ABSTRACT
The focus of this book has been on the nature of conflict and competition based mainly, if not exclusively, on social definitions of race and ethnicity, concepts grounded, often as not, on misperceptions of others. The “they versus we” motif has been a constant in a volume that touched on many subjects—prejudice, discrimination, actions, reactions—all couched in a framework of a “humanistic sociology,” a sociology that demands both rigor in the assessment and analyses of social issues and empathy for those involved. This duality underscores the entire enterprise: learning about root causes of intergroup tension and current problems; getting to know all the players, those in positions of dominance and those called minorities—and those often caught in the middle; coming to terms with one’s own values while learning “to see ourselves as others see us.”.
