The California Crucible: Towards a New Paradigm of Race and Ethnic Relations

ABSTRACT Demographic changes in California offer a preview of national trends in racial and ethnic population groups, with projections of near parity between White and non-White populations by 2050. Racial and ethnic relations in California also provide insights into the conflicts and challenges of a multiethnic, multiracial society developing in the United States. This paper critiques the current Black-White model of race relations as inadequate and inappropriate as the basis for theory, research or policy formulation. The need to develop a new paradigm encompassing a more inclusive perspective on interethnic and interracial relations is proposed in order to account for the increasing cultural and linguistic diversity in American society.