Are two Americas emerging?

Distribution patterns of whites and minorities in the United States are analyzed using data from the 1980 and 1990 censuses. "These data show that the distribution of U.S. whites across geographic regions and metro areas is becoming increasingly dissimilar to that of faster-growing minorities.... Minority gains are most heavily concentrated in the rapidly growing West region and in large metropolitan areas.... Minority growth was more than seven times that of whites and helped drive up the national growth rate to 9.8 percent.... Growth rates for whites are much slower. Whites are more heavily concentrated in the North, in smaller metros and in nonmetropolitan areas, and in suburban rings." excerpt