Race in America
Chapter I
Introduction
The ethnic makeup of the United Stated is becoming increasingly diverse, with more mixed-race Americans than ever before according to the U.S. Census Bureau (2010). Today one in seven new marriages are between spouses of different races or ethnicities (Passel, Wang and Taylor, 2010). Polls tell us that Americans are becoming less opposed to interracial dating and marriage than in previous decades (National Opinion Research Center, 2002; Pew Research Center, 2003), many Americans accept racial mixing as the inevitable result of globalization.(Omar,2009). According to R.A.C.E (2009) “People are growing up at a time when they do not feel they have to choose friends, or significant others based on color and they are easily and freely crossing that invisible but present ever-color line”.(p.2). The American public should prepare itself for a sea of change in the way in which we think about race, ethnicity, and its place in American society. The crop of students moving through college right now includes the largest group of mixed-race people ever to come of age in the United States (Saulny,2011). The country is in the midst of a demographic shift driven by immigration and intermarriage (Saulny, 2011). Many young adults of mixed backgrounds are rejecting the color lines that have defined Americans for generations in favor of a much more fluid sense of identity (Saulny,2011). Identification may seem minor except that statistics on ethnicity and race are used for many important purposes. These include assessing disparities in health, education, employment and housing, enforcing civil rights protections, and deciding who might qualify for special consideration as members of underrepresented minority groups. When it comes to keeping racial statistics, the nation is in transition, moving, often without uniformity (Saulny,2011).Saulny (2011) also indicates that “The lack of uniformity is making comparison and analysis extremely difficult across
Introduction
The ethnic makeup of the United Stated is becoming increasingly diverse, with more mixed-race Americans than ever before according to the U.S. Census Bureau (2010). Today one in seven new marriages are between spouses of different races or ethnicities (Passel, Wang and Taylor, 2010). Polls tell us that Americans are becoming less opposed to interracial dating and marriage than in previous decades (National Opinion Research Center, 2002; Pew Research Center, 2003), many Americans accept racial mixing as the inevitable result of globalization.(Omar,2009). According to R.A.C.E (2009) “People are growing up at a time when they do not feel they have to choose friends, or significant others based on color and they are easily and freely crossing that invisible but present ever-color line”.(p.2). The American public should prepare itself for a sea of change in the way in which we think about race, ethnicity, and its place in American society. The crop of students moving through college right now includes the largest group of mixed-race people ever to come of age in the United States (Saulny,2011). The country is in the midst of a demographic shift driven by immigration and intermarriage (Saulny, 2011). Many young adults of mixed backgrounds are rejecting the color lines that have defined Americans for generations in favor of a much more fluid sense of identity (Saulny,2011). Identification may seem minor except that statistics on ethnicity and race are used for many important purposes. These include assessing disparities in health, education, employment and housing, enforcing civil rights protections, and deciding who might qualify for special consideration as members of underrepresented minority groups. When it comes to keeping racial statistics, the nation is in transition, moving, often without uniformity (Saulny,2011).Saulny (2011) also indicates that “The lack of uniformity is making comparison and analysis extremely difficult across