Abstract
As the United States population becomes increasingly diverse, the demand for ethnic-sensitive social services will continue to grow. The two books in this essay focus on ethnic communities. Social Services and the Ethnic Community by Iglehart and Becerra (2011) provides a broad examination of many ethnicities and draws on a wide literature. Zhao’s (2010) The New Chinese America has a much more narrow focus on Chinese American communities, using primary documentation. Zhao’s book could be placed within the context of the other, as an in depth analysis of an ethnic community in contemporary America. Understanding the ethnic communities to which client populations may belong can be a good start to effectively serving ethnic groups. The ethnic communities discussed in these two books portray important historical and contemporary perspectives on life in the United States. Together, the two books can be used as a guide for human service practitioners to better serve racial and ethnic minorities. Knowledge of historical experiences and the social, economic, and political context in which those experiences are situated allows practitioners and decision makers to appreciate how minority groups view the human service sector and to learn about the needs of the community and how the community has responded to those needs over time. Gaining a contemporary perspective of ethnic communities helps practitioners and decision makers identify existing needs and offers a context in which services can be delivered.
Ethnic communities have played an important role throughout U.S. history by providing new immigrants a safe haven on their arrival and helping them adjust to the host country. Cultural and language differences may be initial barriers for new immigrants to participate in mainstream society. Ethnic communities may serve as extended family on which new immigrants can count for support. Several studies have shown the importance of ethnic community support (e.g., Finch & Vega, 2003; Garcia, Ramirez, & Jariego, 2002; Jasinskaja-Lahti & Liebkind, 2001; Noh & Kaspar, 2003). In addition, Behnia (2008) summarizes research in which ethnic communities can be a supportive resource for refugees with their resettlement challenges.
Iglehart and Becerra (2011): Social Services and the Ethnic Community
Social Services and the Ethnic Community examines ethnic communities as a basis for understanding their needs and how these communities address those needs. Iglehart and Becerra argue that to build racial and ethnic sensitivity, practitioners must be knowledgeable about the history minority groups experienced because the treatment faced by the groups may have resulted in resistance, distrust, and apathy. Systems and political-economy perspectives are used as frameworks for understanding and illustrating the experiences of ethnic groups.
Social Services and the Ethnic Community provides a historical analysis of the evolution of social work in association with immigrant experiences during the Progressive Era and the economic, social, and political changes that took place during this time. Iglehart and Becerra reveal the prejudicial and discriminatory treatment faced by White ethnics, African Americans, American Indians, Mexicans, Chinese, and Japanese as each group strived to survive and adapt to American society. The authors explore the evolution of the social work profession and its general disregard for minority groups’ needs, concerns, and rights. The book also details the roles social workers played in implementing policy against Mexican Americans during the Great Depression and against Japanese Americans during World War II due to public attitudes that could be considered racist and exclusionary today.
Iglehart and Becerra argue that despite the early start of ethnic specific services in American social work history, the integration of social work into minority communities and culture did not occur. Rather, ethnic minorities have had to develop their own means of social service provision to meet their communities’ needs. This self-help ethos resulted in voluntary associations that are now known as ethnic agencies, and they have existed alongside mainstream traditional agencies as parallel service delivery systems. The authors identify the ethnic agency as a means “. . . to capture an interface between a service delivery system and client system that blends service with community and ethnicity” (p. 6). The ethnic agency is portrayed as a model for ethnic-sensitive practice.
Zhao (2010): The New Chinese America
The New Chinese America provides an analysis of the Chinese American community that will be helpful for those interested in better serving that specific population. Chinese American history is explored from a cultural perspective tracing the utilization of ethnicity in the development of the Chinese community. Historically, violence and hostilities against the Chinese crystallized in 1870 (Voss, 2005), which halted immigration and forced the Chinese out of mainstream society. Zhao argues that the Chinese American community before and after World War II is very different. Prior to the war, the ethnic community was largely made up of men with low rates of reproduction and a negative growth rate during periods in which Chinese immigration exclusion laws were enforced. According to Zhao, Chinese Americans’ access to mainstream opportunities increased after the war with the official repeal of the exclusion laws in 1943, resulting in less dependence on the ethnic community and Chinese people leaving Chinatowns.
Demographic comparisons, social hierarchies, economic networks, and group organizations are provided to describe the relationships among various social groups. The New Chinese America makes a distinction between legal residents, undocumented immigrants, and illegal immigrants. Specifically, legal residents are permanent residents, parents of U.S.-born children, or people married to U.S. citizens; undocumented immigrants are visa overstayers and smuggled and trafficked immigrants; and illegal immigrants are those who enter the United States illegally. Zhao argues that the Chinese population is undercounted and provides reasons behind a large number of undocumented immigrants. Conflicting relationships within Chinese America are identified. These conflicts include political sentiments about the Chinese and Taiwanese governments as well as between the old and new immigrant groups. The power struggle between the old and new groups is presented as a case study of the Changle American Association in New York City’s Chinatown.
Zhao discusses the development of the Chinese American economy and its role in enhancing ethnic relationships as the Chinese American population increased post-1965. The discussion is centered on the construction and implications of class in the Chinese American community. The New Chinese America analyzes the Chinese community’s internal dynamics with respect to class and upward social mobility. In this respect, it explores the relationships between Chinese American employers and Chinese American employees and how both groups fit into the social hierarchy within the Chinese American community. Zhao reveals the lives of Chinese American laborers and the challenges they face in their quest for upward mobility. The book also presents the lives of Chinese American business leaders and their roads to success in the United States. Zhao argues that the influx of immigrants in the last few decades has expanded the ethnic economy and created a mutual dependency among the labor and business classes. This dependency puts the labor class at a disadvantage, particularly those who are undocumented. On the other hand, the leaders are also noted to be essential to the community because they provide opportunities for the Chinese lower class that does not have access to mainstream America.
A Comparison
The authors of these two books used different approaches and sources in terms of generating data for their books. The data sources for Social Services and the Ethnic Community are comprised of existing secondary sources of literature. While Jenkins’ (1981) work may still be relevant today, Iglehart and Becerra’s characterization of her ethnic research as the most definitive work 30 years later is an indication that research on ethnic identity, ethnic communities, and ethnic agencies has been largely ignored. The New Chinese America relies on primary sources such as government documents, Chinese-language newspapers, in-depth interviews, church attendance, and community meeting observations.
In the review of the evolution of social services in America, Social Services and the Ethnic Community reveals information about ethnic groups and the social work profession that may be unknown to many readers. The eye-opening historical analysis challenges the reader to think differently about his or her own understanding of the history of social work and the treatment of ethnic minorities. That being said, the importance of the past is repeatedly stressed throughout the book, but to a fault. While most readers would recognize the importance, they do not need to be continually reminded.
According to Iglehart and Becerra, “. . . the ethnic minority presence in the United States is mushrooming from urban centers to Midwestern cities to Southern towns” (p. 1). While Zhao uses Chinese American newspapers from major metropolitan cities as sources for The New Chinese America, her focus is on the urban centers of the east and west coasts rather than the Midwestern cities and Southern towns. Zhao states that the New York City Chinatown is being changed by an influx of new immigrants from Fujian and Wenzhou, and her portrayal of the Changle people from Fujian and the Changle American Association is important for gaining an understanding of Fujian immigrants. However, not much is mentioned of the Wenzhou immigrants’ influence on New York City’s Chinatown. A comparative analysis of the two immigrant groups would have been useful to determine whether the Wenzhou immigrants have had similar experiences compared to the Fujian immigrants.
Both books portray the leaders who are mostly made up of merchants, landlords, and factory owners—the “haves” of the Chinese community—as self-serving. Zhao argues that some employers may exploit laborers to move themselves up the social ladder. To protect their position and power in the community, leaders create separations and show off their achievements. Zhao’s emphasis on the labor class, particularly those who are undocumented, is a great strength of the book because it gives readers context and perspective not commonly found elsewhere. Smuggling of Chinese people is also noted in both books. Social Services and the Ethnic Community addresses smuggling in the context of a Chinese American association smuggling Chinese into the United States due to the exclusion laws that prevented some Chinese from legally entering the country. The New Chinese America discusses smuggling in the context of newspaper headlines in recent years.
The two books reviewed are very different, yet both are resources for understanding ethnic and racial minorities in the context of their communities. For the reader who wants a general overview that allows him or her to think about multiple ethnic groups and how to develop ethnic-sensitive services and programs to meet their needs, Social Services and the Ethnic Community is a must read. The book’s historical analysis of the social work profession along with immigration trends in the United States is an important contribution to education and practice. Despite its social work focus, the book is applicable to nonprofit education and human service practice in the voluntary sector. It is an integrated work with much to offer. For the reader who is interested in delving deeply into the Chinese American community or who is preparing to do an in depth study of an ethnic community, The New Chinese America is a good resource. Zhao offers an analysis of different classes within the Chinese American culture that may be missing elsewhere. Iglehart and Becerra is targeting a practitioner audience from a professional perspective, whereas Zhao is stepping back from the perspective of a historian and is more focused on telling the story than in offering potential direction.
Footnotes
Acknowledgements
The author is grateful to Dr. Ellen Netting for her guidance and input with the book review.