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Foundations of Inquiry:

An Overview of Racial and Ethnic Discrimination in the United States

The film Snow Falling on Cedars provides a gripping demonstration of the power that fear and prejudice can have on supposedly enlightened individuals and societies. The film's main story is set against the backdrop of what is considered one of the American government's most shameful acts: the forceful relocation during World War II of over 100,000 Japanese-Americans from the west coast to internment camps as far away as Arkansas. This case represents a glaring example of the racial insensitivity that has often been found in American society, but it is far from the only one. Throughout the history of the United States, racial and ethnic minorities have endured discrimination and abuse by the more "established" groups and classes. Although the Civil War officially "freed" black slaves, it did not provide them with any of the rights that members of the white majority had long taken for granted. It took years and decades of struggle for black Americans to obtain any sense of equality in areas such as housing, education, employment, and voting rights and, in many ways, their struggle is still going on. Immigrant groups from the Irish to the Italians to the Jews have been the victims of discrimination from the time of their entry into the country until they have been able to blend into the established population. Groups such as the Mexicans, Hispanics, and Asians are continuing to undergo this process.

The World War II period, in which Snow Falling on Cedars takes place, saw other cases of racial intolerance, some so severe that they paved the way for drastic reforms once the war was over. Even as the United States military was fighting for freedom in Europe, it was subjecting its own black soldiers to inferior living and working conditions, harassment from white comrades and officers, and assignment to menial duties that offered little opportunity for advancement. The time these soldiers spent in Europe made them increasingly aware that the racial attitudes they faced in America did not always exist elsewhere and made them less willing to submit to discrimination and abuse once the war was over.

In the years since World War II, the United States has witnessed numerous developments in efforts to achieve equality. The 1950s and early 1960s saw the beginning of efforts to integrate schools and universities, prompted by the Supreme Court's Brown vs. the Board of Education decision in 1954. The 1960s, with the dominant presence of leaders such as Martin Luther King, Robert Kennedy, and Malcolm X, is often considered the most volatile decade in the struggle for civil rights. It contained protests, marches, and sit-ins that ended, at least officially, many of the discriminatory practices of American society. The 1970s saw milder, but equally significant, contoversies over issues such as forced school busing. In the 1980s and 1990s, many of the debates over discrimination have become calmer, but the issue maintains a dominant presence in nearly all discussions of American society and politics. A relatively new twist in the debate is the concept of "reverse discrimination": the belief that efforts to ensure equality of opportunity to minorities has actually allowed them to obtain unfairly preferential treatment in education, employment, and other areas. The current presidential campaign contains its own share of issues directly or indirectly related to discrimination. These include George Bush's controversial visit to Bob Jones University, a segregated college campus, and debates over whether the death penalty is disproportionately applied to minorities.

Below is a listing of resources that deal with racial and ethnic discrimination in America. Please use them as an introduction to your research on this issue. They will no doubt lead you to other information available at Milner Library and at other online locations.

Web Pages

Port Chicago

This site recounts the aftermath of the destruction of the SS E.A. Bryan, which exploded at Port Chicago, California in July of 1944, while it was being loaded with ammunition, including bullets, bombs, and depth charges. The explosion cost the lives of 320 African-American sailors who had been loading the ship without any training in handling explosives. A Naval Court of Inquiry later blamed the accident on the incompetence of the African-American sailors while exonerating their white senior officers. Court martials later ensued when other African-American sailors refused to continue loading ammunition at other sites.

Integration of the Armed Forces

This page provides an overview President Truman's signing of Executive Order 9981, which officially integrated the U.S. armed forces. It also provides links to related sites, including a history of black military service and a chronology of links leading to integration.

Affirmative Action and Asian Pacific Americans

Describes the nature of discrimination against Asian Americans. The topics covered include immigration and citizenship.

Race and Ethnicity: an Introduction to the Nature of Social Group Differentiation and Inequality

This tutorial helps explain the phenomena of race and ethnicity as well as patterns of discrimination. Attempts to get the reader to suspend attitudinal barriers to gain a better understanding about the lives of other people. Sections on the nature of ethnicity and American diversity patterns are included.

Racial Issues and Identities: a Guide to Resources on the Web

A part of the New York Times web site, How Race is Lived in America. Links to a wide variety of resources are provided.

Diversity Dictionary

Defines terms related to discrimination as well as categories of people who may be subjected to discrimination.

National Forum on People's Differences

This web site provides a forum for people to ask questions and talk about their differences. Includes "Best of the Week" and "Original Archives" where questions and answers are grouped by categories.

Reference Books

Asian American Experience on File (Facts on File Library of American History)
Reference, Floor 2, E 184.O6A8273 1999

Dictionary of Race and Ethnic Relations
Reference, Floor 4, GN 496.C37 1996

Color of Words; an Encyclopaedic Dictionary of Ethnic Bias in the United States
Reference, Floor 2, E 184.A1H466 1997

Search Terms (Online Catalog)

Do a subject search and try the following phrases:

United States--Ethnic relations
Prejudices--United States
Minorities--United States
Culture conflict -- United States
Race discrimination--United States

Selected Online Databases

These databases are available through the Article Indexes button on Milner's homepage. They are some of the main online resources for exploring the topic of racial and ethnic discrimination but other databases may also prove useful.

Academic Search Elite
Academic Universe
America: History and Life
GPO Monthly Catalog
JSTOR
Newspaper Source
PerAbs (Periodical Abstracts)
SocAbs (Sociological Abstracts)
Social Science Abstracts
Wilson Select

Articles

The following journal articles, available in Milner, provide a starting point for research into the topic of discrimination.

Bakanic, Von. "I'm Not Prejudiced But...: A Deeper Look at Racial Attitudes." Sociological Inquiry 65/1 (1995): 67-86.
(Floor 4: HM1 .S687)

Bowser, Benjamin P. "Race Relations in the 1980s: The Case of the United States." Journal of Black Studies 15/3 (1985): 307-324.
(Floor 3: E185.5 .J8)

DeBraaf, Lawrence B. "Significant Steps on an Arduous Path: The Impact of World War II on Discrimination Against African Americans in the West." Journal of the West 35/1 (1996): 24-33.
(Floor 3: F591 .J65)

Gaffney, Edward M. "Bob Jones University: Epiphenomenon or Time Bomb?" Journal of Social, Political, and Economic Studies 9/1 (1984): 45-57.
(Floor 4: H1 .J55802)

Jencks, Christopher. "Affirmative Action for Blacks: Past, Present, and Future." American Behavioral Scientist 28/6 (1985): 731-760.
(Floor 4: H1 .A472)

Kuo, Wen H. "Coping With Racial Discrimination: The Case of Asian Americans." Ethnic and Racial Studies 18/1 (1995): 109-127.
(Floor 4: HT 1501 .E73)

Kusmer, Kenneth L. "African Americans in the City Since World War II: From the Industrial to the Post-Industrial Era." Journal of Urban History 21/4 (1995): 458-504.
(Floor 4: HT 111. J68)

McGuire, Philip. "Desegregation of the Armed Forces: Black Leadership, Protest and World War II." Journal of Negro History 68/2 (1983): 147-158.
(Floor 3: E 185 .J86)

Rabinowitz, Noward N. "Nativism, Bigotry and Anti-Semitism in the South." American Jewish History 77/3 (1988): 437-451.
(Floor 4: E184 .J5 A502)

Rice, Mitchell F. "Racial Discrimination, Capital Punishment Policy, and the Supreme Court: The Death Penalty as a Political Devaluation of Black Life." National Political Science Review 4 (1993): 61-79.
(Floor 4: JK 1717 .N38)

Speer, Hugh W. "The Case of the Century: Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka." This Constitution 14 (1987): 24-32.
(Floor 4: KF 4541 .A1 T47)

Surace, Samuel J. "Achievement, Discrimination, and Mexican Americans." Comparative Studies in Society and History 24/2 (1982): 315-339.
(Floor 4: H1 .C73)

Taylor, Quintard. "Blacks and Asians in a White City: Japanese Americans and African Americans in Seattle, 1890-1940." Western Historical Quarterly 22/4 (1991): 401-429.
(Floor 3: F591 .W464)

Thompson, Walter G. "Racial Integration in U.S. Schools: The "Busing" Controversy." Journal of Social, Political and Economic Studies. 7/1-2 (1982): 129-151.
(Floor 4: H1 .J55802)

Wilson, Anna Victoria. "A Black High School Student's Experience of Desegregation in Birmingham, Alabama." Journal of the Midwest History of Education Society 23 (1996): 117-123.
(Floor 1: LA 205 .M55a)

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Last revised: April 11, 2003