Introduction

Racial oppression and conflict have been pervasive and significant features of the American society since the formation of the United States. Indeed, they were critical to the formation of the United States and, in part, remain responsible for its present-day global stature (Bonilla-Silva, 2001; Bonacich, 2000). They also have worked as agents to stratify life within the United States (Hacker, 1992; Massey & Denton, 1993; Feagin, 2000).

Presently, few scholars would dispute that racial stratification remains an unfortunate reality in the U.S. However, the tendency and rationale for social science literature to treat race and racism in the United States as solely and uniquely an historic relation between white and black Americans is a contentious argument among some scholars who study non-black communities of color. Proponents of the black-white paradigm defend their approach with historical arguments.

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