Diversity Topics Assignment Options: Immigration and Racism

I chose Cuban people as the ethnic group

Research the immigration of one distinct cultural or ethnic group into the United States. Choose one of the groups discussed in Ch. 6-14. You must request permission from your instructor if you want to research another group not included in the text.

Create an 8- to 12-slide presentation of your research that includes the following:

  • What is the history of the group’s immigration into the United States? Is immigration from this group on the rise or declining?
  • Historically, where has this group settled? Is this changing?
  • What is one social issue related to the rights of your selected group? What obstacles have they encountered either in the past or present? Be specific. Research one incident that led to a court case.

Include detailed speaker notes and images that support your content. Each slide should have three to four bullets of text which are a high-level overview of what is included in your speaker notes. You may write the speaker notes in the notes section of your selected presentation tool or in a separate Word document.

TABLE 1.1 Racial and Ethnic Groups in the United States

Classification

Number in Thousands

Percentage of Total Population

RACIAL GROUPS

Whites (non-Hispanic)

195,371

60.3

Blacks/African Americans

37,686

12.2

Native Americans, Alaskan Natives

2,247

0.7

Asian Americans

15,553

5.0

Chinese

3,347

1.1

Asian Indians

2,843

0.9

Filipinos

2,556

0.8

Vietnamese

1,548

0.5

Koreans

1,424

0.5

Japanese

763

0.2

Pacific Islanders, Native Hawaiians

1,847

0.6

Other Asian Americans

1,225

0.5

Arab Americans

1,517

0.5

Two or more races

9,009

2.9

ETHNIC GROUPS

White ancestry

Germans

49,341

16.0

Irish

35,664

11.6

English

26,873

8.7

Italians

17,486

5.7

Poles

9,757

3.2

French

9,159

3.0

Scottish and Scots-Irish

9,122

3.0

Jews

5,425

1.8

Hispanics (or Latinos)

50,478

16.4

Mexican Americans

31,798

10.3

Puerto Ricans

4,624

1.5

Cubans

1,785

0.6

Salvadorans

1,648

0.5

Dominicans

1,415

0.5

Guatemalans

1,044

0.3

Other Hispanics

8,164

2.7

TOTAL (ALL GROUPS)

308,746

Note: Arab American population excluded from White total. All data are for 2010. Percentages do not total 100 percent, and when subcategories are added, they do not match totals in major categories because of overlap between groups (e.g., Polish American Jews or people of mixed ancestry such as Irish and Italian).

Source: American Community Survey 2011b: Table C04006; Asi and Beaulieu 2013; DellaPergola 2012; Ennis, Rose-Vargas and Albert 2011; Hixson, Hepler, and Kim 2012; Hoeffel, Rastogi, Kim, and Shahid 2012; Humes, Jones, and Ramirez 2011; Norris, Vines, and Hoeffel 2012.

The United States is a diverse nation and is becoming even more so, as shown in Table 1.1. In 2010, approximately 40 percent of the population were members of racial minorities or were Hispanic. This represents one out of three people in the United States, without counting White ethnic groups or foreign-born Whites.

As shown in Figure 1.1, between 2010 and 2060, the Black, Hispanic, Asian, Arab, and Native American population along with those identifying as biracial or multiracial in the United States is expected to increase to about 63 percent. Although the composition of the population is changing, problems of prejudice, discrimination, and mistrust remain. This trend toward “majority-minority” got underway noticeably in 2011 when Latino and non-White babies outnumbered White newborns for the first time in the United States (Bureau of the Census 2012d).

FIGURE 1.1 Population of the United States by Race and Ethnicity, 2010 and 2060 (Projected)

According to projections by the Census Bureau, the proportion of residents of the United States who are White and non-Hispanic will decrease significantly by the year 2060. By contrast, the proportion of both Hispanic Americans and Asian Americans will rise significantly.

Source: Bureau of the Census 2013b: Table 4, sources listed in Table 1.1, and author estimates.

Ranking Groups