Photo of the Day, November 6, 2009: Newburyport Night 1
Heroic MBTA Operator and Inspector Honored: Saved Woman's Life
Week Around the Ists, November 1–7
Sunday Happenings
Book It: Book Events November 8–14
In yesterday's Globe, Jeff Jacoby asserted that the impending population shifts that will supposedly move whites into the minority are mythical. Citing Census population projections, Jacoby shows that most of the projected “minority” population increase in the U.S. actually consists of white Hispanics. Since these people are racially white (and ethnically Hispanic--Hispanic is not a racial category), whites will retain a 74 percent majority of the U.S. population, even in 2050.
It's good to correct media misreporting and focus on the facts. The only problem is that Jacoby isn't the first to reveal this "myth of the white minority," nor does he properly credit his sources. Most of the assertions Jacoby makes were covered, and more comprehensively, in a 2001 New York Times article by Orlando Patterson. Patterson's article is preferable not only because it came first, but also because it actually addresses the charged emotions surrounding racial population shifts.
More on Jacoby's uninformative and unhelpful article after the jump.
Patterson says: “Any fear of a 'white' group that it might lose status tends to reinforce stigmatization of those Americans who will never be ‘white.’” Eliminating this exacerbated stigmatization, which often leads to opposition to programs like affirmative action, should be the main impetus behind correcting population misconceptions. Unfortunately, Jacoby completely ignores this aspect of the issue. His explanation of the situation--"So what explains the persistent drumbeat about the impending white minority? A statistical distortion: the exclusion of Hispanic whites."--is reductive, ignoring racial tensions. There would be no ominous “drumbeat” if majority whites weren’t afraid of being overtaken by minority non-whites; failing to address this point and attributing racist fears to mere statistical mistakes is an egregious error.
Rather than acknowledge and address racism, Jacoby prefers to erase individuals' ethnic identity. He celebrates the "benign" nature of whiteness and the great assimilability of Hispanics:
In the early 20th century, federal immigration officials classified the Irish, Italians, and Jews as separate races. Yet today all these groups are viewed collectively, and benignly, as "white." And so, in time, will Hispanics, who give every indication of being just as assimilable as earlier groups...With a little luck, common sense, and goodwill, it will seem as odd in 2050 to focus on "non-Hispanic whites" as it would today to insist that only "non-German whites" are really white.
Well, gee, if only all minorities could be so "lucky" as to erase their backgrounds and assimilate into white culture! Why didn't we think of this before?
Jacoby's intention in writing this article was likely to emphasize the blurring of racial boundaries, but his piece comes off as a celebration of assimilation into whiteness. By completely ignoring racism and rehashing Patterson's arguments without presenting significant new ideas, Jacoby misses an important opportunity to celebrate diversity and combat stereotypes. We appreciate Jacoby’s attempt to correct the media’s misreporting on population trends, but feel his article ultimately does more damage than good.
Image from Race & Ethnicity in the Census.
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If op-eds in the Globe all had to be original thought, much ink and many trees could be saved.
"More on Jacoby's uninformative and unhelpful article after the jump".
Wow. If this doesn't get Renee Loth to take another look at your resume, nothing will!