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Eth125 Week 9 Capstone Checkpoint

Capstone CheckPoint

• Due Date: Day 4 [Individual] forum

• Post a 200- to 300-word summary that answers all of the following questions:

o What information about race and ethnicity in the United States has helped you better understand or relate to specific minority groups?

o Have you learned something new about your own cultural history?

o Trends in immigration will continue to shape the face of the United States. What will this face look like in the year 2050?

o How can the country best prepare for the changing race and ethnicity of its current and future citizens?

Learning about the social, cultural and economical conditions that affect racial and ethnic minority groups in the United States has helped me better understand the characterizations of these groups. Moreover, everyone was once an immigrant, from my family who arrived here from Germany, to people who arrived here hundreds of years ago from other all over the world. At some point, all of these groups faced struggles with assimilation.

I did learn something interesting about my cultural background in my studies, that German Americans had a strong influence on the labor movement enabling immigrants to improve working conditions and integrate in American society as a whole. Today, German Americans account for 17% of the US population.

The official population estimates now indicate that the Hispanic community is the nation’s largest minority community. It is also anticipated that the growth of racial and ethnic minority groups is set to overtake that of non-Hispanic White populations within the next 45 years. Racial and ethnic minority groups have a much younger median age, and by 2050 will account for nearly 90% of total population growth. The Census Bureau projects that by 2050 there will be 18 million more minorities than non-minorities under age 35. These changes will definitely affect the face of the United States.

To prepare for this cultural shift, learning tolerance and...