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Searching for a Framework for a Synthetic Understanding of Post‐1965 Immigration from the Western Hemisphere
Author(s) -
Murata Katsuyuki
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
transforming anthropology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.325
H-Index - 9
eISSN - 1548-7466
pISSN - 1051-0559
DOI - 10.1525/tran.2006.14.1.95
Subject(s) - immigration , ethnic group , latin americans , diversity (politics) , racial diversity , western hemisphere , race (biology) , white (mutation) , gender studies , sociology , political science , ethnology , anthropology , law , biochemistry , chemistry , gene
Since the late 1960s, a demographic shift has occurred in the United States as a result of a rapid increase in the number of Spanish‐speaking immigrants, particularly from Latin American countries. Many Americans perceive the conspicuously rapid expansion of Latino residents in a racialized fashion. As a result, the numerical shift within the minority groups means that the Black White dichotomy, a long‐held referential framework, has lost much of its relevance in understanding and/or explaining ethno‐racial relations in contemporary America. Additionally, Black immigrants from the British West Indies are among the many groups that have contributed to reformulating the racial and ethnic diversity of U.S. society since 1965. In this article, I will cover two groups originating from the Western Hemisphere: Latino and West Indian immigrants. I would like to take this opportunity to search for a new conceptual or theoretical ground for understanding the interplay of race, ethnicity, and nation by discussing these two groups that have rarely been dealt with simultaneously.