In Remaking America, renowned nonprofit executive and author James A. Joseph uncovers the long history and rich traditions of giving among people of color. Focusing on four minority groups - Native Americans, African Americans, Asian Americans, and Latinos - Joseph draws compelling portraits of cultural heroes and heroines who personify the benevolent nature of their unique heritage.
The author shows that by understanding and affirming these traditions, we can form a new vision of the larger American community based on shared values, universal compassion, and a new spirituality.
In this landmark book, the author identifies, analyzes, and compares the charitable traditions of America's minority populations. He reveals that despite cultural differences, each of the four groups studied has a legacy of self help and volunteerism, and the groups are in consensus about the relationship between individual and society.
Through illustrative personal accounts, the author offers a remarkable overview of the distinctive traditions and customs that have helped to shape the charitable practices of various ethnic groups. He describes how the influence of Native American culture helped shape the early American vision of community and he examines why political philosophers perceived the Indian tribes to be a model of social organization, benevolence, and communal life.
The author traces African-American tradition through the communal ethic of the slave quarters, the black church, black voluntary associations, and protest politics. And Joseph demonstrates the differences among Asian Americans with stories of role models from the Japanese-American, Chinese-American, Korean-American, and Vietnamese-American communities, all of which share a common commitment to taking care of their own.
He identifies basic Latino values - such as family, territory, religion, and "la raza," literally "the race" - that have their roots in the primacy of church and family, and he examines the civic traditions of Mexican Americans, Puerto Ricans, Central Americans, and Cuban Americans.
