Chaptér14.doc

Population, Race and Ethnic GroupsI IntroductionThe United States of America, with a population of 255.5 million in July 1992, is the third most populous country in. the world after China and India. The 1990 census, that is, the official counting of population, showed that the population rose at an annual rate of 0.9% in the 1980s, against 1. 7 % in the 1950s, 1. 3 % in the 1960s and 1.1 % in the 1970s.The 1990s have begun with faster growth, over 1 %, and it is expected that the population will increase sharply over the next 60 years, mainly as a result of higher immigration levels. The population is expected to increase 7.8%, from 255.5 million in 1992 to 275 million by the year 2000. By the year 2050, the population is expected to climb to 383 million, a 50 % increase. Immigration accounts for a major source of population growth. Almost 20 million people or 7.8% of the total population were immigrants in 1992. Of these, 8.7 million came to the United States during the 1980s. The percentage of immigrants varies greatly region to region. In the Western United States, 14.8% of the population is foreign-born; if the Northeast, 10 .3 % in the Midwest, 3. 6 % ; and in the South, 5. 3 %.The United States had a more or less open-door policy. To immigrants from independence until the 1960s. Ellis Island of New York was an important immigration reception spot in the 1890s. And at the turn of the century. Even with later restrictions, immigration has continued at a high level. Net immigration (the number who camein minus the number who went out) since 1980 has made up about 30 % of the total growth in population. Between 80 % and 90 % of immigration to the United States now is from Asian and Hispanic (Spanish-speaking people of any race) countries.Great changes took place in the recent decades in the population of different regions in the United States. Such population movements reflected the shift from traditional manufacturing industries in the Northeast and Midwest to high-technology industries, whose growth has been most notable in the Sunbelt states of the South and Mountain regions. Arizona, Nevada and Florida have been the fastest growing states in population for the last 20 years. Floridas population growth owes much to its attractiveness both as a place to travel and South America.About 77 % of the population in the United States lived in more than 283 city areas in 1988. There were 21 big cities with a population over 2 million. The biggest city was New York, with a population of over 18 million in 1990, which was followed by Los Angeles (14.5 million), Chicago (8.1 million), San Francisco (6-3 million) and Philadelphia (5.9 million)Changes in age structure during the 1980s. Reflect past trends in child bearing: the low birth rate in the two decades ending in 1945, the higher birth rate during the baby boom (1946-1964) and the lower birth rate afterwards. From 1980 to 1989, the population between the age of 18 and 24 dropped 12. 2 % while the population between the age of 25 and 44 increased by 28. 1 % . The elderly population (65 years and over) rose 21. 3 % and increased from 11 - 3 % to 12. 5 % of the total population.Population by Age ( % ) 1960 1970 1980 1989 1990 1991 1992under 18 years 35.734.028.025.825.725-.8 25.918-64 years 55.156.2I60.7 61.761.861.661.465 years and over9.2-9.811.312.512.512.612.7Source: U. S. Bureau of the Census, Current Population Reports 1992II . ImmigrationThe United States has long been known as a nation of immigrants because many of its people descend from settlers who came from all over the world to make their homes in the new land then populated by native American tribes. The first immigrants in American history came from England and the Netherlands, some running away from religious and political persecution, some coming as adventurers from the Old World (Europe) to seek a better life, some as indentured servants who had to work for a fixed term for their masters to repay the cross-Atlantic fare and debts.Though immigration had been a familiar aspect of American development throughout the colonial period, the largest immigration movement did not take place until 1815. In the hundred years between 1815 and 1917, no fewer than 30.million people, drawn from every comer of Europe, made their way across the Atlantic. They came in a series of waves, each more powerful than the last.The first of these waves began in the mid 1810s, grew steadily during the 1830s and 40s and reached the highest point in 1845. In the decade of 1820s, the number of arrivals was only 151, 000 but in the 1850s, there was an inflow of over 2.3 million people. In discussing these figures, one should bear in mind the comparative smallness of the American population then. For example, the 3 million who arrived between 1845 and 1854 landed in a country of only about 20 million people, so they represented about 15 % of the total population. English oppression and the Potato Famines of 1845-49 drove 1.5 million Irishmen from their homeland to the United States in the decade of 1845-1854. The second wave covered the period between 1860 and 1890. The third wave, the largest of the three waves, bringing to the United States a total of 15 million immigrants between 1890 and 1914, was drawn very largely from Austria-Hungary, Rumania and Turkey. Italy, Russia, Greece,III. Population Movement Mobility is considered to be one of the characteristics of the American people. It is said that the American people are always on the move - from one part of the country to another, from one city to another, from farm to city, from the city to the suburbs. One in five Americans moves to a new home every year seeking new job opportunity, a better climate or some other goals, Between 1980 and 1989, the South and West of the United States added 8. 9 million people through net migration, that is, through more people moving in from other regions, while the North lost 2. 7 million population as a result of more people moving out of the region.According to American historians and specialists in demography, that is, the study of statistics related to population, there are four great population movements in the history of the United States. The first was between the end of the civil war and 1880 when the west-ward movement came to a halt. In this period, the flow of population. was from the densely- populated east coast to the sparsely-populated west. The second was between 1890 and 1920, a period when the United States realized its industrialization and urbanization. The main feature was the movement of population from the rural areas to cities. The third was from 1920 to 1960 with the 1940s, the war years, as the peak. In this period a large number of black people moved out of the south to other areas. The fourth and the last one so far is from the end of the 1960s till now. In this period, the population, flow is from the Northeast and Central North to the West and the South, that is, to the sunbelt areas. Population in the South increased by 55. 47 % between 1960 and 1990 and population in the west increased by 88.17% in the same period.Another trend which occurs more or less at the same time with the movement to the South and the West is the outflow of city residents from the core cities to the suburbs. This trend brings a number of serious consequences to big cities, namely, the rising unemployment rate, the increase of population beneath the poverty line, the worsening of living conditions and the fall of city government income IV .Racial and Ethnic Minorities1. BlacksThe largest of the racial and ethnic minorities in the U. S. is the blacks who number about 30.9 million, or 12. 1 percent of the population. The first blacks were brought to North America as slaves in 1619. Within a few decades the demand for their cheap labor led to a large and profitable slave trade that brought to North America some 400, 000 Africans in all. For a long period of time they were concentrated in the agricultural South, working on plantations growing cotton and tobacco. Their life was no better than that of cattle. In order to keep the black slaves under control, the slave owners resorted to brutal methods. Uncle Toms Cabin and Roots are two novels giving a vivid description of the miserable life of the black slaves.The slave system was formally ended by Lincolns Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 and the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution in 1865. But even after the abolition of slavery, open or covert, organized or individual discrimination was practiced against black Americans. White and black people were separated in schools, housing, restaurants, sports facilities and other public places. A variety of methods were used to keep the black people from exercising their voting rights.Throughout most of their history in America, the black people put up a lot of resistance. Run-away was one form of resistance in the earlier period. In the 20th century, especially after the Second World War, the struggle of the black Americans began to draw greater attention and changes began to take place. In 1954, the Supreme Court, in the case of Brown versus Board of Education, ruled that separate educational facilities are inherently unequal. This started the slow process towards desegregation, that is, the end of separate public facilities. This process met strong opposition from white racists who sometimes used force to prevent black people from exercising their legal rights. This led to a strong civil rights movement in the 1960s. Riots broke out in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and many other cities. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 added protections for the right to vote, to use public facilities and