Customer Reviews

Who We Are Now: The Changing Face of America in the 21st Century

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Imagine the daunting task of taking the raw data from the 2000 U.S. census and trying to make sense of it all? "Who We Are Now" is author Sam Roberts heroic attempt to do just that. In fact, Roberts, a veteran New York Times journalist wrote just such a book a decade ago based on the 1990 census. I did not read that one but I must warn you that I found getting through the sequel to be a bit tedious at times. There are simply too many statistics for the average reader to process. I often became confused and as a result I lost interest in the points the author was attempting to convey.

Having said that, the reader is still likely to come away from this book with a better understanding of who we are as a people and of the emerging trends in the country. You'll learn how the racial and ethnic composition of the nation is undergoing dramatic changes, where our citizens are moving to and from and what the consequences might be of our aging population. But at the end of the day I think I would prefer to read about such issues in books primarily devoted to those topics. And while I commend Sam Roberts for his attempt, in my judgement "Who We Are Now" is far more appropriate as a research volume for scholars than a book one would read from cover to cover.

This research is based on the 2000 census. It shows a very profound change from the 1990 census, after which this writer presented his version of WHAT WE ARE. It was a hard decade for most of us as the world continues to change and take us with it.

In 1950, only ten percent of the population of the United States was non-white. Today, one in four Americans are black, Hispanic, or Asian. No country is home to more foreigners than the U.S. We now have people here from Ukraine, India, even the Middle East.

In the 19th century, we invented the telegraph, telephones, and electric lights. Then came radio, t.v., airplanes, automobiles, and the atom bomb. Along, came immigrants in droves. After WWII, the Japanese were given entry as we rebuilt their country. For half a century, this country absorbed immigrants from every corner of Europe.

The United States was 40% of the world's population in 2000 in every way. India has four times the population of U.S. but fewer people age 80 or older. By 2011, the number of elderly will increase dramatically as the 'baby boomers' turn 65.

By 2025, the population is projected to grow by 23%. In 2040, if no catastrophe overtakes us, Americans may outnumber western Europeans. In 2050, the proportion of old people will have doubled. By 2100, nonwhites and Hispanics are projected to make up 60% of the U.S. population.

H. G. Wells wrote, "the race between education and catastrophe is far from over." How the 21st century is determined by numbers but also by the vagaries of human nature.

Sam Roberts wrote THE UNTOLD STORY OF THE ROSENBERG CASE, is host of a daily t.v. interview show in New York City, and has been reporter, journalist, and an editor of the New York Times since 1983. He includes a bibliography, multiple charts, and extensive index to show the factual material he uses.