Ch. 10 S. 3 : Minority Groups in the United States

1. Ch. 10 S. 3 : Minority Groups in the United States Obj: Describe the conditions under which minority groups in the US live; Explain how government policies have affected the lives of minority groups in the US.

2. The early settlers provided the image of what many people think of as the typical American – white, or Anglo-Saxon (northern European) descent, and Protestant. This WASP image does not do justice to the country’s great multi-cultural reality. Yet the image has been the yardstick against which other groups within the US have been compared.

3. For the most part, minority groups have prospered in relation to how closely they adapt to the WASP image. Those who can more easily adapt are accepted into mainstream American society relatively quickly. Immigrants from heavily Protestant countries such as Sweden, the Netherlands, and Germany generally gained dominant status within one generation. Other groups – such as African Americans, Hispanics, American Indians, Asian Americans, and white ethnics – have had more difficulty gaining acceptance. This section focuses on the current conditions under which various minority groups live in the US.

4. African Americans Comprising more than 12% of the population. African Americans are one of the largest minority groups in the country. With the possible exceptions of American Indians and women, no other American minority group has suffered such a long history of prejudice and discrimination. First brought to this country as slaves in the early 1600s, African Americans have only recently gained an economic and political foothold in American society.

5. The civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s brought significant gains for African Americans. For example, the percentage of the population completing high school is now only a few points lower for African Americans than for white Americans. About 24% of employed African Americans now hold managerial or professional jobs. In comparison, 35% of employed white Americans hold such jobs. The rise in the number of African Americans holding professional jobs marks a considerable increase over the past two decades. Statistics show that some 41% of African American households have middle-class incomes.

6. However, other statistics are not as promising: • The percentage of African Americans completing four or more years of college is just more than half that of white Americans. • African American family income averages about 64% of white family income. • The percentage of African American families living below the poverty level is almost three times that of white families.

7. Approximately 31% of African Americans 18 years old or younger live below the poverty level. • The unemployment rate among African Americans is more than twice as high as the unemployment rate among white workers.

8. These statistics represent a serious social problem, and solutions are being sought. The process is being aided by the active role that African Americans are taking in the political process. Since the passage of the Voting Rights Act in 1965, the number of elected African American officials has jumped from 200 to nearly 9,000. In addition, in 2000 President George W. Bush appointed several African Americans to high-level positions, including Rod Paige as secretary of education, Colin Powell as secretary of state, and Condoleezza Rice as national security advisor.

9. Hispanics The 2000 census shows that the US is home to more than 35 million Hispanics. This figure represents a 58% increase in the size of the Hispanic population since 1990. During the same time period, the size of the general population grew only by about 13%. The Hispanic population is growing so fast that Hispanics have replaced African Americans as the country’s largest minority group.

10. Until the 1960s the Hispanic population in the US consisted primarily of people of Mexican, Puerto Rican, and Cuban ancestry. Then in the 1960s immigrants from Central and South America and the Caribbean began to swell the number of Hispanics living in the US.

11. Many of the immigrants who began arriving in the US in the 1960s entered through legal means. Others arrived illegally, searching for political freedom and economic opportunities. The US government estimates that there are more than 5 million illegal immigrants in the US, at least 70% of whom are Hispanic. It is likely that the actual number of illegal immigrants – both Hispanic and non-Hispanic – is considerably higher.

12. Hispanics have gained increasing political power in recent years and currently hold more than 5,400 elected and appointed offices. Hispanics also control large voting blocks in several states, particularly California, New York, Texas, Illinois, and Florida.

13. Despite these gains, Hispanics still lag behind non-Hispanics in areas such as education and employment. For example, the poverty rate among Hispanics is about twice that of white Americans. However, it is somewhat misleading to make generalizations about Hispanics. With the exception of a shared language and a shared religion – the majority are Roman Catholic – Hispanics are a diverse people.

14. Asian Americans Like Hispanics, Asian Americans come from a variety of national backgrounds. Immigrants from almost every Asian country have come to the US during the past 100 years. The six largest groups of Asian Americans are of Chinese, Filipino, Indian, Korean, Vietnamese, and Japanese ancestry.

15. Representing close to 4% of the total U.S. population, Asian Americans are the country’s third-largest ethnic minority group. The 1990 census place the size of the Asian American population at more than 7 million. By the 2000 census, that figure had grown to more than 10 million. Based on current growth rates, the U.S. Census Bureau projects that Asian Americans will make up 9% of the U.S. population by the year 2050.

16. The relatively small size of the Asian American population and its current high growth rate are a reflection of changes in the US immigration policies over the years. The first wave of Asian immigration began in the 1850s when Chinese workers were brought to the West Coast to work in the gold mines and to help build railroads.

17. When the economy slowed and white workers had to compete with Chinese workers for jobs, physical violence and discrimination against the Chinese became widespread. Some Americans formed anti-immigrant political organizations to push for legislation limiting the number of Asian immigrants. In response, Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882. This act ended Chinese immigration. It was not until the 1940s when labor was once again in short supply, that the ban on Chinese immigration was lifted. There were several more waves of immigration.

18. Much has been written about the commitment to education exhibited by Asian Americans. For example, Asian American students consistently achieve high scores on both the verbal and mathematical sections of the SAT. Moreover, 1999 figures show that 44% of Asian Americans over the age of 25 have a bachelor’s or more advanced degree, compared to a figure of 26% percent of whites the same age. Asian Americans have used education as a vehicle for moving up the economic ladder. For example, the median household income for Asian Americans is about $13000 higher than all Americans.

19. The success of Asian Americans in achieving economic security and social acceptance has led some to call them a “model minority.” Many Asian Americans resent its label. It hides the fact that the group has faced severe hardships in its quest for acceptance. The road to economic success has been littered with anti-Asian laws, open violence, and discrimination. Perhaps the most notable of these incidents was the internment of more than 110,000 Japanese Americans during WWII.

20. American Indians Estimates indicate that when Europeans first set foot on the shores of what is now the US, the American Indian population numbered in the millions. These people, the ancestors of contemporary American Indians, were divided into hundreds of tribes. Each of these tribes had its own rich history and culture.

21. Early American Indians developed important trade practices and food crops such as corn and potatoes, which greatly altered the life of those Europeans who later settled in the Americas. However, disease, warfare, and the destruction of traditional ways of life reduced the American Indian population to about 228,000 in 1890. During the 1900s, American Indian numbers steadily increased. Figures from the 2000 census put the American Indian population at 2.5 million. Even so, of all the country’s minority groups, America Indians face the greatest challenges.

22. Approximately 50% of the American Indian workforce on or near the reservations is unemployed. • Some 31% of all American Indians live below the poverty level. About 30% of those employed have incomes below the poverty level.

23. The rate of alcohol-related deaths among American Indians is about 7 times higher than among the general population. The suicide rate is about 1.5 times higher among American Indians as it is among all other Americans. It is the second leading cause of death among American Indians aged 15 to 24 yrs old. • Only about 66% of American Indians aged 25 and over have graduated from high school, and less than 10% have graduated from college.

24. American Indian problems, in large part, are the result of a history of changing governmental policies. They took American Indian lands and moved them to reservations, and forced them to assimilate or denied them citizenship. Now, American Indians are focusing their efforts on business development. Gambling operations provide considerable income and employment for many of these groups. Others have set up manufacturing and other industries on their reservations. American Indian arts, businesses, and cultural traditions have influenced American culture.

25. White Ethnics We know we have the WASP image, however, not all European immigrants were quickly accepted into mainstream society. During the 1800s and early 1900s, white ethnics -immigrants from the mainly Catholic countries of Ireland, Italy, France, Poland, and Greece – entered the US in great numbers. These immigrants – who are known collectively as white ethnics – often faced open discrimination at the hands of the American-born Protestant majority.

26. The discrimination faced by white ethnics was based on cultural and economic concerns. Unlike earlier European immigrants, most white ethnics came to the US with little money and few skills. They often spoke little or no English, and most of them were Catholic, and there was lots of Anti-Catholic sentiment. It was difficult to find employment, and if they did, it was generally the lowest-paying and least-prestigious jobs.

27. Many white ethnics responded to discrimination by assimilating rapidly into mainstream society. Some adopted American-sounding names and required their children to speak English at home as well as in public. Other white ethnics chose the opposite response. They banded together in ethnic neighborhoods in an attempt to hold on to their ethnic identities. Today many white ethnics have been accepted into mainstream society. However, other white ethnics still are struggling against mainstream prejudice. White ethnics are often stereotyped as poorly educated. In reality ½ of all white ethnics have attended college-same % as white non-ethnics.