Mainstream and margins revisited : sixty years of commentary on minorities in America / Peter I. Rose.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Rose, Peter I., 1933- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Ethnic relations.

Race relations.

United States--Race relations--20th century.

United States.

United States--Ethnic relations--20th century.

United States--Race relations--21st century.

United States--Ethnic relations--21st century.

Race relations in literature.

Ethnic relations in literature.

Minorities--United States.

Minorities.

Immigrants--United States.

Immigrants.

Refugees--United States.

Refugees.

Physical Description:

xii, 345 pages ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

New Brunswick, New Jersey : Transaction Publishers, [2017]

Summary:

When Mainstream and Margins was published in 1983, Peter Rose's writings on American minorities and those who studied them painted a vivid picture of what life was like in America for Jews, Blacks, and other minorities in the United States. Now, a third of a century later, he revisits the topic, with sixteen new chapters, in addition to seven from the original edition. Together these essays comprise sixty years of his commentaries on American pluralism. New content covers immigration and American refugee policy; reexamines the term "model minority," first used to describe Jews, but now applied to Asian Americans; and the resurgence of nativism both in regard to new migrants from Latin America and to the growth of Islamophohia since the 9/11 attacks. Rose also reassesses what is still one of the most controversial documents about race and class ever written, Daniel Patrick Moyniban's "The Negro Family: A Case for National Action." Rose writes about other authors who have addressed many of the principal concerns of this hook, ranging from novelists Tom Wolfe and Harper Lee to sociologists David Riesman, Robin M. Williams, Jr., and William Julius Wilson. Historical tensions between Jews and African Americans and debates about "liberal" vs. "corporate" pluralism seen from the perspective of both whites and non-whites are also discussed in this seminal volume by a master on the subject. Book jacket.

Contents:

1 "Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen': Some Reflections on the Insider-Outsider Debate (1978) 3

Part I The Marginality of a Model Minority

2 The Ghetto and Beyond: Reflections on Jewish Life in America (1968) 29

3 Country Cousins: "Ambassadors to the Gentiles" (1957, 1961, 1977, 1993) 45

4 Going to the Mountains: Seeking Respite in "The Jewish Alps" (1990) 55

5 Admission to the Club: "The Mathew Principle" and College Enrollment (2006) 59

Part II Black and White in American Society

6 The Black Experience: Issues and Images (1969) 69

7 Social Physics: The Resurgence of Ethnicity (1974) 85

8 Blacks and Jews: The Strained Alliance (1981, 1994) 99

9 The Real McCoy? A Novel Look at Racial Tensions in New York (1998) 119

10 Killing the Messenger: The Black Family and the Politics of Race (2011) 125

11 Facts, Fiction, and Literary Ethnography: The Controversy over Harper Lee's New/Old Novel (2015) 133

Part III On Strangers at the Gate

12 Long Night's Journey: The Ordeal of the Indochinese Refugees (1982, 2003) 145

13 The Harbor Masters: American Politics and Refugee Policy (1984) 165

14 From Pariahs to Paragons: The Downs and Ups of Americans from Asia (1985) 189

15 The Persistence of (an) Ethnicity: Resistance to Americano Dreams (2005) 203

16 Making a Difference: William Allan Neilson and the Rescue of Refugee Intellectuals (2005) 219

Part IV Perspectives on a Stratified Society

17 Culture and Character: David Riesman Reconsidered (1982) 241

18 It's Almost 1984: Three Sociological Perspectives on Social Issues in American Society (1983) 263

19 White America, Circa 2010: Two Views (2011, 2012) 277

20 Hillsborough Boy: Robin M. Williams, Jr. and His Legacy (1999) 291

21 Studying "The Truly Disadvantaged": A Portrait of William Julius Wilson (2015) 307

Coda

22 The Threat of the "Other": Old Challenges, New Realities (2016) 325.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Other Format:

Online version: Rose, Peter Isaac, 1933- author. Mainstream and margins revisited

ISBN:

9781412864299

1412864291

OCLC:

960905690