On National Geographic's Prediction for 2050

Zak Cheney-Rice, writing for PolicyMic, responds to National Geographic's October 2013 cover story "The Changing Face of America: We've become a country where race is no longer so black or white."

"These are obviously not Photoshopped projections, but real people, meaning tomorrow's America lives among us now in every 'Blackanese,' 'Filatino,' 'Chicanese' and 'Korgentinian' you meet at the DMV, grocery store or wherever it is you hang out.

Their numbers will only grow. The U.S. Census Bureau let respondents check more than one race for the first time in 2000, and 6.8 million people did so. By 2010 that figure had increased to nearly 9 million, a spike of about 32%.

This is certainly encouraging, but there are obvious flaws with tracking racial population growth through a survey that lets people self-identify, especially since so many familial, cultural and even geographical factors influence your decision to claim one or multiple races. Complicating things further is the definition of race itself: It has no basis in biology, yet its constructions, functions and mythologies irrevocably shape the world as we know it.

So is an end approaching? Will increased racial mixing finally and permanently redefine how we imagine our racial identities?"

Read full article here.