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Guest Editorial, Louis Sarabia

Explorations in Ethnic Studies

Ethnic studies is a rather strange field. In the first place, it is not a "field" in the traditional sense of other academic disciplines, but rather it seeks to include any and all disciplines. Second, it deals with people, and as our colleagues in the so-called "behavioral sciences" have discovered, people are perhaps the most unpredictable of all living things to study, thus the problems are many. Third, many of the subjects which we in ethnic studies have chosen to research, by the very nature of the fact that we deal with ethnic minorities, have tended to strike others not …

Pasta Or Paradigm: The Place Of Italian-American Women In Popular Film, Daniel Golden

Explorations in Ethnic Studies

The year is 1930, the film is Little Caesar, and Hollywood begins its long and often irresponsible tradition of portraying the Italian-American male as gangster, thug, sociopath. The gangster genre has traditionally focused on male activities--men in groups, their rites of passage into underworld manhood, and their perverted American dreams of success achieved through community extortion, syndicated corruption, and blood murder. But hidden in the story of Caesar Enrico Bandello, who has justifiably been called our "archetypal" film gangster, we also discover fragmentary, but important, early portrayals of the Italian woman in America.

Editor's Corner: Ethnic Studies Leadership?, George E. Carter

Explorations in Ethnic Studies

NAIES and its journal, Explorations in Ethnic Studies, from their inception have tried to address the question of leadership within Ethnic Studies. A quick survey from a national perspective leaves one with a fear that no one is providing much in the way of leadership. The same situation seems to prevail at the state and local levels. Yet, more and more prominence is given to the multiethnic makeup and experience of American society. There is an obvious inconsistency involved in this situation. Why is there no national policy on ethnic studies or on the crucial issues facing American society generated …

Racial Minorities In U.S. History Textbooks: A Case For A More Systematic Approach To Textbook Evaluation, Jesus Garcia

Explorations in Ethnic Studies

A few decades ago, textbook adoption proceedings were relatively dull affairs. Present at these meetings were political, business, and labor interest group representatives who were primarily concerned with the treatment their constituencies received in textbooks, especially social studies texts. Expressing common concerns, board members and traditional interest group representatives only occasionally debated what ought to be included in social studies texts. The dealings rarely bordered on the sensational and, in most cases, resulted in minimal discussion and acceptance of texts recommended for adoption by a board's textbook committee.

[Review Of] Raymond L. Hall. Black Separatism In The United States, Lillie Alexis

Explorations in Ethnic Studies

A startling look at black separatist movements of the past reveals interesting facts that parallel the rise and fall of the contemporary organizations with separatist ideologies. The author focuses on the period from 1960 to 1972, analyzing five black social movement organizations: The Nation of Islam/Black Muslims, The Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), the Student Non-Violent (later National) Coordinating Committee (SNCC), the Black Panther Party, and the Republic of New Africa (RNA).

[Review Of] Bettylou Valentine. Hustling And Other Hard Work: Life Styles In The Ghetto, Carl Mack Jr.

Explorations in Ethnic Studies

Prior to receiving Ms. Valentine's book, Hustling and Other Hard Work, this reviewer felt a sense of pessimism. That is, here is another book trying to clarify black folk's problems. This pessimistic sense is especially acute during this time when the label “minority” is still being used to lump millions of people together when their cultural-racial diversity defies such grouping. (This minority grouping oftentimes serves as a comment label or package for old racist attitudes and stereotypes.)

[Review Of] Barbara Dodds Stanford And Karima Amin. Black Literature For High School Students, James L. Lafky

Explorations in Ethnic Studies

Of all the annotated bibliographies of black literature that have crossed this writer's desk during the past thirteen years, Black Literature for High School Students is certainly the most complete. By virtue of its being twelve years later than Abraham Chapman's The Negro in American Literature (Wisconsin Council of Teachers of English), the Stanford-Amin effort is newer; it has recency. Their book also has a few other virtues.

[Review Of] H. Craig Miner And William E. Unrau. The End Of Indian Kansas: A Study Of Cultural Revolution 1854-1871, George W. Sieber

Explorations in Ethnic Studies

The forced removal of thousands of Indians from eastern Kansas between 1854 and 1871 adversely affected even more Native Americans and occupied even more government time than did the struggle between the army and the tribesmen of the western plains, who forcibly resisted subjugation.

[Review Of] Roberto V. Vallangca. Pinoy: The First Wave, Masayuki Sato

Explorations in Ethnic Studies

The importance of documenting “oral histories” in print has to be emphasized among all Pacific Asian American groups. Dr. Roberto Vallangca has done a superb job and should be rewarded greatly as an encouragement to others to document the personal histories of the “old timers” who immigrated to Hawaii and mainland United States before the war.

[Review Of] Patricia A. Vardin And Ilene N. Brody (Eds.). Children's Rights: Contemporary Perspectives, Linda Fystrom

Explorations in Ethnic Studies

In 1979, the International Year of the Child, this volume presents a telling indictment of our record in the area of children‘s rights. Authors from international and interdisciplinary perspectives indicate the tremendous gulf between the ideal and the real.

[Review Of] Barry D. Adam. The Survival Of Domination, Georgina Ashworth

Explorations in Ethnic Studies

The project area of The Survival of Domination is of great importance; the title is splendid; the Elsevier presentation is excellent. Yet it disappoints. The author sets out to examine the invisible mechanisms that keep social groups in their place when the overt legal discrimination against them may have been tinkered with sufficiently to remove its worst effects. Barry Adam is very specific about his intentions to focus on the every- day strategies oppressed communities evolve and use, individually and as members of that community, to survive.

A Study Of The Relationship Between Maternal Employment History And A Woman's Sex Role Orientation And Career Development, Susan Elizabeth Ellett

Theses and Dissertations

Much of the research reviewed suggests that there is some relationship between a woman's mother's employment history, a woman's sex role orientation, and a woman's commitment to a career. In this study, the sex role orientation, career commitment, and career decision making of college women were examined in relation to length of maternal employment history. It was found that the longer a mother worked during the daughter's lifetime, the greater was the daughter's own desire to work. The length of maternal employment history was not found to significantly influence the daughter's sex role orientation or career decision making process. It …

Notes On Contributors

Explorations in Ethnic Studies

Notes on contributors to Explorations in Ethnic Studies, vol. 2, no. 1, 1979

[Review Of] Kay Graber (Ed.), Sister To The Sioux: The Memoirs Of Elaine Goodale Eastman, 1885-91, Gretchen Bataille

Explorations in Ethnic Studies

Elaine Goodale Eastman was a white woman from the East who decided early in her life that her “mission” was to educate the Sioux Indians of the Dakotas. The memoirs, published in 1978, were written in the thirties from notes and diaries kept by the writer from 1885-1891. Thus, there are three distinct periods of time the contemporary reader must consider.

Abstracts Of Papers Presented At The 7th Annual Conference On Ethnic And Minority Studies

Explorations in Ethnic Studies

This paper reviews some of the most salient aspects of E. M. Rogg's (1974) seminal work, The Assimilation of Cuban Exiles; The Role of Community and Class--a sociological study of the Cuban community in the town of West New York in northeastern New Jersey. Although taking issue with some of the author's theses, this paper elaborates on other findings of the book in question by means of more recent participant-observation field research in the same neighborhood. For example, the new data confirms Rogg's proposition that the organized ethnic minority helps to direct the process of acculturation, though slowly.

Contents

Explorations in Ethnic Studies

Table of contents for Explorations in Ethnic Studies, vol. 2, no. 1, 1979

The Measurement Of Anger In Children: A Multi-Modal Approach, Edward Shirrell Eastman Jr.

Theses and Dissertations

The objective of this study was to utilize self-report, peer-report and teacher-report techniques in measuring (reporting) anger in children; and to determine the intercorrelation between these three approaches in order to determine their relationship to one another and in turn, to assess these reporting tools. Subjects were 38 male and female emotionally disturbed children from the Virginia Treatment Center for Children, a short-term residential psychiatric facility in Richmond, Virginia. There were 28 boys and 10 girls, with a mean age of approximately 11 years.

Each student was given the Children's Inventory of Anger (CIA) and the Peer-Report of Anger (PR). …

An Examination Of Intellectual Functioning, School Achievement, And Personality Characteristics Of Male Juvenile Delinquents, Robert A. Rymer

Theses and Dissertations

Research in the area of juvenile delinquency has reported personality and background differences between delinquents who have committed certain types of offenses (Randolph, l96l; Mizushima and DeVos, 1967). The major purpose of this study was to examine the academic characteristics of certain classifications of delinquent offenders. Specifically, the incidences of three school-related problems and absence of any of these problems were compared for certain classifications of offenders. The comparisons that were made were group versus individual offenses, person versus property offenses, and actual aggressors versus threatened aggressors. A second aspect of the study involved a comparative investigation of the personality …

Joint Faculty Appointments: An Administrative Dilemma In Chicano Studies, Eugene E. Garcia

Explorations in Ethnic Studies

A comprehensive proposal for an academic program in Chicano Studies for the University of California, Santa Barbara, was submitted to the Executive Committee of the College of Letters and Science on April A, 1969. The program evolved from an extensive investigation of the assessed needs of the local Chicano community, the role of the University toward that community, and the general responsibility of the University to the student community with respect to educational and research endeavors related to the Chicano.

[Review Of] Ernest R. Myers, The Community Psychology Concept: Integrating Theory, Education, And Practice In Psychology, Social Work, And Public Administration, George E. Clarke

Explorations in Ethnic Studies

Psychologists and other social scientists are critically analyzing the “state of the art” of community psychology. Their question is how this developing discipline can be best organized for pursuit of knowledge needed to bring about positive community change.

Notes On Contributors

Explorations in Ethnic Studies

Notes on contributors to Explorations in Ethnic Studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 1979

Contents

Explorations in Ethnic Studies

Table of contents for Explorations in Ethnic Studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 1979

[Review Of] Francesco Cordasco (Ed.), Italian Americans: A Guide To Information Sources, Frank J. Cavaioli

Explorations in Ethnic Studies

The great proliferation of knowledge that has caused a problem of control and retrieval of that knowledge has caught up with the expanding field of research in ethnic-immigration history. Francesco Cordasco’s newly edited work, Italian Americans: A Guide to Information Sources, therefore is a major contribution in the field. The student of ethnic-immigration history and the related social sciences will find it a useful tool because it is the most comprehensive up-to-date bibliographical register on the Italian Americans. The book is Volume 2 in Gale's Ethnic Studies Information Guide Series dealing with ethnic groups in the United States.

Poetry Corner Featuring Drumming Hearts, The Quandry Of The Way, Bleeding Souls, Silvester J. Brito

Explorations in Ethnic Studies

Includes poems by Silvester J. Brito: Drumming Hearts, The Quandry of the Way and Bleeding Souls

[Review Of] Barbara A. Curran, The Legal Needs Of The Public: The Final Report Of A National Survey, Laurence A. French

Explorations in Ethnic Studies

This is a substantial report sponsored by a number of legal associations (American Bar Association and American Bar Endowment) and foundations (Edna McConnel Clark Foundation and International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans) and the Carnegie Corporation of New York. By its own assertion: “This study is the first, and to date only, such survey based on a national sample representing the adult population of the United States. Moreover, it provides a more comprehensive examination of the legal experiences and perceptions of the public than has been undertaken by any earlier survey.”

[Review Of] Gretchen M. Bataille, David M. Gradwohl, And Charles L. P. Silet (Eds.), The Worlds Between Two Rivers: Perspectives On American Indians In Iowa, William Bedford Clark

Explorations in Ethnic Studies

The presentation of symposia papers in book form poses several editorial problems, the chief of which is maintaining a unity of focus between the various offerings. With one or two notable exceptions, the papers in this collection treat aspects of the Native-American experience within the boundaries of the present state of Iowa, but, unfortunately, that rubric is too broad to provide an organizing principle definite enough to hold the book together. The result is something of a mixed bag. Although each of the papers is presented as a “chapter” and some attempt at cross-reference between individual papers is made, it …

Editor's Corner, George E. Carter

Explorations in Ethnic Studies

What will remain of Ethnic Studies in the 1980's? At the 7th Annual Conference on Ethnic and Minority Studies, away from the formal sessions and speakers, one heard a good deal of gloom and doom regarding the future of Ethnic Studies. The same dismal theme was present at several other major national conferences held during Spring 1979. It would be easy to conclude that Ethnic Studies is on its last legs and quietly will fade into oblivion.

[Review Of] John L. Hodge, Donald K. Struckmann, And Lynn Dorland Trost, Cultural Bases Of Racism And Group Oppression: An Examination Of Traditional "Western" Concepts, Values, And Institutional Structures Which Support Racism, Sexism And Elitism, Lillie Alexis

Explorations in Ethnic Studies

Dualism, a concept that simply tends to view the world in terms of “either-or” categories rather than “both . . . and,” has been examined and analyzed as the primary contributor to and cause of Western domination. The dangers of dualistic thinking are, according to Hodge et al., habit forming and unconscious. The Western practitioners of such thinking trace their ideology to the ancient Greek philosophers whose ideas support and reinforce existing oppressive patterns.

Asian Americans In Psychiatric Systems, Niel Tashima

Explorations in Ethnic Studies

Prior to the l960's, very little interest had been shown in researching patterns of American utilization of mental health facilities. The notion of culturally different patterns of psychological “normalcy” for Asian Americans as a distinct population had not been adequately explored. Although a few case studies of Asian-American patients did appear in the literature from time to time, no extensive or systematic research into the demographic and psychological characteristics of Asian-American patient populations had been presented.

[Review Of] Ruth Nulton Moore. TomáS And The Talking Birds, Ricardo A. ValdéS

Explorations in Ethnic Studies

Children's literature should be of great importance to all of us, regardless of whether we are parents. The opinions and social views assimilated in childhood will often have long-lasting and far-reaching effects. Western novels as well as cowboy movies bear a great deal of the responsibility for the attitude of many Americans that Indians are, for the most part, treacherous savages and, at best, the sidekick to a masked white man. Tomás and the Talking Birds is at once both encouraging and disappointing. It is encouraging because it is responding to a great need in our society, but it is …