The 20th century witnessed the transformation of the United States from a predominantly white population rooted in Western culture to a society with a rich array of racial and ethnic minorities. At the turn of the century, the American population was 87% white. The nonwhite minority consisted primarily of black Americans living in rural areas of the South. By the end of the century, non-Hispanic whites made up less than 75 percent of the U.S. population. The minority population includes almost as many Hispanics as blacks, a growing number of Asians and a small but growing Native American population. By the middle of the 21st century, non-Hispanic whites will constitute only a slim majority of Americans. Hispanics will make up nearly a quarter of the U.S. population. Blacks, Asians, and Native Americans will together make up nearly a quarter of the population. The term “minority” will likely have a very different meaning in the 21st century.
America’s ethnic landscape also includes a rapidly growing Arab population, a significant Jewish population, and other ethnic groups. But in the 1990s, the term “minority” generally referred to four major racial and ethnic groups: African Americans, American Indians and Alaska Natives, Asians and Pacific Islanders, and Hispanics.
This transformation in America’s racial and ethnic profile is most visible in certain states and communities. The four minority groups make up at least half of the residents of Honolulu, Los Angeles, Miami, San Antonio and several other metropolitan areas. Within 25 years, California, Hawaii, New Mexico, and Texas will be “majority-minority” states in which minorities make up more than half the population. But many parts of the country have little racial or ethnic diversity. For example, minorities represent less than 5% of the population of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and West Virginia.
The changing demographic profile of the country has important economic and social implications. Immigration is transforming America’s Asian and Hispanic populations. Hispanics in Guatemala, El Salvador, Ecuador, and other Central and South American countries created communities alongside well-established Mexican, Puerto Rican, and Cuban communities. Just two decades ago, the Asian population in the United States was predominantly Japanese, Filipino, and Chinese. By the end of the century, Asian Americans with roots in India, Vietnam, or Korea outnumbered Japanese Americans.
Minorities have also become more socio-economically diverse. The number of minorities in the highest income brackets has more than doubled since 1980, for example, but minorities still make up a disproportionate share of the poor. More minority politicians are being elected to public office, but minorities are more likely than non-Hispanic whites to serve prison time. More and more minorities are earning graduate and professional degrees, but a disproportionate percentage of people never complete high school.
The growth of African American, Hispanic, Asian, and Native American populations is profoundly changing the racial and ethnic composition of the nation’s schools, workplaces, and neighborhoods, and creating a new multiracial and multicultural legacy in the United States. Many companies target their products at specific minorities because they recognize that minorities are a growing market. Certain aspects of Black, Hispanic, Asian, and Native American culture, including art, food, music, and clothing styles, are adopted throughout American society.
Americans are divided in their beliefs about the long-term effects of increasing diversity. Some see the rapid growth of minorities as a key to America’s revitalization and a logical continuation of the “melting pot” tradition. Others see the rapid increase in racial and ethnic minorities as an unwelcome break from America’s European heritage. Discussions on this topic sometimes become heated because the increase in minority populations is closely tied to important policy issues related to immigration, affirmative action, welfare, and education reform.
Few Americans have a good sense of the importance of different minority groups. A 1997 survey by the Gallup organization found that only 8 percent of Americans knew that African Americans make up between 10 percent and 15 percent of the U.S. population; more than half (54%) believe black people make up at least 30% of the total population. In a 1990 Gallup poll, respondents estimated that Hispanics made up about 20 percent of the U.S. population, while Hispanics made up only 9 percent of the population in 1990.
Opinion polls also show that many white Americans believe that racial discrimination no longer hinders the advancement of minorities. Yet numerous studies document persistent discrimination against racial and ethnic minorities in employment, housing, criminal arrests and prosecutions, as well as in many other sectors of society.
Although the transition to a multi-ethnic America is occurring at a rapid pace, it is proceeding remarkably smoothly. But sometimes tensions rise and degenerate into serious clashes. In the 1990s, Americans witnessed race riots in Los Angeles, the burning of African-American churches in the South, and the murder of a Filipino postal worker in California and a black man in Texas.
Hate crimes against minorities, particularly against African Americans, reportedly increased in the 1990s. Yet such clashes are rare and involve far fewer people than violence between racial and ethnic groups in many other countries. Hate crimes and blatant racism directed against immigrants have been widely reported in Western Europe in recent decades, with these countries receiving an influx of economic migrants and political refugees. During the last decade of the century, ethnic and religious differences led to massacres of Tutsis by Hutus in Rwanda; a full-scale war involving Serbs, Bosniaks, Albanians and other ethnic groups in the Balkans; and violence against ethnic Chinese in Indonesia.
For the rest of the world, the United States represents a grand and daring experiment. No other country has managed to mix so many people of different races and cultures. At a time when racial and ethnic rivalries fuel violence around the world, how Americans manage their transition to a multiracial society has implications that extend far beyond America’s borders.
If the United States can avoid a violent culture clash, the country can benefit from its growing diversity. A multicultural, multiethnic America has a competitive advantage in the global economy. The United States is geographically positioned to serve the growing Latin American market to the south, its traditional European market to the east, and the growing Asian market to the west. America’s increasingly multicultural population can improve its ability to thrive in the new global marketplace. Through their connections to all regions of the world, America’s racial and ethnic minorities can help American businesses understand the needs and preferences of people in other countries.
This Population Report Card offers readers the opportunity to see how America’s racial and ethnic groups compare to one another on a multitude of demographic dimensions. As Americans reevaluate their vision of the nation and its future, they will undoubtedly express conflicting views and arrive at different positions on public policy issues. Resolving these differences will be easier if Americans understand the current demographic reality of America’s minority populations.
