Beginning in the 1850s, California became a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic society where many cultures met and engaged in a struggle for wealth and cultural dominance. This study documents such an encounter between two of those groups, Anglo Americans and Indians, in the Northern California county of Mendocino. It argues that race was the most crucial element underlying the development of the society in Mendocino County from the frontier era to the Great Depression. Anglo American settlers brought with them to California clearly defined ideas about race that helped them justify conquest of the Indians. Greed for land combined with the racial ideology of the era to create a frontier society where race largely determined the control of land, resources, and power. Indians and other people Anglos defined as nonwhite became a cheap workforce with limited access to the promise of California. Geographically isolated rural counties like Mendocino tended to be narrow and provincial. In such regions race was an even more potent force than in more cosmopolitan parts of the state. In spite of racial divisions, some white reformers and employees of the federal government worked on behalf of the Indians. Although well meaning, they often acted as agents of assimilation policies that undermined and disrupted native cultures. At times, however, some of them became agents of change, helping the Indians find ways to resist and survive attacks on them. And against all odds, Indian people did find ways to survive, most often from their own efforts, not those of reformers. Using complex strategies of accommodation and resistance, they adapted to a changed world by drawing on traditions of community and spirituality inherent in California Indian village life. New leaders emerged and in concert with white reformers, some Indians began to actively organize, first around issues of education and land, and later for an end to segregation and the right to vote. But in spite of many gains, racial divisions on the local level remained strong, indicating that in a region with such a history, reform without attention to the importance of race is unlikely to create fundamental change.

For the first time in recent history, Somali society has experienced the plight of a mass exodus. Millions have been displaced by civil war and have sought refuge in places thousands of miles away from their homelands. There are tens of thousands of Somali refugees in Canada; the majority settled in Metropolitan Toronto. Upon arrival, Somalis, still suffering from the trauma of war and uprooting, face the challenges of adapting to life in the post-modern Canadian society. Adaptation implies bridging the cultural differences between Somalia and Canada. This study, using ethnographic methods such as in-depth interviewing and participant observations, explores the socio-cultural experiences of Somali refugees in Toronto during the process of adaptation. The research questions focus on challenges Somalis face during the adaptation process, and the coping mechanisms they employ in response to the challenges they face. The study finds that, as recent migrants, Somali refugees have not achieved significant structural integration into the social, economic, and political structures of Canadian society. Dependence on social welfare assistance, a high rate of unemployment, limited educational pursuits, and social and residential segregation are features common among Somali refugees in Toronto. Factors that hinder their effective integration include lack of access to critical initial resettlement services; limited length of residence; limited proficiency in official languages of Canada; and prejudice, discrimination, and racism directed against them as Blacks and as Muslims. Internally, Somalis are making significant cultural adaptations by synthesizing elements of the two cultures. Younger Somalis are acquiring the values of their peers, which create intergenerational conflicts within the family. Religiosity among the adults and some youngsters is also on the rise. Somalis have created their own ethnic institutions such as businesses and community organizations to provide critical services. However, considering the salience of racism in Canada and the exclusion of Black ethnic groups from the economic, social, and political structures, it is unlikely that the experience of the Somalis in Canada would be significantly different than that of other Blacks. Most Somalis identify themselves first as Muslims, and second as Somalis, but others see them just as Blacks.

Identity and specifically American Indian identity is frequently established by tribal enrollment base on blood quantum or percentage of Indian blood from a specific Indian nation. Here I demonstrate how American Indian identity of individuals from the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin has been formed by experiences rooted in a historical context shaped by contemporary issues. From the treaty period in the 19th Century through Termination and Restoration in the 20th Century, pressure to assimilate into the non-Indian community failed and instead fostered a strong Menominee identity. Blood quantum plays a political and social role determining who is accepted on the tribal roll. Language and cultural expressions and traditional ceremony reinforce identity. However, Menominee connection to their land and the interaction of the land and people provides the foundation for their identity and creates an unbroken bond to their ancestors and a responsibility to the Menominee of the future.

This dissertation introduces four studies targeting a central question in discrimination research: What is the relationship between ethnic identification and perceived discrimination? The studies support conclusions that, among minority populations, the same, ambiguous, discrimination-relevant feedback will tend to be interpreted by the highly identified as more biased than it is by the weakly identified, since identification makes ethnic self-schemas chronically accessible—and hence, central guides in the interpretation of discrimination-relevant feedback. Moreover, manipulations that make ethnic self-schemas temporarily accessible can increase attributions of ambiguous feedback to bias. Study 1 establishes some predicted links among ethnic identification, perceived discrimination, and self-schema accessibility; Study 2 demonstrates that manipulating schema accessibility can influence estimates of past, present, and future discrimination. Study 3, focusing on Asian Americans, suggests that ethnic self-schemas, when accessible, bias online information-processing. Conclusions regarding how ethnic identification operates in Whites remain less clear. Although Studies 1 and 2 suggest that the accessibility of ethnic self-schemas influences perceived bias among Whites, Study 4 produces only weak evidence that priming ethnic self-schemas in Whites increases their tendency to perceive ambiguous feedback from an Asian experimenter as biased. Ethnic self-schemas may motivate information-processing in Whites, but it is not yet clear how.

Recorded members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (also known as Mormon or LDS) comprise over 70% of Utah's population. This qualitative study identifies the unique concerns and challenges that members of Utah's minority religions may face in public schools. Semi-structured interviews, designed to elicit rich, detailed information, were conducted with 48 participants (13 leaders, 17 parents, 18 students) from seven different minority religions in Utah. Each interview was audio taped, transcribed, and then analyzed using the qualitative analysis program N-Vivo. Looking at the school institutional treatment (laws, policy, teachers, administrators) of participants' religions, few expressed major concerns or challenges. Ignorant LDS favoritism and school accommodation of LDS Released-Time Seminary were issues most commonly expressed. In contrast to institutional treatment, social treatment of participants' religion in school received significantly more comment, and related concerns ran considerably deeper. Participants identified areas of occasional peer exclusion such as LDS cliques, Seminary, conversation, and dating. Participants further identified areas of occasional uncomfortable peer interaction such as LDS proselytizing, sense of superiority, and assumptions or stereotypes. Several participants cited LDS ignorance, cohesiveness, and their doctrine of one true church as general causes of this peer exclusion and uncomfortable interaction. Furthermore, the data suggests that the challenges mentioned by participants are enhanced in the higher LDS populated and more rural areas of Utah. The findings also suggest that the prevalence of such challenges have been decreasing over time. All participants identified some concerns or challenges they face as members of a minority religion in their Utah school communities. However, it appears most participants, with some clear exceptions, did not view treatment of their religion in Utah public schools as a major issue.

Residential segregation is an issue where multiple variables such as race, class, and income converge. Identifying the remaining variables contributing to the continuation of residential segregation is what remains in order to understand the issue completely. A possible variable that has yet to be considered is the effect that the name of a road has on the surrounding area. The objective of this research is to identify the relationship between Division Streets and residential segregation. Although this relationship may not be causal, the existence of any tie between labels as apparent as 'division' on a road where residential segregation is prominent has many implications. Although it has proven difficult to explain the origin and intent of the name of a road, this research looks to more deeply investigate the situation. Residential segregation is a multifaceted topic and the effect of road labels on society's perception of an area is an untapped resource in defining the situation of residential segregation. Working within the framework that was set up by Massey in the early 1990s this research strives to create a complete picture of residential segregation. Data were collected online from the map application on the website Google. With this technology the largest 100 cities in the United States were searched and as not every city had a Division Street the pool of potential cities to be analyzed diminished. Forty of the 100 largest cities had Division Streets in their city limits. Utilizing the program SimplyMap it was determined that of these 40 Division Streets, only eleven roads served as boundaries for block groups as collected by the United States Census Bureau. These eleven roads were analyzed to determine if there were differences in levels of racial residential segregation on either side. Findings will reveal the relationship between the names of roads and areas of residential segregation.; This research does not offer any suggestions on how to eliminate or remedy residential segregation; rather it identifies areas of concern. Ultimately, this data will contribute another layer of understanding about residential segregation.

The Light of the World Church in East Boston is a minority church that has historically served the Latino immigrant community. Its tight connection to the mother church in Mexico and the continual growth from immigration established its religious identity as a minority church with the social function of ethnic preservation. As a minority church, it also sacralized sociocultural elements from the mother church’s context that were not part of the church’s official theology but helped its growth by providing a cultural safe haven for its immigrant members. As the church developed and grew, the ethnic religious identity was challenged by the US-born Latino members who were assimilated to American culture and by the church’s own people of God theology, which called for a multicultural congregation. The ethnic nature of the church, on the one hand, and the universal nature the church’s own theology called for, on the other, as opposing views of what the church should be, created an identity crisis. The crisis threatened congregational unity by leading towards the creation of two distinct churches, the ethnic immigrant church and the assimilated American church. This thesis project begins to close the gap between the culturally conflicted Light of the World Church in East Boston and the multicultural people of God envisioned in its theology, by reimagining identity through the adoption of a Christ-like consciousness, the creation of a multicultural congregational ethos and modified gender power structured within.

This study measures the campus climate for Asian Americans on a college campus before and after tragic events, and places it in the context of what is known about the social location of Asian American students nationally. Using a multi-method approach, including in-depth interviews supplemented by data from content analyses and surveys, it addresses perceptions of Asian American students about themselves and the campus climate. In doing so it addresses the more general question of minority stereotyping and strategies taken by minority groups to compensate for such stereotypes. Findings from this study suggest that the campus climate for Asian American undergraduates appears to be welcoming, and respondents do not report stress emanating from their 'model minority' status. Instead, they embrace and offer full-support for the 'model minority' stereotype. / Ph. D.

No description available.

The community college is one of the most diverse institutions of higher learning in regards to the make-up of its student population. However, with such a large representation of diversity within its student population, the community college has not been as successful in diversifying the community college presidency. The purpose of this research study was to examine the career paths, barriers, and professional experiences of African American community college presidents and White community college presidents. A secondary purpose of this study was to examine potential recruitment strategies to recruit minority administrators. A total of 176 African American and White community college presidents were surveyed, and 105 (N = 105) surveys were used for the study. Fiftyive surveys were from White/Caucasian community college presidents and fifty surveys were from Black/African American community college presidents. A self-developed survey (Presidents’ Survey) was used to collect the data. Chi-Square, Analysis of Variance, frequencies, and percentages were used for data analysis. Results of the study indicate that African American and White community college presidents differ significantly in terms of marital status, graduation from a historically Black college or university (HBCU), make-up of student body at their institutions, location of their institutions, and in attendance of leadership development workshops. Results of the statistical analysis are presented in narrative and table form to answer the five research questions. The study concludes with a summary, conclusions, implications, and recommendations for further research.