Can We All Get Along?

Summary

In a nation built by immigrants and bedeviled by the history and legacy of slavery and discrimination, issues of liberty, equality, and community continue to challenge Americans. In the fourth edition of this widely acclaimed text, Paula McClain and Joseph Stewart combine traditional elements of political science analysis-history, Constitutional theory, institutions, political behavior, and policy actors-with a fully updated survey of the political status of four major groups: African Americans, Latinos, Asian Americans, and American Indians. They show similarities and differences in these groups' political action and experience, and point the way toward coalition, competition, and consensus building in the face of ongoing conflict. Two dilemmas shape the book: How do we as a nation reconcile a commitment to equality with persistent inequality and discrimination? And what can we do about it-from the perspective of ethnic and racial minorities as well as within the dominant culture? Thoroughly updated following the 2004 national elections and complete 2000 Census data, this new edition provides a concise overview of minority politics in America.

Author Biography

Paula D. McClain is professor of political science; and professor of law, public policy, and African and African American Studies at Duke University. She also directs the American Political Science Association’s Ralph Bunche Summer Institute hosted by Duke University, and funded by the National Science Foundation and Duke University. A Howard University Ph.D., her primary research interests are in racial minority group politics, particularly inter-minority political and social competition, and urban politics, especially public policy and urban crime. Her articles have appeared in numerous journals, including the Journal of Politics, American Political Science Review, Urban Affairs Review, and American Politics Quarterly. Westview Press has published the fourth edition of her book “Can We All Get Along?" Racial and Ethnic Minorities in American Politics, co-authored with Joseph Stewart, Jr. (2005). She is a past vice president of the American Political Science Association, a past president of the National Conference of Black Political Scientists, served as Program Co-Chair for the 1993 annual meeting of the American Political Science Association, served as Program Chair for the 1999 annual meeting of Midwest Political Science Association, served as Vice President of the Midwest Political Science Association, recently served as Vice President and 2002 Program Chair of the Southern Political Science Association, and recently completed her term as a Vice President and Program Co-Chair of the 2003 International Political Science Association World Congress which was held in Durban, South Africa in the summer of 2003. She is currently president of the Southern Political Science Association. Joseph Stewart, Jr. (Ph.D., University of Houston, 1977) is Chair of the Political Science Department at Clemson University. His research interests span civil rights policies, racial and ethnic politics, public policy, and educational policy, with occasional other miscellaneous topics. His work has appeared in a variety of political science, education, public policy, public administration, public law, and interdisciplinary journals. His books include Race, Class, and Education (with Kenneth J. Meier and Robert E. England, 1989), The Politics of Hispanic Education (with Kenneth J. Meier, 1991), and "Can We All Get Along?" Racial and Ethnic Minorities in American Politics (with Paula D. McClain, Westview, 4th ed., forthcoming), each of which has received a Gustavus Myers Award as an “Outstanding Book on the Subject of Human Rights in the United States.” In addition, he is the co-author of Public Policy: An Evolutionary Approach (with James P. Lester, West, 2nd ed., 2000), which was published in a Chinese edition in 2001. Stewart currently serves on the Editorial Boards of American Review of Politics, the National Political Science Review and the University Press of Virginia’s "Race, Ethnicity and Politics" Series. He is currently Co-Editor of Rowman & Littlefield’s “Spectrum” Series. He is currently (2005-2006) President of the Southwestern Social Science Association and serves on the Executive Council of the Southern Political Science Association.In addition to the book awards noted earlier, Stewart has been honored with the Herbert Kaufman Award (with Kenneth J. Meier) by the American Political Science Association’s Section on Public Administration for the best paper presented at the 1991 conference and an AP® Special Recognition Award by the College Board Southwestern Regional Office in 2000.Despite all of this professional activity, Stewart is probably best known for his alleged sense of humor, which has been manifest in an article in which the discipline of political science is presented as a “rotisserie” game (with Kenneth J. Meier, 1992, "Rotisserie Political Science," PS: Political Science & Politics, 25, 565-568), a convention paper “analyzing” the work of “Texas’ fastest rising Jewish country music star” and current candidate for governor of Texas, Kinky Friedman, and appearances on roundtables and panels at professional meetings, such as "The Contributions of Elvis Presley to the Study of Political Science," “Country Music and Political Science,” and “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil Political Science.”

List of Illustrations and Maps

xiii

List of Acronyms

xvii

Preface

xix

1 America's Dilemmas

Terms Used in This Book,

(3)

Race and Ethnicity,

(2)

American Government Foundation and Racial Minorities,

(3)

The Constitution and Black and Indian Citizenship,

(4)

Citizenship and Later Minorities: Latinos and Asians,

(5)

The Constitution and Black and Indian Suffrage,

(4)

Structure of This Book,

(1)

Conclusion,

(2)

2 Resources and Status of America's Racial Minorities

(36)

Population Size, Socioeconomic Status, and Concentration,

(16)

Participation in a Civil Rights Movement,

(10)

Voting Rights Law,

(6)

Conclusion,

(2)

3 America's Racial Minorities in the Contemporary Political System: Actors

(60)

Group Identity and Perceptions of Discrimination,

(4)

Political Ideology,

(5)

Partisan Identification,

(12)

Voting Behavior,

(8)

The 1996 Elections,

100

(3)

The 1998 Congressional Elections,

103

(6)

The 2000 Elections,

109

(5)

The 2004 Elections,

114

(4)

Interest Group Activities,

118

(5)

Conclusion,

123

(2)

4 America's Racial Minorities and the Policymaking Process

125

(54)

Agenda Setting,

128

(1)

Minority Representation,

129

(22)

Federalism,

151

(2)

State Elective Office,

153

(5)

Equal Educational Opportunity,

158

(13)

Affirmative Action in Employment,

171

(3)

Extension of the Voting Rights Act (VRA),

174

(1)

Conclusion,

175

(4)

5 Coalition or Competition? Patterns of Interminority Group Relations

179

(28)

Interminority Group Relations,

182

(1)

Coalition or Competition Politics?

182

(5)

Los Angeles,

187

(19)

Conclusion,

206

(1)

6 Will We "All Get Along"?

207

(12)

The Dilemmas Revisited,

210

(4)

Targeting Racial and Ethnic Minorities,

214

(1)

VRA: Looking to the Future,

215

(2)

Conclusion,

217

(2)

Discussion Questions

219

(4)

Glossary

223

(6)

Timelines

229

(28)

Notes

257

(2)

References

259

(14)

Index

273

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