To the Editor:
In “The
Triumphant Decline of the WASP” (Op-Ed, June 28), Noah Feldman
underscores the relaxation of religious divisions in American society
during the second half of the last century, evidenced in the acceptance
of Catholics and Jews in positions of national leadership. But he
attributes far too much significance to the cultural views of elite
white Protestants as the explanation.
Privileged groups have strong incentives to maintain their advantages.
In 1950, this applied to middle-class white Protestants, too. After more
than a century of resistance to Catholic and Jewish advance, it is not
clear why an ethos of fair play and a belief in equality suddenly took
such powerful hold.
What Mr. Feldman does not mention is the enormous structural opening of
America’s economy and society after World War II, the fruit of a period
of uncommon prosperity and public investment. For instance, between 1940
and 1970, the number of people attending colleges and universities
quintupled, mainly as a result of the expansion of public higher
education.
This made it possible for non-Protestants to move up in large numbers
without appearing to threaten the chances that white Protestants took
for granted for themselves and their children.
The resulting social convergence has rippled through American
institutions ever since.
Richard Alba
Stephentown, N.Y., June 28, 2010
The writer, a professor of sociology at the Graduate Center, CUNY,
is the author of “Blurring the Color Line.”
Keith Burgess-Jackson, J.D., Ph.D. 