VARIOUS demographers and social scientists have been predicting for years that the end of the white majority in the United States is near, and that there will be a majority of minorities. The issue has moved to the center of American political discourse: CNN has broadcasted a special program on the subject; President Clinton has called attention to it in his national dialogue on race relations; and numerous books and articles in recent years have addressed America’s changing demography from vastly different—and frequently antagonistic—perspectives.