Challenges of the Ethnic Millennium
by Russell Begaye, Facilitator
Ethnic Network, Mission America
In the early history of the United States, immigrants came for religious freedom and an opportunity to build without governmental interventions. These early European ethnic groups built on European culture to create a new nation that catered to their needs.
The cultural distinctives of other ethnic groups that followed were largely ignored, including that of the people native to this land. Up to the middle of this century, the dominant culture could ignore these ethnic groups and view this country as homogenous, though it never was. But these groups can no longer be ignored.
We are caught up in a powerful culture shift, the dawning of the "Ethnic Millennium." In the past twenty years we have moved from Ozzie and Harriet to the Cosbys,
from Walter Cronkite to Connie Chung,
from Chevrolet to Honda,
from Arnold Palmer to Tiger Woods.
The change is reflected in our "All-American diet." In addition to the classic burger and fries, McDonald's now offers burritos for breakfast, sushi for lunch, and Szechuan chicken for dinner.
Today salsa outsells ketchup by $40 million annually in the U.S. market. The torilla chip is now consumed by 60 percent of all U.S. households.
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