Mexican Immigrants,Labour Market Assimilation and the Current Population: The Sensitivity of Results Across Seemingly Equivalent Surveys

In this paper we compare estimates of immigrants’ labour supply assimilation profiles using the Current Population Survey Annual Demographic Files (March ADS) and the Current Population Survey Outgoing Rotation Groups (ORGs). We use a measure that is seemingly consistent across both surveys: usual weekly hours of work in the main job. This measure is not only important as it measures the intensive margin of labour supply, but it is also used to estimate hourly earnings in both surveys. Our results indicate that the two surveys produce dramatically different estimates of the change in average hours of work as immigrants’ years in the United States increase: estimates from the March ADS predict much steeper hour's assimilation profiles than do estimates obtained from the ORGs. These differences persist if we include controls for demographic characteristics, and only disappear once we control for occupation heterogeneity. We argue that these differences stem from two separate factors that differentiate the data. First, the ADS and ORG frame the usual “hours worked” question differently. Also, differences in the timing of the surveys may produce seasonality effects that differentially affect the composition of recent and earlier migrants, thereby changing assimilation profiles.     

The Linguistic Continuity of Ontario's Minority Francophone Population: Examining the Relationship between Culture and Linguistic Practices

Despite decades of policy aimed at the maintenance of Francophone communities in Ontario, the proportion of individuals with French as a mother tongue or who speak French most often at home has steadily declined. Research on language retention has highlighted the importance of sociodemographic and structural factors in understanding minority language practices. However, given the relationship between culture and action, this paper examines how cultural factors contribute to Franco‐Ontarians’ linguistic practices. Results indicate that beyond couple composition and the concentration of minority‐language speakers, cultural factors including identity, cultural consumption, and values play an instrumental role in Franco‐Ontarians’ linguistic continuity. The importance of considering linguistic continuity as part of a “package” of cultural practices is discussed.     

'The longest road to equality': The Politics of Institutional Desegregation Under Truman

Abstract This paper addresses two questions. First, how did selected public institutions (principally the Armed Services and US Civil Service Commission) sustain segregationist values and assumptions? Second, how did President Truman tackle institutional segregation given the political support for this system in Congress and the Democratic party before the 1950s? I draw upon the ‘new institutional’ framework to analyse the role of public sector organisations in maintaining institutional segregation. I reject the new institutional thesis that such institutions are relatively autonomous because this claim neglects their political support and political origins, and the extent to which the values and assumptions they embody are protected politically. I argue that the national political coalition underpinning segregation explains why Truman relied upon executive action to effect institutional desegregation. Archival material from the investigative committees Truman established is marshalled to support these arguments.     

Appropriateness of the Helpline as a Mode of Service Delivery in Minority Communities: The Case of the Arab Population in Israel

ABSTRACT

In 1996, a project providing a helpline to the Arab-speaking population was established in five different locations in Israel. This article explores the potential fit of the helpline, whose stated goals are to provide psychological support and referral information, as an appropriate mode of service delivery among the Arab population living in Israel, in light of the fact that it constitutes an ethnic and sociopolitical minority with specific cultural norms and values. Such an investigation can make a contribution on both practical and theoretical levels and be another step toward a more culturally sensitive discourse in the helping professions.     

Public School Resegregation after Desegregation: Some Preliminary Findings

Abstract

This research continues the effort to understand the sociocultural and social-psychological effects resulting from rapid change in rural communities. Two aspects of social well-being that underlie the concept of community are addressed: a sense of local identity and solidarity and a sense of trust. Change in these perceptions during periods of rapid community growth or decline could indicate a changing sense of community and changing levels of social well-being. Four communities, each of which experienced different patterns of population growth and decline, are examined. Analysis indicated that the dimension of community reflected by trust of most people in the community did not change during periods of growth or decline, but that the dimension reflected by a sense of local identity and solidarity suffered during both population growth and population decline. Local identity and solidarity increased in the community that experienced population stabilization after several years of rapid growth. These findings highlight the importance of viewing community as multidimensional and as a resilient social phenomenon.     

Assimilation versus multiculturalism: The views of urban Americans

Parents of children in public schools in a large American urban center, representing a number of different ethnic groups, were interviewed about their personal views and feelings toward cultural and racial diversity in America today. Three main issues were addressed: respondents' attitudes toward the maintenance of heritage cultures versus assimilation; their attitudes toward bilingualism; and their attitudes toward other groups in the community. The analyses revealed important differences in attitudes between ethnic minority groups and established white and black groups. Nonetheless, strong support was shown for the retention of heritage cultures, even among middle-class white and working-class black Americans. The working-class white American sample was distinctive in its rejection of multiculturalism and in its negative attitudes toward other ethnic and racial groups. All groups supported the idea of bilingualism for their children, and certain groups thought that public schools had an important role to play in its promotion. Overall, the results delineate a series of factors that affect intragroup and intergroup harmony and the processes of adjustment that transpire within a social system when it has to cope with ethnic and racial diversity.     

Assimilation as multiracialism: The case of Singapore's Malays

The myths of meritocracy and multiracialism ‘explain’ between them both the ‘fairness’ of the Singapore system and the subordinate role of the non-Chinese minority races. They also purport to assure the minorities that they enjoy full status as members of the nation-building project and that their cultural and religious mores are embraced and protected within its framework. Using the Malay minority as its case study, and arguing from archival, oral, official government and secondary sources, this paper argues that the Singapore systems of meritocracy and multiracialism have not been concerned primarily with intercommunal tolerance since the 1970s, but are now programmes of assimilation of the racial minorities into a Chinese-dominated society.     

Desegregation in Higher Education: An Examination of Traditionally Black and White Institutions*

Using the data collection techniques of historical analysis, secondary analysis of EEO-6 records, mailed questionnaires, and personal interviews, race relations among trustees, administrators, and faculty in the southeastern United States were examined during the late 1970s and early 1980s. The conclusion that blacks at traditionally white institutions (TWI) (1) had more tenuous job status, (2) experienced less job satisfaction, (3) experienced greater degrees of institutional alienation, and (4) more often stated a need for affirmative action programs than did their white colleagues at the same institution will surprise no one. Similar patterns and perceptions were found for whites at traditionally black institutions (TBI) where whites were in the “minority.” Although whites at TBIs remained members of the societal majority group as traditionally defined in the sociology of intergroup relations, their position and perceptions within specific TBIs were remarkably similar to the experience of black professionals at TWIs. Some implications for policy are drawn.     

Assimilation vs. multiculturalism: Views from a community in France

A recent American survey of attitudes toward societal multiculturalism vs. assimilation has found surprisingly widespread support for maintaining heritage cultures not only among immigrant minority groups but also among most subsamples of majority host groups, black and white. Working-class whites are the one exception. This pilot study explores the same attitude domain in a contrasting European setting. Randomly selected samples of middle- and working-class families (a mother, father, and teenage son or daughter) from a small city in France were interviewed. As a group, they were neutral to slightly favorable to immigrants maintaining heritage cultures and languages rather than losing them through assimilation. On measures of attitudes toward specific immigrant groups, there were marked intergroup dyfferunces with Maghrebian Arabs rated leist favorably and Southeast Asians, the model immigrants, most favorably. Comparisons of subgroups of respondents who varied in terms of (a) political left-right orientation, (b) social class standing, (c) degree of religiosity, and (d) generational level provide the base for a more general discussion of cultural assimilation and multiculturalism.     

Intermarriage and Assimilation in a Plural Society

No abstract available for this article.     

Latinos/as and White Racial Frame: The Procrustean Bed of Assimilation

When North American slavery was established in the 1600s, an interpretive perspective was developed that sought to justify the institution of African American slavery. This composite perspective, a "white racial frame," was later extended by whites to other racial groups such as Latinos/as. This racial frame, which has become white "common sense," includes important racial stereotypes, understandings, images, and inclinations to act. Various forms of this racial framing exist among different U.S. racial groups, but a strong white racial frame has prevailed because whites have long had the power and the resources to impose this reality. A hegemonic situation occurs when people of color consent in various ways to this white racial framing and common sense. This acceptance varies. We discuss four forms of consent to white racial framing that appear in our in-depth interviews in a national sample of Latinos/as. Three forms reference Latinos: acceptance of elements of the racial frame, active enactment of the racial frame, and internalized violence. The fourth use of racial framing is directed by Latinos at African Americans.     

The Development and Implementation of a Minority Recruitment Plan: Process,Strategy and Results

Abstract

The authors identify and discuss the planning process and results of a three-year minority recruitment effort. The recruitment principles and framework used to influence decisions are explained. The recruitment and retention effort consisted of six phases: Gauging the environment, preinitiation, program planning and development, implementation, evaluation, and institutionalization. Each phase is discussed along with the tasks and strategies which proved to be effective.     

Minority Students in Mathematics: The Reading Skills Connection

The research discussed in this paper examined the performance of male and female minority students in the subject areas of mathematics and reading. The subjects for the study consisted of over one thousand junior and senior high school students who were enrolled in fifty-nine different mathematics classes at eleven different schools across the country. Most of the students–69 percent–were of non-minority background. Blacks represented the largest portion (87.6 percent) of the minority segment. The study had four objectives: (1) to compare the performance of minority students on achievement tests in mathematics with their performance on achievement tests in reading; (2) to compare the performance of minority students on achievement tests in mathematics and reading with the performance of non-minority students in those tests; (3) to compare the performance of male minority students with that of female minority students; and (4) to consider the relationship between performance on achievement tests in reading and mathematics to course grade in mathematics. The overall purpose of the study was to further our understanding of the type of academic preparation occurring among pre-college students from minority backgrounds.     

The American Indian: Social Work Education's Neglected Minority

Paradoxically, there are many commonalities between the life-styles and values of American Indians and the profession of social work, yet social work and its practice and educational institutions to a large extent have failed to reach America's most deprived minority group. This article examines certain aspects of this failure and makes affirmative corrective action recommendations reflective of those commonalities.     

The Intersection of Multiple Minority Identities: Perspectives of White Lesbian Couples Adopting Racial/Ethnic Minority Children

In order to analyse the salience of race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, and adoptive status for lesbian adoptive parents, this study examined the challenges and strengths described by 20 White lesbian couples (40 women) who were adopting racial/ethnic minority children from within the United States. Data from two time points (pre‐ and post‐adoptive placement) were analysed qualitatively. Results indicated that the majority of women voiced concerns about raising racial/ethnic minority children in a ‘White privileged’ society. Many women reported facing a lack of understanding from others and were aware of multiple layers of stigma. However, having faced discrimination themselves as sexual minorities, many also perceived themselves as possessing unique strengths (e.g., experience coping with stigma). Many women expressed feeling that by drawing on support from their communities as well as their own awareness of and experience with diversity issues, they could prepare their children for the challenges they might face.