Visible Differences Why Race Will Matter to Americans in the Twenty-First Century

by Pulera, Dominic J.

• ISBN13: 9780826414076
• ISBN10: 0826414079
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2002-06-05
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic

Summary

Race. The mere mention of the R-word is a surefire conversation-stopper. In this book about AmericaAEs most divisive social issue, Dominic J. Pulera offers a compelling roadmap to our future. This accessible and penetrating analysis is the first to include detailed coverage of AmericaAEs five "racial" groups: whites, blacks, Hispanics, Asian Americans, and Native Americans. The author contends that race will matter to Americans during the twenty-first century because of visible differences, and that differences in physical appearance separating the races are the single most important factor shaping intergroup relations, in conjunction with the social, cultural, economic, and political ramifications that accompany them. Pulera shows how, why, when, and where race matters in the United States and who is affected by it. He explains the ongoing demographic transition of America from a predominantly white country to one where nonwhites are increasingly numerous and consequently more visible. The advent of a multiracial consciousness has tremendous implications for AmericaAEs future, because the racial significance of almost every part of the American experience is increasing as a result. The author concludes on a note of cautious optimism as he explores whether the visible differences dividing Americans are reconcilable.

Table of Contents

Prologue: Seeing Is Believing	1	(15)
Part One THE MULTIRACIAL NATION
Classifying By Race	15	(29)
Race, Power, and Privilege	17	(7)
The Ethno-Racial Pentagon	24	(7)
Social Constructions of Race	31	(13)
White Like Who?	44	(28)
The Color of a Nation	45	(8)
Becoming American	53	(9)
Indian Country	62	(10)
Latino America	72	(33)
La Raza	74	(9)
Latino Americans	83	(8)
Betwixt and Between Two Worlds	91	(14)
Part Two AMERICA'S ENDURING DILEMMAS
Unequal Life Chances?	105	(28)
Intersectional Identiies	107	(7)
Opportunities to Succeed	114	(8)
Growing Pains	122	(11)
The Geography of Race	133	(29)
Race and Place	135	(9)
At Home in America	144	(8)
The Border Regions	152	(10)
The Perils of Exclusion	162	(31)
Toward Inclusion	164	(9)
One Nation, Indivisible	173	(8)
Words as Weapons	181	(12)
Part Three WHITES STILL MATTER MOST
Accommodating Diversity	193	(28)
Majority Rule	195	(8)
A Place at the Table	203	(7)
The Politics of Southern Change	210	(11)
Beyond Black and White	221	(30)
Invidious Distinctions	223	(8)
The Coalition-Builders	231	(8)
Votes and Rights	239	(12)
Conflict and Cooperation	251	(30)
The Third Way	253	(8)
New Faces, New Paces	261	(8)
Multiracial Democracy	269	(12)
Epilogue: Reconcilable Differences?	281	(14)
Notes	295	(96)
Acknowledgments	391	(2)
Index	393