A nation of mutts

Make no mistake: America is headed towards a multicultural future.

Ivory tower academics and and liberal media columnists like to paint it in terms of white people versus people of color. Other times, the scenario is dumber down to white folks pitted against immigrants, holding the erroneous notion that all current immigrants are somehow limited to non-whites. Such notions are short- sighted. They fail to take an honest look at the dynamics and history of the immigrant experience, in favor of politicizing race for political advantage.

New York Times columnist David Brooks takes a different approach. Instead everyone divided into categories based on color, he suggests we will become "A Nation of Mutts", and challenges the notions of alliances. Future immigrants who lift themselves by their bootstraps will find more in common with past generations of European-American immigrants than the African-American underclass stuck in the cycle of government assistance. Instead of racial alliances, our future generations of American born kids will mixed to the point where they can't pinpoint one color or ethnicity on Census forms.

Our multicultural future is a good thing. It places the US in a favorable position in the modern world. But it's not about furthering political pet projects. Rather it's about creating a country with a uniquely American sensibility that is attuned to its global roots.