First published in 1977, Ethnic Americans has established itself as the classic study of immigration to the United States in the twentieth century. This updated edition reflects developments of the 1980s and '90s -- a period that has seen the greatest wave of immigration in American history. The burgeoning trend of increasing immigration, mostly from Latin America, Asia, and the Caribbean, is expected to continue. But how welcome will all these people be, and what is the history of the melting (sometimes boiling) pot they are pouring into?
In investigating these questions, Ethnic Americans provides a concise yet comprehensive overview of immigration and assimilation of European, Asian, and Latin American peoples from 1607 to the present. The fourth edition has been revised and expanded to incorporate new research on women immigrants, the new refugees, and the continuing asylum crisis of the 1990s. Dinnerstein and Reimers also examine the continuity of nativism and restrictionist sentiment in the United States, as shown in the movements to make English the official language of the nation and in attempts to end bilingual education and ballots.
