Models of Pluralism: The New American Dilemma

• Author: Milton M. Gordon
• DOI: 10.1177/000271628145400115
• Published date: 01 March 1981
• Date: 01 March 1981
• Subject Matter: Articles

178

Models

of

Pluralism:

The

New

American

Dilemma

By

MILTON

M.

GORDON

Milton

M.

Gordon

is

a

professor

of sociology

at

the

University

of Massachusetts,

Amherst,

and

the

author

of

Social

Class

in

American

Sociology

(1958),

Assimilation

in

American

Life

(1964),

for

which

he

won

the

Anisfield-Wolf Award

in

Race

Rela-

tions,

and

Human

Nature,

Class,

and

Ethnicity

(1978),

as

well

as

numerous

articles

in

professional

journals

and

general

magazines.

He

has

served

as

consultant

on

racial

and

ethnic

relations

to

the

city

of

Philadelphia,

the

Albert

M.

Greenfield

Center

for

Human

Relations

at

the

University

of

Pennsylvania,

Brandeis

Uni-

versity,

and

the

recently

published

Harvard

Encyclopedia

of

American

Ethnic

Groups.

He

is

past

president

of the

Eastern

Sociological

Society.

ABSTRACT:

Controversies

over

recent

events

in

the

area

of

racial

and

ethnic

relations

in

the

United

States,

including

heightened

group

consciousness,

government-mandated

af-

firmative

action

in

employment

and

education,

court-ordered

busing

to

achieve

racial

integration

in

public

schools,

and

demands

for

bilingual

education

in

public

school

systems,

indicate

that

our

society

faces

a

new

"American

dilemma"—

in

this

case

a

choice

between

two

types

of

racial and

ethnic

pluralism.

The

nature

of

this

choice

is

clarified

by

the

use

of

six

analytical

dimensions,

and

the

importance

of

the

choice

for

the

future

of

racial

and

ethnic

relations

in

America

is

emphasized.