Race and Ethnic Relations: American and Global Perspectives

This book is mostly geared to the college sociology student and the instructor, and starts with chapters on sociological theories on race and ethnicity. Marger then goes on to treat major factors and histories of the major racial groups in the United states (White Ethnic Americans, native Americans, Asian Americans, Hispanic Americans, African Americans and Jewish Americans). Marger comes across as a dedicated and enthusiastic scholar, he balances the prejudices, misconceptions, projections of the races with their histories in the United States. Whites have differential histories, as Irish, Germans, Russians, british, etc. He breaks down their entrance into the United states, the prejudices they have faced, their incomes and power relative to other whites and to other races, how they view themselves. Marger is strong on portraying that the United States has largely been dominated by WASP's (White Anglo-Saxon Protestants) though the dynamic has largely changed over the past few decades with the overwhelming influxes of immigrants and access to power. It is amazing how Marger refers to countless hundreds of sources! In the third part of the book, Marger examines race, ethnicity, socio-historically by examining the significant examples of South Africa (apartheid and majority rule, etc), then Brazil, then Canada(notably the Quebec-French issue). The very last chapter (16)gets into salient examples of conflict and change, notable Rwandan genocide, resurgencies of nationalism, breaking up of Yugoslavia, the Iraq conflict, and the issue of Northern Ireland. The magnitude of information packed in this 600 page book is unimaginable. The world is one of stereotypes, discrimination, assimilation; race and ethnic relationships are fluid and change everyday. How Arab-Americans, Hispanics, Jews, etc. are portrayed and treated is all dealt with in this book. Marger walks you through easily readable details of the socio-histories, establishments, encounters, challenges, and privileges of the social groups in the United States and other notable regions of the world. This book is bound to be an enduring one, and should be upheld not only by the academic student and instructor, but by anyone who wants to walk through comprehensive theories and sociohistories of peoples all over the world from the past to the present. The reader attains a commendable grasp of what is happening in the world right now, as related to what had happened in the past! Once you strat reading this book, your eyes will become opened to aspects you had never thought of, and that you had only heard of, naively. This is an exciting volume on global perspectives and reality, one that is hard to put down after you start reading it. This is bound to be an enduring text, and Marger likely revises every couple of years so as to be in tune with what is happening today...though he does not deprive us of what happened in the past! The book is worth every penny!

I taught this as an undergraduate sociology course at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and I looked through about 20 textbooks before I found this one. It's the ONLY textbook on race and ethnic relations that doesn't only or primarily focus on the United States. Race happens in other countries! Americans can be so U.S.-centric. One can only really understand one's own country when comparing with others. Especially with race, which is so ingrained in us, it greatly helps to step out of the box and then be able to come back to our society with a more balanced perspective. Also, Marger's writing is crystal-clear, insightful, organized, and very balanced and knowledgeable. You won't believe the number of textbooks which never adequately and clearly define the basic and complex concepts such as race, ethnicity, prejudice, stereotype, and discrimination. Also, Marger is one of the few authors who talks about the mostly-overlooked concept of the importance of form of contact (e.g., voluntary migration, forced migration, annexation, conquest) in determining the character of ethnic relations. With most textbooks, students come away with, "Blacks are like this, Whites are like this, Hispanics are like this, Asians are like this," but with no overall understanding of the nature and social forces of ethnic relations. With Marger's book, the reader is able to make broad generalizations that characterize ethnic relations and understand the conditions which produce various outcomes. I am super-impressed with this book, and I look forward to continuing to use it for years to come.

I took a Sociology of Minorities class in college. This was the required reading and I found it to be incredibly intriguing. This book does a very thorough job presenting the information.

I first read this book my junior year of college when I took a sociology class titled "Racial and Ethnic Relations." I learned so much information from reading this book, and I recommend it to others who either teach college-level courses or who are writing research papers and need a good reference book. As an anthropologist, I am extremely critical of the way my field inadequately handles the scholarly study of racial/ethnic conflict - particularly anthropology's lack of a coherent theoretical framework for analysis of prejudice and discrimination. Fortunately, Marger introduces students to various psychological and social theories and does so without employing heavy, technical jargon. Another great aspect of this book is its cross-cultural examination of racial/ethnic relations in Brazil, Canada, Northern Ireland, and South Africa. Reading this book as a junior in college fueled my intellectual curiosity to comprehensively examine racial and ethnic relations.

I have read this book and must say that Mr. Marger is brilliant. This book is fantastic if you want to learn about all races and ethnicities. I was so attached to this book each day that I read the material, it was very hard to place down, even for a second. I now have a clearer understanding and sincere respect for other races and cultures.