Majority-Minority Relations (5th Edition)

Rating:
Summary: Terrible book
Review: I was forced to buy this book as part of a Minorities in Society course. This book is terrible. The author obviously has an agenda and it bleeds over throughout the text. Although purported to be about various minority groups, it focuses on black males for the most part. Even the chapter on Gender (feminist issues), Sexual Preference, and Disability has a huge section on black males. The author continually blames the government and white males for every problem facing minorities. If you're a white male and want to understand why every social problem is your fault, this is the book for you. Otherwise, find something else.

Rating:
Summary: Terrible book
Review: This is the most thorough and theoretical of all the texts out there. Students that don't like to read won't like it because it is challenging material and not "dumbed down" like so many texts are (for example Shaeffer's "Racial and Ethnic Groups"). But the professor will find it quite interesting to read and so will the students who actually read it. It contains a good mix of theory, research, and examples. It is not a boring text and even contains some excellent and extensive segments from Richard Wright's "The Ethics of Living Jim Crow."

One of its strengths is the organization: instead of the usual three or four chapters on prejudice and discrimination and then endless chapters one ethnic group after another, all the chapters are about an important aspect of race relations with plenty of examples from selected groups. The emphasis is on Blacks, Mexican Americans and American Indians and their relations with the dominant group. I recommend this book to anyone who is serious about learning how race relations develope and change over time. It's explanation and usage of the conflict and functionalist perspectives is the best I have seen in any text.

Rating:
Summary: The best text on race relations
Review: This is the most thorough and theoretical of all the texts out there. Students that don't like to read won't like it because it is challenging material and not "dumbed down" like so many texts are (for example Shaeffer's "Racial and Ethnic Groups"). But the professor will find it quite interesting to read and so will the students who actually read it. It contains a good mix of theory, research, and examples. It is not a boring text and even contains some excellent and extensive segments from Richard Wright's "The Ethics of Living Jim Crow."

One of its strengths is the organization: instead of the usual three or four chapters on prejudice and discrimination and then endless chapters one ethnic group after another, all the chapters are about an important aspect of race relations with plenty of examples from selected groups. The emphasis is on Blacks, Mexican Americans and American Indians and their relations with the dominant group. I recommend this book to anyone who is serious about learning how race relations develope and change over time. It's explanation and usage of the conflict and functionalist perspectives is the best I have seen in any text.