Not sure what you mean here. I see it pretty much as it is: 3 major racial catagories; black, white, and brown (the hispanic kind.) There has been a large Hispanic population in California for the entire 20th century, and they have yet to metamorphize into Italians. They remain distinctly what they are. Hispanics might get “reconstructed” as white, but only if they actually are of more European than Indian ancestry. Traditionally a “quarter breed” (75% white, 25% indian) did get classed as white in the U.S., while that would not have been the case with a person of African descent. However, most “hispanic” immigrants, especially the illegals, are about as “white” as they or their immediate descendents will ever get. Because their numbers in the US are now so large, they mate, marry, and do pretty much everything social, among themselves. They don’t need to find partners outside their race. Something similar is happening to desis. As more are here, more are unlikely to marry non-desis. Whatever trend toward intermarriage with whites there may have been among brown hispanics, it will probably not go farther because they have enough of each other to choose from, and that’s usually easier and more comfortable. Their ancestry is on average 50-75% Indian, their race category, “mestizo”, meaning mixed, but many, especially from El Salvador and Guatamala, are American Indian entirely or nearly; their culture is Latin American and that is how they identify, even after 3 generations. There is nothing new about hispanics in North America. There’s just more of them now.

They will never be categorized as “white” and they would not want to be for any number of reasons. The exceptions might be those hispanics who actually are (more or less) white, such as the Cubans and some of the South Americans.

Italians, Spaniards and Greeks are classed as white because that is what they are for all practical purposes. I’ve been to these countries, the people are Europeans, full stop. There is less difference among them and other Europeans than there is between them and brown hispanics. They have more in common with other Europeans, racially and culturally, than they have in common with Mexicans and El Salavadorans. Catholic schools in some U.S. cities were segregated until the early 60s, but they had no history of banning Italians. About the only thing in which Italians and Greeks resemble Mexicans more than they resemble other Europeans is the bounteous use of garlic and tomatoes in their cuisine, and come to think of it, tomatoes did come from hispanola. They do share a certain kind of food culture, I guess. And religion. Even the Catholic Irish serving in the American army, absconded to Santa Ana during the 1840 war when they saw the Mexicans carrying a virgin Mary icon. Religion can be more of a unifier than some people give it credit for. Most think of it as a divider nowadays.

So what I see happening is a tri-color country, white, black, and brown, with each color having its own “continuum.” Whites in North America were a minority in the 18th century, and much of the 19th. It’s not a totally new thing.

MD

Agreed. In terms of creating ethnic enclaves that “keep the culture alive” I think there is plenty of opportunity to maintain it without continued immigration. You just need to get all the people who moved out into sprawling exurbs into more closely knit communities.

It still bothers me that there isn’t a single decent Indian restaurant or grocer in the DC area that is accessible to people without cars. If we could bring the Desis in from Fairfax and Alexandria we’d have the density to make it viable.

lol hey, how do you think i feel. im a dark desi who’s family is from South America….that means no one ever listens to me. I don’t even think I have a percentage to even to even know I’m technically unemployed lol

yes. latinos also have high outmarriage rates, those born and raised in the USA. half-latinos often don’t even necessary look like swarthy whites! and half-asians often pass as white, or at least are socially accepted as such.

i’d also chill on these causality relations when it comes to economy and immigration. it seems that you have probably inverted the causal relationship, though it is complicated (obviously 1950-1965 wasn’t a period of depression even though immigration was held low by government fiat).

Where have you gone, Senator our nation turns its lonely eyes to you?

Goodnight. Maybe, we should discuss this @ London Sizzler.