The Golden State turns brown

摘要

Populations are fluid, but demography is rigid. The census, which freezes the flow of humanity into categories, creates sharp points and discontinuities in what is really a steady process of change. California is marking, for the most part with pride, one such artificial landmark produced by the 2000 census. Somewhere in the past ten years, the number of Californians who describe themselves as white fell behind the number who describe themselves as something else.