Coping with Cultural and Racial Diversity in Urban America

(Hardback)

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The authors state at the beginning of this new book that one of the most distinctive features of the "American persona" is "a preoccupation and underlying concern in the United States with what is or is not American". How far can an ethnic group in the United States go to maintain its identity before it trespasses into what is perceived as un- american terrain This is the underlying theme of Lambert and Taylor's community based investigation which studies the attitudes of Americans toward ethnic diversity and intergroup relations. Directed toward social psychologists, sociologists, anthropologists, and ethnic scholars, this study deals with the peculiar U.S. dichotomy of cultural diversity and assimilation. The research is conducted in a metropolitan area among working-class adults; some are established mainstream citizens, others are newcomers, but all experience ethnic and racial diversity as a daily fact of life. The authors examine the perspectives of mainstream White Americans and Black Americans. They interview ethnic immigrant groups - Polish, Arab, Albanian, Mexican, and Puerto Rican Americans - in two urban settings and offer insight to the reality as well as the exciting possibilities of multiculturalism.

Reviews

Directed toward social psychologists, sociologists, anthropologists, and ethnic scholars, this book deals with the peculiar U.S. dichotomy of cultural diversity and assimilation. The research is conducted in a metropolitan area among working class adults; some are established mainstream citizens, others are newcomers, but all experience ethnic and racial diversity as a daily fact of life.-RPGP
"Directed toward social psychologists, sociologists, anthropologists, and ethnic scholars, this book deals with the peculiar U.S. dichotomy of cultural diversity and assimilation. The research is conducted in a metropolitan area among working class adults; some are established mainstream citizens, others are newcomers, but all experience ethnic and racial diversity as a daily fact of life."-RPGP

Author Bio

WALLACE E. LAMBERT is a Professor of Social Psychology at McGill University. DONALD M. TAYLOR is a Professor of Social Psychology at McGill University. They have published extensively on the attitudes and values of ethnic and racial minorities.