Introduction: Ethnicity and Education Forum

Abstract

As members of the Editorial Board, we read a large number of manuscripts each year. Within this broad spectrum of manuscripts, we have found that the terms ethnicity and race are often used interchangeably, although, as Ronald Takaki points out, they do not mean the same thing: "Race has been a social construction that has historically set apart racial minorities from European immigrant groups. . . . Race in America has not been the same as ethnicity." We asked ourselves why these terms are being conflated in the literature, and what it means to refer to racial minorities as ethnic. We wondered about the social dynamics that have led to a broadening of the discourse on diversity and multiculturalism to include more types of culturally based differences, while the practice of labeling those who are not White as "Other" continues apace.