Race Relations in the United States 1917-1947

Immigration adaptation and race relations in the United States began receiving a great deal of scholarly attention early in the twentieth century, primarily in response to the arrival of large numbers of newcomers from eastern and southern Europe. The pre-eminent theory has been sociologist Robert Park's (1950) ‘race relations’ cycle, which posits that immigrants and racial minorities initially clashed with natives over cultural values and norms, but over time, adapt and are eventually absorbed into the mainstream society. This four-part cycle of contact, competition, accommodation and assimilation, according to Park, is ‘progressive and irreversible’. Unlike European Americans, however, the Chinese American experience in the United States has never been a consistent trajectory toward progressive and irreversible acceptance and assimilation.

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What racists believe: race relations in South Africa and the United States

Choice Reviews Online ◽

10.5860/choice.32-5212 ◽

1995 ◽

Vol 32 (09) ◽

pp. 32-5212-32-5212

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

South Africa ◽

Race Relations ◽

The United States

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Barack Obama and the Politics of Race

Journal of Black Studies ◽

10.1177/0021934709352991 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 40 (3) ◽

pp. 411-425 ◽

Cited By ~ 22

Author(s):

Martell Teasley ◽

David Ikard

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

African American ◽

Race Relations ◽

The United States ◽

Symbolic Capital ◽

Barack Obama ◽

Free Society ◽

American President ◽

Politics Of Race ◽

Racial Lines

Many scholars across racial lines argue that the historic election of Barack Obama as the first African American president of the United States marks the dawning of a “postracial era” in our country. Despite this claim and unprecedented enthusiasm that abounds within African American circles about the direction of race relations in this country, there seems to be a glaring ideological disconnect between the desire and reality of a race-free society. Focusing attention on this disconnect and the symbolic capital of “hope” that Obama’s presidency constitutes for the Black community, this article exposes the potential pitfalls of wholesale investment in postracial thinking, particularly for the most economically vulnerable African American populations. Chief among the questions that the authors ask is how African Americans can productively address the continuing challenges of race-centric oppression under an Obama administration that is itself an embodiment of this postrace thinking.

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