Stanford M. Lyman's sociology of race and ethnic relations: Conundrums of color and culture

Abstract

Attesting to the centrality of what W.E.B. DuBois (1961 [1903]) re? ferred to as the "color line" in American social life, race relations has oc? cupied an important subdisciplinary space in sociology during the past century, from the institutionalization of the discipline in the late nineteenth century to the present (Lyman, 1994; Yinger, 1994, McKee, 1993, Wacker, 1983, Rose, 1968). A society that relied on slavery from its very inception had inscribed racial divisions deeply into the institutional fabric and the collective consciousness of the nation. Without discounting the significance of class divisions in the American republic, racial barriers proved to be far more intractable and far less fluid than was the case with class (Banton, 1987). Thus, it is not surprising that prominent sociologists beginning with figures such as William Graham Sumner, Edward Alsworth Ross, and Franklin Henry Giddings, and continuing through major sociologists in sub? sequent epochs, including particularly Robert Ezra Park and Talcott Par? sons, have devoted considerable attention to the topic of race (McKee, 1993; Kivisto, 1990; Wacker, 1983). A survey of recent presidents of the American Sociological Association suggests that this concern with race con? tinues, as witnessed most prominently in the work of Herbert Gans, William Julius Wilson, and James Coleman. In short, American sociology has a lengthy history of empirical research, both quantitative and qualitative, and theoretical inquiry into matters related to race and race relations. This essay is an attempt to locate the work of Stanford M. Lyman within this tradition. This is not an easy task for two reasons. First, what I referred to as a tradition is far from unified, entailing as it does a com? plicated set of political orientations, theoretical perspectives, and methodo? logical approaches. Second, Lyman is not a theoretical system builder and,