| Abstract: | Demographic changes have shaped the nation's past and will continue to shape its future. During the first half of the 1990s, the U.S. population grew, on average, by 2.7 million people each year, reaching 262.8 million in 1995. Population growth is projected to continue for the next 50 years, although at a slower rate. The forecast is for more than 390 million Americans by the year 2050. As the U.S. population grows, it will increasingly become more diverse along many socioeconomic dimensions. This increasing diversity will represent an historic shift in America's racial and ethnic composition with long-range implications for how we view racial issues, how we define racial categories and how the political landscape will be refashioned. By the middle of the 21st century the "minority" population will almost equal the size of the non-Hispanic white population. The minority population grew 14 percent during the first half of the 1990s compared with a 3 percent growth in the non-Hispanic white population. But even within the minority population, growth rates varied. Between 1990 and 1995, the Asian population grew 23 percent, the Hispanic population 20 percent and the African American population increased their numbers by 8 percent. Hispanics are projected to outnumber African Americans within the next 15 years. In part, these demographic changes are shifting because of U.S. immigration policies. Until the early 1960s, immigrants to the United States were primarily of white, European stock. Nowadays, Europeans account for about 20 percent of the immigrants. Three-quarters of legal immigrants in the mid-1990s now come from Latin America, the Caribbean and Asia. The increasing racial and ethnic diversity in the United States will create both challenges and opportunities for U.S. schools and businesses in the future. The magnitude of these numbers and their geographic location will be important factors to consider as we prepare for the 21st century. |
