Over the past couple of years - and during Barack Obama's run for President - there was a lot of hysteria around the country in respect to the issue of race and numbers.
Some lamented that an influx of illegal immigrants was flooding these shores with a glut of Latinos - drawing on and draining vital Health Services and public resources (welfare benefits) - which the country could ill afford.
In other quarters racial tensions grew - because Barack Obama's bid for the Presidency appeared to signal to some a thrust for supremacy among Afro-Americans - anxious to overthrow the wrinkly old-white-men who've been in power for the last two hundred years.
On the heels on this, the Census Bureau announced that based on the numbers they crunched lately (gleened from recent polls around the Nation) that the white majority will continue to prevail until at least the year 2050.
Did I hear a collective sigh of relief from Caucasians around the country?
The Census Bureau attributed the trend to the recent financial melt-down - and post September 11th immigration enforcement - to the slowing of growth of minority groups in the U.S.
During the course of the research census bureau staff determined that a prediction that the poplulation in the U.S. would reach 400 million by 2039 was unrealistic (especially if the patterns of migration continue along the same lines).
Surprisingly, the U.S. population stands at 308 million - of which - two-thirds are non-Hispanic whites.
According to John Pitkin - a demographic researcher - the latest findings underscore the potency of immigration reform.
"If immigration contines to slow, planning and education would be seriously affected," he noted for the record.
"The flow of immigration makes it more difficult to finance social security. It does slow down the economy a bit."
"In terms of thinking of the U.S. and what kind of country it is, it's important to realize that its racial and ethnic composition is changing," added D'Vera Cohn of the Pew Research Center.
"It's hard to say if the lower immigration flow will become the new normal."
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