{"id":31414,"date":"2016-12-29T14:24:34","date_gmt":"2016-12-29T18:24:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/?p=31414"},"modified":"2016-12-29T14:24:34","modified_gmt":"2016-12-29T18:24:34","slug":"31414","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2016\/12\/31414.html","title":{"rendered":"White Children in a Majority-Minority Future"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

My daughter attends a majority minority elementary school. In fact, my daughter is the only white non-Hispanic child in her classroom. I volunteer regularly at my daughter\u2019s school, interacting with children of every color. I meet parents; we set up playdates. These children are my daughter\u2019s\u00a0friends. I\u2019ve dropped my daughter off at birthday parties where she is the only (or next to only) white child in the room.<\/p>\n

It is against this backdrop that I read\u00a0a Right Wing Watch article<\/a>\u00a0about conservative commentator Michael Savage\u2019s comments on his radio show this week.<\/p>\n

Savage added that Trump\u2019s victory will deliver white children from certain slavery: \u201cI don\u2019t walk around fearing that it\u2019s all coming to an end. I don\u2019t walk around looking at little white children seeing future slaves anymore. Did you know that? Did you know that that\u2019s what I used to see? I\u2019d walk around and look at little white children and I\u2019d shake my head and I\u2019d say, \u2018If this doesn\u2019t stop, these children will be slaves in their own nation.\u2019\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I am aware that there are people like Savage who are concerned about the wellbeing of their children and grandchildren in a browner America. I read their comments with an almost detached horror. Their perspective is hard for me to conjure up, living as I do in an already diverse corner of America. I understand\u00a0what it\u2019s like to be the only white family at the park. I understand\u00a0what it\u2019s like to be the only white person in a store. What I don\u2019t understand\u00a0is why\u00a0any of this should be a problem.<\/p>\n

I wonder, sometimes, if the problem is lack of exposure. I am white. I grew up in a white rural area of the Midwest. I went to a state college in the Midwest so white that I can\u2019t remember more than a small handful of black students living in my residence hall. Some years ago I attended a free day at the zoo at a nearby city and found myself vaguely uncomfortable: the white families attending the zoo\u00a0were outnumbered by black and Hispanic families doing the same. I tried to analyze, afterwards, why I\u2019d felt\u00a0disquieted. I concluded\u00a0that I was so used to being part of a white majority that being in the minority felt strange.<\/p>\n

I should pause to note that racism is always wrong, regardless of the level of exposure you have had to this or that minority group. We are all of the same species; no group is more \u201cevolved\u201d than any other. No group has a higher IQ, or greater innate ability. We are all human. We share similar concerns\u2014to obtain adequate food and housing, to provide for our children, to have friends and form communities. I mention exposure because it is easy for groups you have no familiarity with to become data points or stereotypes. When they are your neighbors, your friends, your colleagues, this becomes harder\u2014though not impossible.<\/p>\n

People like Savage don\u2019t generally fear a more diverse world, a world where white children are the minority, only due to lack of exposure. They also tend to\u00a0believe\u00a0that non-white groups and identities are fundamentally different and even dangerous. They\u2019re more criminal, more lazy, less honest and hard working. These stereotypes are a problem. They\u2019re also factually false. On\u00a0an anecdotal level, I again wonder about the importance of exposure\u2014the minority parents I know\u00a0work long hours, make their children do their homework, and wonder whether\u00a0their children are over-scheduled with athletics and activities. Their hopes, dreams, and fears\u2014and the little struggles\u00a0and moments of which life is made\u2014are fundamentally similar.<\/p>\n

Fewer than 50% of babies born in the U.S. today are white, non-Hispanic. White children born today will live in a future where white, non-Hispanic Americans comprise a minority of the total population. And that is not a problem<\/em>. There\u2019s no reason to fear a future in which the nation\u00a0looks like my daughter\u2019s school.<\/p>\n

If children can get along, adults can too.<\/p>\n

While Savage worried\u00a0about white children becoming slaves in their own country, I put back the nerf gun I was going to purchase for a black classmate\u2019s birthday party my daughter had been invited to. I worry about whether the Hispanic children I interact with while volunteering are documented.\u00a0Living in a majority-minority world does not and will not pose a threat to white children. Systemic racial bias, in contrast, can and does pose a threat to black children, and our broken immigration system means deportation frequently poses a real and present threat to Hispanic children.<\/p>\n

Savage has things exactly backwards.<\/p>\n

I have a <\/b>Patreon<\/b><\/a>! Please support my writing!<\/b><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

People like Savage don’t generally fear a more diverse world, a world where white children are the minority, only due to lack of exposure. They also tend to believe that non-white groups and identities are fundamentally different and even dangerous. They’re more criminal, more lazy, less honest and hard working. These stereotypes are a problem. They’re also factually false. <\/p>\n

Click through to read more!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":845,"featured_media":31425,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,1],"tags":[208],"class_list":["post-31414","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","category-uncategorized","tag-race"],"yoast_head":"\nWhite Children in a Majority-Minority Future<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"People like Savage don't generally fear a more diverse world, a world where white children are the minority, only due to lack of exposure.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2016\/12\/31414.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"White Children in a Majority-Minority Future\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"People like Savage don't generally fear a more diverse world, a world where white children are the minority, only due to lack of exposure.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2016\/12\/31414.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Love, Joy, Feminism\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-12-29T18:24:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/166\/2016\/12\/girls-739071_1920.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"768\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"512\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Libby Anne\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Libby Anne\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2016\/12\/31414.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2016\/12\/31414.html\",\"name\":\"White Children in a Majority-Minority Future\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-12-29T18:24:34+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-12-29T18:24:34+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/#\/schema\/person\/fae465c1bbb5cbdf26c9e73bfd1b73d2\"},\"description\":\"People like Savage don't generally fear a more diverse world, a world where white children are the minority, only due to lack of exposure.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2016\/12\/31414.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2016\/12\/31414.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2016\/12\/31414.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"White Children in a Majority-Minority Future\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/\",\"name\":\"Love, Joy, Feminism\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/#\/schema\/person\/fae465c1bbb5cbdf26c9e73bfd1b73d2\",\"name\":\"Libby Anne\",\"description\":\"Libby Anne grew up in a large evangelical homeschool family highly involved in the Christian Right. 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