Growing multiethnicity bodes well for US

Data from the United States'2020 Census published this month owed the proportion of the population identifying as white has for the first time fallen below 60 percent, highlighting the country's increasing multiethnicity.

"Our analysis of the 2020 Census results show that the US population is much more multiracial, and more racially and ethnically diverse than what we measured in the past," according to Nicholas Jones, a research director at the Census Bureau.

Confirmation of the trend will be a cause for celebration among those who see a multicultural and multiethnic future as fulfillment of the country's unique origins and destiny.

Those who believe that their whiteness makes them somehow more American than their nonwhite fellow citizens will lament the further evidence that they are headed toward one day becoming a minority.

One of the largest increases in the once-a-decade census was an almost threefold rise in the number of people identifying as being of mixed ethnicity. That choice has only been an option on the census form since 2000.

California, the most populous state, is now officially more Hispanic than white, while its Asian population has grown by 25 percent in the past 10 years.

Columnist Charles M. Blow wrote in The New York Times that some would find the latest figures fascinating, while others would regard them as downright frightening.

"Much of what we have seen in recent years－the rise of Donald Trump, xenophobia and racist efforts to enshrine or at least extend white power by packing the courts and suppressing minority votes－has been rooted in a fear of political, cultural and economic displacement," he wrote.

Last year's Black Lives Matter protests in the wake of the police killing of George Floyd confirmed that, more than 150 years after the abolition of slavery, the black population of the US continues to suffer from prejudice and marginalization.

Progressives lauded the election of Barack Obama for the first of two terms as president in 2008 as the beginning of a colorblind US. But it also spurred a backlash from some whites that in part fueled the America First rhetoric of former president Donald Trump.

The US is almost by definition a nation of immigrants. But in the minds of white supremacists, some immigrants are clearly more equal than others.

CNN noted that the census data showed the multiracial population had grown in almost every county in the US. But that did not mean racism was over.

The network quoted one biracial interviewee as saying: "Even if the white individuals in our country are decreasing numerically, it doesn't necessarily suggest that they're losing any of their power. These power structures are built into our systems historically and will still be built pretty strongly going forward."

As well as confirming the trend toward diversity, the latest census also indicated that the US is becoming more urban, a shift that could help the Democratic Party in future elections.

Analysts suggested that anticipated Democratic losses in midterm elections next year could be mitigated by the growth of towns and cities, which tend to vote for Democrats, and a decline in rural populations, which tend to vote Republican.

The census is politically important because it determines the boundaries of voting districts for elections to the House of Representatives. Although both parties will push for boundaries that best suit their electoral interests, analysts believe the way that different ethnic groups vote－with minorities tending to lean toward the Democrats－presented a challenge for the Republicans.

The latest data showed that the biggest population group, after the 204 million identifying as white, were the 62.1 million identifying as Hispanic. African Americans totaled 47 million and Asians 24 million.

American Indian and Alaska Natives numbered 9.7 million, and native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders 1.6 million.

The most remarkable increase, however, was among those now happy to recognize their own mixed ethnic identity－almost 40 million.

One of the many positive elements of the latest census figures is that, while white supremacists rail against the challenge to their favored status, and politicians wrangle over how best to exploit demographic change, an increasing number of Americans of all races are voting with their hearts.

Harvey Morris is a senior media consultant for China Daily UK.