Perspectives on Race, Ethnicity, and Religion Identity Politics in America

This reader is an introduction to the relevant history, current issues, and dynamics of select minority groups in the United States. While previously written books on these topics usually confine their group coverage to African Americans, Hispanics, Asians and Pacific Islanders, and AmericanIndians, this volume expands the number of groups examined to include those previously noted, plus Jewish and Muslim Americans. First, the significance of globalization on individual, group and national identity is examined. Then, the social impact of immigration and the common experiences ofimmigrants are considered. Later chapters review the historical, legal, and political experiences of each aforementioned group as well as their attitudes and behaviors. The two-fold objective of the book is to provide students with the prerequisite information to evaluate the importance of race,ethnicity and religion for understanding the outcomes of American politics, in particular to help them see how the structure and operation of our political system sometimes obstructs the efforts of these groups to gain the full benefits of freedom and equal treatment promised under the AmericanConstitution. One of the advantages of this reader is that the contributing authors belong to the minority groups that they write about, but they also are all credentialed experts in their field of expertise, with advanced degrees in political science, sociology, history or religion. Thus they are able to drawupon the experiences of a group of people that they are intimately familiar with, while at the same time using the rational systematic approach of social scientists.