Matt Yglesias highlights the analytical core of a recent article by Reihan Salam:This year, in contrast, will likely be the first in which non-Hispanic whites will be a minority among newborns. In part, this reflects an average birthrate of 1.87 for non-Hispanic white women as opposed to 2.99 for Hispanic women, with African American and Asian American birthrates falling in between. Without foreign-born mothers, the U.S. would have below-replacement fertility, like much of Western Europe. ... With each passing year, the cultural mix of the United States is growing more Latin and Asian and black. Non-Hispanic whites are just 56 percent of the under-18 population, a reality reflected in an increasingly pan-ethnic youth culture that seems baffling to older white Americans. Imagine how elderly viewers of Glenn Beck must feel when they accidentally catch themselves watching an episode of Jersey Shore.
The points about demography are well taken, but the Jersey Shore reference is a bit off. Let's see: White ethnics, at once driven by insecurity and extraordinarily proud of their heritage, acting out for attention while reinforcing gender and cultural stereotypes, in front of a broader culture that views them, at best, as entertainment, and at worst, as a sign of social dysfunction? My God, Glenn Beck's viewers are an episode of Jersey Shore!
-- Tim Fernholz
