Saturday, June 5, 2010

According to Studies, Tancredo's Dreams of White Northern European Assimilation are Long Gone

As we continue evolving to a beautiful, multi cultural society, you can't help but wonder what Tom Tancredo is going to do with his Mayberrian concept of assimilation = white northern european. (I can give him a few suggestions)
CNN Reports: The first time Priya Merrill, who is Indian, brought her white boyfriend home for Thanksgiving in 2007, the dinner was uncomfortable and confusing. She still remembers her family asking if Andrew was the bartender or a family photographer. The couple married last August, and her Indian family has warmed up to her husband despite their racial differences.
"I think we get the best of both cultures," said Merrill, 27, of New York. She added, "Sometimes I just forget that we're interracial. I don't really think about it." Asian. White. Black. Hispanic. Do race and ethnicity matter when it comes to marriage?

Apparently, race is mattering less these days, say researchers at the Pew Research Center, who report that nearly one out of seven new marriages in the U.S. is interracial or interethnic. The report released Friday, which interviewed couples married for less than a year, found racial lines are blurring as more people choose to marry outside their race. "From what we can tell, this is the highest [percentage of interracial marriage] it has ever been," said Jeffrey Passel, a senior demographer for the Pew Research Center. He said interracial marriages have soared since the 1980s. About 6.8 percent of newly married couples reported marrying outside their race or ethnicity in 1980. That figure jumped to about 14.6 percent in the Pew report released this week, which surveyed newlyweds in 2008. Couples pushing racial boundaries have become commonplace in the U.S., a trend that is also noticeable in Hollywood and politics. President Obama is the product of a black father from Africa and a white mother from Kansas. Supermodel Heidi Klum, who is white, married Seal, a British singer who is black. But not everyone is willing to accept mixed-race marriages. A Louisiana justice of the peace resigned late last year after refusing to marry an interracial couple.

However, studies show that support for interracial marriages is stronger than in the past, especially among the Millennial generation. Among 18- to 29-year-olds, about 85 percent accept interracial marriages, according to a Pew study published in February. Scholars say interracial marriages are important to examine because they can be a barometer for race relations and cultural assimilation. Today's growing acceptance of interracial marriages is a contrast to the overwhelming (Mayberrian) attitudes 50 years ago that such marriage was wrong -- and even illegal. During most of U.S. history, interracial marriages have been banned or considered taboo, sociologists say.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

It is foolish to think we can live in a color-blind society, but when I first saw the pic of the couple I did not even think of the difference in their skin color. I just saw a man and a woman who seemed happy to be together.

Defensores de Democracia said...

Phoenix Business Journal : Stats contradict immigration rhetoric on crime - Arizona is one of the safest States - Against Economic Terrorism of Jan Brewer and Russell Pearce


Phoenix Business Journal
Stats contradict immigration rhetoric on crime
by Mike Sunnucks
June 3, 2010


Stats contradict immigration rhetoric on crime


Some excerpts :

Gov. Jan Brewer, State Sen. Russell Pearce, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio and others supporting the state’s new immigration law say it is needed to stem waves of crime. However, new reports show crime is on the decline.
..............

That rhetoric worries economic developers, tourism officials and others who want to attract high-wage jobs to the state. They say it sends a negative message that could dissuade visitors, skilled workers and companies from coming to the state.

“Any kind of negative publicity hurts Arizona as it competes for new business locates and the jobs and tax revenues they represent, especially in the economic climate we live in today,” said Rock Rickert, chairman of the Arizona Association for Economic Development. “Indirectly, these same things – jobs and taxes – are adversely affected when tourism is negatively impacted because Arizona is portrayed as a dangerous, inhospitable, or backward place to visit.” Rickert stressed he isn’t talking behalf of AAED, a statewide association promoting economic development and business attraction, but on his own.

Crime in the Valley and Arizona is on the decrease, according to recent statistics.

The city of Phoenix reported 131,052 crimes in 2004. That number fell to 109,784 in 2008 and 90,024 in 2009, according to the Phoenix Police Department. Phoenix had 9,679 drug crimes last year compared to 10,741 in 2004.

Statewide, the Arizona Department of Public Safety said there were 255,133 serious crimes in Arizona in 2009. That is down 12 percent from 2008. DPS reported 341,101 serious crimes in 2002 and 291,380 in 2001.
.............

Still, much of the crime related to drug and human smuggling does not impact tourists or law-abiding Arizonans. The Phoenix area ranked as the 74th worst metro area for crime in 2009, according to CQ Press. New Orleans, Miami, Memphis and Las Vegas are among the top cities for crime. Tucson was 29th worst and Yuma 203 worst out of 332 U.S. metros.
..............

Thunderbird School of Global Management President Angel Cabrera and Greater Phoenix Economic Council CEO Barry Broome also are concerned about the focus on crime related to immigration flap. The new law gives police greater authority to question and detain suspected illegal immigrants.

GPEC, Thunderbird and some other business and community leaders want to launch efforts to combat such negative images propelled by the law.

Cabrera said Brewer and others are creating an “apocalyptic view” of Arizona that will discourage students from studying here, tourism and high-wage job growth. “That’s not helpful,” Cabrera said.


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