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.phpI'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.