READER ON RACE
Record, Wilson
Reader on Race RACE PREJUDICE AND DISCRIMINATION, edited by Arnold Rose. Alfred A. Knopf. 605 pp. $4.50. Reviewed by Wilson Record DURING the past three decades we have witnessed a phenomenal...
...It has been characterized by lack of theoretical integration, leading to tangential and unrelated approaches...
...The accomplishments as well as the limitations of this recent research are reflected in the 60 items which Prof...
...This remains the case in spite of his rather lengthy introductions to the major sections and his brief editorial notes which preface each of the 60 pieces...
...One can hardly avoid the conclusion that Prof...
...There is no objection to such differences per se...
...While the consequences of the former frequently have been indirect, they have been of considerable significance in minority protest actions...
...Much of this recent research is of questionable value...
...However, Rose is never very clear on the criteria governing selection, or the way in which items are supposed to fit into the over-all scheme...
...Reviewed by Wilson Record DURING the past three decades we have witnessed a phenomenal increase in research on race relations and minority groups in the United States...
...To the vast and varied bodv of historical material has been added a voluminous amount of quantitative and interpretative data developed by sociologists, psychologists, and anthropologists...
...Unfortunately, this is all too frequently the result when sociologists in particular embark on the preparation of "readings" in a given field...
...Arnold Rose has brought together in this lengthy volume...
...It would have been better, for example, to have used portions of Ralph Bunche's unpublished material on programs and ideologies of Negro movements rather than "The Negro in the Political Life of the United States," which, as Rose points out, is now "out of date...
...On the methodological side it has all too frequently substituted isolated nose counting for rigorous quantitative effort...
...Horace Cayton's "Psychology of the Negro Under Discrimination" takes some 14 pages, while Robert E. Park's "The Physical Appearance and Character of Peoples" fills only six pages...
...Impressionistic and highly subjective declarations are followed by provocative quantitative analyses...
...Grouped under a series of five major headings, the pieces Vary greatly in length and quality...
...In some instances, however, valid results have been obtained, and there is reason to believe that the foundations for more productive inquiry have been laid...
...Rose has attempted too much, that the effort to be eclectic has produced a chaotic grab-bag rather than a series of orderly arranged and clearly labelled items...
...Rose follows other sociologists in giving little or no attention to the impact of radical movements on the behavior of racial and ethnic minorities in the United States...
Vol. 15 • November 1951 • No. 11
