‘America’ has always been multicultural. From the indigenous peoples, to the English, Africans, Chinese, and others, America’s colors have always given it a hue much more ‘tan’ than ‘white’. However, over the centuries, the imposition of a hierarchy of ‘colors’ has privileged white over others. The effect has been that any color other than ‘white’ has been deemed less than.
This was not always the case in the Americas. In truth, Africans had been in the Americas long before the English and the other Europeans. In the groundbreaking book, They Came Before Columbus: The African Presence in Ancient America published in 1976, the late scholar Ivan van Sertima made a compelling case for the African pre
The United States of America we know now has two enduring characteristics: being multicultural; and as a home to immigrants from across the globe. Starting with the First Nations who were always here, peoples have come from all over the world. Putting some dates to this, we recall the British in 1585 in present day North Carolina; 1607 in Virginia; 1619 with the first Africans through Cape (Point) Comfort and Jamestown, Virginia; and 1620 with the Mayflower with the Pilgrims in the Plymouth Colony.
The concept of E Pluribus Unum, (From Many, One) was the idea to create the new paradise. In time, however, the plan in practice became "From Many, One of Many” where a cultural hierarchy was constructed to undergird the slave economy. The English became the ‘One of many’; the privileged, the norm, the standard, the majority. Everyone else was less.
Over time, however, for many reasons, the issue of numbers began to foreshadow a moment when profound changes would come. The other cultures kept adding to their numbers; it was starting to become clear that soon, America’s demographics would change.
In the last few years, it has been clear that while one in four Americans traced their descendants to Europe, in a few short decades three in four Americans will trace their ancestry to Africa, Latin America and Asia.
In short, the browning of America is nigh! And given the cultural narrative established by the ‘color’ hierarchy, a profound change was gonna come. And that this change, among other changes, would upend the very nature of America: its traditional historical narratives; its culture; and its ethos.
AXIOS reported in 2019:
“The slow demographic shifts we've watched over decades will finally reach a tipping point in the 2040s. They'll transform what America looks like, where we live and what we fear.
What we will look like: We'll be older and less white in the 2040s.
Only 45% of 30-year-olds will be non-Hispanic whites in 2040. And minorities will become the majority in the U.S. by 2045, according to Census projections.”
A dose of reality hit America in 2008 when Barack Obama, an American of African descent, was elected President! He served two terms, and suddenly, the idea of the ‘browning’ became less academic and more visible. One could literally see it from the top down! How will America react? How will the world react? We already know how the world felt—and feels--about Obama: it welcomed him! Why? Because it is the world! MJ and Lionel did not know it then, but they were quite prophetic with their 1985 hit, “We are the World”!
Did the 2016 election of an openly anti-immigrant, anti-multicure president immediately after Obama provide an answer? Partly. Yes! Where are we now? How will we respond?
We know this: the future of America was always present in its past. We chose to create a different reality. Now, we must embrace it with all that it will entail.
We may have to call this the ‘COVID-19-George Floyd Legacy!
© Akwasi Osei, 2020
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