Behold, the most incendiary statistic in America: the Census Bureau’s projection of when whites will become a minority in what last century was ‘their own’ country. (In only 1980, 80 per cent of Americans were white. Mind, where the US leads, Europe often follows.) When in 2008 that red-letter date moved up to 2042, notes California demographer Dowell Myers: ‘People went crazy.’
After decades of progressive lobbying for multicultural inclusion, the startling proximity of this demographic tipping point is enticing a certain brand of activist to embrace the rhetoric of replacement instead. Evident during the midterms, this new approach to the melting pot is militant. If I may paraphrase: ‘Move over. You white people have had your day, and now we’re taking over. You’re all old, and you’re dying out. We’re outnumbering you, so this is our hang now. We’re going to remember that you treated us like crap, too, and the miserable handful of you white people left will be sorry.’
The language of demographic conquest has obvious appeal. At last, no more begging for equal opportunity. Isn’t triumph more gratifying than entreaty? The plan: subjugate mainstream culture, and then supplant it. If and when the power dynamic flips, the perceived arrogance of historical white domination would logically invite payback.
Looking to 2020, the younger, more radical wing of the Democratic party might reconsider this strategy, however tempting the rhetoric of unapologetic demographic takeover. First off, it’s jumping the gun. Minorities are still regionally concentrated. More than 60 per cent of the country is still white, and 69 per cent of the electorate is white. Tell all these people that they’re yesterday’s news and you’re looking forward to their being dead? You lose.
Worse, the victorious brandishing of the tipping-point invites political backlash.
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