Demographic change and assimilation in the early 21st-century United States.

Abstract

SignificanceThe contemporary intellectual landscape, dominated by theories about race and racism, has engendered the majority-minority conception of the American future, in which White people are outnumbered by Americans of color by midcentury. But assimilation, as a set of processes with societal ramifications, is still potent, driven by demographic dynamics that generate opportunities for minority mobility, and is linked to increasing family mixing between White and non-White people. The children of these families offer the best window into ongoing assimilation. The binary vision of the majority-minority society needs major modification because of the emergence and growing size of this bridging group. In addition, racism-focused theories need to be complemented by assimilation ideas to grasp the implications of demographic change.