THE NEW FACE OF AMERICA Romans 3

Rom 3:9-10

9 What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin; 10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: (KJV)

As a new millenium looms, America is set to become more a nation of blended races and ethnic groups than it has ever been. Or at least that’s the picture that emerges from the population project made for the next century by the U.S. Census demographers. By 2050, the percentage of the U.S. population that claims mixed ancestry – meaning some combination of ethnic groups – will likely triple to 21%. This means that millions more of Americans will be of mixed racial and ethnic background.

Such transformations are not new. It doesn’t mean a fundamental change in America. It’s a natural part of our evolution as a nation. The most intriguing demographic trend may be the accelerating rates of race and ethnic mixing. It is a trend that varies from group to group. Even the age distribution will shift dramatically by 2025. More people will be very young, fewer people will be middle-aged and more people will be very old.

These population shifts will be particularly obvious in individual states. The shift of population, away from the Northeast and Midwest, toward the South and the West, will accelerate. By 2025, 62%, instead of 57%, will live in those regions. Assimilation has always been more of a confluence of different factors, and it’s going to be more so in the future.

What effect will blended Americans have on the social, cultural and political landscape? No one can answer this question with any certainty. However, all of the mixing suggests that the traditional definition of "assimilation into the American mainstream" – meaning to lose one’s ethnic and racial identity in the process of becoming more American – may lose its meaning. Nevertheless, Paul said:

"Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." (I Cor 5:17)