Source: The Progressive
As the Trayvon Martin case illustrates, we still have a hard time dealing with issues of race in this country. In the years ahead, the issue of racial injustice, coupled with economic injustice, is not likely to fade away.
The Census Bureau estimates that by 2042, the population will no longer be majority white. Many believe that this demographic shift will automatically bring with it a qualitative improvement in the situation for people of color.
At the other end of the spectrum, there is a segment of white America that deeply fears the demographic changes and sees in them a threat to its status. Such fears lead some of these people to gravitate towards right-wing populism.
But the demographic changes are not expected to bring about any significant improvements for most people of color, particularly African-Americans and Latinos, according to a new study, “State of the Dream 2012: The Emerging Majority,” by the Boston-based United for a Fair Economy (available at www.faireconomy.org/dream).
If current trends continue, we will witness widening gaps in income and wealth, as well as in education and incarceration rates. The study predicts, for instance, that African-Americans will make 61 cents and Latinos will make 45 cents for every dollar whites make in terms of median family income.
Contrary to right-wing populists’ “dystopia for whites,” the report paints a picture of a reconfigured Jim Crow — almost an apartheid situation of haves and have-nots.