Rethinking the Color Line: Readings in Race and Ethnicity

Rethinking the Color Line: Readings in Race and Ethnicity. Charles A. Gallagher. Mountain View, CA: Mayfield. 1999. $33.95.

These 45 readings comprehensively review history, theory, research, and commentary on nonEuropean ethnicity and race in America. Many readings link institutional forces with social issues that students will find relevant to their personal lives. This review describes some of my favorite readings, but it must omit many other excellent articles in Gallagher's examination of the "the color line".

Part I surveys theories of intergroup contact and race. It includes Feagin and Feagin's "Theoretical Perspectives in Race and Ethnic Relations," which ranges from Gordon's classic discussion of assimilation to power and conflict theories. Omi and Winant's "Racial Formations" and Lawrence Wright's "One Drop of Blood" effectively explain the social construction of race.

Part II explores how prejudice...