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Beijing Forum 2007: Reflection on
American Ethnic Group
Relations--Special Interview with Prof.
Nathan Glazer of Harvard University
By Wang Yi
PKU NEWS 2007--11--03
http://ennews.pku.edu.cn/news.php?s=194061585
The Great Hall of the People, Beijing, Nov. 2, 2007: In the panel discussion ―Ethnic
Relations and Religious Coexistence‖ of Beijing Forum 2007, Professor Nathan
Glazer of Harvard University delivered a speech titled ―Dual Nationality in Immigrant
Receiving Nations: Is It a Problem, and What Kind?‖
During the coffee break, PKU News had the opportunity to get Mr. Glazer‘s further
explanation of his reflection on American ethnic groups.
America is universally acknowledged as a melting pot, with people of different colors,
religions and immigrants all over the world. According to Glazer‘s observation, the
most significant achievements the United States has made in the course of ethnic
merging is simply the process as most people have seen, which is more and more
accepted when seen from public opinion polls. For example, fifty years ago, if one
ask people ―What is your attitude towards marriage between whites and blacks,‖ and
certainly among whites there would have been about 70% or 80% saying they are
against it. The percentage has probably dropped more like about 20%, Glazer said.
The achievement has been the change in public attitude or at least the expressed
public attitude. He has the feeling that this change in attitude takes place somewhat
faster in the United States probably than Europe or some other places.
When asked about the hottest topics concerning ethnic group relations for modern
American sociologist, Glazer pointed out that the most contentious issue is illegal
immigration. According to him, that is a very important political issue, which is
debated all the time about which we really have done very little or what we have
done was not very pleasant. ―We simply made the southern border much harder to
cross, which is very inconvenient and leads to many deaths when people try to go
around to the desert and so on‖, Glazer said, ―Many people say the issue is illegality,
immigration as such that bothers people. The fact is that most illegal immigrants are
Mexican. So it is an anti-Mexico, anti-Latin American agitation.‖ For example, they
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