Ethnic Identity: The Transformation of White America

390 Pages·1992·5.661 MB·English

by  Richard D. Alba

Ethnic Identity:
The Transformation of
White
America
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Ethnic Identity:
The Transformation of
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America
Richard D. Alba
Yale University Press New Haven and London
Copyright © 1990 by Yale University.
All rights reserved.
This book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, including illustrations, in
any form (beyond that copying permitted by Sections 107 and 108 of the U.S.
Copyright Law and except by reviewers for the public press), without written
permission from the publishers.
Tables 1.1 and 1.2 are taken from Richard D. Alba, "Cohorts and the dynamics of
ethnic change," in Social Structures and Human Lives, ed. Matilda White Riley,
pp. 211-28, copyright 1988. Reprinted by permission of Sage Publications, Inc.
Designed by James J. Johnson.
Set in Aster Roman type by The Composing Room of Michigan.
Printed in the United States of America
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Alba, Richard D.
Ethnic identity : the transformation of white America / Richard
D. Alba,
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN: 978-0-300-05221-3
1. Minorities—United States. 2. Ethnicity—United States.
3. Whites—United States. I. Title.
E184.A1A45 1990
305.8 '034073—dc20 89-21483
CIP
The paper in this book meets the guidelines for pennanence and durability of the
Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council on Library
Resources.
For Michael and Sarah
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Contents
LIST OF TABLES ix
PREFACE Xiii
1 The Transformation of Ethnicity Among Americans
of European Ancestries 1
2 Fundamentals of Ancestry and Identity 37
3 The Cultural Expressions of Ethnic Identity 75
4 Ethnicity's Shadow in Social Experience 124
5 Ethnicity in Families 164
6 Ethnic Social Structures: Friends and Organized
Groups 207
7 The Changing Map of Ethnicity: Ethnicity and
Neighborhood 253
8 Conclusion: The Emergence of the European
Americans 290
APPENDIX: The Ethnic Identity Survey 321
BIBLIOGRAPHY 327
NOTES 337
INDEX 367
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Tables
Table 1.1 Changes in educational attainment among cohorts of
U.S.-born South-Central-East European ethnics
Table 1.2 Changes in language use and exposure among
cohorts of U.S.-born South-Central-East European
ethnics
Table 1.3 Marriage patterns of U.S.-born members of major
European ancestry groups
Table 1.4 Selected characteristics of major ancestry groups
among U.S.-born whites in the Capital Region
Table 2.1 Ethnic ancestry: Complexity and uncertainty among
native-born whites in the Capital Region
Table 2.2 Ethnic identities of native-born whites
Table 2.3 Logit analysis of ethnic self-identification
Table 2.4 Logit analysis of qualification and disavowal of
identity
Table 2.5 The perceived importance of ethnic backgrounds
Table 2.6 Subjective importance of ethnic background by
ancestry type and generation
ix
x o Tables
Table 3.1 Ethnic experiences (during preceding five years)
Table 3.2 Distribution of ethnic experiences among native-born
whites, immigrant whites, and non-whites
Table 3.3 Level of ethnic experience by ethnic identity status
and importance of background
Table 3.4 Ethnic food customs by ethnic identity status
Table 3.5 Frequency of eating ethnic food by ethnic identity
status and importance of ethnic background
Table 3.6 Mother-tongue knowledge and use by ethnic identity
status
Table 3.7 Knowledge and use of a mother tongue by ethnic
identity status and importance of background
Table 3.8 Ethnic customs and traditions by ethnic identity
status and subjective importance of background
Table 3.9 Festival attendance by ethnic identity status and
subjective importance of background
Table 3.10 Selected logit analyses of ethnic cultural indicators
Table 4.1 Frequencies of experiences of sensitivity to ethnicity
in the everyday social world among native-born
whites
Table 4.2 Experiences of ethnic social sensitivity by ethnic
identity status
Table 4.3 Experiences of ethnic social sensitivity by ethnic
identity status and importance of background
Table 4.4 Logistic regression analyses of ethnic social
sensitivity
Table 4.5 Experiences with prejudice and discrimination by
ethnic identity status
Table 4.6 Experiences with prejudice and discrimination by
ethnic identity status and the subjective importance
of ethnic background
Table 4.7 Logistic regression analyses of experiences with
prejudice and discrimination
Table 4.8 Ethnic political concerns by ethnic identity status
and subjective importance of background
Table 4.9 Logistic regression analysis of ethnic political
concerns