Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Rosemary Hays-Thomas
The University of West Florida
Preparation of this article was supported in part by a SAGES grant from the Society for
the Psychological Study of Social Issues.
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Rosemary Hays-Thomas,
Department of Psychology, University of West Florida, Building 41 - 11000 University
Parkway, Pensacola, FL 32514. E-mail: rlowe@uwf.edu
121
The Psychologist-Manager Journal © 2015 American Psychological Association
2015, Vol. 18, Nos. 3– 4, 121–152 1088-7156/15/$12.00 http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/mgr0000036
122 HAYS-THOMAS
MULTICULTURALISM
and structures to identify and change any aspects that maintain inappropriate
group distinctions and outcomes.
Mor Barak (2014) identified three basic arguments underlying the manage-
ment of D&I: (a) the empirical fact that workforces are increasingly diverse, (b)
the moral and ethical argument that individuals should be treated fairly and
experience equal opportunity, and (c) the “business case” that effective diversity
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management will lead to stronger organizations. This article takes the position
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that managers who are informed about the historical and cultural background of
coworkers are better prepared to manage diversity effectively and to increase the
sense of inclusion across racioethnic divides. This is consistent with the creation
of Gottfredson’s (1997) “affirming climate.”
PRAGMATIC RATIONALES
nizational diversity training, for example, shows that although at least two thirds
of companies provide some form of diversity training, it is more likely to occur
in companies with more than 100 employees and is not always mandatory,
especially for nonmanagerial employees (Esen, 2005; SHRM, 2010). It is also
likely to be brief (1 day or less) and to require only 10% or less of the
organization’s training budget (SHRM, 2010). Contemporary diversity training
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is likely to focus on strategy and business success, but in some organizations still
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protestors. The Public Safety Commissioner stresses that “history can set the
stage for unnecessary conflict today if young officers do not understand the
context in which they are policing” (Elliott, 2015, p. 4). The same could be said
about historical and cultural knowledge of managers and others working in
diverse environments.
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SCOPE
This article gives brief descriptive information about the major ethnic groups
represented in the U.S. workforce of the 21st century and presents historical
background that may be known to members of each group but not salient to
others. Its scope is limited to demographic and historical information that may
better prepare psychologist-managers and other managers from inadvertently
giving offense as a result of ignorance or faulty assumptions.
The wide range of other social science research relevant to the management
of D&I (e.g., development of identity, measurement of group differences, effects
of diversity in groups and teams, content and effectiveness of diversity training)
is beyond the scope of this article. Nevertheless, the article presents some limited
recommendations relevant to its review of information about racioethnic groups
that may be helpful for those who wish to improve diversity competence for
today’s workplace.
LEGACY ISSUES
Historical facts about the interaction between and among groups form the
backdrop to contemporary interethnic relations and can be called macrolegacy
issues. For example, many Americans of Mexican ancestry come from families
that have lived in the present U.S. territory since the 1700s, far longer than the
European immigrant waves of the 1800s. In contrast, microlegacy issues develop
from an individual’s personal experiences relevant to other racioethnic groups.
Someone may have had a close childhood interracial friendship or a favorite
teacher of another race; another may be the victim of interracial crime, harass-
ment, or other mistreatment. Though legacy issues may not be discussed openly
at work, they can lead to markedly different understandings of particular work-
place events and relationships. Therefore, one who understands something of
legacy issues should be better prepared to interact effectively with others from
different groups. This article focuses on macrolegacy issues, which concern
members of various ethnic groups collectively, rather than microlegacy issues,
which are, by definition, unique to each individual.
126 HAYS-THOMAS
The first Census in 1790 distinguished only between Black and White
females and males; in some years, enslaved Blacks were distinguished from
those who were free (Racebox, n.d.). Since the 1930 Census, response options
have steadily increased, reflecting a more complex and inclusive societal under-
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Whites
The U.S. Census definition for Whites includes those who are descended
from the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East, or North Africa
(Hixson, Hepler, & Kim, 2011). The term “Caucasian” came into favor in the
1800s to refer to White people (Painter, 2010), who were thought to be
especially physically beautiful and typical of those from Europe, North
Africa, the Middle East, and even parts of Asia. (The Caucasus region is on
the border between Europe and Asia including modern-day Georgia, Chech-
nya, and other regions formerly part of the USSR.) Arabs are usually
ETHNIC GROUP INFORMATION FOR MANAGERS 127
• In 2012, 80% of labor force; labor force participation (LFP) 64.5%; 73.5% for White
men, 58.7% for White women
• Except for Asians, highest likelihood of high school (88%) and college graduation
(about 30%)
• Poverty rate 2007–2010 similar to Asians (11%–12%) and lower than other racioethnic
groups or multiracials
Hispanics
• Ethnicity rather than race; second in size only to Whites at 13% of population
• Majority of the U.S. population growth between 2000 and 2010
• 16% of the 2012 labor force
• Highest rate of participation in labor force at 66.4% (81% for men and 59.5% for women)
• High school graduation about 63%; college graduation about 14%; lower level of
education than other racioethnic groups
• Poverty rate approximately 23%, varying greatly from Cubans (lowest at 16.2%) to
Dominicans (highest at 26.3%)
Blacks
• Second in size in 2010 Census among racial groups (excluding Hispanic ethnicity);
13% of population (alone), additional 1% in combination with another race
• Growing faster than overall population, with largest numerical increase but at lower rate
than other racioethnic groups except Whites
• In 2012, 12% of labor force
• Participation in labor force 61.5% (men relatively low at 67.7%; women higher than
other female groups at 62.6%)
• High school completion 84%, but only about 20% earned college degrees
• 2007–2011 poverty rate 25.8%; highest rate except for American Indians/Alaska Natives
Asians
• About 5.6% of U.S. population, either alone (4.8%) or in combination with non-Asian
race(s) (.9%)
• Among racial groups, fastest-growing percentagewise between 2000 and 2010, with
increase more than 4 times the rate of the total population; continuing through 2012,
when Asian population grew by 2.9%
• About 5% of labor force; labor force participation about 64% (76% for men and 59%
for women)
• High school graduation about 89%, including Pacific Islanders; about 52% earned
college degrees, highest level among racial groups or Hispanics
• 2007–2011 poverty rate similar to that of Whites at 11%–12%
American Indians and Native Alaskans (AI/NA)
• Very small racial group in 2010; .9% alone and .7% in combination with other race(s),
usually White, for total of 1.7% of population; almost half chose more than one race
• Alone, increased almost 2 times faster than total population
• Only 1% of labor force; participation rates lowest at 59%
• Relatively low education levels, with 77% completing high school and 13% earning at
least college degree
• Poverty rate higher than other groups at 27%
Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders (NH/OPI)
• Smallest population group at .4% (.2% alone and .2% in combination)
(table continues)
128 HAYS-THOMAS
Table 1. (continued)
• Increased more than 3 times faster than the overall population, second only to the Asian
population in growth rate 2000–2010
• Only 1% of labor force, but with highest labor force participation rate at 71.4% in 2012
• High school completion rate similar to Asians at about 86%, but college completions
much lower at approximately 16% in 2013
• Poverty rate almost 18%
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This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers.
Note. Sources: Ennis, Rios-Vargas, & Albert, 2011; Hixson, Hepler, & Kim, 2011, 2012;
Hoeffel, Rastogi, Kim, & Shahid, 2012; Humes, Jones, & Ramirez, 2011; Macartney, Bishaw,
& Fontenot, 2013; Norris, Vines, & Hoeffel, 2012; Rastogi, Johnson, Hoeffel, & Drewery,
2011; U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2013; U.S. Census Bureau, 2011,
2012, 2013a, 2015.
considered to be White; they are an ethnicity of the Middle East and North
Africa, including Egypt, Morocco, Lebanon, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and
Yemen. Many, but not all, Hispanics are White; Latino heritage is considered
ethnic rather than racial.
During periods of increased immigration to the United States, some
impoverished, non-English-speaking, rural, and non-Protestant immigrants
were seen as “non-White” (Painter, 2010). For example, the second-wave
“potato famine” Irish who immigrated after 1840 were caricaturized as
animal-like and racially distinct (Knobel, 1986). Southern and Eastern Eu-
ropean immigrants, particularly those who were Jewish, were not considered
White until they and their descendants had been in the United States for years
and had assimilated with other Whites (Brodkin, 2007). In the 1920s, theories
of eugenics and “scientific racism” were popular in U.S. culture. These ideas
gave justification to drastic limits on Asian and much European immigration
between 1924 and 1927, as well as the deportation of U.S. citizens of
Mexican heritage during the Great Depression. This brief summary shows
that the concept of “Whiteness” was socially constructed and redefined to fit
the economic and political climate of various periods in U.S. history. The first
concept of “American” meant free, White, and wealthy (Painter, 2010).
Whites were the earliest nonindigenous residents of America and de-
signed the new United States based on their social and cultural values; White
male landowners held political and economic control. Although legal rights
were later extended to others, Whites still continue to predominate in posi-
tions of authority and influence. Many institutions and policies that we take
for granted in this country were designed and operated for the benefit of the
initial landed elite and others who, by “race,” have come to be seen as part
of the privileged White group.
Numerous 20th-century policies have disproportionately benefited this
group and led to development of the White middle class. Katznelson (2005)
describes many of these in his book When Affirmative Action was White. For
example, until the 1950s, agricultural and household domestic work were
ETHNIC GROUP INFORMATION FOR MANAGERS 129
was no federal oversight assuring that Blacks would also receive benefits. In
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neighborhood that is looked down upon, and prejudices based on social class
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Hispanics or Latinos
The term Hispanic was first used by the USCB in 1960 to refer to those of
Spanish ancestry in the United States (Chong & Baez, 2005). However, some in
the Latino community objected to this term, preferring Latino in reference to
Latin America. This is consistent with the fact that most Latino immigrants in the
United States have come from Central or South America rather than Spain, and
some do not trace their heritage to Spain at all (e.g., Japanese immigrants to
South America). Furthermore, immigrants from Brazil speak Portuguese rather
than Spanish. In response, the U.S. government now uses the terms Hispanic and
Latino interchangeably. About 70% of these individuals surveyed do not express
a preference for either term, but among those who do, Hispanic (19%) is
preferred to Latino (10%; J. M. Jones, 2013). In the workplace, both terms are
used in gathering or reporting information, but in workplace interaction, it is
advisable to use the terms preferred by particular individuals of Hispanic or
Latino ethnicity whenever possible.
The popular stereotype of Latinos vastly underestimates the diversity
within this group. Some have identifiably Latino names or speak Spanish, but
ETHNIC GROUP INFORMATION FOR MANAGERS 131
many others do not. They may have been born in Latin America or in the
United States. Those who are immigrants vary in level of acculturation to the
United States, language skills, and immigration status. Chong and Baez
(2005) have listed six contemporary aspects of diversity among Latinos that
are relevant in the workplace: race, country of origin, generation, language,
religion, and educational attainment.
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Latinos may be of any race; in the 2010 Census, slightly more than half
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of Latinos identified themselves as White alone, and more than one third
chose “some other race.” Only small percentages of Latinos reported Black
alone (2.5%) or American Indian/Alaska Native, Asian, or Native Hawaiian/
Pacific Islander alone (all less than 1.5%; Humes, Jones, & Ramirez, 2011).
About two thirds are of Mexican heritage, the largest single group in the
United States. About 14% have come from other countries in South or
Central America, with smaller percentages from Puerto Rico, Cuba, or other
areas of the Caribbean (Ennis, Rios-Vargas, & Albert, 2011). A large
majority of U.S. Latinos speak English very well and are either bilingual or
English-dominant. About half of Latinos are Spanish-dominant, with about
one quarter each English dominant and bilingual (Chong & Baez, 2005).
Descendants of early Spanish conquistadores or colonists have been in the
United States for many generations and speak English predominantly or
exclusively. Second-generation Latinos are often bilingual, but for third and
later generations, English is usually the primary language. Although the
majority of Latinos are Catholic, many are of Protestant, Jewish, Buddhist, or
other faiths. Levels of education are quite variable; some immigrant Latinos
arrive well educated but others do not.
Latinos of Mexican descent are themselves quite diverse. Present-day
Mexico and Southwestern North America were colonized by the Spanish,
many of whom intermarried with indigenous women. Spanish and Mexican
American Indian cultures have blended to produce contemporary Mexican or
Mexican American (Chicano) religious beliefs, customs, and language.
Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, California, Utah, Nevada, and other areas were
the home of many Mexicans when these lands were ceded to the United
States by the Mexican government in the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
(Saenz, 1999). Those who chose to stay gained full U.S. citizenship, even
earlier than many of the waves of immigrants from Europe. As more Anglos
entered the Southwest and pressed to acquire land, Mexican Americans were
drawn to work in agriculture, mining, and the railroads.
During the Great Depression, Mexican Americans were seen as compet-
itors for jobs that should go to Whites and were barred by law from public
employment in some areas. In 1930, the Hoover Administration organized
searches and mass deportations with the idea of reducing the relief rolls and
vacating jobs for Whites (Digital History, 2012). An estimated 400,000
Mexicans and Mexican Americans were “repatriated” to Mexico during this
132 HAYS-THOMAS
period, even though many were U.S. citizens and had never lived in Mexico.
Later, during WWII, many Mexican Americans served honorably in the
Armed Forces, with a disproportionate share earning medals of honor, and
the Bracero program recruited other Mexicans to work in the U.S. war effort.
However, after the war, Mexican Americans were returned to their former
second-class status (Saenz, 1999). Since that time, Mexicans have continued
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to come to this country on a legal or illegal basis, and many who entered
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Blacks
This census category includes persons who are descended from residents
of sub-Saharan Africa. Non-Blacks in the United States often have not
considered that descendants of enslaved persons usually cannot discover their
ancestors’ identities, countries of origin, or tribal affiliations in any detail.
The institution of slavery effectively wiped out specific genealogical infor-
mation, and sub-Saharan Africa encompasses many cultures. Africa is a large
continent, not a country. In “valuing diversity” experiences, what is the
“African” cultural experience?
The term African American, sometimes considered interchangeable with
Black, raises many issues. Some American Blacks prefer to be called Black,
never having been to Africa and feeling no connection with that continent.
Does African American apply to people from South Africa who are White?
In the workplace, it is advisable to use the term that is preferred by particular
individuals of African heritage; a survey by the Gallup organization in 2013
showed that about two thirds of Blacks found either “African American” or
“Black” acceptable, and half of the remaining third preferred each term (J. M.
Jones, 2013).
The first African Blacks who came to the Virginia colony in 1619 were
indentured servants. After passage of the first slave laws in Massachusetts
(1641) and Virginia (1661), at least 500,000, and possibly 650,000, enslaved
Africans were brought to America to (PBS, n.d.-b; History.com, 2013). A
minority of Blacks were freemen as a result of completing indentured
servitude, purchasing their freedom, or being freed by their slave owners. In
1808, the importation of slaves was banned by law but continued illegally
134 HAYS-THOMAS
Central America, or other areas with different cultures. Managers should take
note that common stereotypes about Black people overlook this great variety
in heritage and should be cautious about inappropriate assumptions.
Since the earliest colonial days, there have been individuals of mixed
Black–White race. With the rise of slavery, local legal sanctions began to
restrict cross-race unions (Buck, 2007) but they continued to exist in various
forms. Many slave women were raped by slave owners and other Whites, and
the offspring of these assaults usually lived as slaves. Some Black women
also entered into long-term unions with White men of means. The Southern
planters were among the richest men in the country, but control of wealth
remained among Whites because their mixed-race children were generally
excluded as heirs (Buck, 2007). In one well-known example, most historians
now believe that Thomas Jefferson maintained a long-term relationship and
fathered children with his slave, Sally Hemings. Hemings herself was of
mixed race; her children were fair-skinned and three of them lived as Whites
during adulthood. All of Hemings’s children, but not Sally herself, were freed
by Jefferson during his lifetime or in his will (Monticello.org, n.d.). Another
example comes from south Louisiana, where the Creole culture was accept-
ing of mixed-race unions. The term Creole originally referred to the White
descendants born in the New World of French and Spanish settlers. However,
this label also came to refer to persons of mixed French/Spanish and Black
heritage. In and around New Orleans in South Louisiana, there were many
free Creoles of color who were racially mixed, cultured, and people of means.
Some free women of color entered long-term and comparatively secure
relationships with White men, but these mixed couples were forbidden by
law from marrying (Clark, 2013). Some of these Americans or their descen-
dants were so fair that they could and did “pass for White” (passé blanc).
Nevertheless, in general, the typical formal and informal practice under the
so-called one-drop rule was to consider a person with any Black heritage to
be Black. The range of skin tone among those considered Black—and the
status associated with light skin from the plantation era—also gave rise to the
so-called paper bag test, in which admission to social events was sometimes
restricted to those lighter than the color of a paper bag (Maxwell, 2003).
Managers should be aware of the possibility of workplace effects of colorism
within communities of color as well as between them and Whites. Within-
race differential treatment on the basis of skin tone can be offensive and may
ETHNIC GROUP INFORMATION FOR MANAGERS 135
rise to the level of race discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act
of 1964.
Before the Civil War on the Southern plantations, most of the back-
breaking labor of raising crops was done by Black slaves. Some worked as
house servants; others learned crafts or trades such as carpentry or performed
most of the work in Southern industries (Foner & Lewis, 1989). Most of the
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laborers who built the White House, the U.S. Capitol, and other early
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government buildings were Black slaves, along with some freemen (White
House Historical Association, n.d.). In the North, Blacks were technically
free, but many of them experienced great hardship because of employment
discrimination, poor education, and rivalry with White workers for jobs. Race
riots were frequently instigated by Whites, particularly immigrants such as
the Irish, who saw Blacks as competitors for jobs. Nevertheless, some Blacks
found work as servers in hotels, restaurants, and saloons; as seamen or as ship
caulkers; or as porters or barbers (Foner & Lewis, 1989). Excluded from the
labor unions, some formed their own labor associations. Not until 2 years
after the start of the Civil War were Blacks allowed to join the Union army,
but by the end of the war, 200,000 had fought for the North.
Although slavery may have come to an end legally after the Civil War,
Blacks continued to face extreme discrimination, segregation, and danger.
During the period of Reconstruction after the war, some Southern Blacks
remained on the land as sharecroppers or tenant farmers, but former owners
often did not have the means to pay their wages. Many were subjected to
peonage or the industrial slavery of the convict leasing system (Blackmon,
2008). In the 1870s and 1880s, some Blacks moved to the West, seeking
better lives. Some former slaves moved to cities or to the North, where they
competed with Whites for jobs. Excluded from most unions, they were
sometimes hired as strikebreakers; this exacerbated racial discrimination and
violence, which continued into the 20th century (Foner & Lewis, 1989). By
the 1920s, Jim Crow segregation was firmly established in the South, and life
there for Blacks became more restricted and dangerous. The Great Migration
of Blacks from the South to the North in the 1920s occurred in response to
increased opportunity as waves of immigration slowed and the nation geared
up for World War I. Nevertheless, interracial competition for jobs, discrim-
ination, exclusion from Unions, and periodic violence and rioting continued.
Not until 1935, with the founding of the Committee for Industrial Organi-
zation, was there an attempt to unite White and Black labor to improve
working conditions for both. Black and desegregated unions were formed in
the tobacco industry, maritime trades, and the auto and steel industries. The
president of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, A. Philip Randolph,
influenced President Franklin Roosevelt to ban racial discrimination in the
war industries by Executive Order. Roosevelt set up the Fair Employment
Practices Commission to monitor discrimination, and by the end of WWII,
136 HAYS-THOMAS
the percentage of war industry employees who were Black had doubled,
though still only to about 8%. In contrast, during this period of Rosie the
Riveter, White women were actively encouraged to enter the industrial
workforce for the war effort (History.com, 2010).
The employment of American Blacks was also restricted by their limited
access to education. During slavery, in most of the South it was forbidden to
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teach Blacks to read in order to maintain their subjugation. When the war
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ended, suddenly there was a large labor force of mostly illiterate former
slaves. Religious missionaries and philanthropists responded by founding
schools for the education of Blacks. Cheyney University in Pennsylvania, the
first of the historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), was
founded in 1837 by a Quaker philanthropist for the education of former
slaves (Cheyney University of Pennsylvania, n.d.). In 1862, Congress passed
the First Morrill Act, establishing land grant universities in many states, such
as the University of Illinois, Kansas State University, and Iowa State Uni-
versity. However, in the South, campuses remained segregated and Blacks
were excluded until the Second Morrill Act in 1890 (PBS, n.d.-a) when states
were required to admit Blacks to their land grant institutions or to establish
separate land grant institutions for Black citizens. Many states chose to
maintain segregation and open new schools; these “1890 Universities” in-
cluded 16 Black land grant institutions across the South (PBS, n.d.-a), such
as Florida A&M University, North Carolina A&T University, and Southern
University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Major public universities across the
South continued to exclude Blacks until, during the 1950s and 1960s, they
were required to desegregate. Today, HBCUs maintain their original mission
of education for Black citizens, but many also enroll significant numbers of
Whites. Even today there remains a pattern of chronic underfunding of public
HBCUs compared with predominantly White schools (Roach, 2013).
The Armed Forces were officially desegregated during WWII by Presi-
dent Truman’s Executive Order, again at the urging of Randolph and other
Civil Rights leaders (Harry S. Truman Library & Museum, n.d.). However,
resistance was strong and separate Black units were the norm. One example
is that of the celebrated Tuskegee Airmen of the “Red Tail Squadron” (“CAF
Red Tail Squadron,” 2013). Not until the Korean War in the 1950s was
integration relatively complete. The military was ahead of civilian society in
this regard and today provides relatively competitive career opportunities for
people of color. However, upon returning to civilian society after WWII,
Black veterans still faced discrimination and segregation that limited their
educational and employment opportunities, as described earlier.
Many of these events are well within the memories of some still in the
workforce. In today’s U.S. employment settings, a few Blacks find them-
selves to be one of a small number in professional or managerial jobs; most
are surrounded by other Blacks in occupationally segregated positions or
ETHNIC GROUP INFORMATION FOR MANAGERS 137
2003). It may be difficult for them to determine the extent to which positive
and negative workplace decisions are affected by racial factors rather than
actual job performance and credentials. In most work settings, people of color
do not have the privileged status to ignore the degree to which their progress
is affected by their race. One who speaks up, files a grievance or complaint,
or otherwise calls attention to ambiguous situations can easily be labeled
overreactive, whereas not calling attention to racially tinged encounters or
decisions just allows them to continue unchallenged. Sometimes the easier
course of action is to withdraw partially or entirely from a problematic work
environment. Managers should be aware of these special stresses that affect
those of minority status, whether that is based on racioethnicity, sex, disabil-
ity status, or other factors, and should take them into consideration when
making attributions about workplace behavior.
Asians
Asian Americans, like Latinos, are a very diverse group. In the U.S.
Census, the Asian category includes persons with ancestry in the Far East,
Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent; this is a very large area with many
varied nationalities, cultures, languages, and histories. Unlike other racioeth-
nic minorities, Asian Americans’ origins are so varied that they do not share
“a common historical trauma like slavery or colonization” (Shah, 2007, p.
222). There is no single or predominant “Asian” color, language, culture, or
ethnicity. Among Asians in the United States, the largest group is of Chinese
origin (23%), followed by Filipinos (20%) and Asian Indians (18%). Viet-
namese, Korean, and Japanese Americans each constitute 10% or less of
Asian Americans (Pew Research Center [PRC], 2013). On the census,
Chinese and Asian Indians are more likely to report Asian alone, whereas
Filipinos and Japanese are more likely to choose Asian in combination with
another racial group (Hoeffel, Rastogi, Kim, & Shahid, 2012).
The majority of Asian Americans (59%) were born outside the United
States, the largest percentage among the various racial groups (PRC, 2013).
This reflects restrictive U.S. immigration policies in place until 1965, after
which immigration from Asia increased dramatically. Since at least 2009,
138 HAYS-THOMAS
Asian immigration has been larger than that of any other group, including
Hispanics. Immigrants from Asia, especially those from Korea, India, Japan,
and China, are more likely than other immigrant groups to enter this country
with employment visas and permanent resident status. Asian immigrants are
more likely than others to speak English very well or to speak English at
home. They are less likely to leave the United States and more likely to
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United States, 59% have become citizens; among Vietnamese, 76% are
citizens (PRC, 2013).
As a group, Asian Americans are more highly educated than the general
U.S. population, with 49% attaining at least a college degree compared with
28% in the U.S. population (based on Pew’s analysis of 2010 American
Community Survey data). Approximately half of Korean, Chinese, Filipino,
and Japanese Americans have graduated from college, and for Asian Indians,
the figure is 70%. Many Asians come to the United States to study; over 60%
of U.S. foreign students are from Asia and many of them earn graduate
degrees in the United States (PRC, 2013). In work organizations, Asian
Americans are likely to be employed in management or professional occu-
pations (50%); this is especially true for those whose heritage is Indian,
Chinese, or Japanese. Only about 11% of employed Asian Americans work
in maintenance, transportation, and general labor, compared with 15% of the
general U.S. population. Asians with lower levels of education are less likely
than other groups to be unemployed, although for higher education levels, the
rates are comparable. Median household income for Asian Americans is
higher than that for Americans in general, although this occurs in part
because there tend to be more earners in Asian American households. Asians’
household wealth is likely to be significantly lower than that of non-Hispanic
Whites, but much higher than the household wealth of Hispanics or Blacks.
Asian Americans are less likely to be poor (11.9%) than the U.S. population
(12.8%), but this varies across ethnic groups and is largely a result of the
relative success of Indian, Japanese, and Filipino Americans. Of the largest
Asian groups, those of Korean, Vietnamese, and Chinese ancestry are more
likely to live in poverty than the general U.S. population.
Several workplace issues are of special concern to Asian Americans,
including discrimination on the basis of accented speech, a form of national
origin discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Because of the distinctive appearance of many Asian Americans, they face
the forever foreigner reaction, with even second-generation U.S. citizens
being perceived as from another country. Like women and other racioethnic
minorities, Asian Americans appear to face a pattern of blocked promotion,
called the Glass Ceiling. Two particularly troubling stereotypes about Asians
are the idea of the model minority, the idea that Asians have overcome
hardship unassisted to reach educational and economic success; and the
ETHNIC GROUP INFORMATION FOR MANAGERS 139
Chinese Americans
Chinese men first came to the United States in the mid-1800s during the
gold rush and the construction of the Central Pacific Railroad. Because
immigration of Chinese women was greatly restricted and intermarriage with
Whites was prohibited, many young Chinese men returned to their homeland
after working for a few years in the mines or on railroad gangs (PRC, 2013).
Those who remained often migrated to urban enclaves, particularly San
Francisco, and worked as laborers. They were often used as strikebreakers
against the Irish and others, which generated a great deal of anti-Chinese
hostility and violence. The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 prohibited immi-
gration for 10 years as well as naturalization of Chinese immigrants; the 1917
Immigration Act also barred immigration from most Asian countries, includ-
ing China. Although U.S.-born Chinese had been citizens since a Supreme
Court ruling in 1898, the Chinese Exclusion Act remained in place for 60
years until its repeal in 1943! After passage of the Immigration and Nation-
ality Act in 1965, Chinese immigration increased. In 2010, there were
approximately 3 million adults of Chinese descent in the United States, about
24% of the U.S. Asian population (PRC, 2013).
When the Communist revolution took place in China in the late 1940s,
opposition members fled to the island of Formosa and established the
Republic of China, known as Taiwan. Some Chinese and Taiwanese immi-
grated to the United States around this time. After diplomatic relations with
the People’s Republic of China resumed in 1979, immigration from mainland
China increased and now accounts for the majority of Chinese/Taiwanese
immigration (Kwong & Chen, 2010). Although for census purposes in the
United States these two groups are often tabulated together, the countries are
governed separately and tension between Taiwan and the People’s Republic
of China continues. In work organizations, diversity professionals and others
should be aware of possible strongly held identities related to this conflict.
Philippine Americans
until its independence in 1946 (Aquino, 2010). This history had several
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South Asians
Southeast Asians
Korean Americans
Officially, Koreans first immigrated to the United States when over 7,000
came as laborers on sugar plantations in the early 1900s to Hawaii, which
was then a U.S. territory. Mostly young, male, and single, they endured
difficult working conditions, low pay, and wage discrimination (Chang &
Kim, 2010). Between 1910 and 1924, young Korean women came to Hawaii
and the mainland as “picture brides,” considerably younger than the Korean
men they joined. The Korean War (1950 –1953) led to increased immigration
as war brides and others came to the United States as a result of complex
military and economic postwar relationships and during Korea’s subsequent
industrialization. As with other Asian groups, Korean immigration increased
after the 1965 Immigration Act.
Almost three quarters of Korean immigrants in the United States speak
Korean, but by the second generation, only a minority speak the language
(Chang & Kim, 2010). Over 40% of Korean Americans work in managerial,
professional, or related professions, and, as a group, Koreans have one of the
highest rates of self-employment and entrepreneurship in the United States.
The best financial opportunities for some Korean Americans have been as
owners of small retail businesses, especially in low-income and minority
neighborhoods where larger stores choose not to locate. In some cases, this
has led to racial tensions with other ethnic minority communities. For
example, after the Rodney King riots in Los Angeles, many Korean busi-
nesses were raided and destroyed.
Japanese Americans
Like the Chinese, the Japanese were among the first Asian American
immigrant groups to the United States, coming to work on the Hawaiian
sugar plantations in the 1880s and as agricultural migrant workers on the
West Coast by 1890 (Niiya, 2010). Others in the West moved out of wage
labor and became owners of small farms and businesses catering to an ethnic
economy, which is one adaptation to labor market discrimination, such as
exclusion from labor unions and public employment (Fujiwara & Takagi,
1999). Japanese Americans faced severe discrimination and immigration
ETHNIC GROUP INFORMATION FOR MANAGERS 143
restrictions in the early 1900s, and a 1924 law virtually halted immigration
from Japan. However, one aspect of these laws was used to advantage to
bring Japanese women to the United States in arranged marriages. As a result,
by the 1930s, there were more second-generation (Nisei) Japanese Americans
in the United States than immigrants, and they were citizens by reason of
birth. However, naturalization was specifically denied to Japanese and other
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1965.
The Pearl Harbor attack by the Japanese in 1941 had serious conse-
quences for Japanese Americans, many of whom were arrested and held
without charges. In 1942, by Executive Order under President Roosevelt, all
Japanese Americans in California, Oregon, and Washington were taken from
their homes, lands, and businesses, and interned for the duration of the war,
though never charged with crimes. Two thirds of these 110,000 Japanese
Americans were U.S. citizens by birth. Despite this oppression, Nisei men
served honorably in the U.S. forces, most in segregated units, some drafted
directly from internment camps (Fujiwara & Takagi, 1999; Niiya, 2010).
After the war, as racial politics focused on Blacks, treatment of Japanese
improved, and, as a group, in the postwar economic boom, they seemed to
progress to middle-class status without need of government assistance (Fu-
jiwara & Takagi, 1999). This progress led to the “model minority” stereotype
that attaches to Asian Americans. However, there remained problems within
Japanese American communities for many individuals and families, partly as
a result of wartime imprisonment, loss of property, and destruction of
community institutions, as well as low levels of immigration after WWII.
Under terms of the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, the U.S. government apol-
ogized to Japanese Americans, and surviving victims were eligible for
$20,000 in reparations. In today’s society, among Asian American groups,
the Japanese show the highest levels of proficiency in English and the highest
percentage of mixed-race individuals. They also have the highest median age
and constitute about 60% of the Asian populations of California and Hawaii.
Native Americans
the Indians under the philosophy that “discovery” of Indian land implied
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fractionated Indian lands, and fund college and vocational school scholar-
ships for Native Americans (Smith, 2013).
This history sheds light on reasons for the small size of the Native
American population and its invisibility in many workplaces in the “lower
48.” The history of indigenous peoples of Alaska was quite different because
of distance and because Alaska entered the Union only in 1959 as the 49th
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This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers.
state. However, for census purposes, in 2000 and 2010, American Indians and
Alaska Natives (AI/AN) were categorized together. One reason for the rapid
growth of this category is that some individuals have begun to acknowledge
their heritage because of the growing acceptance and political influence of
Indian societies, and out of a desire to participate in the contemporary
rejuvenation of Indian culture (Green, 1999). American Indians and Alaska
Natives tend to live in the U.S. West and are particularly concentrated in
California (13.9%), Oklahoma (9.2%), Arizona (6.8%), and Texas (6%). The
largest tribes are the Cherokee, Navajo, Choctaw, Mexican American Indi-
ans, Chippewa, Sioux, Apache, and Blackfeet. Among Alaska Natives, the
largest tribal groups are the Yup’ik and Inupiat (formerly called Eskimos;
Norris, Vines, & Hoeffel, 2012).
In 2012, 325 Native American reservations were recognized by the
federal government. Other areas, such as trust lands, Alaska Native Villages,
or other statistical areas exist outside the federal reservations, for a total of
618 areas (excluding Hawaii) for which the U.S. Census collects data.
Approximately 22% of American Indians and Alaska Natives reside on these
lands (USCB, 2013b). In 2012, American Indians or Alaska Natives were
predominantly employed in management, business, sciences, or the arts
(26.1%); service occupations (25.1%); or sales and office work (22.8%).
American Indians, compared with other racioethnic minority groups, gener-
ally fare poorly in terms of socioeconomic indicators of well-being. For
example, the poverty rate in 2012 was the highest of these groups at 29.1%.
Median household income was only $35,210 compared with $51,371 for the
United States as a whole. The American Community Survey found that
78.8% of single-race Native Americans and Alaska Natives over 25 years of
age held a high school degree or the equivalent. However, only 13.5% had
earned a bachelor’s degree or higher (USCB, 2013b). Native Americans
living on reservations fare even worse in terms of socioeconomic indicators,
largely because of lower labor force participation and higher rates of unem-
ployment (Evans & Topoleski, 2002), with some living in extreme poverty.
Some tribes have attempted to address employment and living conditions on
reservations by opening casinos on their land. In 2002, over one third of
tribes operated more than 300 gaming operations on Native American lands.
In general, these operations have significant positive effects on employment
levels, tribal populations, poverty levels, and health indicators, although these
146 HAYS-THOMAS
effects are more likely for larger tribes located in or near more heavily
populated areas rather than remote locations.
This article is intended solely for the personal use of the individual user and is not to be disseminated broadly.
Hawaii and the Asian Pacific Islands are located in the middle of the
Pacific Ocean, west of Central America. The largest collection of islands,
Hawaii, was ruled by a native kingdom and came under Western influence in
the 1800s, becoming a center for the whaling industry and agriculture. In
1893, American colonists, who had become powerful in the area’s economy,
overthrew the royal government. Hawaii became a U.S. territory in 1898 and
the 50th State of the Union in 1959 (Hawaii Tourism Authority, 2015).
Hawaii was the site of the event that triggered U.S. entrance into WWII when
the U.S. fleet in Pearl Harbor was bombed; the entire Asian Pacific region
was subsequently engulfed in fighting. Among the other Pacific Islands,
Guam and American Samoa are presently U.S. territories. The residents of
these areas became U.S. citizens, not through immigration and naturalization
but when their lands became part of the United States.
The U.S. Census designation of this group has changed repeatedly since
1970 when the term “Hawaiian” first appeared on the forms for all states
except Alaska. Those of Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Island (NH/OPI)
ethnicities were considered as part of the Asian category and not classified
separately until 1997, when options were included for them. In 2010, only
0.4% of respondents chose this category, with half of them identifying as
NH/OPI along with another race, usually White or Asian. One half of
NH/OPI individuals live in Hawaii or California (Hixson, Hepler, & Kim,
2012). Median household income for single-race NH/OPIs is just over
$52,776, but almost one fifth live in poverty. Median age, almost 29, is
slightly lower than the general population. Of civilian employees, 26% work
in management, business, and professional jobs, and a similar percentage in
sales and office work. About one quarter are employed in service occupations
and 14% in production, transport, and material moving (Hixson et al., 2012).
In contemporary U.S. workplaces, those whose heritage is in the Pacific
Islands are most likely to be seen by others as Asian or mixed race.
Compared with other racioethnic groups, their numbers are relatively small
and they are less likely to live in parts of the United States other than the
West. Special workplace issues for Pacific Islanders include discrimination
on the basis of race, color, or national origin, particularly for those employed
in low-wage work.
ETHNIC GROUP INFORMATION FOR MANAGERS 147
tion with shared goals, equal status contact, cooperative relations, support
from authorities, and “friendship potential” (see Pettigrew & Tropp, 2005;
Tropp & Mallett, 2011). The jigsaw classroom intervention (Aronson &
Patnoe, 2011) was developed in the environment of desegregating schools
and involved giving each individual student responsibility for learning and
communicating a subset of information that was needed for the group to
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succeed. The jigsaw classroom demonstrated that relations are most cooper-
This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers.
ative and successful when needed resources are distributed among group
members and everyone’s contributions are required for success. Gaertner and
Dovidio’s (2000) common group identity model has emphasized the impor-
tance of cognitive factors when subgroups must work together. Group bound-
aries must be conceptualized at a higher and more inclusive level: Members
retain their individuality but recognize that they are part of a larger whole.
These strategies all emphasize the importance of group structure in main-
taining or altering relations between groups. In contrast, purely educational
strategies are generally not as effective in reducing intergroup bias (Ashmore,
1970).
However, as argued earlier, a subset of interpersonal and intergroup
problems does arise from lack of information, misinformation, or stereotypic
assumptions. This article is intended to address that subset of situations by
providing background information about the major racioethnic groups iden-
tified in the U.S. Census. These categories are also salient in most workplaces
because they are relevant to required data collection, publicly available
reports, and the contemporary understanding of these categories in U.S.
society.
Even the best informed and most well-intentioned individuals are chal-
lenged by interactions in racioethnically diverse environments. Sometimes
problems can be avoided by asking for information or by checking under-
standings through active listening or other techniques. In other cases, a type
of “service recovery” can be useful. For example, the LEAP model (Gilbert-
Jamison, n.d.) lists “listen,” “empathize,” “ask,” and “produce” as four steps
in this process: listen to understand the situation as the other sees it;
empathize by acknowledging the other’s feelings and apologize; ask how the
problem can be addressed; and produce or develop a solution, if possible.
Diversity competency, as defined by Cox and Beale (1997), is a learning
process supporting ability to respond effectively in a diverse environment.
This article began by proposing that knowledge of the heritages of current
and potential employees is one aspect of diversity competency. Contempo-
rary understandings of diversity competency (e.g., Chrobot-Mason, 2003)
suggest that it is a continuing developmental process rather than a specific
end state. Ideally, this article will encourage readers to explore this area
further, particularly with respect to the racioethnic groups most likely to be
represented in their workplaces.
ETHNIC GROUP INFORMATION FOR MANAGERS 149
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