THE EXPANDING FLAG

More than five hundred years after Christopher Columbus landed on the shores of the New World, America is about to be rediscovered. The unprecedented speed and scope of demographic and social change in the United States has turned us all into immigrants in a teeming terra nova that is being reimagined and reinvented in countless ways all around us, transforming the way we see ourselves and each other, and how we work, play, learn, love and dream. In an era of diminished expectations and sagging national confidence, the time has come for a belated but inevitable recognition that the energy and optimism of America's emerging interethnic majority is one of its greatest assets in a socially-networked, culturally-connected world. The reimagining of America also alerts us to how the cultural and economic contributions of Hispanics, African Americans, Asian and other groups are breathing new life into the traditional values of hard work, faith, family and community that bind us all together and provide the underlying strength and durability of our expanding social fabric.

Two unprecedented and interlaced trends are fueling this amazing national journey. The first is a demographic pattern that is both speeding up the tipping point of a multicultural majority and providing the first glimpse of a radically transformed society in which those who identify themselves as multiracial are the fastest-growing U.S. population segment. The other equally important and increasingly visible trend is the fluid, extensive and natural culture exchange that is now taking place within and between different ethnic and racial groups, including CulturEdgesm whites, who are joining together to reimagine interethnic proximity and cohabitation in a variety of metro areas and states.

Hispanics, due to their expanding demographic and economic clout and propensity to mix and merge with others even as they seek to sustain their own cultural moorings, are key players in the reimagining of America. Their shift to a an Ambiculturalsm identity, completely and unapologetically at ease with being both fully American and fully Latino, is upending the traditional linear model of acculturation and putting the final nail in the coffin of the melting pot myth. Hispanics, African Americans, Asians and others are finding their own voice and place in U.S. society and using technology as a both a window and a bridge for social exploration and reimagined forms of family and community.

America is being reimagined by young Millennials, whose racial diversity and reflexively inclusive attitudes are reinforcing social tolerance—and challenging norms and institutions that don't reflect their pan-cultural perspective. It is being reimagined by new paradigms and research tools to deliver a dynamic, eye-opening picture of where Americans have been, where we are now, and where we are collectively going. For example, in the first of a series of America Reimagined Insights, EthniFacts reveals the ethnic makeup of U.S. whites who, contrary to traditional depictions as a homogenized, mono-cultural part of the population, are also surprisingly—and increasingly—diverse.

As the CulturEdgesm continues its march toward irreversible demographic and social transformation, the reaffirmation of basic democratic principles—including the universal right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness—is being advanced simultaneously on multiple fronts: the aspirations of immigrants and minorities seeking to realize their own version of the American dream, the re-population and invigoration of slumping suburbs and cities by entrepreneurial CulturEdgesm settlers, U.S. population growth fueled almost exclusively by people of color, and companies and institutions seeking to better understand the values, motivations and buying behaviors of increasingly empowered and digitally-savvy multicultural consumers. Diversity and democracy have become symbiotic and inextricably linked. Inclusion and innovation go hand in hand. The pioneers of the reimagined American frontier are black, brown, red, yellow and white, gay and straight, female and male. They are plunging ahead with their sleeves rolled up and their eyes on the horizon. When America bets on its own people, everybody wins.