...on immigration in the Times is interesting for a couple of reasons. The first is this quote:
Today, almost 25 percent of working-age Americans are first-generation
immigrants or their children. That figure is up sharply since the 1960s,
and it’s projected to climb to 37 percent by 2050.
I'm surprised by both statistics. (I'll be 92 in 2050, by the way; that's a year younger than my mom is now.)
Also (my emphasis):
These trends mean that we’re asking low-skilled immigrants to assimilate
into a working class that’s already in crisis. We’re hoping that our
dysfunctional educational system can prevent millions more children from
assimilating downward into what sociologists have called a “rainbow underclass.”
And we’re betting that the growing incomes of second-generation
Hispanics will outweigh their retreat from marriage and rising
out-of-wedlock birthrates.
So what does that mean? Are we going the way of Latin America, with a tiny upper class and a massive lower class? Or are we headed toward the old South Africa model, with a small white minority ruling over a large brown majority? Either one doesn't sound promising to me.
Good piece, though.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment