Race and Ethnicity in America: A Concise History

by Ronald H. Bayor (Editor)

Featuring essays by leading historians, including Carol Berkin, Andrew Heinze, Earl Lewis, and Mai M. Ngai, Race and Ethnicity in America is a timely introduction to the interrelated themes of race, ethnicity, and immigration in American history and a first-stop resource for students and others exploring the historical roots of today's identity politics. Spanning from 1600 to 2000 and covering everything from the Trail of Tears to the Black Power movement, the book is comprehensive both chronologically and in terms of ethnic groups It examines not only the history of black-white relations in America, but also the experiences of Irish Catholics, Native Americans, Latinos, Jews, and many others. Topics covered include anti-Catholicism and nativism, slavery and abolitionism, Indian removal, assimilation and scientific racism, the National Origins Act, the civil rights movement, and contemporary debates over affirmative action and bilingualism.

276 pages, Hardcover

First published October 8, 2003

About the author

Ronald H. Bayor is Emeritus Professor of History at Georgia Tech, a former president of the Immigration and Ethnic History Society, and founding editor of the Journal of American Ethnic History.

Reviews

[Randy Morgan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Racial formation in the United States takes place over a short period of time. This is the condensed version of this book, which takes a look at different periods of time from the early 1600s all the way to 2000. One example of this comes late in the book, in chapter seven. The chapter discusses the changing of what it means to by white in the United States in the early 1900s. Covering 1930-1964, the chapter discusses the changes of the meaning of race and the emergence of the new term, "ethnicity."

Before the 1930s, race was believed to be a scientific difference between humans. But, according to Bayor, scientists in the 1940s changed their tone and published articles that supported the fact that race is not a scientific issue, but rather a social issue.

While this example is a small one, it is just one of many similar passages in this book and offers a taste of what you should expect going into the book. This book is an excellent read for anyone interested in sociology and history and is one that I would recommend to any professor seeking a good source on the topic for a class.