White Americans learn what it's like to be marginalized
SAN DIEGO -- Someone needs a hug. Many white Americans are feeling pushed out, pushed aside, pushed around and pushed against the wall.
And now, in the Trump era, some of those folks are pushing back against what they see as a kind of reverse racism -- where the minorities become the majority, gradually ascend to positions of power, and eventually settle the score for centuries of mistreatment.
White nationalists pushed back last year in Charlottesville, Virginia, when a group of them clashed with protesters while chanting, "You will not replace us."
More than a decade ago, Brian Bilbray -- then a Republican congressman from San Diego -- pushed back when, as a defender of English, he asked for voters' support to "make sure your grandchildren learn Spanish because they want to" and not because they have to.
Sociologists call it "cultural displacement." It's an anxiety about being marginalized and losing your place in line. It can be triggered by anything from protesters waving the Mexican flag, or a Spanish-language billboard, or having to "press one for English."
But mostly, it is about fear of changing demographics. For many people, making America great again means making it white again.
According to the Brookings Institution, by 2045, whites will comprise 49.9 percent of the U.S. population, compared with 24.6 percent for Hispanics, 13.1 percent for African-Americans, 7.8 percent for Asians and 3.8 percent for multiracial populations. In 2017, communities of color grew faster than white communities.
No wonder Fox News host Laura Ingraham sounded the alarm about "massive demographic changes [that] have been foisted upon the American people."
Recently, The Washington Post provided a sympathetic ear to white people who feel squeezed by changing demographics. And it earned criticism from the National Association of Hispanic Journalists.
According to a statement the Post released in response to the criticism, reporter Terrence McCoy's story "captured the perspective of those who feel displaced by demographic change, by conveying what it is like for two white Americans who must themselves adapt to a new America."
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