CHANGING U.S. DEMOGRAPHICS
Widespread concern about intercultural relations is growing due
to the profound changes taking place in the composition of the U.S.
population--changes which are causing the U.S. to become a more
culturally diverse nation than ever before.
The following are highlights from the work of a few of the researchers
and other education writers who have analyzed and commented on these
demographic shifts:
* In 1980, five out of six Americans were white; one out of six was
black, Hispanic, or Asian. By 2000, the proportion of whites will
have dropped to two out of three, while the minority proportion
will have doubled to a third.
* The above distinctions mask significant internal diversity.
Hispanics, Asians and immigrant whites come from many different
countries and cultures.
* The white population is both older and less prolific than many
other groups.
* Of the ten countries sending the most new immigrants to the U.S.,
five are Caribbean, three are Asian, and one is South American.
The only European source of immigrants in the top 10 is the former
Soviet Union.
* By the year 2000, Hispanics will comprise the largest single
segment of school-aged children in California and throughout the
Southwest. By the year 2020, California's whites will account for
only 40 percent of the state's population.
* "Minorities" constitute the majority of school enrollments in 23
of the nation's largest cities.
* By the year 2000 more than 50 major U.S. cities will have a
"majority minority" population.
* The school population with limited English proficiency (LEP) has
increased by more than 250 percent in the past decade. Increases
in the number of LEP students are occurring even in school
districts with declining enrollments. In New York City, 35 percent
of public school students speak a language other than English at
home.
(American Jewish Committee 1989; Banks 1988; Burstein 1989; Gay
1988; Grossman 1991; Grundy 1992; Parrenas and Parrenas 1990)
At the same time that the school-aged population is becoming more
multicultural, the teaching profession is becoming more mono-cultural.
In 1985, approximately 88 percent of the U.S. teaching force was
white; by the year 2000 this is expected to increase to 95 percent
(Burstein 1989; Pine and Hilliard 1990; Sleeter 1990). This imbalance,
too, can be a source of intercultural tension, since the values and
teaching/learning approaches of the predominantly white staff can
often work to the academic and social advantage of white students and
to the disadvantage of others (Pine and Hilliard 1990, p. 597).
Shawgi Tell
University at Buffalo
Graduate School of Education
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