When Forrest Gump said, “Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re going to get,” he could have been referring to any Supreme Court decision handed down since the inaugural court was seated on March 04, 1789. For 234 years, judgments from the nine wise souls have sparked reactions from self-righteous satisfaction through exasperation and rage.

For instance, in 1857, the court decided that Dred Scott could not become a citizen because, as an enslaved person, he was property. Then in the 2010 Citizens United case, the court determined that corporations are people. Go figure.

Recent talking-head news commentary concludes the newest decisions impacting abortion rights, affirmative action, LGBTQ people, and students are full-frontal assaults on minority rights. And there is ample reason to understand these actions as such. The court majority is a cabal of right-wing, wealthy, white (with one notable exception), hypocritical, privileged, privilege-abusing rascals who seem to savor curtailing the freedoms of the marginalized and vulnerable. But change is at hand.

According to the Brookings Institution, an irrepressible demographic shift is occurring in the United States. By the mid-century, the nation will become “minority white.” The study finds that in 2045, whites will make up 49.7% of the population; Hispanics 24.6%; African Americans 13.1%; Asians 7.9%, and multiracial populations 3.8%.

Predicting the cultural and psychological repercussions of such a consequential demographic transition is a roll of the dice. So humility is warranted. But channeling Tupac Shakur, the days of living in a White Man’z World are nearing an end. Minorities of all persuasions will soon assume control of the bridge on Starship USA. And even a Supreme Court decision can’t suppress this inevitability.

Jack Tulloss

Belchertown

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