RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN MINORITY AND RACE RELATIONS

In: The annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, Band 420, S. 125-176

Abstract

THE TIME SPAN OF A 'GENERATION' HAS BEEN SUGGESTED TO CURRENTLY BE ONLY 5 YEARS LONG. THE YEARS 1968-73 HAVE BEEN MARKED BY RAPID CHANGE IN SEVERAL AREAS: (1) A SHIFT FROM INTEGRATION TO ETHNIC NATIONALISM, (2) THE REEMERGENCE OF A PLURALISTIC ETHNIC CONSCIOUSNESS, & (3) THE DEVELOPMENT OF A NEW DEFINITION OF 'MINORITY' WHICH INCLUDES WOMEN, HOMOSEXUALS, THE AGED, THE YOUNG, STUDENTS, HIPPIES, EXCONVICTS, THE HANDICAPPED, ETC. THE 1970 CENSUS USING 6 RACIAL CATEGORIES FOUND 20% OF THE TOTAL US POPULATION TO BE OF RACIAL MINORITY. THESE CENSUS FIGURES FAILED TO INCLUDE NONRACIAL ETHNICITY, UNDERCOUNTED AREAS WITH HIGH BLACK OR SPANISH-SPEAKING POPULATIONS, & THUS MISREPRESENTED THE ACTUAL FIGURES FOR MINORITY CATEGORIZATION. CONTROVERSY HAS DEVELOPED BETWEEN THE BLACK & WHITE INTERPRETATION OF ECONOMIC, EDUCATIONAL, & INCOME MEASURES OF BLACK PROGRESS AS NOTED IN CENSUS FIGURES; WHITES CLAIM THERE HAS BEEN PROGRESS, BLACKS CLAIM STATISTICS DON'T TELL THE WHOLE STORY. MOST RESEARCH IN RACE & ETHNIC RELATIONS WERE CONCERNED WITH THE MEANING & MEASUREMENT OF GROUP ATTITUDES. LITERATURE DURING THIS 5 YEAR SPAN WAS CONCENTRATED ON THE BLACK STRUGGLE FOR IDENTITY, POWER, & EQUALITY. BLACK ENGLISH HAS EMERGED & SO HAS EVIDENCE OF BLACK-WHITE STRATIFICATION DIFFERENCES. CONTROVERSY REGARDING INEQUALITY & INTELLIGENCE QUOTIENT DIFFERENTIALS REDEVELOPED, & CENTERED AROUND THE VALIDITY OF THE TESTING ITSELF. PROGRAMS TO INTERVENE IN INEQUALITY WERE INSTITUTED: IE, OPERATION HEAD START, PLANNED INTEGRATION OF SCHOOLS & NEIGHBORHOODS, AFFIRMATIVE ACTION, & PREFERENTIAL QUOTAS. RED POWER REAWAKENED AWARENESS OF THE PLIGHT OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN. IMMIGRATION PATTERNS SHIFTED FROM A WESTERN EUROPEAN TO A SOUTHERN & EASTERN EUROPEAN, LATIN AMERICAN, & ASIATIC TREND. ASIAN, HISPANIC, SLAVIC, & JEWISH MINORITY STATUS DEVELOPED INTO CONCEPTS OF PRIDE RATHER THAN ABNEGATION. RACIAL & ETHNIC CONVERGENCE IS PRESENTLY EMERGING THROUGH CONTINUED ASSIMILATION & INTERMARRIAGE. INTERMARRIAGE RATES OF ALL KINDS INCREASED DURING THIS PERIOD WITH RACIAL INTERMARRIAGE OCCURRING LEAST FREQUENTLY, RELIGIOUS INTERMARRIAGE OCCURRING MORE FREQUENTLY, & NATIONALITY INTERMARRIAGE MOST OF ALL. 5 TABLES. T. BABITSKY.