The Gray And The Brown: The Generational Mismatch

[supernova]

A CONTRAST IN PRIORITIES IS ARISING BETWEEN NONWHITE YOUNG VOTERS AND WHITE, OLDER VOTERS.
by Ronald Brownstein

....

Two of the biggest demographic trends reshaping the nation in the 21st century increasingly appear to be on a collision course that could rattle American politics for decades. From one direction, racial diversity in the United States is growing, particularly among the young. Minorities now make up more than two-fifths of all children under 18, and they will represent a majority of all American children by as soon as 2023, demographer William Frey of the Brookings Institution predicts.

At the same time, the country is also aging, as the massive Baby Boom Generation moves into retirement. But in contrast to the young, fully four-fifths of this rapidly expanding senior population is white. That proportion will decline only slowly over the coming decades, Frey says, with whites still representing nearly two-thirds of seniors by 2040.

These twin developments are creating what could be called a generational mismatch, or a "cultural generation gap" as Frey labels it. A contrast in needs, attitudes, and priorities is arising between a heavily (and soon majority) nonwhite population of young people and an overwhelmingly white cohort of older people. Like tectonic plates, these slow-moving but irreversible forces may generate enormous turbulence as they grind against each other in the years ahead.

Already, some observers see the tension between the older white and younger nonwhite populations in disputes as varied as Arizona's controversial immigration law and a California lawsuit that successfully blocked teacher layoffs this year at predominantly minority schools. The 2008 election presented another angle on this dynamic, with young people (especially minorities) strongly preferring Democrat Barack Obama, and seniors (especially whites) breaking solidly for Republican John McCain.

more: http://www.nationaljournal.com/njmagazine/cs_20100724_3946.php

I'm thinking this dynamic, older whites and younger more diversified younger people is the source of the white itch, moreso than rural/urban, advanced degrees/nondegreed, homeschooled or not. This dynamic of older whites and more diverse young people to me seems a much more holistic way of looking at the situation. I was very interested because the author noted 1965 as the year immigration was once again opened in a way that it hadn't been since the end of WWI. I started school in 1967.

[frazzled]

1. I'm one of those aging white baby boomers

I turned 60 this year (wah). One thing that might not be remembered about my generation is that we came of age in the era of black power and black is beautiful and Cesar Chavez and the grape boycott and ... well, you know, kumbayah. In college, our social group consisted of mixed races. I don't think I'm atypical for a large portion of my generation. We are not our parents (in their 80s and 90s). Sure, there are the Arizona 60-somethings who are probably very different from those of us who lived in bluer states. But let's not stereotype this divide. It may not be as big as the article suggests.

(Though if younger people think of us as racist white pigs, then that's a problem in itself.)

[supernova]

4. Well, I don't know that

it' applies to anyone who posts at DU. We're outliers in many ways.

My brother and my sister are both older than I am and remember all-white schools. I do not. And frankly, I've left activities that were too vanilla. I really did notice the lack of diversity and it bothered me.

[southernyankeebelle]

5. Am a boomer also 62 and just started getting my social security. I grew up in a diverse community.

Am white and in my family we have a black sister-in-law, a gay sister-in-law through marriage and a gay man relative. I wouldn't have it any other way.

[awoke_in_2003]

10. shit, you just need an atheist in the mix...

and you will have a royal flush :hi: (note- my family has a lesbian, an atheist (me) and my Mex-am wife)

[scarletlib]

7. I agree

My grandchildren are half African American. I strongly support all of the young ones coming up. I want only what is best for them and future generations.

[paulkienitz]

8. +1, even among us old whiteys, we're kind of divided fifty-fifty (nt)

[aquart]

2. Brookings wants us to see black people hating on white grandmas?

Race-baiting with a Ph.D. is still race baiting.

[supernova]

3. No, I didn't get that from this article

The author's thesis is that demographic trends are causing friction between age groups, which because of changing immigration patterns now have differing cohorts.

How is that race baiting?

[teknomanzer]

6. You can find division any place you look for it.

The truth is this generational divide is truly insignificant compared to the ever widening economic divide. What we have here is the "have nots" and the "have even less" competing for the meager scraps that the top one percent have left to them. The simplest solution to these problems is to tax the people who have captured all the wealth for themselves. I find it interesting that we can talk about divisions of race and age but the topic of class (let alone how members of the uberclass are not paying for the system that primarily benefits them) is completely taboo. Apparently anyone who mentions it is a communist.

[KoKo]

11. Exactly...creating divisions based on age and ethnicity diverts us from the real problem..

But, then, that is the point of many of these articles which are coming out are suggesting that this is all about age warfare or racism. Strawman arguments to cover up the ever shrinking middle class.

[Doctor_J]

9. "Minorities will make up a majority"

uhhh. What?