Sociocultural Roots of Ethnic Identity

Abstract

Many Americans seek the mythical American dream, fully aware that others continue to be trapped in an American nightmare. The range of the Black Experience seems limited only by chance and the ebb and flow of historical circumstances. Undoubtedly variation exists in what it means to be and American, yet one is able to reasonably characterize the demographics of this alternative domestic culture. Within this shifting cultural context, Americans have found their identity in continual transition (Wildeson, 1985). Ethnic identity consists of the sum total of identifications people have with their ethnic group (Tajfel, 1978; Turner, 1982). As individuals orient themselves toward society, their ethnic identity is derived from memberships in ethnic groups and serves as a salient aspect of the self-concept. Tajfel (1978) and Bourhis and Giles (1977) hypothesize that such identities play a major role in communication. Berger and Luckman (1966) believe that as identities evolve and emerge out of social interaction, identity types begin to take shape and define social existence. Thus different identities emerge out of different construals of social reality. Such thinking closely parallels much that has been said of ethnic identity. Analyzing movement studies of identity and literature, Wildeson (1985) concludes that Blacks, in recent times, have continually struggled to establish an identity. Further,