The US has passed an important demographic milestone. The census reports that in the 12 months ending July 2011, for the first time the number of minority babies born exceeded the number of non Hispanic whites by 50.4 to 49.6%. This hastens the day when the country will be majority minority. Four states and Wash DC already have that distinction. The change has been driven almost exclusively by immigrants. US demographers often cite what they believe to be the superior US immigration and integration policies for helping the US maintain a competitive edge over Europe. They point to the fact that despite the events of 9-11 there has been no overt discrimination against the various Muslim communities, (Islam is the fastest growing religion). Muslims are not rioting in the streets like the North Africans in France, nor do they have the problems of integration like those seen in the UK and Germany, and there are no holding camps for those who have not committed a crime.

Given the Open Ireland Campaign, and the taxi driver situation a compare and contrast discussion on various US/EU/Irish policies might be worthwhile. My own view, and i suspect that of others is that Ireland measures up well in this category, but there’s always room for improvement.

Here’s a NYT and WaPo piece on the US situation.

-- NYT's Sabrina Tavernese: "Whites Account for Half of Births in U.S.": "After years of speculation, estimates and projections, the Census Bureau has made it official: White births are no longer a majority in the United States."
"Non-Hispanic whites accounted for 49.6 percent of all births in the 12-month period that ended last July, according to Census Bureau data made public on Thursday, while minorities - including Hispanics, blacks, Asians and those of mixed race - reached 50.4 percent, representing a majority for the first time in the country's history...."
"While over all, whites will remain a majority for some time, the fact that a younger generation is being born in which minorities are the majority has broad implications for the country's economy, its political life and its identity. "This is an important tipping point," said William H. Frey, the senior demographer at the Brookings Institution..." http://tinyurl.com /77ncz9a
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/...c=nl_headlines

The census has forecast that non-Hispanic whites will be outnumbered in the United States by 2042, and social scientists consider that current status among infants a harbinger of the change.
“This is a watershed moment,” said Andrew Cherlin, a sociologist at Johns Hopkins University who specializes in family issues. “It shows us how multicultural we’ve become.”
Although minorities make up about 37 percent of the U.S. population, the District and four states are majority minority — California, Hawaii, New Mexico and Texas.
Metropolitan Washington, where whites are in the minority, is far ahead of the curve. Among children younger than 5, there are more minorities than whites in virtually every jurisdiction except Arlington and Loudoun counties. Statewide, Virginia has just barely more white children under age 1 than minorities, but they are on the verge of falling below half.
One of the biggest factors in the demographic change is age. Whites are by far the oldest group. Their median age is over 42, so many are beyond their prime childbearing years. In contrast, the median age for Hispanics is under 28. Blacks and Asians have median ages in their early 30s.