White fear of demographic change is a powerful psychological force
Increasing diversity could make America a more hostile place.
Updated by Brian Resnick@B_resnickbrian@vox.com Jan 28, 2017, 12:30pm EST
In August 2008, the Census Bureau released a
report that predicted a seismic shift in American demographics: By 2050, minorities would make up more than 50 percent of the population and
become the majority.
When Yale psychologist
Jennifer Richeson heard about the report on NPR, she remembers thinking, This is probably freaking somebody out. By somebody, she means white people.
Richesons studies on interracial interactions had taught her that when people are in the majority, the sense of their race is dormant. But the prospect of being in the minority can suddenly make white identity and all the historical privilege that comes with it salient. And, she guessed, the prospect of losing majority status was likely to make people (perhaps unconsciously) uneasy.
In other words, she wondered if white people would read the news of a coming minority majority shift as a threat, a threat powerful enough to change their thoughts and behavior.
In the years since, Richeson has tried to answer this question with a trove of experimental research. What shes found is both unsettling and crucial to understanding politics in the era of President Donald Trump.
more
http://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2017/1/26/14340542/white-fear-trump-psychology-minority-majority