In 1965 the people of the United States were 84 percent white, 11 percent black, 4 percent Hispanic and 1 percent Asian. Immigrants represented 5 percent of the population. 80% of the immigrants arriving that year were White and predominantly from Northern and Western Europe. It was also in 1965 that all this began to change.
The Immigration and Nationality Act, which turned 50 this year, has reshuffled the American mosaic. Nearly 59 million immigrants have come to the U.S. in the past half century. These people and their descendants account for 55% of the population growth from 1965 to 2015. Today the U.S. population is 62% White, 18% Hispanic, 12% Black and 6% Asian. Immigrants now represent 14% of the population.
The predominantly European immigration wave of the late 1800s and early 1900s surpasses today's foreign born profile by a mere 1%.
A recent Pew Research Center study examined these trends. Their report predicts that in 2055, no racial or ethnic group will hold a majority. According to their data, the US of 2055 will be 46 percent white, 24 percent Hispanic, 14 percent Asian and 13 percent black.
These numbers reflect changes in who comes to the U.S. Until 1970 most were from Europe. By 2000 nearly half of new arrivals were from Central and South America with 34 percent of those coming from Mexico. Mexican arrivals slowed dramatically in the 2000s and Asians became the largest group around 2011. This trend is predicted to continue.
The immigrant of the past 50 years is also better educated. Compared to US born adults, recent arrivals are more likely to have completed college or hold an advanced degree.
Not surprisingly, public sentiment about this rearrangement of the American population is mixed. 51% say America is stronger due to immigrants' hard work and talent. 41% say they are a burden, taking jobs, housing and health care. This is more positive than in 1994 when 31% said immigrants strengthened the country and 63 percent saw them as a burden.
There is little support for deportation of all illegal immigrants. However a growing base favors building a wall along the Mexican border and changing the Constitution in order to block birthright citizenship. This is in the setting of a dramatic drop in immigration from Mexico since 2000. The unauthorized population in the U.S. has remained essentially stable for the past five years.
Historical narratives differ by their author's perspective. One person's immigration can be another's invasion. Whether an adaptive multiculturalism or an alienating victimization depends on who tells the story.
Reshuffling the hierarchy of status and influence can evoke a xenophobic tribalism. This is a global issue. The current mass migrations out of the Middle East and Africa are redefining Europe. What it means to be European or American is more complicated than ever before.
Like the last great wave of immigrants in the early 1900s or the end of Jim Crow, the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act has stirred the U.S. melting pot. History suggests that nothing nurtures a national identity more than a shared sense of threat. The frightened and frustrated are easy pray for politicians offering simplistic answers. We must remember that, unless you are a Native American, we are all immigrants here.
There is a human tendency to change perspective when going from outsider to insider. A condensed manifestation of this occurs daily in the NYC subway. On entering a crowded car one feels righteous indignation when passengers do not make way. However one stop later, the roles reverse. Now inside the car, one is annoyed by the barbarity of the pressing crowd attempting to get in.