A lot of people in America are uncomfortable with the cultural changes that are coming. As a nation, we are becoming more ethnically diverse. In pretty short order no particular race will have a clear majority. English will continue to lose its exclusive lock as other languages gain first regional and then national prominence. This is already happening with Spanish, but other languages will follow. Protestant Christianity has already lost its dominant position, and the vaguely affiliated aggregate comprising the many denominations of Christianity is headed for the same fate.
In the 25 to 50 years: America will not be (predominantly) white. We will not be (exclusively) English speaking. We will not be (majority) Christian. The America in which your kids raise their children will not look, sound, or worship in the same way that your parents knew.
And let me just say: Thank goodness for that. This afternoon I found the 1957 deed to the cemetery plots where my grandparents are interred – just North of Detroit. The very first condition listed in the single page document is that "such interment, whether of bodies, body members, or cremated remains, is and shall be restricted to those of the Caucasian race only." Naturally that’s completely unenforceable and void at this point. The very idea of a “white people only,” cemetery is on the face of it ridiculously against the equality and fair mindedness that most Americans consider to be at the core of our nation. Consider though, that this was only 53 years ago – easily living memory. Dignified and sober people looked each other in the eye and felt that it was important that those people not be allowed in the burying ground. I find it notable that even cremation wouldn’t suffice to clean whatever stain was perceived to be there.
As an aside, if you’re one of those who wonder why the racial divides in America are still so deep – consider that this is still in the memories of the grandparents alive today – and outright slavery was in their grandparents experience.
There are other factors too – and these are more clear already: Our major industrial centers have had to adapt or die. Michigan is a shell of its former glory. The Iron and Steel industries that fueled the hereditary oligarchs of the gilded age have left a “rust belt” of empty, ruined cities and poverty in the Northeast. The culture of family farms and rugged independent landowners in the midwest is giving way to a more European interdependence and a rather novel integrated agribusiness.
So a lot of people, very reasonably, are concerned about change. Unfortunately, they are being allowed to use the vague and disingenuous languages of politics to avoid talking directly about these concerns. We have the bugaboo of “illegal immigration.” We are told to worry about this welfare cheat or that scary drug dealer. People already filled with legitimate concerns about their employment and homes are being whipped into a xenophobic rage at the thought of “foreigners” swooping in and supplanting them. This is the same feeling that led to the “whites only” cemetery.
I’m tired of the mealy mouthed vagueness of American politics. Let’s put it on the table: These people want cultural purity laws. They want to ensure that America stays white, Christian, and English speaking. They’re trying to chase out the “other” with vague language and old-school baseball bat intimidation. They cling to outdated statutes and The LAW – and it’s not working. I wish they would propose these ideas clearly and up front – so we could debate them on the merits.
For the record, I think that anyone who demands stricter enforcement of a law that has never and can never be applied to them – because of some accident of their birth – that person is full of crap.
To be clear: I do not think that cultural purity laws are a good idea. Not. At. All. Many countries have, throughout history, passed laws attempting to freeze their culture in time. Modern countries still do it today. It’s perfectly legitimate – though ill advised – to insist on a national religion. I have yet to meet the Christian who would want their pastor or priest to be a civil servant of the state religion. Separation of church and state cuts both ways. We can insist on whatever we want – be it language, race, or whatever.
So let’s have it out: Should we attempt to stay majority white? Dominant English speaking? A supposedly Christian nation?
