Chapter 2: Race, Ethnicity, Gender, And Class

Chapter 2healey Race Ethnicity Gender And Class 8e Sage Publish

Chapter 2 Healey, Race, Ethnicity, Gender, and Class 8e. © SAGE Publishing, 2018. Assimilation and Pluralism: From Immigrants to White ethnics Assimilation: the process in which separate groups come to share a common culture and merge socially As a society undergoes assimilation, differences among groups decrease Pluralism exists when groups maintain their individual identities In a pluralistic society, groups remain separate, and their cultural and social differences persist over time Healey, Race, Ethnicity, Gender, and Class 8e. © SAGE Publishing, 2018. Assimilation and Pluralism 3 Instructor’s Note: Ask students to provide examples of assimilation. 3 Assimilation and pluralism are contrary processes They are not mutually exclusive They may occur together in a variety of combinations Some groups may be assimilating Others are maintaining or even increasing differences Healey, Race, Ethnicity, Gender, and Class 8e. © SAGE Publishing, 2018.

Assimilation and Pluralism 4 Instructor’s Note: The Amish are a great example of a pluralistic group. 4 Assimilation can follow a number of different pathways Americanization or Anglo-conformity is a type of assimilation in which the dominant culture pressures others to conform The melting pot is a form in which different groups come together and contribute in roughly equal amounts This view emphasizes sharing and inclusion Healey, Race, Ethnicity, Gender, and Class 8e. © SAGE Publishing, 2018. Types of Assimilation 5 Park argues assimilation is inevitable in a democratic industrial society Robert Park’s Race Relations Cycle is the idea that group relations follow a predictable cycle starting with conflict but leading to eventual assimilation Contact Competition Accommodation Assimilation Healey, Race, Ethnicity, Gender, and Class 8e. © SAGE Publishing, 2018.

The “Traditional†Perspective on Assimilation Milton Gordon broke down the overall process of assimilation into different processes in Assimilation in American Life (1964) There is a distinction between the cultural and structural components of society Gordon’s earliest stages of assimilation: Acculturation or cultural assimilation Integration or structural assimilation Intermarriage or marital assimilation Healey, Race, Ethnicity, Gender, and Class 8e. © SAGE Publishing, 2018. The “Traditional†Perspective on Assimilation 7 Human Capital Theory: upward mobility is a direct result of effort, personal values and skills, and investment in education Status attainment is a direct result of educational attainment, personal values and skills, and other individual characteristics Deemphasizes structural over individual factors Views assimilation as a highly desirable process Assumes success is equally available to all Healey, Race, Ethnicity, Gender, and Class 8e. © SAGE Publishing, 2018.

The “Traditional†Perspective on Assimilation 8 Horace Kallen (1915) argued that people should not have to surrender their culture and traditions Rejected Anglo-conformist, assimilation model Integration and equality are possible without extensive acculturation Multiculturalism stresses inclusion, mutual respect, and a celebration of group diversity Healey, Race, Ethnicity, Gender, and Class 8e. © SAGE Publishing, 2018. Pluralism Cultural pluralism exists when groups have not acculturated or integrated--groups maintain a distinct identity Structural pluralism exists when a group has acculturated but not integrated Integration without acculturation may exist Healey, Race, Ethnicity, Gender, and Class 8e. © SAGE Publishing, 2018.

Types of Pluralism 10 Instructor’s Note: Many Native Americans are culturally pluralistic, maintaining their traditional languages and cultures and living on isolated reservations. 10 Enclave minority groups Establishes its own neighborhood and relies on a set of interconnected businesses for economic survival Middleman minority groups Relies on interconnected businesses, dispersed throughout a community, for economic survival Healey, Race, Ethnicity, Gender, and Class 8e. © SAGE Publishing, 2018. Types of Pluralism 11 Separatism: a minority group goal A separatist group wishes to sever all ties with the dominant group Revolution: also a minority group goal A revolutionary group wishes to change places with the dominant group and establish a new social order Healey, Race, Ethnicity, Gender, and Class 8e. © SAGE Publishing, 2018.

Other Group Relationships 12 Instructor’s Note: Discuss the importance of social networks 12 Industrial Revolution: the shift in subsistence technology from labor-intensive agriculture to capital-intensive manufacturing Labor-intensive: a form of work in which most of the effort is provided by people working by hand Capital-intensive: a technology replaces hand labor with machine labor Large amounts of capital are required to develop, purchase, and maintain the machines Healey, Race, Ethnicity, Gender, and Class 8e. © SAGE Publishing, 2018. Industrialization and Immigration 13 The timing of migration from Europe followed the timing of industrialization The Old Immigration From northern and western Europe to the United States from the 1820s to the 1880s The New Immigration From southern and eastern Europe to the United States from the 1880s to the 1920s Healey, Race, Ethnicity, Gender, and Class 8e. © SAGE Publishing, 2018.

Industrialization and Immigration 14 Northern and western European immigrations shared many American values These immigrants included Danes, Dutch, English, French, Germans, Norwegians, Swedes, and Welsh The Protestant Ethic stressed hard work, success, and individualism Also supported principles of democratic government Analyzed by Max Weber in The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism Healey, Race, Ethnicity, Gender, and Class 8e. © SAGE Publishing, 2018. European Origins and Conditions of Entry 15 Immigrants from Norway Most immigrants to the United States before 1890 (compared to any European nation except Ireland) Became moderately prosperous Midwest farmers who created strong ethnic networks Chains of communication and migration brought Norwegian to these areas for decades Healey, Race, Ethnicity, Gender, and Class 8e. © SAGE Publishing, 2018.

European Origins and Conditions of Entry 16 Immigrations From Germany More German Americans today than any other group (other than English) Earlier 1800s arrivals became farmers, while later arrivals were urbanites Relative affluence allowed children to move into white-collar and professional careers Healey, Race, Ethnicity, Gender, and Class 8e. © SAGE Publishing, 2018. European Origins and Conditions of Entry 17 Immigrant laborers from Ireland and Southern Eastern Europe Largely non-Protestant, less educated and skilled The Irish arriving in the 1820s made up part of the Old Immigration Southern and eastern Europeans made up the New Immigration of the 1880s and beyond Experienced greater rejection and discrimination Healey, Race, Ethnicity, Gender, and Class 8e. © SAGE Publishing, 2018.

European Origins and Conditions of Entry 18 Jewish immigrants from Russia and other parts of Eastern Europe followed a third party pathway into U.S. society These immigrants were a part of the New Immigration and began arriving in the 1880s Unlike most European immigrant groups, Jewish Americans became heavily involved in commerce Capitalizing on their residential concentration, Jewish immigrants created an enclave economy The garment industry became the lifeblood of the Jewish community Healey, Race, Ethnicity, Gender, and Class 8e. © SAGE Publishing, 2018. European Origins and Conditions of Entry 19 Jewish Americans today surpass the national averages in income, levels of education, and occupational prestige Eastern European Jewish immigrants and the Ethnic Enclave Enclave success due to group cohesiveness, family labor, and commercial ability Economic advancement preceded acculturation The Americanized children helped preserve and expand the family enterprise Healey, Race, Ethnicity, Gender, and Class 8e. © SAGE Publishing, 2018.

European Origins and Conditions of Entry 20 All immigrant groups tend to follow chains established and maintained by group members Immigrants often responded to U.S. society by attempting to recreate as much of their old word as possible For example, Little Italys, Chinatowns, and Little Tokyos They did so, in part, to avoid harsher forms of rejection and discrimination They also did this for solidarity and mutual support Healey, Race, Ethnicity, Gender, and Class 8e. © SAGE Publishing, 2018. Chains of Immigration 21 Instructor’s Note: Discuss the importance of social networks 21 Anti-Catholicism Much of the prejudice against the Irish and other new immigrants was expressed in this way Threatened Protestant social, economic, and political hegemony Although Catholics were often stereotyped as a single group, they also varied along a number of dimensions Intra-Catholic group differences also caused conflict for resources Healey, Race, Ethnicity, Gender, and Class 8e. © SAGE Publishing, 2018.

The Campaign Against Immigration: Prejudice, Racism, and Discrimination 22 Anti-Semitism: the prejudice or ideological racism directed specifically toward Jews Jews from Russia and Eastern Europe faced intense prejudice and racism The most dreadful episode in the long history of anti-Semitism was the Nazi Holocaust 6 million Jews died Anti-Semitism did not end with the demise of the Nazi regime Healey, Race, Ethnicity, Gender, and Class 8e. © SAGE Publishing, 2018. The Campaign Against Immigration: Prejudice, Racism, and Discrimination 23 A successful exclusions Campaigns against European immigration waxed and waned between the 1820s and 1920s Anti-immigration forces triumphed with the passage of the National Origins Act in 1924 An openly racist quota system was used to determine the number of immigrants until the mid-1960s Healey, Race, Ethnicity, Gender, and Class 8e. © SAGE Publishing, 2018.

The Campaign Against Immigration: Prejudice, Racism, and Discrimination 24 It takes generations for groups to become completely Americanized The first generation: slightly acculturated and integrated The second generation: very acculturated and highly integrated in secondary sectors The third generation enjoyed high levels of integration at both secondary and the primary levels Healey, Race, Ethnicity, Gender, and Class 8e. © SAGE Publishing, 2018. Patterns of Assimilation 25 Instructor’s Note: People today--social scientists, politicians, and ordinary citizens--often fail to recognize the time and effort it takes for a group to become completely Americanized. For most European immigrant groups, the process took generations, and it was the grandchildren or the great-grandchildren of the immigrants who finally completed acculturation and integration. Mass immigration from Europe ended in the 1920s, but the assimilation of European ethnic groups was not completed until well after World War II (and in some ways, it is still not complete). Scholars have demonstrated that immigration to the United States was in large measure a group (sociological) phenomenon. Immigrant chains stretched across the oceans and were held together by the ties of kinship, language, religion, culture, and a sense of common peoplehood (Bodnar, 1985; Tilly, 1990). The networks supplied information, money for passage, family news, and job offers. 25 Healey, Race, Ethnicity, Gender, and Class 8e. © SAGE Publishing, 2018.

Patterns of Assimilation 26 Table 2.2 illustrates Italian American patterns of the structural assimilation. The educational and occupational characteristics of this group converge with those of White Anglo-Saxon Protestants (WASPs) as the generations change. For example, the percentage of Italian Americans with some college shows a gap of more than 20 points between the first and second generations and WASPs. Italians of the third and fourth generations, though, are virtually identical to WASPs on this measure of integration in the secondary sector. The other differences between Italians and WASPs shrink in a similar fashion from generation to generation. 26 Sojourners Birds of passage No intention of becoming citizens Return to the old country once enough capital accumulated Italian immigrants Healey, Race, Ethnicity, Gender, and Class 8e. © SAGE Publishing, 2018. Variations in Assimilation 27 Instructor’s Note: As the children and grandchildren of the immigrants married, their pool of partners continued to be bounded by religion but not so much by ethnicity. Thus, later generations of Irish Catholics continued to marry other Catholics but were less likely to marry other Irish. As assimilation proceeded, ethnic group boundaries faded (or “meltedâ€), but religious boundaries did not. Kennedy described this phenomenon as a triple melting pot: a pattern of structural assimilation within each of the three religions (Kennedy, 1944, 1952). In Milton Gordon’s view, the most significant structural unit within American society was the ethclass, defined by the intersection of the religious/ethnic and social class boundaries (e.g., working-class Catholic, upper-class Protestant, etc.). Thus, people weren’t “simply American†but tended to identify with, associate with, and choose their spouses from within their ethclasses. In general, male immigrants outnumbered females. It was common for the male members of a family to immigrate first and send for the women only after they had secured lodging, jobs, and a certain level of stability. However, women immigrants’ experiences were quite varied, often depending on their original cultures. These sojourners, or “birds of passage,†were oriented to the old country and intended to return once they had accumulated enough capital to be successful in their home villages or provinces. Because immigration records are not very detailed, it is difficult to assess the exact numbers of immigrants who returned to the old country (see Wyman, 1993). We do know, for example, that a large percentage of Italian immigrants were sojourners. 27 The principle of third-generation interest is the idea that the grandchildren of immigrants will stress their ethnicity much more than will the second generation The ethnic revival was an increase in the interest in heritage that occurred among White ethnics in the 1960s and 1970s Healey, Race, Ethnicity, Gender, and Class 8e. © SAGE Publishing, 2018.

Paper For Above instruction

Understanding the dynamics of race, ethnicity, gender, and class within societies requires a comprehensive examination of assimilation and pluralism frameworks, their interactions, and their implications for social cohesion and diversity. These concepts shape the ways in which groups integrate into broader societies, either through the process of merging shared cultural traits or by maintaining distinct identities. This paper explores these themes as outlined in Healey’s "Race, Ethnicity, Gender, and Class," emphasizing theoretical perspectives, historical contexts, and contemporary examples.

Assimilation refers to the process by which minority or immigrant groups come to share a common culture with the dominant society and merge socially. It is often viewed as a pathway toward social cohesion, where differences among groups diminish over time. Healey (2018) highlights various pathways and types of assimilation, including Americanization or Anglo-conformity, which involves pressure from the dominant culture to conform, and the melting pot metaphor, emphasizing multicultural contributions contributing equally. These processes can unfold through different pathways, such as contact, competition, accommodation, and ultimately, assimilation, as proposed by Robert Park (Healey, 2018).

Milton Gordon’s classic framework further dissects assimilation into cultural and structural components, including acculturation, integration, and intermarriage, which serve as indicators of social integration over multiple generations. Gordon also emphasized the importance of social institutions such as family, education, and workplace interactions. Furthermore, the human capital theory posits that upward mobility is largely contingent on individual effort, skills, and investments in education, interpreting assimilation as a primarily individual endeavor that leads to upward social mobility (Healey, 2018).

Pluralism, contrasting with assimilation, underscores the persistence of cultural and social differences among groups. Healey (2018) distinguishes between cultural pluralism, where groups retain their distinct cultural identity, and structural pluralism, where groups have acculturated but retain social separation. Multiculturalism advocates for inclusion, mutual respect, and the celebration of diversity, as exemplified by the Amish, who exemplify pluralistic resilience by maintaining their religious traditions despite broader societal influences.

Theories of pluralism also include enclave minority groups, which establish their own neighborhoods and economic networks, and middleman minorities, who serve as intermediaries within diverse communities. Movements such as separatism and revolution reflect different reactions to minority status, with separatists seeking to sever ties with the dominant society and revolutionaries aiming to overthrow or fundamentally alter social hierarchies (Healey, 2018).

Historical shifts, such as the Industrial Revolution, catalyzed immigration from Europe and transformed societal structures from labor-intensive to capital-intensive economies. Immigrants from Northern and Western Europe, driven by the Protestant Ethic, generally integrated more smoothly into American society. In contrast, Irish and Southern/Eastern Europeans faced greater barriers, including discrimination and cultural differences, which influenced their pathways of assimilation and community formation (Healey, 2018).

Specific immigrant groups, including Germans, Norwegians, Irish, Jewish, and Italians, followed distinct patterns of migration, socio-economic adaptation, and community development. Jewish immigrants, for instance, established enclaves such as the garment industry hubs, leveraging group solidarity to achieve economic success and social mobility, often preceding full cultural assimilation (Healey, 2018). The chain migration process, driven by kinship and ethnic networks, shaped the expansion of these communities and reinforced social cohesion for generations.

Prejudice, racism, and discrimination have historically targeted immigrant groups, manifesting as anti-Catholicism, anti-Semitism, and other forms of bias. Policies such as the National Origins Act of 1924 exemplify institutionalized exclusion, favoring Northern Europeans and restricting Southern and Eastern European immigration. These discriminatory practices delayed full assimilation, often relegating immigrant groups to secondary sectors and marginal social positions for several generations (Healey, 2018).

Despite these challenges, each successive generation tends to become more integrated, with the third and fourth generations demonstrating high levels of socio-economic and cultural assimilation. However, the process extends over many years, often spanning multiple generations, reflecting the complex interplay of social networks, cultural retention, and economic opportunities (Healey, 2018).

Overall, the study of race, ethnicity, gender, and class through the lenses of assimilation and pluralism reveals a nuanced picture of American social history. It underscores the importance of understanding both the persistent diversity within American society and the ongoing processes that promote