Originally published in 1992

Introduction -- part 1 Coming to Terms with Ethnicity -- 1 The Melting Pot: Symbol of Fusion or Confusion? (starting pages 3) -- 2 Confusion Compounded: A Melting Pot Update (starting pages 32) -- 3 The Odd Couple: Pluralism and Assimilation (starting pages 47) -- 4 Minorities (Almost) All (starting pages 91) -- 5 Identifying Identity: A Semantic History (starting pages 123) -- part 2 World War II and American Identity -- 6 Americans All (starting pages 153) -- 7 The Study of American Culture (starting pages 188) -- 8 Pluralism, Democracy, and Catholicism: Religious Tensions (starting pages 207) -- part 3 Religion and American Diversity -- 9 Hansen, Herberg, and American Religion (starting pages 231) -- 10 Immigration, Religion, and Civil Religion (starting pages 250) -- 11 "Americanism" in American Catholic Discourse (starting pages 272) -- Index (starting pages 301)

"In recent years U.S. social history has taken dramatic strides in studies of race, gender, and ethnicity. Among historians of American ethnic groups, Philip Gleason has played a leading role in that development. His essays analyzing the terms of public and scholarly discourse--mapping the changing conceptions of American identity during the past half century--make a distinctive contribution to intellectual history." "Speaking of Diversity collects eleven of Gleason's seminal essays, each of them examining twentieth-century American thought on ethnic and religious diversity. Part 1 focuses specifically on linguistic and conceptual analysis, treating terms such as melting-pot, pluralism, identity, and minority. Part 2 explores the impact of World War II on American thinking about diversity, tolerance, and intergroup relations. Part 3 consists of essays on religion, all closely tied to themes in earlier essays. Together, they form a model of methodological and thematic unity. The essays also clear the ground as Americans continue their efforts to realize the stated goals of tolerance, diversity, and order."--Jacket.

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