Americans are under the spell of a distorted and polarizing story about their country鈥檚 future鈥攖he majority-minority narrative鈥攚hich contends that inevitable demographic changes will create a society with a majority made up of minorities for the first time in the United States鈥檚 history. The Great Demographic Illusion reveals that this narrative obscures a more transformative development: the rising numbers of young Americans from ethno-racially mixed families, consisting of one white and one nonwhite parent. Examining the unprecedented significance of mixed parentage in the twenty-first-century United States, Richard Alba looks at how young Americans with this background will play pivotal roles in the country鈥檚 demographic future.
Assembling a vast body of evidence, Alba explores where individuals of mixed parentage fit in American society. Most participate in and reshape the mainstream, as seen in their high levels of integration into social milieus that were previously white dominated. Yet, racism is evident in the very different experiences of individuals with black-white heritage. Alba鈥檚 portrait squares in key ways with the history of immigrant-group assimilation, and indicates that, once again, mainstream American society is expanding and becoming more inclusive.
Nevertheless, there are also major limitations to mainstream expansion today, especially in its more modest magnitude and selective nature, which hinder the participation of black Americans and some other people of color. Alba calls for social policies to further open up the mainstream by correcting the restrictions imposed by intensifying economic inequality, shape-shifting racism, and the impaired legal status of many immigrant families.
Countering rigid demographic beliefs and predictions, The Great Demographic Illusion offers a new way of understanding American society and its coming transformation.
Awards and Recognition
- Winner of the Otis Dudley Duncan Award, Section on Population of the American Sociological Association
"A heartening, wise, and profoundly important counternarrative to hysteria."鈥�Kirkus Reviews
"Alba writes with an admirable absence of jargon. His data-driven but fully accessible work advances an original and important idea that, if correct, will have major societal consequences."鈥�Foreign Affairs
"Required reading for everyone who comments or writes on American elections."鈥擬orris Fiorina, Real Clear Politics
"A book that American politicians should read. . . . Excellent policy proposals."鈥擲uzanne Model, Ethnic and Racial Studies
"An extremely important book. . . . Alba uses a wealth of data and a rigorous historical lens to systematically dismantle this 鈥済reat demographic illusion,鈥� which is fueling populist backlash and political division."鈥擡ric Kaufmann, American Journal of Sociology
"Clearly rooted in sociology and does include data and tables, this is a productive and enlightening read even for those who teach and do research in literary and cultural studies."鈥擩ulia Sattler, Amerikastudien/American Studies
"Through his masterful marshaling of demographic data, sociological theory, and historical fact, Alba demolishes the idea of a coming white minority in the United States. The Great Demographic Illusion offers a strong caution against using the racial and ethnic categories of today to interpret the future, and provides a welcome dose of demographic reality to those who fear and celebrate the compositional changes under way in American society."鈥擠ouglas S. Massey, coauthor of Climbing Mount Laurel
"This provocative and optimistic book argues that the United States is not in the midst of a great transformation to a majority-minority society. Instead we are experiencing a redrawing of ethnic and racial boundaries as intermarriage creates a new inclusive, societal majority. An urgent reply to the manipulation of demography by politicians trying to inspire fear, The Great Demographic Illusion is a beautifully crafted reaffirmation of the best of American history and values."鈥擬ary C. Waters, coauthor of Inheriting the City
"The Great Demographic Illusion should be essential reading for anyone who wants to understand how America is changing鈥攁nd why the dominant narrative of an inevitable majority-minority America is mistaken."鈥擯aul Starr, Pulitzer Prize鈥搘inning sociologist and author of Entrenchment
"In 2015, the U.S. Census Bureau announced that white Americans will become a minority by 2044. For white nationalists, this projection poses a threat to racial and cultural dominance. For progressive Democrats, it points to inevitable political triumph. Alba shows that neither frame is correct鈥攄emographic diversity is not destiny. The Great Demographic Illusion should be required reading for all who wish to understand the future of ethno-racial relations in an ever-changing America."鈥擩ennifer Lee, author of The Asian American Achievement Paradox
"The Great Demographic Illusion documents, beyond argument, that the majority-minority narrative is wrong鈥攊t ignores assimilation. The era of the melting pot expanded the mainstream to include Polish Jews and Irish Catholics, and today鈥檚 era of racial mixture further expands it. Alba shows how through assimilation America continues to thrive."鈥擪enneth Prewitt, author of What Is 鈥淵our鈥� Race?
"Drilling well below the surface of mixed reactions to the majority-minority narrative, The Great Demographic Illusion reveals what the demographic destiny of the United States looks like, and what it means for the nation. Drawing on a rich theoretical tool kit and illuminating data, this book is a must-read for anyone who hopes to understand where the country is now and where it is headed in the future."鈥擳om谩s R. Jim茅nez, author of The Other Side of Assimilation
"The Great Demographic Illusion tackles a crucial, central theme underlying racial debates in America, namely the presumption of a durable binary division between white and nonwhite in American culture and politics. Building his arguments around the rapidly growing group of people who are of mixed parentage, Alba addresses the majority-minority question in a serious way. It is time for an updated thinking about race, and in this regard, this is a landmark book."鈥擠owell Myers, University of Southern California
"Examining issues of broad concern, The Great Demographic Illusion challenges the idea of an inevitable majority-minority society, shows the significance of the growth in the number of people of mixed origins, and describes the likely emergence of a new multiracial mainstream. An innovative, insightful account of the assimilation process today, this is an outstanding book with much to offer."鈥擩ohn Iceland, Pennsylvania State University
