Scholarship on immigration to America is a coin with two sides: it asks both how America changed immigrants, and how they changed America. Were the immigrants uprooted from their ancestral homes, leaving everything behind, or were they transplanted, bringing many aspects of their culture with them? Although historians agree with the transplantation concept, the notion of the melting pot, which suggests a complete loss of the immigrant culture, persists in the public mind. The Oxford Handbook of American Immigration and Ethnicity bridges this gap and offers a comprehensive and nuanced survey of American racial and ethnic development, assessing the current status of historical research and simultaneously setting the goals for future investigation.Early immigration historians focused on the European migration model, and the ethnic appeal of politicians such as Fiorello La Guardia and James Michael Curley in cities with strong ethno-political histories like New York and Boston. But the story of American ethnicity goes far beyond Ellis Island. Only after the 1965 Immigration Act and the increasing influx of non-Caucasian immigrants, scholars turned more fully to the study of African, Asianand Latino migrants to America.This Handbook brings together thirty eminent scholars to describe the themes, methodologies, and trends that characterize the history and current debates on American immigration. The Handbook's trenchant chapters provide compelling analyses of cutting-edge issues including identity, whiteness, borders and undocumented migration, immigration legislation, intermarriage, assimilation, bilingualism, new American religions, ethnicity-related crime, and pan-ethnic trends. They also explore the myth of ?model minorities? and the contemporary resurgence of anti-immigrant feelings. A unique contribution to the field of immigration studies, this volume considers the full racial and ethnic unfolding of the United States in its historical context.

ContentsList of ContributorsIntroduction: The Making of AmericaRonald H. BayorChapter 1. The Impact of Immigration Legislation: 1875 to the PresentDavid M. ReimersChapter 2. European MigrationsDirk HoerderChapter 3. Asian ImmigrationMadeline Y. HsuChapter 4. Latino ImmigrationMar?a Cristina Garc?aChapter 5. African American Migration from the Colonial Era to the PresentJoe W. TrotterChapter 6. Emancipation and Exploitation in Immigrant Women's LivesDonna R. GabacciaChapter 7. Protecting America's Borders and the Undocumented Immigrant DilemmaDavid G. GutierrezChapter 8. Acceptance, Rejection,and America's Split PersonalityGary GerstleChapter 9. Race and CitizenshipGregory T. CarterChapter 10. Concepts of Ethnic/Racial Identity and Assimilation in the United StatesRichard AlbaChapter 11. Whiteness and RaceDavid R. RoedigerChapter 12. Race and U.S. Panethnic FormationYen Le EspirituChapter 13. Intermarriage and the Creation of a New AmericanAllison VarzallyChapter 14. Immigration, Medical Regulation, and EugenicsWendy KlineChapter 15. The World of the Immigrant WorkerJames R. BarrettChapter 16. Neighborhoods, Immigrants, and Ethnic AmericansAmanda I. SeligmanChapter 17. Machine Bosses, Reformers, and the Politics of Ethnic Minority IncorporationSteven P. Erie and Vladimir KoganChapter 18. Immigration, Ethnicity, Race and Organized CrimeWill CooleyChapter 19. The Myth of Ethnic Success: Old Wine in New BottlesStephen SteinbergChapter 20. Immigration and Ethnic Diversity in the South, 1980-2010Mary E. OdemChapter 21. Allegiance, Dual Citizenship, and the Ethnic Influence on U.S. Foreign PolicyDavid BrundageChapter 22. Historians and Sociologists Debate TransnationalismPeter KivistoChapter 23. Written Forms of Communication from Immigrant Letters to Instant MessagingSuzanne M. SinkeChapter 24. Ethnicity, Race, and Religion beyond Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish WhitesR. Stephen WarnerChapter 25. Immigration, Race, and Ethnicity in American FilmSteven Alan CarrChapter 26. Language Retention/Language Shift, "English Only," and Multilingualism in teh Unites StatesJoshua A. FishmanChapter 27. Melting Pots, Salad Bowls, Ethnic Museums, and American IdentitySteven ConnChapter 28. New Approaches in the Teaching of Immigration and Ethnic History in the United StatesJohn J. BukowczykIndex