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White ethnic is a term used to refer towhite Americans who are notOld Stock orwhite Anglo-Saxon Protestant.[1] They consist of a number of distinct groups and make up approximately 69.4% of thewhite population in the United States.[2] The term usually refers to the descendants of immigrants fromSouthern,Central and Eastern Europe,Ireland, theCaucasus andFrance/Francophone Canada.[3][4][5]Italian Americans,Polish Americans,Russian Americans,Czech Americans andSlovak Americans,Hungarian Americans andAustrian Americans are considered white ethnic.[6]
In the 19th century, American industrial development caused millions of immigrants to emigrate from Europe to the United States. Many came to provide labor for the industrial growth of theNortheast andMidwest, and multitudes of immigrants from non British or non-Germanic Protestant backgrounds settled in the nation's growing cities.[7] This immigration wave continued until 1924 when Congress enacted theJohnson–Reed Act, which restricted immigration as a whole and from southern and eastern European countries in particular. Additionally, the onset of theGreat Depression in the 1930s acted as a deterrent to further immigration to the United States from Europe.[citation needed]
Separated from the ruling class by blood, religion and economic circumstances, white ethnics retained a strong and distinct sense of identity from the majority culture. During the early 20th century, many white ethnics were relegated to menial or unskilled labor. They were often subject toethnic discrimination andxenophobia and were lampooned withstereotypes. Historian and reformerAndrew Dickson White lamented that, in American cities, "a crowd of illiterate peasants, freshly raked from Irish bogs, or Bohemian mines, or Italian robber nests, may exercise virtual control."[8] Religion was another big factor in this alienation from broader American society. In contrast to the mostly Protestant and Anglo-Saxon majority, white ethnics tended to practiceCatholicism,[9]Eastern Orthodox Christianity, orJudaism. These ethnic, cultural and religious differences helped them retain a strong and separate identity from the rest of America until thepost war era.[10][11]
In the 1950s and 1960s, suburbanization caused many young ethnics, many of whom were veterans, to leave the city and settle in the nation's burgeoning suburbs with the hope of rising into a higher economic class. In the 1960s and 1970s, several ethnic organizations became vocal in promoting white ethnic culture and interests.[12] At the same time, white ethnics became more involved in American political life at a national level and began to challenge the majority Protestant ruling class for greater political power.[13]
The election ofJohn F. Kennedy, in 1960, was the first time that a white ethnic (Irish Catholic) was electedPresident of the United States. However, it was not the first time that a white ethnic was nominated for the presidency:Al Smith, also Irish Catholic, was the first to be nominated for president on a major party ticket, in 1928.Spiro Agnew, a Greek-American, was the first white ethnic electedvice president, in 1968.[citation needed]
Since Kennedy, white ethnics have become more common on major party tickets. Eight Catholics have been vice presidential candidates. The Republicans wereWilliam Miller (1964),Paul Ryan (2012), andJD Vance (2024). Vance was elected, a convert to Catholicism who describes his descent asScots-Irish. The Democrats wereEd Muskie (1968),Sargent Shriver (1972),Geraldine Ferraro (1984),Joe Biden (2008 and 2012), andTim Kaine (2016). Biden was elected both times, becoming the first Roman Catholic and non-Protestant vice president.[14] Biden would later be elected president in 2020.[15]
In 1964,Barry Goldwater became the first major party presidential candidate of Jewish heritage. Had he been elected in 1988,Michael Dukakis would have been the first Greek-American and first Eastern Orthodox Christian president.Joe Lieberman was the first Jewish person to be nominated for vice-president on a major party ticket, in 2000.[citation needed]
White ethnicward heelers dominated theDemocraticpolitical machines of America's major cities throughout the first half of the 20th century. The ward heelers were oftenIrish Catholics in close alliance with those of other ethnicities, such asAshkenazi Jews andItalians in New York City andPolish-Americans and other Eastern Europeans inChicago.[16][17] In New York City,Tammany Hall was the dominant political machine that controlled political patronage positions and nominations, and figures likeCarmine DeSapio were powerful kingmakers on a national level.[18] However, many left the Democratic Party as it has movedleftward since the late 1960s, and they became a key component of thesocially conservativeReagan Democrats during the 1980s.[19]
With increased suburbanization and the continued assimilation of white ethnics and their subsequent replacement by newer immigrant groups, many of the remaining white ethnics have lost much of their political power in urban politics in the early 21st century.[20][21][22][23]
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| Sociological phenomena and theories |
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