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Questions 1 to 5 are based on an interview. At the end of the interview you will be given 10 seconds to answer each of the following five questions.
W: The word "diversity" has become a cliché in the United States today. It seems to me that nowadays Americans cannot turn on the television or read a newspaper without seeing the word pop up somewhere as a description of American demographic. Then what is this diversity in the U.S.? Today we are very pleased to have Dr. James Johnson here on our talk show. Welcome, Dr. Johnson.
M: Thanks.
W: Dr. Johnson, we know you have done an extensive research on diversity.So what is...how do you define diversity in the American context?
M: Well, at one time, the U.S. was called "a melting pot", you know, which means that people of many different religions, cultures and races could shad their traditional cultural identities and blend into one homogeneous nation. W: Am I right in saying that a melting pot will emphasize the idea of all in one or being the same? M: Yes, you may say so. Umm, of course, when the phrase "melting pot" was popular, there was also the idea of being different. But being different then simply meant Catholic as opposed to Protestant, or Irish as opposed to Swedish or Italian.
W: Has the idea of being different changed over the years?
M: Yes, of course. You see today we use the word "diversity" to refer to more visible ethnic differences, Asian American, African American and Latino, for instance. And religious diversity refers to a variety of world religions, not merely different branches of Christianity.
W: And now is America as a whole truly diverse?
M: Well, I think, in all this talk of diversity, there is a critical point that may be missed. That is, diversity is not occurring everywhere in the U.S., or at least not to a degree that would alter the demography of every region in the country.
W: Oh, really?
M: I can give you an example. Recently, a New York Times' article describes the town of Selinsgrove in Pennsylvania. You see, in the last ten years, things have barely changed in that town. The population has dropped by one from 5,384 to 5,383, and the town remains virtually 100% white. The article thus concludes that many portions of the country remain like Selinsgrove virtually unchanged on this march towards diversity.
W: So regions vary in terms of the degree and types of diversity.
M: That's correct. Let's see, there are 3 types of diversity in the U.S. and they differ from region to region.
W: Could you elaborate on that?
M: OK. The first is the racial diversity. States with the most racially diverse populations stand and start contrast to those with the least racially diverse populations.Umm, let's look at two states, California and Maine. From 1990 to 2000, California's Caucasian population, mainly non-Hispanic whites declined from 57% to 48%. By 2025 as it is predicted, that figure will drop to just 34%, which indicates a future change in a racial composition of California. On the contrary, Maine's Caucasian population was 98% of its total population to around the 1990s. And by 2025, Maine's population will still be 97% Caucasian, which means virtually no change in Maine's racial diversity over the next 20 or so years.
W: This shows that racial diversity is not occurring everywhere. Then what about other types of diversity?
M: Right. The second type of diversity is age diversity. And there're some interesting age gaps developing between states. For example, there is a large gap between the average age of the 5 states with the youngest populations, and the 5 states with the oldest populations. This of course is well known. What is less discussed is the difference between the racial make up of the younger and older populations. Most of the populations having the greatest racial diversity are younger on average than the populations with critic Caucasian representation. It is also well known that Caucasians tend to be more affluent than other ethnic groups on average. In our pay-as-you-go social security system, workers are taxed to pay the benefit to retirees. So this could lead to a future, while world systematically redistributed from younger poor minorities, to older wealthier whites.
W: This is a very interesting point. Then what is the third type of diversity in the U.S.?
M: The third is religious diversity. Immigration from India, Pakistan and Mid-east brought radically increasing numbers of Hindus and Muslims to the US. And Chinese, Vietnamese, Japanese and other Asian immigrants increase the numbers of Buddhists.
W: Oh, I see.
M: But the point is that these religions didn't settle everywhere. They settled mainly in California and major in northeastern and mid-western cities, such as New York, Philadelphia, Chicago and Minneapolis. From 1990 to 2000, the number of Muslims in New York City grew from 600,000 to nearly one million. In the Los Angles area, there are now more than 300 Buddhists temples.
W: So we see that many parts of the U.S.are truly becoming more diverse, while at the same time, others are centrally remaining the same in terms of race, age and religion.
M: Yes, that is true.
W: Ok, Dr. Johnson, Thank you very much for coming on the show and talking to us.
M: My pleasure.
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