In The Changing Nature of Racial and Ethnic Conflict in United States History, Leslie Tischauser examines racial and ethnic violence throughout the history of the United States, from the arrival of Christopher Columbus, to the presidency of George W. Bush. Tischauser focuses on racial and ethnic violence independent of other historical themes. His aim is to provide discussion of an issue that many are normally reluctant to talk about- race and its impact on the development of American society. Many ethnic and racial groups are included in this study, from Native Americans, Spaniards, Hispanics, Aleuts, Asians, and Africans to Germans, Scotch-Irish, Irish, French Canadians and other European immigrants. According to Tischauser, viewing history from the point of view of what happened to these groups, over time, forces us to rethink the story of the American past, and what we think we know.
A broad examination of the rise of nationalism, populism, xenophobia, and racism throughout the world The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Race, Ethnicity, and Nationalism provides expert insight into the complex, interconnected factors that are influencing patterns of human relations worldwide in a time of rising populist nationalism, intensified racial and religious tensions, and mounting hostilities towards immigrants and minorities. Analyzing the underlying forces which continue to drive global trends, this volume examines contemporary patterns based on the most recent evidence spanning five continents—offering a diversity of interpretations, models and perspectives that address the challenges facing the study of race, ethnicity, and nationalism. The Companion features original contributions by both established experts and emerging scholars that explore an expansive range of theoretical, historical, and empirical case studies. Organized into five sections, the text first discusses growing trends in the United States, the significance of populism in major societies around the globe, and how global changes are influencing regional variations in race, ethnicity, and nationalism. An investigation of global migration patterns is followed by examination of conflict and violence, from urban riots and boundary disputes to warfare and genocide. The final section focuses on the policy debates resulting from changing patterns and their impact on politics, the economy, and society. Timely and highly relevant, this book: Discusses contemporary issues such as the failure of school systems to provide equal opportunities to minorities, the evolution of the School-to-Prison pipeline, and the Black Lives Matter movement Explores shifts in American race relations, the influence of social media and the internet, and the links between increased globalization and contemporary forms of nationalism, racism, and populism Features essays on national and ethnic identity in China, Japan, and South Korea, India, Central Asia, Africa, Latin America, and Europe Analyzes policies regarding borders, immigration, refugees, and human rights in different countries and regions Offers perspectives on the radicalization of social movements, the creation of ethnic, linguistic and other boundaries between groups, and the models used to understand intractable conflicts in many global settings The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Race, Ethnicity, and Nationalism is an indispensable resource for scholars, researchers, instructors, and students across the social sciences, including sociology, political science, global affairs, economics, comparative race and ethnic relations, international migration, social change, and sociological theory.
Immigration is one of the driving forces behind social change in the United States, continually reshaping the way Americans think about race and ethnicity. How have various racial and ethnic groups—including immigrants from around the globe, indigenous racial minorities, and African Americans—related to each other both historically and today? How have these groups been formed and transformed in the context of the continuous influx of new arrivals to this country? In Not Just Black and White, editors Nancy Foner and George M. Fredrickson bring together a distinguished group of social scientists and historians to consider the relationship between immigration and the ways in which concepts of race and ethnicity have evolved in the United States from the end of the nineteenth century to the present. Not Just Black and White opens with an examination of historical and theoretical perspectives on race and ethnicity. The late John Higham, in the last scholarly contribution of his distinguished career, defines ethnicity broadly as a sense of community based on shared historical memories, using this concept to shed new light on the main contours of American history. The volume also considers the shifting role of state policy with regard to the construction of race and ethnicity. Former U.S. census director Kenneth Prewitt provides a definitive account of how racial and ethnic classifications in the census developed over time and how they operate today. Other contributors address the concept of panethnicity in relation to whites, Latinos, and Asian Americans, and explore socioeconomic trends that have affected, and continue to affect, the development of ethno-racial identities and relations. Joel Perlmann and Mary Waters offer a revealing comparison of patterns of intermarriage among ethnic groups in the early twentieth century and those today. The book concludes with a look at the nature of intergroup relations, both past and present, with special emphasis on how America's principal non-immigrant minority—African Americans—fits into this mosaic. With its attention to contemporary and historical scholarship, Not Just Black and White provides a wealth of new insights about immigration, race, and ethnicity that are fundamental to our understanding of how American society has developed thus far, and what it may look like in the future.
As the population of older Americans grows, it is becoming more racially and ethnically diverse. Differences in health by racial and ethnic status could be increasingly consequential for health policy and programs. Such differences are not simply a matter of education or ability to pay for health care. For instance, Asian Americans and Hispanics appear to be in better health, on a number of indicators, than White Americans, despite, on average, lower socioeconomic status. The reasons are complex, including possible roles for such factors as selective migration, risk behaviors, exposure to various stressors, patient attitudes, and geographic variation in health care. This volume, produced by a multidisciplinary panel, considers such possible explanations for racial and ethnic health differentials within an integrated framework. It provides a concise summary of available research and lays out a research agenda to address the many uncertainties in current knowledge. It recommends, for instance, looking at health differentials across the life course and deciphering the links between factors presumably producing differentials and biopsychosocial mechanisms that lead to impaired health.
In the United States, some populations suffer from far greater disparities in health than others. Those disparities are caused not only by fundamental differences in health status across segments of the population, but also because of inequities in factors that impact health status, so-called determinants of health. Only part of an individual's health status depends on his or her behavior and choice; community-wide problems like poverty, unemployment, poor education, inadequate housing, poor public transportation, interpersonal violence, and decaying neighborhoods also contribute to health inequities, as well as the historic and ongoing interplay of structures, policies, and norms that shape lives. When these factors are not optimal in a community, it does not mean they are intractable: such inequities can be mitigated by social policies that can shape health in powerful ways. Communities in Action: Pathways to Health Equity seeks to delineate the causes of and the solutions to health inequities in the United States. This report focuses on what communities can do to promote health equity, what actions are needed by the many and varied stakeholders that are part of communities or support them, as well as the root causes and structural barriers that need to be overcome.
Racial and ethnic disparities in health care are known to reflect access to care and other issues that arise from differing socioeconomic conditions. There is, however, increasing evidence that even after such differences are accounted for, race and ethnicity remain significant predictors of the quality of health care received. In Unequal Treatment, a panel of experts documents this evidence and explores how persons of color experience the health care environment. The book examines how disparities in treatment may arise in health care systems and looks at aspects of the clinical encounter that may contribute to such disparities. Patients' and providers' attitudes, expectations, and behavior are analyzed. How to intervene? Unequal Treatment offers recommendations for improvements in medical care financing, allocation of care, availability of language translation, community-based care, and other arenas. The committee highlights the potential of cross-cultural education to improve provider-patient communication and offers a detailed look at how to integrate cross-cultural learning within the health professions. The book concludes with recommendations for data collection and research initiatives. Unequal Treatment will be vitally important to health care policymakers, administrators, providers, educators, and students as well as advocates for people of color.
In their later years, Americans of different racial and ethnic backgrounds are not in equally good-or equally poor-health. There is wide variation, but on average older Whites are healthier than older Blacks and tend to outlive them. But Whites tend to be in poorer health than Hispanics and Asian Americans. This volume documents the differentials and considers possible explanations. Selection processes play a role: selective migration, for instance, or selective survival to advanced ages. Health differentials originate early in life, possibly even before birth, and are affected by events and experiences throughout the life course. Differences in socioeconomic status, risk behavior, social relations, and health care all play a role. Separate chapters consider the contribution of such factors and the biopsychosocial mechanisms that link them to health. This volume provides the empirical evidence for the research agenda provided in the separate report of the Panel on Race, Ethnicity, and Health in Later Life.
"If everyone is against racism now, why does awareness of race have such a deep, if hidden, hold on our consciousness, institutions, and politics? Why does racial thinking still have such a profound impact on the life chances of blacks and whites? The Changing Face of Race is a sociohistorical study of the dynamics of the American black-white racial situation, especially since World War II."--Publisher's website.
In this timely book Milton J. Esman surveys a recurrent and seemingly intractable factor in the politics of nations: ethnicity. As the author notes, virtually no contemporary nation-state is ethnically homogeneous. Most address the political effects of domestic ethnic difference, and many fail in the attempt—with devastatingly violent results.Esman focuses on ethnic mobilization and the management of conflict, on the ways ethnic groups prepare for political combat, and on measures that can moderate or control ethnic disputes, whether peaceful or violent.Opening with a broad synopsis of current understandings of ethnicity and its varying political salience, he illustrates his theories by analyzing experiences in South Africa, Israel-Palestine, Canada-Quebec, and Malaysia. He also outlines the political issues and dilemmas, transnational as well as domestic, caused by the vast labor migrations of Mexicans to the United States, North Africans to France, Turks to Germany, and Koreans to Japan.Can economic growth and prosperity ease ethnic conflicts? Esman addresses this question and draws conclusions based on the empirical chapters. In his view, ethnic pluralism and ethnic politics are not collective psychoses or aberrations, to be deplored and exorcised, but rather pervasive realities that observers can confront and politicians can manage.
A detailed account of the history of Black, Hispanic, Native and Asian Americans since 1900, this title uses biographical accounts of prominent figures to illustrate the changing nature of the political and social struggles of the era. The text gives particular emphasis to the roles of Booker T. Washington, Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, Lyndon Johnson and Jesse Jackson, with an expanded feature on radicals in the 1960s, analysing their aims, methods and achievements. The relative importance of prominent individuals, grass-roots activists, private and public organizations and external pressures are weighed up throughout this history of change, progress and regression. Revised study guides are included and provide students with a firm basis for answering structured, essay and source-based questions.
