race lecture

system of classification

categorizes socially defined groups of people as belonging together because of physical markers

idea of innateness

socially constructed

how many races are there?

it changes with every US census, no set number

Bacon’s Rebellion of 1676

• shift from white indentured servants to use of African slaves

• racialized slavery rose after the 1670s

Enlightenment thought

conflict here

an impulse to differentiate, classify, and systematize various elements of the natural world

universalistic and egalitarian ethos

when did the word Caucasian emerge?

1795 - Friedrich Blumenbach

biological distinction

no gene for race

we are all 99.9% similar genetically

skin color

reflects independent genetic adaptation to similar natural selective forces rather than common ancestry

constructive view

ethnic and racial identities are changeable, contingent, and diverse

attempts to understand the dynamism of the processes of ethnic group formation

focus on the interactive, relational, interpretive aspects of these identities

ethnic/racial identities form an interaction btwn assignment (what others say we are) and assertion (who or what we claim to be)

→ change occurs at the intersection of these

thick identity

very comprehensive, organizes a great deal of social life at the individual and collective level

thin identity

less comprehensive; does not organize much of social life