be Equal
America is becoming more diverse. According to the most recent census data, ethnic minorities now make up more than half of all births, which means that very soon, minorities will be the majority. But despite this growing “browning” of America, minorities still suffer the brunt of the social issues.
Recently, The Root caught up with Brown University scholar Marcia Alesan Dawkins to discuss the growing “tan generation” and what it means for America.
According to Dawkins, having a minority majority means positive things for America.
She explains:
On the positive side, this new “tan generation” might have a broader and more progressive view of social and political issues — such as immigration reform, education reform and civil rights — based on changing ideas about race and ethnicity. There will also be cultural changes, as there have been in recent years with changing definitions of who or what is an American, for example.
The increased numbers of people of color also represent a larger potential pool of candidates who will be eligible to run for political office and enter fields like law, technology and education — or start new businesses aimed at meeting new needs — where some changes can be enacted.
While having a more diverse populace means more opportunities for minorities, it doesn’t mean everything will be smooth sailing.
On the negative side, we must know now how many of these children are born into economically disadvantaged environments and make sure that proper reforms are enacted today to ensure equality of opportunity for the tan generation. In addition, we must account for a sharp rise in white-supremacist groups who feel that they are now acting on behalf of all white Americans as a besieged minority group.
As we continue to have more nonwhite citizens in this country, the debate over what it means will persist. While I hope our growing diversity will help move us toward a more inclusive society, our past leads me to believe we will continue to suffer the same sorts of challenges as we’ve always faced.
What do you think? As America becomes “browner” what, if anything, will it mean?
Unless the “tan generation” values education and self-respect at a higher rate than this present generation, it won’t mean a damn thing.
In this country, while we continue to focus on race the real root of issues in this country continues to manifest. Racial issues are only a cover to classism and capitalism. The only color that matters in this country and always will matter is green…who has it and who doesn’t.
Yeah. Racism is truly irrelevant and secondary to class issues. That’s why there’s the concept of “driving while poor” and “walking while poor” and “shopping while poor.” NYPD stops and frisks people based on their in-depth analysis of how much money they think the person makes. The rise of hate groups? Purely a class issue. I can think of a number of hate groups specifically designed to hate people based on income. After slavery ended (again, developed not based on an alleged inferiority of the negro brain but based on how poor Africa was… because Europe was stealing its resources ::eyeroll::) After Reconstruction ended, Jim Crow laws were developed purely in reaction to the class of its newfound citizens, and not their race.
I literally could go on and on about what an asinine mentality this is. America was founded on racism. America is America because of racism. Europe (and it’s child, America) would not be the powers they are if it weren’t for Europe getting rich off of slavery and the raping of African resources, and in turn creating America through “exploration” and the billions of free labor provided by slavery. Race and class intersect in some pretty damaging ways, but you have to be willfully ignorant of pretty much all of American history to sit there and write things like “the only color that matters in this country is green.” That’s almost as bad as the “post-racial” myth.
Thank you Courtney! Racism remains an issue in this country and the longer we choose to ignore it’s existence, the more we are held back
I know I’m opening a can of worms with this… But I’m kind of happy to read this article because if I hear ONE MORE interracial couple say that them having a brown baby is what’s going to save America, and that in 30 years “everyone will look like them”, I SWEAR I’m going to blow a GASKET!
The issue IS deeper than race, ethnicity and color. While I’m glad that America is getting browner, there are still fundamental issues with education (in both urban AND suburban communities), the shrinking of the middle class and the increasing influence of business on politics. Yes, becoming browner is helpful, but we also need to fix a lot of structural issues in American society or else we won’t make progress!