This text for Race and Ethnic Relations focuses on the five largest ethnic groups in the U.S. — Mexican Americans, African Americans, Native Americans, Japanese Americans, and now Puerto Ricans.

McLemore, Romo, and Gonzalez Baker present historical information and contemporary examples of the largest ethnic and minority groups in the United States. They analyze the strengths and weaknesses of the assimilation model in explaining how various racial and ethnic groups have been incorporated (or not) into U.S. society. Focusing on interracial and interethnic relations in the U.S., the authors give a sociological analysis of intergroup processes and the history of the interactions of racial and ethnic groups. Organized thematically rather than chronologically, the text illuminates the main racial and ethnic dilemmas faced in America as shown through the examples of these five groups.