dlaw: watch me

Whites now account for 49.6% of births in the United States:

Such a turn has been long expected, but no one was certain when the moment would arrive — signaling a milestone for a nation whose government was founded by white Europeans and has wrestled mightily with issues of race, from the days of slavery, through a civil war, bitter civil rights battles and, most recently, highly charged debates over efforts to restrict immigration.

If that’s what you want to call it. 

The article goes on to highlight the gap between whites and people of color in regards to the level of education attained, largely to make the point that the fastest growing portion of the population also has been unable to receive the best education available. They don’t come out and say why—I mean, come on, it’s the New York Times.

Would a change in the demographics of America alter the dispersion of power within the country though? Does having more people of color present within a country mean that more political power, more economic power, more cultural capital will also be in the hands of people of color? 

I am wary to make such a claim.  The population of people of color in this nation has been rising steadily for centuries, our presence has been increasing yet economic and political power hasn’t quite been extended to us. Granted, the population of white people was also rising at a similar rate for much of the nation’s history.

But I think such an entrenched power structure—one where whites have a 400 year head start—will take more than babies of multiple hues to dismantle