Uneven Roads

An Introduction to U.S. Racial and Ethnic Politics

NEW TO THIS EDITION

• Includes data from the Collaborative Multiracial Post-Election Survey (CMPS), a survey that includes roughly 17,000 respondents who were asked a range of questions relevant to racial and ethnic politics.
• Historical and current event examples were extensively updated to ensure instructors and students could deliberate using the most relevant and/or recent racial and ethnic politics developments. 
• Students are introduced to current issues regarding voting rights, political representation, education and criminal justice policies, and the immigrant experience.
• A revised final chapter on intersectionality encourages students to examine how groups go beyond the boundaries of race and ethnicity to come together on matters of class, gender, and sexuality.

KEY FEATURES

• The book examines the histories and current status of people who fall within the five major racial or ethnic categories of the U.S. Census: American Indians or Native Americans, Blacks or African Americans, Hispanics or Latinos, Asian Americans, and White Americans.
• The book is organized into three parts to help students become equipped to think critically about the role of race and ethnicity in U.S. politics and society; 
  • In Part I, Introduction, the first chapter defines race and racism and presents a racialization framework that explains when, why, and how race and ethnicity have mattered and still matter, as each of the groups pursues citizenship rights and equality opportunities through the political system. These three factors provide the framework to understand how, at different points in time and under widely varying circumstances, race has served as an absolute, decisive, inconsequential, or insufficient barrier for a group’s progress.
  Part II, Historical Foundations, examines the political history of each group studied in the book. Students cannot understand the full import of today’s racial and ethnic issues without also knowing the roots of these issues and the road each group has traveled to where it stands today.
  • Part III, Policy and Social Issues, builds on the knowledge and experiences discussed in the political history chapters by providing a theoretical overview for explaining group identity.
• The features in Uneven Roads were constructed to help guide students' learning and present a layered, comprehensive introduction to U.S. race and ethnic politics.
  • Learning Objectives open each chapter and serve as a road map to the key concepts and major sections students will find within the chapter, helping them focus on the most important points and assess their reading comprehension.
  • Crossroad boxes spotlight key moments in which pivotal decisions were made affecting minority rights and politics, and critical thinking questions encourage closer analysis.     
  • Road Sign boxes highlight moments of historical and contemporary relevance that mark turning points for or issues facing minority groups.  
  • Coalitions in Action boxes emphasize contemporary bridge-building measures addressing topics that concern U.S. racial and ethnic groups.
  • Stop and Think questions at the end of certain sections encourage critical thinking and debate about the narrative and current events. 
• The end-of-chapter section includes a conclusion, discussion questions, and key terms to help students think about the material and spark classroom discussion.