Children of Immigrants Make Headlines

I read different newspapers and blogs every day and it doesn't fail to amaze me how often there are stories about children of immigrants and immigration. It's not always about illegal immigration and "anchor babies." Most often, the stories are about contributions to American life that have been made by people who have come to this country from another place on the globe or about their children, many of whom are now adults and working in a variety of jobs. I see them every day including my hair stylist, my doctor, his assistant, and the list goes on and on.

In the Contra Costa Times reccently, there was an article with the headline, "Quality of Life Fuels Rapid Growth of Immigrants in the East Bay Suburbs." This story was about approximatley nine thousand immigrants who had moved to the California suburb of Antioch from places like Mexico, Central America, the Phillippines, South Asia and West Africa. The article notes, "With about 2,000 Nicaraguan-Americans, about half of them immigrants, Antoioch now boasts Califorian's fifth-largest Nicaraguan community - behind Los Angeles, San Francisco, Daly City and San Jose."

Every American city and its surrounding regional area are mirroring the trend of what this country's history portrays - immigrants and their children living here and trying to make better lives for themselves while also contributing to the United States.

I never tire of reading these kinds of articles because the numbers reveal the changing face of this country and because they focus on people who often work hard as they try to fufill their own Amercian dreams. Many succeed and we all benefit from that.

CNN Anchor's Book about News and Race #2 NY Times List

As I read about CNN reporter Soledad O'Brien's book, THE NEXT BIG STORY, I learn that she is the daughter of a black Cuban mother and a white Australian father. That fact has played an important, and sometimes difficult part, in her life as a child and as an adult. According to NY Times book review Azadeh Moaveni, "Both these themes - her roots and her looks - run through O'Brien's memoir...as she charts her lifelong effort to forge a singular identity out of her biracial background."

Times have certainly changed since O'Brien's parents' marriage was banned in Maryland and they chose to exchange vows in Washington.

However, it's clear she works hard to spread the concepts of understanding and acceptance in programs she does like "Latino in America" and the documentary "Black in America."

O'Brien mentions in her memoir that some wondered if she was "black enough" to be the right one to be the documentary reporter.

Her frustration about comments like that comes through in the book, which also has a major focus on her past 22 years in the TV news business.

As #2 on the NY Times bestsellers list, it's clear O'Brien's book is drawing readers in a big way.

More Young Americans Identify As Mixed-Race

That's the headline from a recent New York Times article and so is this: "The country is in the midst of a demographic shift driven by immigration and intermarriage."

The article cited very telling statistics from a Pew Research Center study that showed that one in seven new marraiges is between people of different races and different ethniticites. They're among of this country's fastest growing demographic group and they fall into the category of multiracial and mutliethnic Americans.

Expect more of these kind of statistics and conclusions when the 2010 census is released next month.