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The Ever-Changing U.S. Mosaic
Chapter 14
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Questions We Will Explore:
 What
are some of the explanations for
ethnic consciousness?
 Discuss ethnicity as a social process.
 What are the pros and cons of bilingual
education?
 Describe the varying viewpoints about
multiculturalism and political correctness.
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2003
Reasons for Ethnic Consciousness—
Country of Origin
 In
today’s world, an immigrant group can maintain
contact with the country of origin not only through
airmail letters but also through telecommunications,
rapid transportation, and the continued arrival of
newcomers. This can influence the ethnic
consciousness of an immigrant community in the
United States.
 Geographical proximity and the degree of stability or
social change in the homeland has a profound effect on
the migrant community’s sociocultural patterns and
lifestyle.
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Reasons for Ethnic Consciousness—
Three Generation Hypothesis and
Other Explanations
 Three-Generation
Hypothesis argues that while the
second generation emphasizes U.S. ways and neglects
its own heritage, the third generation rediscovers ethnic
identity.
 Other explanations include:
a. Outside events heighten ethnic awareness.
b. Only the better educated of a group become
ethnically self-conscious.
c. Variations in time and social structure and within
ethnic groups encourage different types of responses.
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Reasons for Ethnic Consciousness—
The Changing Face of Ethnicity
 White
ethnic revival was a backlash against the efforts of
blacks, hippies, and liberals.
 Resiliency of ethnic identity remains even through
acculturation.
 Ethnicity is a social process affected by and affecting
residence.
 Symbolic ethnicity, identifying with one’s heritage
through ethnic foods, holidays, and political and social
activities, is now the most common form among
European Americans.
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Ethnicity as a Social Process
 Ethnicity
is a creation of a pluralistic U.S. society.
Usually, culture shock and an emerging selfconsciousness lead immigrant groups to think of
themselves in terms of an ethnic identity and to become
part of an ethnic community to gain the social and
emotional support they need to begin a new life in their
adopted country.
 Some sociologists have argued that ethnicity should be
regarded not as an ascribed attribute, with only the two
discrete categories of assimilation and pluralism, but as
a continuous variable.
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Ethnicity as a Social Process (continued)
 William
L. Yancey, Eugene P. Ericksen, and Richard N.
Juliani concluded that ethnic behavior is conditioned by
occupation, residence, and institutional affiliation—the
structural situations in which groups have found
themselves.
 Group consciousness arises and crystallizes within the
work relationships, common residential areas, interests,
and lifestyles of working-class conditions.
 Moreover, normal communication and participation in
ethnic organizations on a cosmopolitan level can
reinforce ethnic identity even among residentially
dispersed groups.
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Pros and Cons of Bilingual Education
 Bilingual
education — teaching subjects in both English
and the student’s native language — can take the form of
a transitional program (gradually phasing in English
completely over several years) or a maintenance
program (continued native-language teaching to sustain
the students’ heritage with a simultaneous but relatively
limited emphasis on English proficiency).
 For the many U.S. residents who assume that Englishspeaking schools provided the heat for the melting pot,
the popularity of bilingual education — particularly
maintenance programs — are a sore point.
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Bilingual Ed. — Pros and Cons (continued)
Some in the U.S. see Bilingual Ed. as
counterproductive because it tends to reduce
assimilation in and the cohesiveness of U.S. society,
while simultaneously isolating ethnic groups from one
another.
 Advocates of bilingual programs emphasize that they
are developing bilingualism — fluency in both English
and the students’ native tongue — and that many
children are illiterate in both when they begin school.
 Proponents of bilingual education claim that it reduces
the minority dropout rate and helps students adjust to
society.

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Pros and Cons (continued)
 Opponents
charge that the programs are too costly,
frequently staffed by paraprofessionals who lack fluency
in English themselves, or subsidize political activities of
vocal minority groups. Also, they complain that students
remain in transitional bilingual program classes for many
years, learning little English.
 Because bilingual programs vary so widely in approach
and quality, it is difficult to assess overall effectiveness.
However, studies show that students who are given
enough time in well-taught bilingual programs to gain
English proficiency test better in the eleventh grade than
do those with no prior preparation in a bilingual program.
copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2003
Viewpoints about Multiculturalism and
Political Correctness
 In
its early phase, during the 1970s, multiculturalism
meant including material in the school curriculum that
related the contributions of non-European peoples to
U.S. history. Next followed efforts to change all areas of
the curriculum in elementary and secondary schools and
colleges to reflect the diversity of U.S. society and to
develop students awareness of and appreciation for the
impact of non-European civilizations on U.S. culture.
 Some multiculturalists subsequently moved away from
an assimilationist or integrative approach, rejecting a
common bond of identity among the distinct minorities.
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Multiculturalism and Political Correctness (cont’d)
 New
multiculturalists advocate “minority nationalism”
and “separatist pluralism” with a goal, not of a collective
national identity, but of specific, separate group identities.
 To create a positive group identity, these multiculturalists
go beyond advocacy for teaching and maintaining a
group’s own cultural customs, history, values, and
festivals. They deny the validity of the dominant culture’s
customs, history, values, and festivals. Some also argue
that only those groups with power can be racist.
 Opponents counter that racism can and does exist within
any group, regardless of how much power the group has.
copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2003
Multiculturalism and Political Correctness (cont’d)
 By
1990, various streams of liberation (including those
championing peoples of color, feminism, gay rights, and
the movement for the interests of the handicapped)
coalesced into a movement known as political
correctness.
 Advocates sought to create, on college campuses, an
atmosphere intolerant of hostility toward any discrete
group of people. Required courses on racism, sexism, and
ethnic diversity were only one approach. Through the
advocates’ lobbying efforts, numerous universities
established codes delineating various forms of “forbidden
speech” and inappropriate behavior; these codes were
designed to protect groups from abuse and exclusion.
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Multiculturalism and Political Correctness (cont’d)
 Critics
of political correctness asserted that the
movement’s advocates were themselves ethnocentric and
intolerant of opinions at variance from their own. They
argued that Western civilization, with its cosmopolitan
nature and absorption of aspects of other cultures, is
more tolerant and inclusive than the views of
multiculturalists.
 Political correctness became a controversial term with
praiseworthy or derogatory connotations, depending on
one’s perspective. The hottest debates focused on
campus speech codes, which opponents maintained
violated First Amendment rights of free speech.
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Summary
 Country
of origin, three generation hypothesis, and other
explanations offer reasons for ethnic consciousness.
 It has been argued that ethnicity is a continuous variable,
not an ascribed attribute .
 Because bilingual programs vary so widely in approach
and quality, it is difficult to assess overall effectiveness.
 Multiculturalism began as a movement of inclusion.
Later some advocated minority nationalism or separatist
pluralism.
 Political correctness became a controversial term with
praiseworthy or derogatory connotations, depending on
one’s perspective.
copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2003