“The art of progress is to preserve order amid change and to preserve change amid order.” - Alfred North Whitehead, English mathematician and philosopher
It goes without saying, the Atlanta region is changing. The vast majority of the 20-county Atlanta region’s growth this decade has come from non-whites, according to recent data from the U.S. Census Bureau.
Some 75 percent of all growth since 2000 has come from non-whites, with the African-American population adding the most, followed by Whites, Hispanics and Asians.
Gwinnett County led the region, adding 167,000 non-whites between 2000 and 2006. In fact, Gwinnett captured one-fourth of all the growth in non-whites. This growth includes an increase of 65,000 Hispanics (30% of all Hispanic growth) and 26,000 Asians (37% of all Asian growth).
These trends are expected to continue for the next 50 years and the ramifications of this shift are as exciting as they are challenging. The sheer volume of the region’s expected population growth, mixed with the new diversity this growth will bring, will create an Atlanta region that will be hard to recognize when compared to the region we live in today.
Multi-culturalism will likely permeate every corner of the society, including classrooms. What will the education system look like then?
