Comparative Experience Factors Among Black, Asian, and Hispanic Americans

Abstract

Race, ethnicity, and color are catalytic social factors in the United States, causing class antagonism, controversy, and conflict among its diverse population. By constitutional right, various racial and ethnic immigrant groups are theoretically welcomed and admitted to the United States. However, White Americans tend to magnify the differences between these groups and maintain hegemony by pointing out and exploiting any perceived positive or negative factors that might be attributed to a racial or ethnic group. Historically, White Americans and Europeans have mastered the politics of racial and ethnic differentiation. Emphasizing and contriving differences between minority populations not only heightens racial and ethnic consciousness, but it serves to promote envy and rivalry. Thus the American media have been diligent in commenting and reporting on the perceived sociocultural and economic differences between African Americans and the current influx of Asian and Hispanic immigrants. This article does not propose to discuss in detail the vast historical and social experiences of the various new minority immigrant populations in the United States. The political and sociohistorical backgrounds of these non-Anglo ethnic and racial groups are different in many ways, and to treat the myriad of contrasts and diversities would require several volumes. However, this is an attempt to present in a summary manner some of the comparative aspects of