Most Americans can trace their predecessors back to some country across the oceans or the Mexican-American or Canadian-American borders. Each ethnic group has enriched American culture with its own particular types of music, food, customs, and dress. It usually takes two or more generations for the members of a new immigrant group to become sufficiently absorbed into the life of a community that they lose their separate identity. Some ethnic groups – mainly those of dark skin colors – never achieve total acceptance.People concerned about improving group relations in their organization must guard against such clichés as “I'm not prejudiced†and “I treat all people the same. †Even the most “liberal†individuals do not treat all people the same. Moreover, they should not. All people are prejudiced for or against other people. However, it is behaviors, not attitudes, which comprise the major group problems confronting managers and supervisors. There are many laws against discriminatory behaviors, but there are none against prejudicial attitudes.
