Factors influencing ethnic and racial composition changes in the United States

Ethnic Future of America

The evolution of the United States has seen many changes in the racial and ethnic composition of its parts. It appears certain that the race will continue to meld, change and expand into new and interesting combinations that will fuse culture and traditions into new forms of society. The purpose of this essay is to discuss the cultural blending that will occur as an outcome of the changing ethnic and racial composition of the United States. This essay will discuss some specific outcomes that appear likely and contrast them to how today's world operates in this cultural evaluation.

Kenneth Prewitt, former director of the U.S. Census Bureau, has said of the United States that "we're on our way to becoming the first country in history that is literally made up of every part of the world." This suggest something special about America's time and place and history and how it may become the first truly international nation. America was a multiethnic and multicultural society from the beginning. The original American colonies were formed during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries as frontier societies composed of multiple founding populations.

With this diversity many problems will certainly arise as in previous episodes of this type of action. As African-Americans began to blend into mainstream society, much tension and disagreement accompanied this movement including the Civil War. race can be a source of pride and self-identity. Differential treatment creates different experiences. Experiences of race, though arbitrary and socially constructed, become the basis for cultural identities that hold great meaning. In this way, race often becomes a lens through which people negotiate their self identities.

What is required is some give and take between the old and the new. Sacrifices must be made on both sides if some kind of an agreement can be made at this societal level. Personal sacrifice is also necessary. Citizens of the future need to open up their minds to new ideas and accept that everyone is entitled to free expression and free religious practices. This is easier said than done in today's world, where condemnation follows every unpopular or controversial idea. Rarely are ideas discussed with discourse, depth or tact.

The idea for this changing landscape is for people to transcend race and become trans-racial thinkers. This new mindset allows for diversity and is not concerned with equal treatment because equality is something that can never be accomplished. Not until we truly celebrate diversity, as opposed to fearing it, can we be a free society.