Race and Ethnicity in the United States, Essay Example

Race and Ethnicity in the United States is an issue that is attributed to a continuous trend of immigration from Asian as well as Latin American countries. This has been a conspicuous trend in recent past decades whose consequences has been reshaping the United States race along with ethnic relations to a profound degree bearing in mind that United States is the premier immigrant state on a global context. In the course of analyzing race and ethnicity in the United States, it is imperative to account for ethnic diversity arising from immigration.  Additionally, reasons behind immigration, political, social as well as economic impacts associated with immigration are worth consideration (Tsuda, 2009).

United States has been dramatically transformed by the influx of immigrants and consequently it has grown in to a multi-ethnic society. Ethnic and racial diversity has therefore been a remarkable feature of the US which is manifested by indicators of ethnic as well as racial makers. The obvious makers in this regard include residential segregation as well as intermarriages. There are indications of improvements in the inter-relations amongst diverse ethnic and racial groups in the United States.

Favorable progress in race and ethnicity in the United States is indicated by the rise in the employment rates of women, emergence of ‘new’ immigration and ‘hourglass’ employment structure, proliferation of ‘Baby Boom’ and an ever escalating racial along with ethnic diversity. The basis of diversity is continuous immigration which consequently has brought about economic inequality together with increased longevity.

The appreciable trends have significantly influenced other nations such as Australia which have appreciated the contribution of immigration as a vital instrument in as far as policy is concerned. This is specifically important in consideration of its role as an antidote of implications associated with aging population especially with regard to developed nations. It is however important to appreciate the fact that, immigration in isolation is incapable of restoration of age structure to the initial balance. Its contribution is seen in the perspective of compensating for the shifts in ages which is a common feature in many countries (Tsuda, 2009).

Irrespective of the nature of immigration, illegal or legal, dramatic transformations has been experienced in race and ethnicity in the United States leading to a shift in its composition from a biracial society of minority black and majority white to a huge multi-ethnic society comprising a variety of ethnic as well as racial groups. The legitimate in addition to the unauthorized immigration of people in to this country since the time of WW2 have contributed to significant changes in the societal composition of the US. Unauthorized immigration has taken the form of refugees as well as asylees together with other people on temporary admission using non-immigrant visas in the United States who have made considerable contribution towards the proliferation of ethnic along with racial diversity in America (Tsuda, 2009).

As the WW2 came to an end, over 3 million refugees together with asylees were accorded legal status of residence in the United States on permanent basis by the government. Diversity has been fruitful to the Americans to the extent that other countries with low fertility rates have seen the need for promoting immigration as a mitigation step of the effects associated with shrinking populations in their countries. Equally important is consideration of involvement of non white individuals in immigration because declining fertility has been associated with the white people.

Works cited

Tsuda, Takeyuki . Immigration and Ethnic Relations in the U.S. Stanford University Press, 2009.