The papers in this volume are based on presentations made to the Workshop on Urban Ethnic Community Development held in June, 1970, at the Catholic University of America and sponsored by the Urban Task Force of the United States Catholic Conference. Robert Janes summarizes and updates the account of the nature and the role of ethnic groups in American history. Richard Scammon, using one of the important indicators of ethnicity, namely voting patterns, points to both persistence and change in ethnicity in American life. Turning to the social psychological side, Otto von Mering underscores the positive function of ethnicity in identity formation, as well as the distortions and stereotypes which readily emerge in inter-group relations. Finally, Richard Kolm advances some propositions concerning the meaning of ethnicity, which pose two general types of questions: (1) what is the general nature of ethnicity in the United States, particularly with regard to values? (2) Is cultural diversity or cultural pluralism in American society feasible and viable? (Author/JM)