The articles in this volume represent the interpretative and analytical traditions in ethnic studies scholarship. The first three contributions draw attention to how the tools of literary analysis and inquiry add new perspectives to our understanding of the social realities framing the lives of people of color. The remaining articles using both quantitative and qualitative research methods similarly inform the complex life experiences of people of color. In common these seemingly disparate sets of articles provide sharp and in a couple of instances challenging commentaries on life and living on the margin and the wider social spaces that are circumscribed by color lines