The call of Mao or money? Han Chinese settlers on China's south-western borders

As a consequence of its economic reforms China is currently experiencing internal migration at an unprecedented scale. An estimated 120 million people, or more than 15 per cent of the total rural labour force in China, have for different lengths of time left their places of origin to settle mainly in urban centres. Most of them go to the southern and eastern economically booming regions, but quite a few have chosen to go to ethnic minority areas in the border regions of the People's Republic. These areas, which have often been described and perceived of as economically and culturally backward, are also subjected to new largescale in-migrations of mainly Han Chinese. Han Chinese – whether officially classified or identifying themselves as such – make up a considerable proportion of the population in most so-called minority areas in China today. A number of recent (mostly sociological) studies have contributed to knowledge of the policies and consequences of sending Han to minority areas since 1949. Especially with regard to Tibet, the actual scope of Han migration remains a hotly debated issue. However, while the number of ethnographic studies of various ethnic minorities in China has increased markedly during the last 15 years (since it became possible to do fieldwork in minority areas of the People's Republic), the Han Chinese living in the same areas have rarely been subjected to this kind of fieldwork-based study. Most researchers of ethnic minorities in China have been struck by the pervasiveness of the discourse on the Han as a more “advanced” (xianjin) nationality. But this discourse has not been thoroughly analysed in relation with how different groups of Han Chinese, living themselves among non-Han peoples in minority areas, reproduce, neglect, dispute or contribute to this discourse.

"Polish-speaking Germans?" Language and national identity among the Masurians

Before 1945, Masuria was part of Germany and known primarily as the scene of the 1914 Battle of Tannenberg and as an attractive summer vacationland of numerous lakes, extensive forests, and villages of characteristic wooden houses. Since 1945, Masuria has belonged to Poland, where it is known as the scene of the 1410 Battle of Tannenberg/Grunwald, and as an attractive summer vacationland. To students of nationalism and national identity, however, Masuria is interesting primarily because its predominately Polish-speaking population seems to present the clearest and best-documented example anywhere in Europe of national identity developing counter to native language. Although most Masurians spoke Polish and lived adjacent to Poland, they gave every indication over quite a long period of time of voluntary and virtually unanimous identification with the Prusso-German state and nation. They did so at a time when most of the rest of eastern Europe was increasingly subject to the influence of ethnolinguistic nationalism and the rest of the German–Polish borderlands were witness to one of Europe's classic ethnic-national rivalries. (see Maps 1 and 2)

Minorities in medical school and National Medical Fellowships, Inc.: 50 years and counting

For more than 50 years, National Medical Fellowships, Inc. (NMF) has been the only private national organization dedicated exclusively to increasing the numbers of minorities in medicine. In the 1920s, Franklin C. McLean, an eminent physician in Chicago, began working to include Negro physicians in high-ranked hospital residencies. In 1946 he and his colleagues founded Provident Medical Associates (PMA), which would later become National Medical Fellowships, Inc. During the late 1940s and 1950s, the challenge was to break down the barriers that prevented Negro physicians from training. In the 1950s, the NMF made steady progress in increasing the number of black physicians, but it was in the 1960s that the barriers to blacks in medical training began to fall and their numbers increased dramatically. In the 1970s the NMF expanded its focus to include all minorities underrepresented in medicine, and through its programs and the broad social changes in U.S. society, unprecedented proportions of blacks, Hispanics, and Native Americans entered medical training. In the 1980s the commitment to bring minority physicians into medicine deepened and broadened, yet in the late 1990s the progress of past decades is jeopardized by legal and administrative restrictions. Now, when the numbers of underrepresented minorities are declining, the need to maintain and expand programs such as those of the NMF is more urgent than ever.

Affirmative action in medical education: a legal perspective

The use of affirmative action programs as part of the effort to increase the presence of minorities in medical education and the physician workforce has come under greater legal scrutiny. The authors describe the history of the legal theory behind affirmative action, giving examples from the evolving case law and from Department of Education guidelines. They identify legal pitfalls in the areas of admission and financial aid, including the categorization of students by race, racially disproportionate financial aid awards after accounting for need, racially disproportionate amounts of scholarships as opposed to loans, and, for public medical schools, differential treatment of out-of-state students based on race. Medical schools should be aware of this legal framework so that they can construct affirmative action programs that comply with the law while maintaining momentum toward diversification.