ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the differences between the concepts of race and ethnicity and discusses how immigration patterns have influenced changing attitudes about race. It explains how fertility rates relate to the discussion of immigration and ethnicity and defines an example of acculturation. The chapter outlines social class patterns and trends in relation to immigration influences and describes several key characteristics of impacts on Native American families, African American families, Hispanic families and Asian American families. It discusses social class in relation to Black working-class families and describes diversity in terms of White Americans, using Irish American and Italian American families as examples. The chapter also discusses how race and ethnicity are socially constructed and will change with societal changes.
