Composition of indigenous population in America

According to the data of the 2000 U.S. Census, at present, one in every 10 people in the United States was born abroad, with 28.4 million people, accounting for 1 1% of the U.S. population. In addition, 654.38+048 million people have parents born in foreign countries, and 654.38+027 million people have only one parent. At present, these immigrants or their descendants mainly live in California, new york, Florida, Texas, New Jersey and Illinois, accounting for 70.4% of the total. Among them, 25.9% of the residents in California are foreign-born, and new york 19.6%. In big cities, the foreign-born population in Los Angeles accounts for 29.6%, and that in new york accounts for 22.8%. The racial composition of the United States today is: white 69. 1%, Hispanic 12.5%, African 12. 1%, Indian and Alaska native 0.7%, Asian and Pacific Islander 3.6%, other 0.3%, more than two races (more than one).

Faced with the increasing proportion of ethnic minorities in the country's total population, Americans accept this demographic trend. According to a national opinion poll conducted by the American News Research Center, about 70% people know about the changes in California's population structure, that is, California has become the first state with a majority of ethnic minorities in the United States. 42% people think this "ethnic diversity" is a "good thing", 28% people think it is a "bad thing", and some people think it is a "bad thing". At the same time, Americans' attitude towards immigrants has become more and more tolerant. 44% of the respondents think that today's immigrants can adapt to the American lifestyle better than the previous generation, while only 2 1% hold the opposite view. In addition, the number of people who think that immigrants have "lost" the American economy has dropped from 63% in 1994 to 38%.

One of the manifestations of accepting racial (ethnic) diversity is that all ethnic groups contact each other, live together and marry each other. The emergence of "multi-ethnic groups" is the most typical achievement and the product of racial integration. According to the census data, the number of interracial marriages (including marriage and domestic partnership) increased from 500,000 in 65,438+0,970 to 2 million in 65,438+0,990. Some experts predict that by 2050, 265,438+0% of Americans will come from families with interracial marriage, and the current proportion is about 7%. They estimate that among the third generation Hispanics. In the proportion of intermarriage between different races, the proportion of intermarriage between blacks and whites is the lowest, but it has made great progress compared with before the 1960 s. In the census of 1970, there were only 65,000 black and white married couples. In the census of 1990, 6% of black homeowners in China have interracial spouses, and 1998 is interracial marriage. White/Asian accounts for 19%, white/Indian accounts for 12%, white/black accounts for 9%, and others account for 7%. Recent research shows that about one in ten blacks has married a white wife, which is higher than that of black women. The increase in the proportion of intermarriage shows people's acceptance of ethnic diversity from one side. However, the use of the concept of "multi-ethnic groups" makes people rethink issues related to race and ethnic relations. For example, nearly 2% people choose multi-ethnicity, which will undoubtedly break the original racial pattern. This is something that some ethnic minority organizations and leaders don't want to see. They emphasize the sense of racial identity.

Secondly, due to the increasing number of immigrants, the proportion of ethnic minorities continues to rise. If Latino Americans are regarded as independent populations, it is estimated that by July of 1 year, whites will be a minority of the total population of the United States, and by July of 1 year, it will be reduced to 46.8%, and there will be a "minority majority" throughout the country. Many people think this is impossible, because although there are many races in the United States, there is only one mainstream culture, and ethnic culture can only be assimilated and absorbed. An official of the American Association of Hispanic Elected Officials said, "All immigrants share the same values as all Americans. In this country, immigrants have been assimilated by the mainstream society for a long time. Immigrants hope so, they want to be part of the United States, and everything the United States wants is what immigrants want. " However, judging from the historical process of the United States, racial diversity and cultural diversity in the United States are inevitable trends, such as the influence of Latin culture on American society and the widespread use of Spanish in the United States. At present, Spanish is used in 9 1 1 emergency telephones and yellow pages phone books in many parts of the United States, as well as in the south where few immigrants have been before. In order to win the support of Hispanic voters, in early March 2002, both sides of the debate used Spanish for the first time, which was the first time in the United States. Because of the problem of * * *, ethnic minorities have also begun to act jointly for their own interests and increase their influence. For example, the black caucus and the Hispanic caucus in Congress jointly took action to protect the rights and interests of ethnic minorities in the campaign for legal reform.

Finally, due to the change of population composition, the pattern of ethnic relations has quietly changed. In the past, the black-and-white pattern of racial conflicts in the United States was gradually broken. Due to the rising number of Hispanics and Asians, various groups within ethnic minorities (ethnic groups) are tense because of conflicts of political and economic interests, such as blacks and Koreans, blacks and Hispanics in Florida, especially immigrants from Cuba. The mayoral election of Los Angeles in June 2006, 5438+0, is a good example. In this election, white candidate Hahn defeated Hispanic Villaregosu. With the support of blacks, he got 80% black votes and 60% white votes, which together made him invincible. One of the reasons why blacks support Hahn is that they hate Hispanics and worry that once Hispanics hold the power of mayor, the black community will lose its influence.