The Diversity Challenge: Social Identity and Intergroup Relations on the College Campus

12. Summary and Theoretical Integration

Chapter 12 Summary and Theoretical Integration T his volume began with the observation that a strikingly rapid process of ethnic diversification has been unfolding in the United States over the last forty years. Indeed, the United States, as well as most First World nations, is now home to a vibrant mix of bloodlines, skin tones, languages, and cultural practices. In the United States, this diversi- fication has been driven by a coalescence of forces, including dramatically increased levels of both legal and illegal immigration since 1965, when a series of immigration reform measures was set into motion, and relatively high birthrates among these immigrant groups at a time when birthrates among Americans of European ancestry are on a visible downswing. In many nations other than the United States, similar processes of ethnic diversification are under way and sometimes ethnic relations are playing out in similar ways. The United States differs from other Western nations, however, in one very important respect: until 1965, this country had a legalized system of segregation and discrimination that applied specifically to blacks, who at the time made up roughly 10 percent of the population. Under this “Jim Crow” system, blacks were classi- fied as second-class citizens—that is, as a separate, inferior “racial” caste. Notably, because this system and its antecedents in slavery had been in place since the founding years of the nation, virtually no other minority group in the United States (Native Americans excepted) was treated in quite the same way. In virtually no other Western nations have similar systems of this scale been put in place. The Jim Crow system in the United States officially ended in 1965 (though its formal and informal dissolution has been slow). This was just at the time when immigration rates exploded. Thus, Americans began to attend to issues arising from the resulting ethnic diversification at the same time as they began to grapple with the official reversal of four-hundred-year-old laws permitting the oppression of black Americans . This is the political and social context in which ethnic diversification , and many of the steps taken to respond to it, has occurred in the United States. An early application of the American multicultural agenda was the effort to integrate African Americans into the almost-all-white higher education system. Various practices were put in place to facilitate this integration . Ironically, these practices were soon applied not just to African Americans but also to many of the new immigrants, largely from Asian and Latin American countries, who were flooding into the United States. These immigrants have been incorporated relatively quickly into the higher education system. However, the integration of African Americans has been, and continues to be, a slower process. Against this backdrop, our story in this volume has taken a keen interest in understanding the particular issues faced by different ethnic groups and the distinctive paths taken by each. The particular locale of our research within the larger American context also deserves comment. This research was conducted with students at UCLA in the late 1990s. It is well known that the college experience can be pivotal in sculpting social and political attitudes. These attitudes are formed and reformed throughout the life span, but the college years are believed to provide people with a relatively extensive exposure to novel ideas and information. Just as importantly, these years provide students with what are sometimes their first experiences interacting with members of various social, economic, and ethnic groups on approximately equal footing. As a result, important social and political views are thought to “take hold” in college. If the underpinnings of people’s diversity -related attitudes—their causes, correlates, and consequences— are to be better understood, then college students seem to be an ideal population to study. In what ways is UCLA itself a unique research site? To begin with, relative to many other universities, UCLA has long shown a particularly deep concern about diversity-related issues, and the university has an extensive system of diversity-related initiatives in place. UCLA is also The Diversity Challenge 296 considered the premier public university in the second-largest metropolitan area of the United States and is thus a training ground for the future elites of all ethnic communities. Furthermore, amid the diversification of the United States as a whole, California has become one of the most diverse states and serves...