America classifies the immigrants : from Ellis Island to the 2020 census

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Title:

America classifies the immigrants : from Ellis Island to the 2020 census

Author:

Perlmann, Joel, author.

ISBN:

9780674425057

Personal Author:

Perlmann, Joel, author.

Physical Description:

viii, 451 pages : illustration ; 25 cm

General Note:

Source of cataloging data: WCP

Abstract:

When more than twenty million immigrants arrived in the United States between 1880 and 1920, the government attempted to classify them according to prevailing ideas about race and nationality. But this proved hard to do. Ideas about racial or national difference were slippery, contested, and yet consequential--were "Hebrews" a "race," a "religion," or a "people"? As Joel Perlmann shows, a self-appointed pair of officials created the government's 1897 List of Races and Peoples, which shaped exclusionary immigration laws, the wording of the U.S. Census, and federal studies that informed social policy. Its categories served to maintain old divisions and establish new ones. Across the five decades ending in the 1920s, American immigration policy built increasingly upon the belief that some groups of immigrants were desirable, others not. Perlmann traces how the debates over this policy institutionalized race distinctions--between whites and nonwhites, but also among whites--in immigration laws that lasted four decades. Despite a gradual shift among social scientists from "race" to "ethnic group" after the 1920s, the diffusion of this key concept among government officials and the public remained limited until the end of the 1960s. Taking up dramatic changes to racial and ethnic classification since then, America Classifies the Immigrants concentrates on three crucial reforms to the American Census: the introduction of Hispanic origin and ancestry (1980), the recognition of mixed racial origins (2000), and a rethinking of the connections between race and ethnic group (proposed for 2020).-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Creating and refining the list, 1898-1906 -- Immigration--especially European--through the lens of race -- First struggles over the list: the Jewish challenges and the federal defense, 1899-1903 -- The United States Immigration Commission, 1907-1911 -- Urging the list on the U.S. Census Bureau, 1908-1910 -- The Census Bureau goes its own way: race, nationality, mother tongue, 1910-1916 -- The second quota act, 1924 -- Immigration law for white races and others: three episodes -- From "race" to "ethnic group": organizing concepts in American studies of immigrants, to 1964-- From social science to the federal bureaucracy? Limited diffusion of the "ethnic group" concept through the early 1950s -- Race and the immigrant in federal statistics after 1965.

Subject Term:

Race -- Classification -- History.

Ethnic groups -- Classification -- History.

Race -- Political aspects -- United States -- History.

Ethnic groups -- Political aspects -- United States -- History.

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Library	Material Type	Call Number	Status	Item Holds
Searching... Sugar Grove - Todd Library	Book	JV6483 .P45 2018	Searching... Unknown	Searching... Unavailable

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Summary

When more than twenty million immigrants arrived in the United States between 1880 and 1920, the government attempted to classify them according to prevailing ideas about race and nationality. But this proved hard to do. Ideas about racial or national difference were slippery, contested, and yet consequential--were "Hebrews" a "race," a "religion," or a "people"? As Joel Perlmann shows, a self-appointed pair of officials created the government's 1897 List of Races and Peoples, which shaped exclusionary immigration laws, the wording of the U.S. Census, and federal studies that informed social policy. Its categories served to maintain old divisions and establish new ones.

Across the five decades ending in the 1920s, American immigration policy built increasingly upon the belief that some groups of immigrants were desirable, others not. Perlmann traces how the debates over this policy institutionalized race distinctions--between whites and nonwhites, but also among whites--in immigration laws that lasted four decades.

Despite a gradual shift among social scientists from "race" to "ethnic group" after the 1920s, the diffusion of this key concept among government officials and the public remained limited until the end of the 1960s. Taking up dramatic changes to racial and ethnic classification since then, America Classifies the Immigrants concentrates on three crucial reforms to the American Census: the introduction of Hispanic origin and ancestry (1980), the recognition of mixed racial origins (2000), and a rethinking of the connections between race and ethnic group (proposed for 2020).

Reviews (1)

Choice Review

Perlmann (economics, Bard College) provides an insightful examination of how the US adopted and revised categories of immigrants over almost 150 years. The first part of this book offers a thorough discussion of legislative and bureaucratic attempts to develop practical categories. In the rest of the book Perlmann discusses how intellectual debate about categorization informed public policy. The implementation of increasingly restrictive laws in the late 19th century necessitated definitions for counting immigrants before, during, and after arrival. Accordingly, both census and immigration officials struggled to develop policies to determine appropriate classifications for the diverse, ever-changing groups. Recognizing the implications of their work, these largely nameless men helped determine categories affecting millions of immigrants. They examined many intellectual sources and dealt with practical considerations in categories of national origin, religion, and racial characteristics. Much of their work was done in the years before the decisive National Origins Act of 1924, but the effects of their work lingered over the next 100 years as changing circumstances shifted terminology and categories. Perlmann's book is well researched and lucidly presented, although it may challenge those unfamiliar with overall immigration history. An invaluable resource for scholars of immigration and fields of social science dealing with population categorization. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty and professionals. --Charles K. Piehl, emeritus, Minnesota State University, Mankato

Introduction	p. 1
Part 1 The List of Races and Peoples
1 Creating and Refining the List, 1898-1906	p. 13
2 Immigration-Especially European-through the Lens of Race	p. 41
3 First Struggles over the List: Jewish Challenges and the Federal Defense, 1899-1903	p. 80
4 The United States Immigration Commission, 1907-1911	p. 104
5 Urging the List on the U.S. Census Bureau, 1908-1910	p. 133
6 The Census Bureau Goes Its Own Way: Race, Nationality, and Mother Tongue, 1910-1916	p. 150
Part 2 Institutionalizing Rare Distinctions, in American Immigration Law
7 The Second Quota Act, 1924	p. 201
8 Immigration Law for White Races and Others: Three Episodes	p. 229
Part 3 The Ethnic Group: Formulation and Diffusion of an American Concept, to 1964
9 From "Race" to "Ethnic Group": Organizing Concepts in American Studies of Immigrants, to 1964	p. 251
10 From Social Science to the Federal Bureaucracy? Limited Diffusion of the "Ethnic Group" Concept through the Early 1950s	p. 303
Part 4 Incorporating the Legacies of the Civil Rights Era and Mass Immigration from the Third World
11 Race and the Immigrant in Federal Statistics since 1965	p. 333
Conclusion	p. 397
Notes	p. 409
Acknowledgments	p. 439
Index	p. 441

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