Immigration and the Black-White Color Line in the United States*

This chapter explores the theoretical and empirical bases for drawing conclusions about the placement and strength of color lines in the United States given the new immigration, including an assessment of what this suggests about the strength and salience of America's traditional black-white color line. It focuses on extant theories concerning immigration and immigrant incorporation, the declining significance of race, and group position in the United States. The chapter presents recent data on intermarriage and multiracial identification and examines differences among whites, blacks, Latinos, and Asians. It debates about the declining significance of race and group position theory. Based on the theoretical syntheses and examinations of recent data, the chapter suggests that little ground may exist to claim that major changes have occurred in the country that signify a notably reduced significance of race or an unconditional fading of racial/ethnic boundaries, especially for blacks.