SOC220 - Final Exam

candi26oc

pt2ch13-ongoingracialandethnicissues.ppt

Home >Social Science homework help >SOC220 - Final Exam

Racial and Ethnic Relations, Ninth Edition Joe R. Feagin • Clairece Booher Feagin

Racial and Ethnic Relations

NINTH EDITION

Chapter

Ongoing Racial and Ethnic

Issues in the United States

Some Final Considerations

Racial and Ethnic Relations, Ninth Edition Joe R. Feagin • Clairece Booher Feagin

Big Picture Questions

How is the commonplace rhetoric about current immigrants similar to that for past immigrants?
How does the changing U.S. demographic situation challenge white Americans’ traditional power and privilege?
Is the United States truly a democracy?

Racial and Ethnic Relations, Ninth Edition Joe R. Feagin • Clairece Booher Feagin

The Changing U.S.

U.S. began as land of great promise for colonists who came from Europe
Currently, U.S. society is undergoing important changes in its racial and ethnic composition
Challenges to white domination of US society
white population will no long be the majority
white power & privilege will continue to be challenged
Ongoing demographic shift is significant
European Americans have not been a statistical minority of the North American population since the 1700s

Racial and Ethnic Relations, Ninth Edition Joe R. Feagin • Clairece Booher Feagin

Some Resist Multiculturalism

Even liberal analysts have expressed variations on strongly negative view of cultural pluralism and multiculturalism
Historian Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.
Wrote about multiculturalism as dominating all levels of education
In his view, this involves
“astonishing repudiation” of “a unifying American identity” and an “assault on the Western tradition” by multicultural “tribalism”

Racial and Ethnic Relations, Ninth Edition Joe R. Feagin • Clairece Booher Feagin

Challenge to
European Dominance

Many analysts see efforts to create a multiracial democracy whose core culture is no longer European as a disturbing challenge to European values and interests and to “European civilization”

Racial and Ethnic Relations, Ninth Edition Joe R. Feagin • Clairece Booher Feagin

A NATION OF IMMIGRANTS

U.S. has always been a nation of immigrants
Recurring immigration is its uniqueness and one of its strengths
European countries have supplied well over half of the 75 million immigrants who have legally entered the U.S. over the 189-year period from 1820 to 2009
Distinctive economic and political conditions in U.S. and sending countries have shaped which countries have supplied immigrants and how many

Racial and Ethnic Relations, Ninth Edition Joe R. Feagin • Clairece Booher Feagin

Immigrants to the U.S., 1820-2009

Austria & Hungary
Germany
Ireland
Italy
Norway & Sweden
Russia

United Kingdom
Canada & Newfoundland
Mexico
China (including Hong Kong & Taiwan)
Philippines

Department of Homeland Security records show that about 75 million immigrants entered the United States during this long period.
Only a small number of countries have sent more than 700,000 people, and listed below are nations from which at least 2 million immigrants have come:

* Data for years prior to 1905 refer to country of origin; data from 1905 to 2005 refer to country of last residence.

Racial and Ethnic Relations, Ninth Edition Joe R. Feagin • Clairece Booher Feagin

Indigenous People and Immigrants

Many indigenous people already present when strangers arrived
Political actions by colonial and US governments long helped determine the character of immigration patterns
In the U.S., leading officials have often used restrictive laws to control migration according to racial-ethnic framing and preferences
Beginning in 1965, openly exclusionary and racist quotas were replaced with general limits on the number of immigrants allowed

Racial and Ethnic Relations, Ninth Edition Joe R. Feagin • Clairece Booher Feagin

1990 Immigration Act

Set official annual limit of all legal immigrants at 675,000
Affected countries from which many people seek to emigrate, such as Asian countries
Contrasted with unlimited immigration allowed before 1910 when potential immigrants were European
Recently, immigration and proposed immigration restrictions have been debated by Congress, public, and media commentators

Racial and Ethnic Relations, Ninth Edition Joe R. Feagin • Clairece Booher Feagin

Mixed Feelings and Misinformation about Immigrants

Most respondents in opinion surveys indicate they feel diverse cultural composition of U.S. is an important asset
Though many respondents of surveys believe that immigrants are taking away U.S. jobs, most research shows that immigrants do not take away more jobs than they create
Over past decade, growing misinformation about and stereotyping of immigrants have seldom been countered by educators and public officials

Racial and Ethnic Relations, Ninth Edition Joe R. Feagin • Clairece Booher Feagin

Future Implications

Some social analysts argue that immigrants make mostly positive contributions to U.S.
Over next half-century, U.S. will likely face shortage of young workers as large numbers of baby boomers (born 1946-1964) retire
The next generation of workers born in the U.S. from the mid-1960s to the mid-1980s is significantly smaller
Workforce will be insufficient to meet heavy demands for public and private services aging population will require

Racial and Ethnic Relations, Ninth Edition Joe R. Feagin • Clairece Booher Feagin

THE MELTING POT

Never been consensus on how new immigrants are to be incorporated into this society
Pressures for cultural assimilation matched by immigrants’ desire to maintain their cultures
Israel Zangwill – The Melting Pot
Optimistic image of crucible that melts many different groups to form “American blend”
Symbolizes mutual adaptation process in which old and new groups blend together on a more or less equal basis

Racial and Ethnic Relations, Ninth Edition Joe R. Feagin • Clairece Booher Feagin

One-way Assimilation

Actual intergroup adaptation has usually involved one-way assimilation and group conflict
Assimilation theorists argue that in practice, the melting pot has diverged greatly from Zangwill’s ideal
Immigrant adaptation typically been in direction of Anglo-conformity as each new group of immigrants has given up much cultural heritage for the dominant culture

Racial and Ethnic Relations, Ninth Edition Joe R. Feagin • Clairece Booher Feagin

MULTICULTURAL AND MULTIRACIAL DEMOCRACY ISSUES

Multiculturalism
The idea that modern societies should include and accept diverse cultural groups with equal social and political status
Cultural Diversity
Acceptance of the variety of societies or cultures that stress importance of respecting many racial and ethnic groups and subcultures contributing to U.S. development, especially non-European groups

Racial and Ethnic Relations, Ninth Edition Joe R. Feagin • Clairece Booher Feagin

Multicultural Resources

Numerous colleges, universities, elementary schools, and secondary schools have developed a few multicultural courses or programs to give voice to racially oppressed people (and sometimes white women)
Some publishers and voluntary organizations made multicultural teaching materials more available to colleges and public schools

Racial and Ethnic Relations, Ninth Edition Joe R. Feagin • Clairece Booher Feagin

Conflict about Multiculturalism

“Strong” version of multiculturalism enthusiastically embraced by numerous scholars and other Americans
Seek a sharp reduction in ideological racism and racial and ethnic discrimination as well as greater respect for various home countries and cultures
Some white analysts view this as an attack on the dominant Euro-American culture
Critics argue that Anglo-conformity still the best assimilation model for non-European groups

Racial and Ethnic Relations, Ninth Edition Joe R. Feagin • Clairece Booher Feagin

The Grand Mosaic

Strong version of multicultural thought suggests U.S. should be viewed as a grand mosaic, not a melting pot
Country that celebrates diversity with egalitarian & social justice language and conceptual framing
Strong multicultural analysts believe that vigorous multiculturalism and diversity programs provide necessary corrective to dominance of Euro-American culture

Racial and Ethnic Relations, Ninth Edition Joe R. Feagin • Clairece Booher Feagin

New Perspectives

Many multicultural studies have encouraged looking at cultures that have been excluded and trying to “study them on their own terms rather than through eyes of the dominant class”
Debates have become heated when they encompass issues of racial and ethnic inequality and white privilege and power
Power-conflict analysts argue the multiculturalism curricula should acquaint all students with perspectives on non-dominant racial and ethnic groups

Racial and Ethnic Relations, Ninth Edition Joe R. Feagin • Clairece Booher Feagin

EQUALITY AND A PLURALISTIC DEMOCRACY

Equality and social justice sought by all subordinate racial and ethnic groups has an ancient heritage
Over the centuries, the conception of who could claim equality and justice has become more inclusive
Between 1800s and 1900s, dramatic economic development brought opportunity and advancement to millions of European immigrants

Racial and Ethnic Relations, Ninth Edition Joe R. Feagin • Clairece Booher Feagin

Real vs. Ideal

Rosy view of U.S. society as long committed to “liberty and justice for all” remains, as always, very inaccurate
Optimistic picture of U.S. equality and freedom glosses over continuing discrimination faced by Americans with roots outside of Europe
Over the course of U.S. history significant improvements have occurred
Still, major problems of continuing racial and ethnic discrimination remain embedded in the informal operation of the U.S.

Racial and Ethnic Relations, Ninth Edition Joe R. Feagin • Clairece Booher Feagin

Racial Discrimination:
The Present Day

1992 marked 500th anniversary of Columbus landing
Celebrations generated protests from many Americans, especially Native Americans, who have worked hard to counter mythical images of beneficent European explorers “discovering” America
Asians struggle with anti-Asian sentiment and discrimination
Latinos/Latinas continue to face problems in securing justice and equality

Racial and Ethnic Relations, Ninth Edition Joe R. Feagin • Clairece Booher Feagin

Remaining Discrimination

African Americans face many great obstacles in securing the equality and justice promised by the American creed
Decades after civil rights laws passed, racial and ethnic discrimination remain very serious and widespread
Many federal and local government agencies and private institutions have backed away from effective programs to counter persisting discrimination

Racial and Ethnic Relations, Ninth Edition Joe R. Feagin • Clairece Booher Feagin

Commonplace Occurrences

Many research studies show that discrimination against African Americans, mainly by white Americans, remains common
Employment, housing, and education
Across the country African Americans and other Americans of color have protested because of continuing frustration and anger over pervasive individual and institutional discrimination

Racial and Ethnic Relations, Ninth Edition Joe R. Feagin • Clairece Booher Feagin

CONCLUSION

Even though U.S. population has grown substantially in recent decades, without immigration many major cities, from which many whites have departed, would have experienced serious population declines
Ongoing population shift from a predominantly white country to one in which no racial or ethnic group has a population majority has significant economic, social, and political implications

Racial and Ethnic Relations, Ninth Edition Joe R. Feagin • Clairece Booher Feagin

Future Issues

By the late 2040s, if not before, demographic forecasts suggest that majority of working Americans will no longer be white
Majority of older retired population will be white
Intergroup debates about and conflict over sociopolitical power, discrimination, diversity, and related public policy issues, such as affirmative action, are likely to increase

Racial and Ethnic Relations, Ninth Edition Joe R. Feagin • Clairece Booher Feagin

The Real American Dream

Ideals of greater racial and ethnic equality and justice have long been part of an authentic American dream and framing of a better society
Roots of that dream lie in many Americans’ aspirations for liberty, human rights, and social justice for over four centuries

Racial and Ethnic Relations, Ninth Edition Joe R. Feagin • Clairece Booher Feagin

Social Movements
Make a Difference

Expansion of human rights, equality, and justice has often resulted from the effective and large-scale organization of racially and ethnically oppressed people and their allies against persisting racial and ethnic oppression