ABSTRACT
The United States has a long and contradictory history in its absorption of groups defined by race and ethnicity. Along with Canada and Australia, it is among those few settler states where colonists rapidly became the numerical majority. But it also differs from other economically developed nations in having been, for a substantial period, a slave-holding society. As a consequence, social dominance and foreign birth do not necessarily clash, but social dominance and dark skin colour do. In order to understand the American system of inclusion and exclusion, we must distinguish between the experiences of immigrant groups and Blacks and also understand how their differing histories influenced each other.
