| Ethnicity in Michigan: Issues and People |
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Ethnicity in Michigan: Issues and People. By Jack Glazier and Arthur W. Helweg. East Lansing, Mich.: Michigan State University Press, 2001. Pp. 91. Index, further resources, maps, tables, timelines. Ethnicity in Michigan: Issues and People is the introductory volume to the Discovering the Peoples of Michigan series, edited by Arthur W. Helweg and Linwood H. Cousins. While the series itself focuses on specific cultural groups (the next three books focus on French Canadians, African Americans, and Albanians), this volume touches on the many issues implicit in studying ethnicity. In the opening essay, Jack Glazier introduces some of the major issues in the study of ethnicity by noting that one first must define what is meant by the term "ethnicity". Glazier writes that "ethnicity refers to distinctive cultural patterns within the pluralism of the modern nation-state" (3). Members of an ethnic group identify with its distinctive cultural beliefs, practices, and shared values, which often include a vernacular history. In addition, cultural outsiders generally use those same markers to identify insiders. Further, Glazier notes that a vernacular language is an important indicator of the "depth and significance of ethnic affiliation" (5), both here and in other countries. Ethnic festivals and holidays are also important to consider, in part because of the role they play in "symbolic ethnicity" (the way people assert an ethnicity identity without participation in ethnic institutions). The basic identity is expressive rather than instrumental, and may be most obvious in activities like eating ethnic foods and observing ethnic holidays. Glazier suggests that ethnic gastronomy is a particularly important aspect of symbolic ethnicity, "because it is emblematic of how ethnic cultures in the United States have lost their exclusiveness" (8). In this case, he points out that one can observe the dietary laws of Judaism while enjoying Chinese food in one of New York's kosher Chinese restaurants. Another element considered in Glazier's essay is that the important components of ethnicity are not always the same. For example, the number of people who identify themselves as American Indian in each U.S. census has risen since the 1970s at rates higher than can be explained by birth rates, most likely because people feel more free to assert their American Indian identities without negative repercussions. The last issue Glazier focuses on is the issue of self-segregation and definition through location, such as might be seen in a Chinatown neighborhood in a large city, or in the more isolated rural communities inhabited by the Amish. He also notes that racism helped enforce social segregation historically for some ethnic groups like African-Americans, American Indians, and others. In the second essay in the book, Arthur W. Helweg traces the introduction of Michigan's many cultural groups to the area, beginning with the American Indian nations that first inhabited the land, and moving through the migrations of prehistoric times to the twentieth century. His outline briefly touches on the main issues the cultural groups faced and how those issues affected relationships within and outside of the ethnic community. Several tables and timelines are available in the back of the book as basic references. One table outlines the ethnic groups residing in Michigan, including the country of origin, arrival dates, occupations, and other pertinent comments. A separate timeline helps place the major migrations of the ethnic groups, and two tables--one of Michigan's foreign born, and another of ethnic affiliation from Census reports--provide some additional basic data. Ethnicity in Michigan is not a comprehensive discussion of ethnicity issues, nor does it claim to be. It does, however, provide a detailed, yet brief introduction to the many factors that must be considered in such research, and especially when looking at Michigan's own cultural diversity. Lisa M. Cook |
