Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 4
A Multi-ethnic Nation
The diversity of the US population, as well as the social inequality,
discrimination, and white domination of its past, help us to understand the
importance of community issues in this country. For historical reasons, Americans
have no problem using the term “race” to distinguish blacks from whites. The
concept of race is a reference for identity which structures private and public life
[GHO 03]. All censuses conducted since 1790 divided the US population into
different races. At the time of the first US census, there were 3.1 million whites and
0.75 million blacks (19% of the population), who, for the most part, were slaves
working on the cotton and tobacco plantations of the South. Slavery was abolished
in 1860, triggering the Civil War. The slave states of the South finally surrendered in
1865, but even though black Americans officially became free men and citizens,
secret societies such as the Ku Klux Klan made every effort to prevent blacks from
exercising their civil rights. Openly racist policies (Jim Crow laws) maintained
segregation in schools and public transport until 1954. Under the leadership of the
charismatic Reverend Martin Luther King, the civil rights movement led the social,
political and legal battles which ended in the late 1960s with a number of anti-
discrimination laws, the implementation of which required that federal statistics
reflect the ethnic diversity of the US population and be capable of monitoring
educational disparities and inequalities in income, employment, housing conditions,
etc. Since 1980, the “races” of the US census are no longer imposed categories, but
the reflection of community identities. They form a rather diverse group, not to be
confused with the population's ethnic origins, a concept which is based on a
person's ancestry. The five main categories reflect America's past. At a time when
the election of Barack Obama as the 44th US President promises to turn the page of
racial tensions in this country, we cannot forget that American history was shaped
