Study Confirms United States Diversity is Rapidly Evolving

A new study from the U.S. Census Bureau confirms that diversity in the United States. is growing and is responsible for population gains in many states, metropolitan areas, and once predominantly white countries.

Diversity has been on a slow and steady increase in the U.S. according to the last several censuses. In the 1980 census, 80 percent of the national population were white residents, 11.5 percent were Black residents, 6.5 percent Latino or Hispanic residents, and 1.8 Asian Americans.

The Asian Americans (which includes Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders) grew from 1.8 percent to 3.8 percent in the 2000s. Perhaps the most notable drop was the white population, falling 10 percent to 69.1 percent.

According to the new study, the Latino or Hispanic and Asian American populations share the most significant gains. The Latino or Hispanic population raised a few more points, landing at 18.5 percent in 2019.

The white population has been on a steady decline in all 50 states (not Washington, D.C.) since 2010, as well as “in 358 of the nation’s 364 metropolitan areas and 3,012 of its 3,141 counties” (according to Brookings).

Over the first nine years of the decade, the population of people under 25 years of age declined greatly in more than half the states that make up the U.S. There were large white losses among the youth.

For the first time in the nation’s history, more than half of the youth under 16 years of age identified as a racial or ethnic minority. While the youth’s numbers might be low, the racial diversity among the group is promising.

The older generations of the white population tend to have a larger representation. “White Americans contributed substantially to older population gains compared to younger and middle-aged populations, which registered white declines,” Brookings Institute Senior Fellow William Frey explains in his March 2018 analysis.

Younger generations are rapidly diversifying the teaching assistant pool, propelling the U.S. towards what Frey calls a “racial generation gap.” This widening chasm is fueled primarily by the surge in immigration from previous decades.

“Immigration is a good thing for America,” Frey told The Hill. “You’re going to want a country that’s growing and robust and has a lot of energy and people who will contribute to Social Security and Medicare. And you can’t just count on whites for that.”

Frey’s analysis attempted to show the racial generational gaps in the country and the gaps that were being led by the diversification of the younger generations in the U.S. “The nation’s so-called majority-minority arrived with Generation Alpha, those born since about 2010,” writes Daniel De Visé (via The Hill).

While diversity is on the rise, the U.S. is still a white-majority country. “Whites are going to be the largest group in this country for a long time,” City University of New York Professor Emeritus Richard Alba explains to The Hill.

Unfortunately, the 19 percent decline of the white population has the country’s more conspiratorial-minded believing that the U.S. is involved in the Great Replacement/White Genocide conspiracy theory.

The Great Replacement conspiracy theory is often backed up by far-right winged ideals of antisemitism, anti-LGBTQ+ rights, and anti-reproductive rights. What is actually going on is people naturally intermingling with other racial groups.

Since its inception, the U.S. has been referred to as a melting pot because of its long history of immigration and blending of cultures, ethnicities, and races. It is only surprising that we are just now seeing spikes in diversity.