The American Kaleidoscope: Race, Ethnicity, and the Civic Culture

I first encountered the writings of Professor Fuchs in a graduate seminar on Asian American history. I found him to be both highly readable and balanced in his commentary. This book traces the history of racial and ethnic relations in the U.S. from the perspective of immigration and assimilation. It also confronts the concern for acculturation without resorting to polemics or diatribe. Above all, it makes a cogent and convincing argument for revalidating America's unique civic culture at a time when balkanization is leading us astray as a people. If read in conjunction with some of the more recent writings of Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., it will illuminate further. A reasoned counterargument to the excesses of critical race theory and postmodernism.