Racial and Ethnic Relations in America

Racial and Ethnic Relations in Americauses a multidisciplinary approach, drawing on sociology, history, psychology, and other social sciences to focus on the factors that contribute to the merger or separation of different racial and ethnic groups in the U.S.The authors present historical information and contemporary examples of the largest ethnic and minority groups in the United States. They analyze the strengths and weaknesses of the assimilation model in explaining how various racial and ethnic groups have been incorporated (or not) into U.S. society. Focusing on interracial and interethnic relations in the U.S., the authors give a sociological analysis of inter-group processes and the history of the interactions of racial and ethnic groups. Organized thematically rather than chronologically, the text illuminates the main racial and ethnic dilemmas faced in America.New to the Seventh Edition: As a response to the growing Asian population in the United States over the past four decades, the authors expand their extensive coverage to include an additional chapter on Asian Americans (Ch. 12) that discusses Chinese, Asian, Indian, Korean, and Filipino Americans. Increases focus on global conflict and refugees to include both Vietnamese and Arab Americans. New "Discussion Questions" at the end of each chapter are intended to stimulate open discussion and debate and engage readers with the issues at hand regarding racial and ethnic relations. Further emphasizes divisions between whites and non-whites, whites as an ethnic group, Puerto Ricans as an example of a colonized group, and racial and ethnic relations in other countries. Updates the material on assimilation theory with current studies, such as the social construction of ethnic identity and the emergence of whiteness as an ethnic group. In addition, perspectives from other theories, such as contact theory, dual labor markets, segmented assimilation, and pan-ethnic identity are discussed.McLemore, S. Dale is the author of 'Racial and Ethnic Relations in America', published 2004 under ISBN 9780205381975 and ISBN 0205381979.