RACE AND IMMIGRATION IN THE AMERICAN CITY: INTRODUCTION

Abstract

This special section of the Du Bois Review had its origin in a conference on “Race and Immigration in the American City: New Perspectives on Twenty-First Century Intergroup Relations,” which the Center for the Study of Race, Politics, and Culture convened at the University of Chicago on May 27, 2011. The conference explored the nature of intergroup dynamics within multiracial and multiethnic contexts since 1964, when cities across the land were gradually transformed by the arrival of large numbers of new immigrants hailing from Asia and Latin America. Of particular interest were relations between African Americans and Latinos, two highly racialized groups who are often deemed in fierce competition with each other for poorly paid, unskilled jobs. The essays gathered here are the fruits of that conference.