When you think of an all American, many imagine blond hair, blues eyes and fair skin; At least you do now. With America today being 63% white, 12% black, 17% Hispanic and 8% other (kff.org), Scientist have a very new image of what the Average American will look like by the year 2050.
As a biracial person myself I get asked at least once a day from a stranger, “Where are you from?” or “What are you?” People look and wonder because what we see, and curiosity speaks volumes about our country’s past, its present, and the promise and peril of its future. As well as the features of many biracial people disrupt normal expectations (National Geographic).
In 2000, the Census Bureau began allowing people to begin to check off multiple races. In the same year 6.8 million Americans were more than one race. Ten years later, the number jumped by thirty two percent making it one of the fastest growing categories (National Geographic).
Similarly, The Wall Street Journal reported a few years back that 15% of new marriages in 2010 were between individuals of different races. This number is more than double what it was twenty-five years ago (Huffington Post).
As for how this looks moving forward, studies have repeatedly shown that young people, especially those under 30, are significantly more amenable to interracial relationships. As a population composed largely of 20-somethings, our generation is primed and expected to play a major role in populating this projected future America. That goes double if you live in a Western state, where people intermarry at higher rates; Hawaii is winning at the moment, with four of ten new marriages identifying as interracial (The Wall Street Journal).
So will the appearance of the average American be so drastically different by 2050? I guess we’ll just have to see for ourselves.
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2013/10/changing-faces/funderburg-text
http://kff.org/other/state-indicator/distribution-by-raceethnicity/
I also came across an article that also speaks about the changing percentages of whites in America. This article entails the fact that in some schools this year, being white will now be the minority. Here is the link to check out more information!
http://www.economist.com/news/united-states/21613277-new-white-minority
I really like the topic you picked! So interesting!
Inès