 | Reshaping Ethnic Relations: Immigrants in a Divided City What happens when people from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds come together to live and work in the same neighborhood? Unlike other examinations of this question that focus on one group, this book looks at the interaction of both old and new immigrant populations in three Philadelphia neighborhoods. In this ethnographic study, which is a result of the Ford Foundation-funded Changing Relations: Newcomers and Established Residents in Philadelphia Project, the authors consider five primary groups--whites, African Americans, Puerto Ricans, Koreans, and Eastern Europeans--in Olney, Kensington, and Port Richmond. Focusing on the interaction of racial, ethnic, and immigrant communities in schools, organized community celebrations and social events, the workplace, shopping areas, and neighborhood politics, the authors show that the contradictions of individual beliefs, actions, and strategies of power are not easily resolved. By examining the local, citywide, and national economy and government, previous human relations efforts, changing immigration patterns, community-level power structures, real estate turnover, and gentrification, the authors evaluate current strategies to create harmony in communities with an ever-changing mix of established residents and newly arrived immigrants. Through their findings, Judith Goode and Jo Anne Schneider develop better alternatives that will encourage understanding and cooperation among different racial and ethnic groups sharing their lives and neighborhoods. Judith Goode is Professor of Anthropology and Affiliated Professor of Geography and Urban Studies at Temple University. She has co-authored several books on topics related to urban anthropology, including The Anthropology of the City Jo Anne Schneider , Program Director at the Institute for the Study of Civic Values, has published numerous articles on ethnicity, race relations, and immigration. She served as 1989-1990 American Anthropological Association Congressional Fellow. |
