In this article I argue that the bi-racial order (white vs non-white) typical of the United States is undergoing a profound transformation. Because of drastic changes in the demography of the nation as well as changes in the racial structure of the world-system, the United States is developing a complex, Latin America-like racial order. Specifically, I suggest that the new order will have two central features: three loosely organized racial strata (white, honorary white, and the collective black) and a pigmentocratic logic. I examine some objective, subjective, and social interaction indicators to assess if the Latin Americanization thesis holds some water. Although more refined data are needed to conclusively make my case, the available indicators support my thesis. I conclude this article by outlining some of the potential implications of Latin Americanization for the future of race relations in the United States.

From bi-racial to tri-racial: Towards a new system of racial stratification in the USA

How will racial divisions in student friendship networks change as U.S. schools incorporate a growing Asian and Hispanic population? Drawing on theories of race in assimilation processes and the effects of relative group size on intergroup relations, several hypotheses are developed to address this question. These hypotheses are tested using data on friendships among students in grades 7 to 12 from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. Key findings are that (1) cross-race friendships including Asian and Hispanic students are more common than those between white and black students, but race and Hispanic background have significant influences on student friendships that persist over immigrant generations; (2) black or white racial identifications are strongly associated with the friendship choices of Hispanic students; (3) cross-race friendships increase with school racial diversity; and (4) own-group friend selection intensifies for students in small racial minorities in a school. The results support theories of racially segmented patterns of assimilation in primary group relations and suggest that students in small racial minorities seek to maintain a friendship network including several own-race friends. Implications are discussed.

Beyond black and white: The present and future of multiracial friendship segregation

Similar to other Asian American students, Southeast Asian American students are often stereotyped by the popular press as hardworking and high-achieving model minorities. On the other hand, Southeast Asian American youth are also depicted as low-achieving high school dropouts involved in gangs. The realities of academic performance and persistence among Southeast Asian American students are far more complex than either image suggests. This article explores the various explanations for the struggles, successes, and educational experiences of Southeast Asian students. To highlight differences across ethnic groups, we review the literature on each Southeast Asian ethnic group separately and examine the successes and continuing struggles facing first- and second-generation Vietnamese American, Cambodian American, Hmong American, and Lao American students in the United States.

Complicating the Image of Model Minority Success: A Review of Southeast Asian American Education

America's major urban centers are becoming increasingly multiethnic. Despite this increase in racial and ethnic diversity, extreme Black-White residential segregation remains the common pattern. As one of the most racially, ethnically, and culturally diverse cities in the world—and one of the most residentially segregated—Los Angeles represents the changing face of urban America. A multiracial sample of adults (N = 4025) is employed to examine neighborhood racial composition preferences—an important, individual-level explanation for residential segregation—and address three shortcomings in existing research. First, I assess composition preferences in a multiracial manner with an innovative replication and expansion of the Farley-Schuman showcard methodology used in the 1976 and 1992 Detroit Area studies. Second, I extend analysis of the cause of preferences beyond racial stereotypes to include parenting, homeownership, perceptions of social class difference, and common fate identity. Third, I test, directly, the effects of these factors on preferences for same-race neighbors. Results lend strong support to race-based explanations of preferences. As stereotypes toward out-groups become more negative, preferences for integration decrease; Blacks are consistently perceived in unfavorable terms, and are, consensually, the least preferred out-group neighbors. There is also limited support for so-called class-based explanations of preferences; homeowners prefer fewer Black neighbors. Generally, results suggest both greater resistance to integration with Blacks than previously thought, but more openness to integration than currently exists.

Neighborhood Racial-Composition Preferences: Evidence from a Multiethnic Metropolis

The model minority stereotype of Asian Americans is retrospectively analyzed twenty-five years after the author’s original study of this issue. The continuing effects of this stereotype in higher education are examined.

Revisiting the Model Minority Stereotype: Implications for Student Affairs Practice and Higher Education.

"Tuan's book is a major contribution to Asian American studies because she lets her respondents speak...Her thesis is clear: that no matter where Asian Americans go they cannot hide from their race and ethnicity. In addition, Tuan provides a picture to how a pan-ethnic Asian American cultural experience emerges not from a common cultural tradition, but through a common experience of racialization. Tuan's book is essential reading for those that conduct research and teach on the experiences of American born Asians."-Journal of Asian American Studies "Forever Foreigners or Honorary Whites? informs the reader of the racialized ethnic experiences as felt and lived by third-plus-generation Chinese and Japanese Americans and California. To question the plethora of 'ethnic options' for Asian Americans, Tuan opens the book with one of the most alarming examples-the Ito D'Amato incident-that blatantly denigrates Americans of Asian descent as 'foreigners.'...the analytical contrast between modernizers and traditionalists provides a consistent integrating theme that enhances the book's usefulness in advanced undergraduate or graduate courses." -Social Forces "Mia Tuan investigates the role of ethnicity in the lives of later-generation Asian Americans. As the title suggests, the study engages the debate over the applicability of the white ethnic assimilation paradigm in addressing the experiences of racialized ethnic minorities. Tuan concludes that Asian Americans can choose the cultural practices and values they wish to maintain in their private lives but cannot escape identification in ethnic and racial terms when in public...Tuan's study allows later-generation Asian Americans to convey their experiences. Their stories and opinions provide an understanding of the changes occurring in one segment of contemporary Asian America."-Journal of American Ethnic History "A compelling account of the ongoing acculturation of West Coast Asian Americans and their continuing experience of racism. Mia Tuan uses her sociological skills to paint a disturbing portrait of the hidden and not-so-hidden injuries of race suffered by Californians who have been here form many generations, as well as an early warning of what the future might hold for some of our newest immigrants." -Herbert Gans, Roberts S. Lynd Professor of Sociology, Columbia University "This well-written book advances our understanding of the changing and situational construction of American and ethnic identities by exploring the ways in which multigenerational Asian Americans constitute, express, and transform their identities." -Yen Le Espiritu, author of Asian American Women and Men: Labor, Laws, and Love What does it mean to be an Asian American in the United States today? Are Asian Americans considered "honorary whites" or forever thought of as "foreigners?" Mia Tuan examines the salience and meaning of ethnicity for later generation Chinese and Japanese Americans, and asks how their concepts of ethnicity differ from that of white ethnic Americans. She interviewed 95 middle-class Chinese and Japanese Californians and analyzes the importance of ethnic identities and the concept of becoming a "real" American for both Asian and white ethnics. She asks her subjects about their . early memories and experiences with Chinese/Japanese culture; . current lifestyle and emerging cultural practices; . experiences with racism and discrimination; and their . attitudes toward current Asian immigration. Mia Tuan is an assistant professor of sociology at the University of Oregon.

Mia Tuan

Papers

Forever Foreigners or Honorary Whites?: The Asian Ethnic Experience Today