Korean. Hawaiian) Americans. There are approximately 800.000 American Indians. we have the most heterogeneous composition of any nation in the world and. indeed. we are in fact a "Nation of Nations." The act also states "in recognition . . . of the fact that in a multiethnic society. a greater understanding of the contribution of ones own heritage and those of ones fellow citizens can contribute to a more harmonious. patriotic. and committed populace. ... " We know that many persons somehow regard all "newcomers"--the foreign bornas ethnics but. simultaneously. ironically consider themselves as nonethnic. The fact is that "we are all ethnic." In our ethnic heritage studies program we have defined "ethnic" as a term designating "any of the basic groups of divisions of mankind or of a heterogeneous population as distinguished by customs. characteristics. language. common history. etc." The term. therefore. includes not only nationality groups but also those peoples linked together by regional characteristics (Appalachians). racial characteristics (blacks). religious characteristics (Jews). and mixtures of nations or tribes (American Indians). Each ethnic community is linked by a common heritage. customs and culture which they have uniquely developed over the ages.
Keywords matched
foreign born