ABSTRACT
One of the basic laws of physics is that every action has an equal and opposite reaction. The laws of society are not that simple. Yet, it is safe to say that in social physics (a label the founder of sociology, Auguste Comte, wanted to use for his discipline), there are numerous examples of changes provoking reactions. This is certainly the case in the area of racial and ethnic relations and nowhere is this process clearer than in the responses to the increasing now of immigrants by earlier American settlers and the reaction of minorities to their treatment in this country.
