Feagin urges anti-racism

By the year 2030, the majority of children 18 and under will be non-white, and by the year… By the year 2030, the majority of children 18 and under will be non-white, and by the year 2050, the majority of Americans will be non-white.

Those are the findings of University of Florida graduate research professor Dr. Joe Feagin. Feagin talked to a packed William Pitt Union Ballroom last Monday about the upcoming “browning of America” and how the historically white power structure will deal with it.

“Either whites can accept that, or there will be a lot of conflict,” Feagin said.

Feagin, author or co-author of more than 40 books dealing with racism, formulated his theories from more than 500 field interviews that go back to 1988. He found that there are two ways white America can respond to these demographic shifts: white people can either resist changes and face backlash, or they can accept the changes and work to build a “democratic, multi-racial society.”

“In many white minds, there is an exaggerated fear of what the browning of America is,” he said.

Feagin cited a recent Los Angeles survey that found six out of 10 black people experienced workplace discrimination. The rate of discrimination increased with the level of education. Findings were similar with Asians and Latin Americans.

Negative attitudes toward immigration also fuel resentment, Feagin said. Without the mostly black and Latino immigrant populations of New York City and Chicago, those cities would be deserted, he said. He argued that immigrants who come to large cities are vital to the economy.

Feagin referred to predominately white, gated communities, militia groups, and anti-immigration books by talk show host Pat Buchanan and Forbes editor Peter Brimelow as counterproductive.

“This is all about social justice,” he said, “This is all about building a multi-racial democratic society.”

Feagin argued that Americans of all races must prepare for the upcoming demographic shift. Diversity training and anti-racism education are necessary if the United States is to remain a powerful and productive nation.

“The school that makes a serious effort [at anti-racism education] will be put on the map,” he said.

Feagin is a past president of the American Sociological Association and one of his books, “Ghetto Revolt,” was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize.