With all the talk about minorities in this country and the heat that is so often generated by the topic, have you ever thought about where you fit? Are you a member of some minority group
and, if so, how has it affected your life, your beliefs and values, your perceptions of others, your friends and associates, your job or profession, your expectations and, of course, your day
to day activities.
Even if you have never thought of yourself as a member of a minority group, chances are, when you examine the details of your personal circumstances, you will find that you are. Consider
just some of the many and varied categories that can determine your status:
Ethnic: Asian, Hispanic, Native American, Indian, East Indian, African, etc.
Race: White, Black, Asian, other
Gender: Male, female, gay
Religion: Christianity (about 33% of the world’s population, including Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Protestantism, Oriental Orthodoxy, Latter-day Saint, Seventh Day Adventist, Nestorianism, etc.), Islam (about 20% of the world’s population, Sunni and Shia), Hinduism (13%), Chinese fold religion (6.3%), or Buddhism (5.9%). Atheist and other non-believers are
about 14% of the world’s population. Other religions, such as Sikhism, Judaism, Baha’i, Janism, Shinto and others, each represent about one-half-of-one percent of the world’s population.
There are many more types and categories of religions and religious beliefs, but this illustrates the multitude of those that most people generally follow.
In the United States, we seem to have elevated the issue of minorities to a major, if not THE primary consideration in a wide variety of choices. Decisions, such as college entrance and
employment criteria, employee relations, customer relations, housing, business associations, friendships, pretty much every aspect of American life.
Our laws have become such a labyrinth of complex considerations that we are forced to navigate in making decisions about hiring, firing and disciplining employees, making public statements,
and membership in service clubs and other groups, among others. All decision making, personal, public and business, must be processed through a minefield of potentially risky options, with
the consequences of making a poor or incorrect decision ranging from loss of one’s position or status to being sued or public approbation.
The New York Times reported in an August 14, 2008 article, “William H. Frey, a demographer with the Brookings Institution, said that by the 2028 presidential election, racial and ethnic
minorities will constitute a majority of adults between the ages of 18 and 29 for the first time…When the first census was conducted in 1790, about 64 percent of the people counted were
white…By 1900, about 9 in 10 Americans were non-Hispanic white, most of European ancestry.”
What happens when whites are in the minority? Will they then qualify for favored treatment under our laws? Will they be given preferential treatment in college admissions, employment,
housing and other matters? Should they?
Looking at population projections for Texas, demographer Steve Murdock concludes: "It's basically over for Anglos."
Two of every three Texas children are now non-Anglo and the trend line will become even more pronounced in the future, said Murdock, former U.S. Census Bureau director and now
director of the Hobby Center for the Study of Texas at Rice University.
Today's Texas population can be divided into two groups, he said. One is an old and aging Anglo and the other is young and minority. Between 2000 and 2040, the state's public school
enrollment will see a 15 percent decline in Anglo children while Hispanic children will make up a 213 percent increase, he said.
Murdock also noted, “The state's future looks bleak assuming the current trend line does not change because education and income levels for Hispanics lag considerably behind Anglos...
Unless the trend line changes, 30 percent of the state's labor force will not have even a high school diploma by 2040,” he said. “And the average household income will be about $6,500
lower than it was in 2000. That figure is not inflation adjusted so it will be worse than what it sounds…It's a terrible situation that you are in. I am worried," Murdock said.
America.gov noted in August 2008, “By 2050, minorities – those who identify themselves as Hispanic, black, Asian, American Indian, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander or mixed race –
will account for 54 percent of the U.S. population…” And, U.S. Census Bureau statistics show that about 10 percent of the nation’s 3,000 plus counties have already reached the point
where they are over 50 percent minority population.
Almost everything in American life is influenced by minority status and, up to now, the primary characteristic of majority-minority status has been based on race, which has been dominated
by whites, who have outnumbered all other groups. But, what happens when the current minority becomes the majority? This is already the situation in California, which has been heavily
impacted by the influx of Hispanics from south of the border. Furthermore, population projections indicate that by the year 2023 the majority of all American children under the age of 18
will be so-called minorities, and by 2039 minorities will comprise the majority of all working-age Americans.
Will we ultimately reach the point where a white minority demands the same legal advantages and benefits that have been woven into the fabric of our society in the effort to level the playing
field and make amends for past wrongs?
© 2015 Harris R. Sherline, All Rights Reserved
NOTE: This commentary was originally written in March, 2011, and it’s worth noting, I think, that nothing has changed.