UNIT 9
American Culture
Unit Nine
Race and Ethnic
Relations in the United
States
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Race and Ethnic Relations in the United
States
I have a dream that my four little
children will one day in a nation
where they will not be judged by the
color of their skin but the content of
their character.
—Martin Luther King Jr.
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Race and Ethnic Relations in the United
States
What, then, is the American, the new
man? He is either a European, or the
descendant of American European…
He is an American who, leaving
behind him all his ancient prejudices
and manners… Here individuals of
all nations are melted into a new race
of man.
—Hector St. Jean de Crevecoeur
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Race and Ethnic Relations in the United
States
The United States has always been described as a
“melting pot” in which many different racial and ethnic
groups have assimilated into one culture. The metaphor
came from the title of a stage play in 1909 when the
United States was experiencing a massive immigration:
“America is God’s Crucible, the great melting-pot
where all races of Europe are melting and reforming.”
Although the media and politicians routinely pay
homage to “America, the melting pot,” some critics
believe that for much of American history, the “melting
pot” concept was largely a myth. While minorities may
have altered their national culture, for the most part the
melting pot has meant Americanization—conforming to
cultural patterns of the mainstream American society.
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Race and Ethnic Relations in the United
States
Contrary to the melting pot image, another
metaphor recently has been used to describe the
American society—salad bowl, where the
various racial and ethnic groups have remained
somewhat distinct and different from one
another, creating a richly diverse country. In this
sense, some minority groups have, while
becoming Americans in other ways, maintained
much of their traditional culture.
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Race and Ethnic Relations in the United
States
The truth probably lies somewhere between these
two views. Generally speaking, western European
immigrants are more readily merged into the rest
of American society than nonwhite ethnic groups,
such as Asians or Hispanics who are more likely
to retain the language and the customs of their
original culture.
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I. The Dominance of WASPs in American Society
The term WASPs stands for White
Anglo-Saxon Protestants. Strictly
speaking, WASPs are whites of
English descent, but more loosely the
category also includes whites of
Canadians, Scottish, Australians, and
Northern European descent. It is used
in this broader sense.
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I. The Dominance of WASPs in American Society
A. WASPs dominance
A. WASPs dominance
•1. The majority of immigrants
in early American history
•(1) The first US census
(1790): 78% from England,
Scotland and Wales
•(2) American culture with their
language, religion and
customs
•(3) Dominance of American
political, economic system and
social values
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•2. Today: 60 million
(less than 25%),
continuing dominance
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I. The Dominance of WASPs in American Society
B. More inclusive use of the term
4. White Americans—a numerical
majority of the population and
dominance of American culture
1. Non-Protestant white
people—white ethnics
White ethnics refer to
white European groups
that are descendants of
3. As many
immigrants from Eastern
More inclusive
people of Irish,
and Southern European
French and
use of the term
nations, particularly Italy
Italian descent
alone as
and Poland, but they also
WASPs
include Greek, Irish, and
Slavic peoples. They
arrived by the millions
during the late 19th and
2. The ethnics that have assimilated
early 20th century. Most
most into the mainstream American
of them were Catholics
society
or Jews.
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II. Native Americans
No minority group has suffered more
at the hands of the dominant white
population in the United States than
the original inhabitants of North
America. Between 1800 and 1850,
500,000 Native Americans perished as
a result of diseases brought by
European settlers, along with
dislocation, warfare, genocide and
impoverishment.
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II. Native Americans
A.
The tragic
history
1. Obstacles to
European settlers’
westward
expansion
2. The Removal Act
(1830): brutal
migration to the
west
the infamous
Trail of Tears
3. By 1850, forceful
migration west of
the Mississippi
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B. Change of
government
policy
During the 1930s,
Native Americans
were encouraged to
restore their cultural
roots, if they wished.
Tribes were also
urged to legally
incorporate, to adopt
a modified form of
constitutional
government, and to
establish business
enterprise.
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C. A period
of
fundamenta
l change
1. 2 million: 1% of the
population
2. 3/4 in or near to
reservations, mostly
located in the west
3. One of the most
disadvantaged
groups: in the 1990s,
nearly 30% of them
lived below the
poverty line, and the
unemployment rate
on many reservations
was over 50%.
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III. African Americans
African Americans constitute one of
the largest of America’s minority
groups, about 13% of the total
population. Unlike other nonwhite
ethnic groups, African Americans were
brought to the United States against
their free will. They were sold to
America as slaves.
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III. African Americans
A. Institutionalized discrimination
1. Southern whites’ control of major political and
economic institution after the Reconstruction
2. Formation of white supremacist groups such as
Ku Klux Klan
3. Practice of “Jim Crow” laws—a set of legal and
traditional discriminatory practices barred blacks
from voting, using political facilities, attending
schools with whites, and associating with whites
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III. African Americans
B. Improvement of the situation
1. Brown vs. Board of Topeka (1954)
2. Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s
Martin Luther King, Jr. Nonviolent strategy—civil
disobedience
3. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of
1965
4. Remarkable progress since 1970s
(1) Jesse Jackson—the first African American to run for
President (1984 and 1988)
(2) Colin Powell
(3) Emergence of African American middle-class
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III. African Americans
C. Gap narrowed but not closed
1. About 60% of the average white family’s
2. Lower college finish rate
3. Doubled unemployment rate
4. Segregated neighborhoods
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IV. Hispanic Americans
The term Hispanic Americans refers to
Mexican Americans, Puerto Ricans,
Cubans and other groups from Central
and South American countries that
have a Spanish heritage. High
birthrates and immigration combine to
make Hispanics one of the most
rapidly growing minorities in the
country. Making up about 14% of the
population, Hispanics have
outnumbered blacks and become the
nation’s largest minority group.
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IV. Hispanic Americans
A. Mexican Americans (Chicanos)
6. Near the bottom of
the income scale
1. The largest Hispanic group: 63%
2. One of the
oldest
immigrant
groups
Chicanos
3. The MexicanAmerican War in 1848
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5. Little
education and
high adult
illiteracy in
English
4. Predominantly as manual
labors on railways and farms
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IV. Hispanic Americans
B. Puerto Rican Americans
4. The poorest among
the Hispanic groups
1. About 1/6 of
the Hispanic
population
Contemporary
Trends
3.
Concentratio
n in New York
City
2. Citizenship granted in
1917
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IV. Hispanic Americans
C. Cubans
About 1 million
1
Concentration in
Miami, Florida area
5
The highest family
income of any
Hispanic group
2
4
3
Large-scale
emigration since
1959
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Early Cuban
immigrants as
well-educated
white-collar
professionals and
skilled workers
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V. Asian Americans
Asian Americans are the fastest
growing minority in the United States,
but numerically they still represent
only 4% of the population. The Asian
population is predicted to more than
double by 2010 and quadruple by
2050.
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V. Asian Americans
V. Asian Americans
•A. “Model minority”—
success in education and
business
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•B. The Chinese
•1. Gold Rush and the
transcontinental railway
•2. The Chinese Exclusion
Act in 1882
•3. Strict federal legislation
against Chinese
immigration
•4. Publicly recognized
success
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V. Asian Americans
V. Asian Americans
•D. Changed situation
•1. Large numbers of Asian
•C. The Japanese
•1. Large number of
immigrants to the West
Coast since 1885
•2. Prejudice and
discrimination
• the Immigration Act in
1924
•3. Relocation centers
during WWII
•4. Income and educational
levels higher than the white
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immigrants since 1965,
including Chinese, Japanese,
Filipinos, Koreans and Indians
•2. Vietnamese
•(1) Political and economic
refugees after the Vietnam War
•(2) Concentration in California
and Texas and establishment
of communities
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