Diversity Explosion How New Racial Demographics are Remaking America

by Frey, William H.

• ISBN13: 9780815723981
• ISBN10: 0815723989
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2014-11-19
• Publisher: Brookings Institution Press

Summary

Major racial and ethnic changes are sweeping the United States, monumental shifts that will leave deep footprints for years. An aging white population is juxtaposed with new minority groups showing robust growth, as Hispanic and Asian groups now account for all the growth in the nation's youth population. As this younger multi-ethnic generation grows up, the nation's labor force and electorate will be transformed. In Diversity Explosioneminent demographer William Frey combines user-friendly graphics and maps with authoritative yet accessible analysis to paint a detailed and illuminating picture of where America's racial demography is headed and what it means for the nation's future. Traditional patterns have largely reversed. The Great Migration northward has been replaced with a southward shift so significant that several northern and westernstates are experiencing net losses in African American population, while that group'spresence in the suburbs grows as never before. The south, then, is becoming moremulti-ethnic as are America's suburbs. While great change is afoot, however, it wouldbe overly simplistic to characterize the United States as a "melting pot in waiting."Although some racial lines are blurring, other race-and-space divisions persist.For example, there exists a clear distinction between large, primarily coastal metropolitanregions that have been mainstay communities for Hispanics and Asiansand more recent destinations where these groups are receiving a mixed reception.Another important demographic subset is those slow-growing, aging, largely whiteareas in the middle of the country where new minority presence remains small. Drawing from these generational and geographic shifts, the book examines otherdimensions of race relations in America including neighborhood segregation, mixedracemarriages, and the political ramifications in different parts of the country. Contents1. A Pivotal Period for Racial Change2. Old versus Young: Cultural Generation Gaps3. America's New Racial Map4. Hispanics Fan Out: Who Goes Where?5. Asians in America: Where They Matter Most6. The Great Migration in Reverse7. Zero-Sum Game: White Gains and Losses8. Melting Pot Cities and Suburbs9. Neighborhood Segregation-Delayed Declines10. Mixed-Race Marriages and Multicultural America11. Race and Politics: Red, Blue, and Purple States12. New Racial Demographics and the Nation's Future