A Comparative Study on Ethnic Policy between United States and China
United States, as well as China, is a large country including all kinds of people. We may consider that what policy the governors choose or how they put it into practice does a significant part on maintaining the governor’s sovereignty. And a proper national policy is likely to prevent national harmony from turning into conflicts. If, comparing the National Policy with another country, Chinese or American government is able to find out the deficiencies of the policy gradually and improve it. As a country with over five thousand years old, China has fifty-six distinct ethnic groups. Han Chinese constitutes ninety-one point five one percent of the total population in China. Other fifty-five groups, which are called national minority, distribute throughout the country. According to this situation, the Chinese government has made up a series of ethnic policies and legal regulations after 1949. In order to promote the ethnics to fight for a better life and to develop our society together, the Chinese government set out some policies like guaranteeing all the ethnics are equal, combining all the ethnics and developing all the ethnics without prejudice. The Chinese Ethnic Policy is much more comprehensive than American one. It contains different regulations in different areas, like politics, economy, education, linguistics, cultures and customs and regional belief, etc.
When it comes to the American Ethnic Policy, I have to say, it is not really clear. The U.S., which is called “a country made up with settlers”, has suffered a long time invaded by the European armies before it was founded. So a lot of people from different continents and countries gradually reached the mid and low attitudes in North America from the middle centuries. In the old time, racial prejudice was serious in the American society. This can be improved by a report showed in public by the American Progress in February in 1968. That American people were divided into three kinds: Caucasian, Yellow and Ethiopian. And the Caucasian’s social stage was considered the divine and inviolable. However, in the modern America, because some intelligentsias have written and published more and more theories and the concept of civilization is in vogue in the society, the racial prejudice is reducing. Then, many concepts about ethnic problems have turned out. A severe argument about Racism occurred in American societies in 1980s. As to solve the problems of racial prejudice, in 1961, the American president John F. Kennedy set up a council aims to give equal employment opportunities to all kinds of American people. And it turned into the Affirmative Action later.
Although the ethnic policy in America is not as clear as in China, it was used much more strictly. The American officials comply with the related legal regulations more when judging the ethnic conflicts. In contrast, in spite of the only legal regulations about ethnic problems led by China’s Constitution, Chinese officials will sometimes judge the cases according to their willingness. But from another perspective, fifty-six ethnic groups in China are treating each other as brothers and sisters, especially facing the huge sufferings like earthquake. That is to say, it is worthy to be learned a lot that why China’s national cohesion shows an attractive to people from all over the word. One more thing, a Chinese legal called the second generation of national policy is a
seal that China learns from the U.S. in solving ethnic problems.
In brief, to improve the relationships of each ethnic groups and reduce and solve the ethnic conflicts, the United States has a long way to go in promoting the effectiveness of its ethnic policies. So is China. The two countries should admit the goods among each other’s ethnic polices and constantly make their own ones better. And, if being so, it must be a large progress that the United States makes efforts to reduce the racial prejudge, isn’t it?
References： 1，Chinese
和龚，张山，1988/10，《中国民族历史与文化》[M]，民族学院出版社 吴仕民，1998/7/1，《中国民族读本》[M]，民族大学出版社 董小川，2006/1，《地域文明重点问题研究丛书：美国文化概论》[C]，人民出版社，第122页始
Net 1 我乃野云鹤，毛祁平，姬振泉等，中华人民共和国_百度百科[Z]， http://baike.baidu.com/view/1256.htm Net 2 佐迪剑客，伊势坐照等，第二代民族_百度百科[Z]， http://baike.baidu.com/view/7919386.htm
2，English
Hero, R.E. & C.J. Tolbert., A Racial/Ethnic Diversity Interpretation of Politics and Policy in the States of the U.S. [J], American Journal of Political Science, ,published by Midwest Political Science Association, Page 851-871
Lieberman, R.C., 2007, Shaping Race Policy: The United States in Comparative Perspective [M]. Princeton Univ Pr
Net 1 Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. , Ethnic groups in China.[Z],
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China#Ethnic_groups , last modified on 13 June 2013
