Full Citation

Title: State of the Dream 2012: THE EMERGING MAJORITY

Citation Type: Miscellaneous

Publication Year: 2012

ISBN:

ISSN:

DOI:

NSFID:

PMCID:

PMID:

Abstract: A major demographic shift is underway in the United States. According to the 2010 Census, White babies now make up a little less than 50 percent of all babies in the country. By 2030, the majority of U.S. residents under 18 will be youth of color. And by 2042, Blacks, Latinos, Asians, Native Americans, Pacific Islanders, and other non-Whites will collectively comprise the majority of the U.S. population.1 For the first time since Colonial days, the United States will be a majority-minority country. How will the nation adjust to the massive demographic changes set to take place over the next 30 years? And what will be the state of the racial economic divide? If we do not change course, we will continue on a path toward becoming a country in which the overwhelming share of the emerging non-White majority is economically insecure. While Whites will make up a dwindling percentage of the population through 2042 and beyond, the overwhelming share of the nation’s income and wealth will remain solidly in White hands. Communities of color have borne the brunt of our nation’s history of racism and White supremacy. Although there have been many social and economic gains made for all races, people of color continue to be left behind. Vast racial disparities still exist in wealth and income, education, employment, poverty, incarceration, and health. Extreme inequality continues to entrench racial disparities and further shrink the broad middle class that has been the foundation of a strong American economy and a cohesive society. Closing the racial economic divide is first and foremost a moral issue. Our commitment to closing this divide should not depend on whether people of color make up 5 percent or 75 percent of the population. Nonetheless, as people of color become the new majority, the persistent racial disparities of the past threaten to jeopardize the social fabric of our nation and our economic stability. If the trends in racial economic inequality of the last thirty years continue for the next thirty years, the racial economic divide in 2042 will be vast and devastating for communities of color and the nation as a whole. Economic inequality between Whites and people of color will persist unless bold and intentional steps are taken to make meaningful progress towards racial equity, to sever the connection between race and poverty, and ultimately to eliminate the racial economic divide altogether.

Url: https://urbanhabitat.org/files/2012_State_of_the_Dream.pdf

User Submitted?: No

Authors: Sullivan, Tim; Mwangi, Wanjiku; Miller, Brian; Muhammad, Dedrick; Harris, Colin

Publisher: United for a Fair Economy

Data Collections: IPUMS CPS

Topics: Other

Countries: United States