Borders and Belonging: Sociological Perspectives on Race, Ethnicity & the Making of America

1. The Social Construction of Race and Ethnicity
Defines key sociological concepts and explains how race and ethnicity are socially constructed rather than biological. Introduces theories of prejudice, discrimination, and racism, and outlines major perspectives for understanding identity, power, and inequality.

2. The Indigenous Peoples of the Americas
Centers Native nations as the original inhabitants of the continent. Traces colonization, forced removal, boarding schools, and the ongoing struggle for sovereignty, land, and cultural revitalization.

3. Early European Immigrants and the Beginning of America
Explores migration from England, Ireland, Germany, and Scandinavia and how these groups transitioned from “ethnic” outsiders to the foundation of American whiteness. Highlights labor, assimilation, and the invention of the “melting pot.”

4. Mexican Americans and the Borderlands of Identity
Examines how the U.S.-Mexico War, territorial annexation, and migration shaped Mexican American identity. Highlights Chicano activism, border politics, and cultural resistance within a continuing colonial framework.

5. Black Americans and the Ongoing Struggle for Justice
Traces the central role of Black Americans in shaping the nation’s history from slavery and abolition to civil rights and the Movement for Black Lives. Highlights enduring struggles for freedom, equality, and belonging, showing how Black creativity and resistance have continually redefined American democracy.

6. East Asian Americans and the Making of a Model Minority
Traces the intertwined histories of Chinese, Japanese, and Korean Americans, from 19th-century exclusion and labor exploitation to postwar activism and the persistence of racial stereotypes. Examines how laws, wars, and migration shaped ideas of “Asianness” and the myth of the model minority within U.S. racial hierarchies.

7. Puerto Rican, Cuban, Central, and South American Americans in Diaspora
Explores the migration stories of Latin American communities beyond Mexican Americans, including Puerto Rican, Cuban, Central American, and South American diasporas. Examines how colonialism, revolution, economic crisis, and environmental change shaped migration to the United States and how shared labels like Latino and Hispanic both connect and obscure distinct identities.

8. Vietnamese, Cambodian, Lao, and Hmong Americans in Search of Home
Traces Southeast Asian migration to the United States as a legacy of U.S. war, empire, and displacement. From Vietnamese refugees and Amerasian children to Cambodian survivors of the Khmer Rouge and Hmong allies of the CIA’s “Secret War,” it explores trauma, resilience, and transnational belonging.

9. From the Indian Subcontinent to the United States
Examines the migration histories and identities of South Asian Americans, including Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Sri Lankan, and Nepali communities. Traces how colonialism, Partition, and post-1965 immigration policies shaped migration and belonging, while analyzing how caste, religion, gender, and colorism intersect with race and citizenship in the U.S.

10. Middle Eastern and North African Americans in the Politics of Race
Examines the complex histories and racial politics of Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) Americans, tracing migration from the Ottoman and colonial eras to post-9/11 racialization. Explores how Orientalism, Islamophobia, and faith shape belonging in a nation that alternately renders MENA communities invisible and hypervisible within U.S. racial politics.

11. African Immigrants in America
Guest chapter by Rosina Owusu Panin
Explores the diverse experiences of African immigrants through regional perspectives: West, East, Central, Southern, and North Africa. Examines how colonial legacies, language, religion, and migration histories shape African diasporic identities and racialization in America. Highlights how African immigrants build resilience, transnational networks, and new understandings of Blackness in the United States.

12. Eastern Europeans and the Changing Boundaries of Belonging
Concludes the book by returning to Europe, examining antisemitism, the Holocaust, and post-Cold War migration. Connects early ideas of whiteness and immigration to the modern era, showing how boundaries of belonging continue to evolve through new refugee movements and global inequality.