Chapter 10: Race, Ethnicity, and Racism
the US census first allowed for choosing multiple races in 2000, and in 2017, nearly 9 million people chose 2+ racial categories
from 2000 to 2010, r=proportion of Americans IDing as multiracial increased by ⅓
1 in 6 new 2015 marriages were between spouses of different races, and 1/7 of 2015 babies were born multiracial, up from 1% in 1970
87% of Americans in 2015 said it’s cool for Blacks and whites to marry, up from 4% in 2958. age mattered— 96% of 18-29 yos said yeah, but only 70% of those 65+ did.
race: differences in human physical characteristics used to categorize large numbers of individuals; a socially constructed category based on the belief in fundamental human differences associated with phenotype and ancestry. race as according to the Census Bureau is just certain physical variations labelled by a community or society as significant and meaningful. racial categories are always nationally and historically significant and vary by location.
since 1st census in 1790, race has been a category. 1st 150ish years, race was classified on sight by the door-to-door census workers. these were arbitrary and inaccurate. changed in 1960 to self-report among listed categories. the categories themselves have changed, too, eg. from Negro to African American/Black/Negro to just African American/Black.
theory of racial formation: the process by which social, economic, and political forces determine the content and importance of racial categories. main idea is that ideas about race are constantly created and re-created by govt and large institutions as well as in everyday life by humans.
ethnicity: cultural values and norms that distinguish the members of a given group from others. an ethnic group is one whose members share a distinct awareness of a common cultural identity, separating them from other groups. identity stems from ancestry an cultural differences. most common distinguishing characteristics are language, history/ancestry (real or imagined), religion, and fashion style. ethnic differences are mainly learned.
minority group: a group of people who, because of their distinct physical or cultural characteristics, find themselves in situations of inequality within that society. not necessarily smaller group than the majority— in fact, minority groups can still be the majority in a society, eg. indigenous people once colonists start a-comin’.
dominant group: the group that possesses more wealth, power, and prestige in a society.
minority groups have a sense of solidarity to their group. have heightened feelings of common loyalty/interests. tend to see selves as separate/distinct from majority. sometimes physically/socially isolated from majority. tend to be concentrated in certain neighbourhoods/cities/regions of country.
minority group ≠ numerical distinction
prejudice: the holding of preconceived ideas about an individual or group, ideas that are resistant to change even in the face of new info. may be positive or negative. often based on hearsay.
racism: the attribution of characteristics of superiority/inferiority to a population sharing certain physically inherited characteristics.
stereotype: a fixed and inflexible category. sometimes pretty harmless, like the US idea that the French all wear stripes; becomes harmful, though, when anxiety and fear or hatred and hostility come into play, such as with the stereotype that all Black men are “thugs” and criminals.
displacement: the transferring of ideas or emotions from their true source to another object.
scapegoats: individuals or groups blamed for wrongs that weren’t of their doing. usually groups that are distinctive and powerless.
discrimination: behaviour that denies to the members of a particular group resources/rewards that can be obtained by others. discrimination must be distinguished from prejudice— individuals who are prejudiced against others may not engage in discrimination; conversely, people may act in a discriminatory fashion toward a group even though they are not prejudiced against that group.
research in the 1940s by Theodor Adorno described the “authoritarian personality” as rigid conformists, submissive to those perceived as their superiors, and dismissive to those perceived as their inferiors. tend to be intolerant in their religious/sexual attitudes. critics have expressed doubt over the measurement scale(s) used, have said it’s not a personality but rather a reflection of certain subcultures’ values and norms, etc.
stereotyping, displacement, and scapegoating are universal
ethnocentrism: a suspicion of outsiders combined with a tendency to evaluate the cultures of others in terms of one’s own culture.
group closure: the process whereby groups maintain boundaries separating themselves from others, eg. limiting intermarriage between groups, restrictions on social contact/economic trading, and physical separation. sometimes exists where 2 equal groups stay separate but don’t try dominating the other; usually, though, dominant group has more power and group closure coincides with resource allocation.
immigration: the movement of people into one country from another for the purpose of settlement
emigration: the movement of people out of noe country to settle in another.
scientific racism: the use of scientific research or data to justify or reify beliefs about the superiority or inferiority of particular racial groups. much of the ‘data” used to justify such claims are flawed/biased.
genocide: the systemic, planned destruction of a racial, ethnic, religious, political, or cultural group
segregation: the practice of keeping racial and ethnic groups physically separate
assimilation: the acceptance of a minority group by a majority population in which the new groups takes on the values and norms of the dominant culture
melting pot: the idea that ethnic differences can be combined to create new patterns of behaviour drawing on diverse cultural sources.
pluralism: a model for ethnic relations in which all ethnic groups in a society retain their separate identities yet share equally in the rights and powers of citizenship
multiculturalism: the viewpoint according to which ethnic groups can exist separately and share equally in economic and political life.
institutional racism: patterns of discriminatino based on ethnicity that have become structured into social institutions. idea developed in late 60s by Black Power activists Stokely Carmichael and Charles Hamilton. states racism occurs through respected and established social institutions, not just a few bad people in daily interactions, those who focus on this study racism in systems of hospitals, schools, police departments, and business.
it is very possible for people to live in a highly segregated society to suffer great disadvantages because of their race without ever experiencing discrimination personally on a 1-on-1 basis.
white privilege: the unacknowledged and unearned assets that benefit whites in their everyday lives.
racial microaggressions: small slights, indignities, or acts of disrespect that are hurtful to people of colour even though they are often perpetuated by well-meaning whites.
initially, the vast majority of US colonists were Protestant Brits, and those from other areas were only reluctantly admitted. but from ~1820, to expand the economy, the US tried attracting immigrants from (mostly) northeastern Europe (Holland, Germany, Sweden, etc). from c. 1820-1920, ~33 million people immigrated to the US. ‘twas the biggest known migratory movement to date. people came from (mostly) the same European countries; eg. 1.5 million Irish folk immigrated to US urban areas seeking work during the Potato Famine. major south and eastern European immigrant influx during 1880s-90s (mostly from Austro-Hungarian Empire, Russia, and Italy).
each group of US immigrants were subject to major discrimination from those already settled— Irish were supposedly dumb drunks, etc. the Irish, though, were lucky because they were highly concentrated in cities and could thus gain political power and protect their interests. later, Italians and Polish folk were discriminated against by the Irish.
Asian immigrants first came to US in large numbers in late 1800s looking for labour. ~200k Chinese folk immigrated, mostly men looking to save money and send it back to their family in China and later return. conflict broke out because the white were “losing jobs!” → Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. through the end of WWII, immigration was cut to a trickle.
shortly after Chinese Exclusion Act, Japanese immigrants began arriving, much to the anger of white bitches. this negativity increased in early 20th century, leading to strict “quotas” on how many Japanese immigrants were allowed.
most early 20th century immigrants clustered together in urban areas looking for work, and this created Chinatowns, Little Italys, etc., much to white folks’ rage. caused new immigration quotas in 1920s that restricted immigration from southern and eastern Europe. many immigrants found US conditions little better or worse than their homeland.
globalization greatly changed post-WWII US immigration. most immigrants pre-60s were European; partially due to immmigration policy, though, starting in mid-60s, many immigrants were Asian or Hispanic.
in 2016, over 13% of the US population was foreign-born, compared to just over 5% in 1960. only 11% of modern immigrants are European— 51% are Latin American (26% from Mexico), 31% are Asian, etc. this is partially due to 2 government acts: the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act Amendments, which abolished preference for northern and western Europeans and gave preference to ‘family reunification’ instead of occupational skills, and the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act that provided amnesty for illegal immigrants.
each year sees an average of 1 million US immigrants. undocumented immigration has, in recent years, “effectively ceased for the first time in six decades” (Massey 2012). since 2010, more Asian immigrants have arrived than Hispanic immigrants— a historic shift in 2013 saw China overtake Mexico as top source of US immigrants.
nearly 4 million slaves in South in 1780. they had no rights and no incentive to work → rebellion! disobedience, ignoring orders, and (mostly in Caribbean, not US) slave revolts occurred. more subtle forms of rebellion included forms of cultural creativity, mixing African cultures, Christian ideals, and their new environments to create new art forms, eg. jazz. hatred toward Blacks was often stronger in regions that’d never known slavery, and the moral rejection of slavery was mostly confined to certain educated groups. Blacks’ lives weren’t that changed by abolition of slavery— Black Codes, segregation, etc.
between N industrial development and S agricultural mechanization, many Black folk moved N from turn of century onward. 1900 = 90+% of African Americans lived in S, esp. rural areas; today <50% live in S, and ¾ live in N urban areas. were once farm labourers and domestic servants but are now mainly urban, industrial, and service-economy workers. weren’t assimilated like older white groups— struggle to break free from segregation and poverty like other immigrants managed to, an experience that was transitional for most white immigrants but is seemingly permanent for Blacks.
in both N and S, Blacks and whites occupy different neighbourhoods, attend different schools, etc. demographers coined term ‘index of dissimilarity,’ which describes the portion of people who’d need to move to different neighbourhoods to have each neighbourhood’s racial breakdown ~ proportionate to that of whole US. 2010 calculation said ~63% of Blacks or whites would have to move to fully desegregate housing.
conquests that created modern US borders included areas like California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah, as well as nearly ¼ million Mexicans. their descendents = Mexican American/Chicano (and newer Mexican immigrants). ‘Latino’ refers to those descended from Latin America; Hispanic refers to any American descended from Spanish-speaking regions. >57 million Hispanics lived in US in 2016. largest US Latino groups are Mexican Americans, Puerto Ricans, Salvadorians, and Cubans. post-Immigration and Nationality Act in 1965 saw huge rise in Hispanic population. immigration of Hispanics actually accounts for ½ total population grown since 2000. recently immigration of Hispanics decreased, especially at Mexican border. contrarily, there’s been a surge in temporary legal workers, but immigration is stable. near ceasing of illegal immigration isn’t due to border security but rather changes in N America’s ‘political economy’-- there are new, legal ways to immigrate here, less demand for workers here, slower population growth in Mexico, and stability of Mexican economy.
Mexican Americans mainly in S and W US. over ½ in CA and TX. most work low-paying jobs. there was little immigration restriction toward Mexican workers post-WWII up to early 60s; then = strict quotas and deportation of illegal immigrants. (illegal immigrants can be hired for less and take jobs most don’t want.) 1986 legislation allowed illegal immigrants living in US 5+ years to claim legal residence. last decade has seen drop in Mexican immigration— more have left than arrived since Recession. Mexican immigrants enjoy less economic well-being and lower educational attainment than most native-born Ameircans. 23% lived below poverty line in 2015. 69% are fluent in English. 11% hold bachelor’s degrees. social scientists anticipate further assimilation in coming decades, partially because of policies that’ll make college education more affordable to them., as of 2018, 17 states had laws allowing certain undocumented students who graduated from a state high school to go to college at in-state tuition fees at state colleges.
US obtained Puerto Rico through war. they’ve been considered US citizens since 1917. island is poor ,so many moved to mainland US for better life conditions. many in NYC, but have moved elsewhere since 60s. immigration back to Puerto Rico began in 1970s. recent years have seen record number of Puerto Rican immigrants due to their 10-year recession. there are now more Puerto Ricans living in the continental US than on Puerto Rico. concerns over its destiny are prevalent— it’s a US commonwealth, meaning Puerto Ricans are citizens but don’t pay federal income tax and can’t vote. Puerto Ricans are divided over whether they want to be a state, opt for independence, or remain as-is. in July 2017, though, 97% of Puerto Ricans voted in favour of becoming a state, though <¼ of registered voters actually voted because of boycotts. vote came just weeks after the country declared a form of bankruptcy.
½ million Cubans fled from communist leader Fidel Castro in 1959, most settling in Florida. mainly educated people from white-collar and professional backgrounds, unlike many other Latino immigrants. managed to thrive here, many finding positions comparable to the ones they had in Cuba. 19890 saw another, less affluent Cuban wave, who saw conditions more like other Latino immigrants have. both groups = mainly political refugees (people who have fled their homes due to a political, economic, or natural crisis). later immigrants became ‘working class’ for earlier immigrants— paid low wages but given preference by Cuban employers.
~6% of US is of Asian origin— Chinese, Indians, and Filipinos are largest groups, but also many Vietnamese, Koreans, and Japanese. most early Chinese immigrants to CA, employed esp in heavy industries like mining and railroad construction. lot of hostility lead to Chinatowns, not just choice. early Japanese immigrants also settled in CA and Pacific states; after Pearl Harbor, though, all Japanese immigrants were forced into ‘relocation centers’/Japanese internment camps/concentration camps. most were US citizens but were forced to live in internment camps during the war. this ended up leading to further assimilation as post-WWII, Japanese folk spread out instead of again clustering into certain neighbourhoods. they’ve been successful with wealth and education, even marginally outstripping whites. 1965 immigration bill saw influx of immigration from Asia; US Asian population grew 72% between 2000 and 2015, faster than any other group. foreign-born Chinese Americans now outnumber those raised here. most haven’t joined long-term Chinese in Chinatowns.
Black adults with high-school diplomas rose from 20% in 1960 to 87% in 2017. 91% of Asian adults completed high school, as did 94% of non-Hispanic whites. contrarily, adults over 25 with bachelor’s: 55% for Asians, 38% for non-Hispanic whites, and 24% for Blacks. only 71% of Hispanic adults have any high school education, and 9.2% are high-school dropouts, compared to 4.6% for whites and 6.5% for Blacks. college rates have steadily improved for other races, but rates for Hispanics have held steady since mid-80s. in 2017, only 17% of Hispanic adults had a bachelor’s or better. could be due to low-educated Latinx immigrants of recent past, as many struggle with English and their kids often struggle in school. Black unemployment rates have remained ~2 times that of whites since 70s. this gap is lesser between higher-educated 25+es. stats aren’t perfect because they only count people known to be actively job-searching. many Blacks and Hispanics have quit working and looking to work out of disillusionment. stats also don’t include the incarcerated. 5.6 of the 7.2 million jobs lost in the recession were ones not requiring more than a high school diploma if that; of the 11.6 million added since then, 99% went to workers with at least some college education. Black/white household income gap remains relatively unchanged. Black median household income is just over 60% of whites’. gap in household wealth is worse, with Blacks having 15% of whites’ wealth. 73% of whites own homes; only 45% of Blacks do. also divergent are rates of family inheritance, vehicle ownership, retirement accounts, business ownership, equity ownership, and debt. minority households were affected disproportionately by recent foreclosure crisis due to being systematically targeted for risky subprime loans. this and Great Recession saw wealth decreases of 16% for whites, 53% for Blacks, and 66% for Hispanics.
infant mortality and preterm birthrates are highest for Blacks and lowest for Asians and Pacific Islanders. hypertension is most common among Blacks of all genders and least common among Asian women and Hispanic men.
racial and ethnic minorities across the board receive lower-quality health care.
before 2000 and depending on where they lived, Black women were 2-6 times more likely than white women to die from pregnancy complications. in some areas, this disparity has grown. this is influenced by higher rates of poverty and known health risks, institutional and everyday racism, stress, and low-quality care.
Blacks are more segregated from whites than Hispanics and Asians. all 3 groups experience discrimination in terms of soliciting info on available units, viewing units, and renting/purchasing a home— increases time and cost of housing search(es)
educational segregation = least in S and small-/medium-sized cities and most in central cities of large metropolitan areas, followed by their suburbs
Blacks have made tremendous gains since 70s with regard to holding political office— Blacks have been voted into every major political office, including in predominantly white areas; number of Black officials rose from 40 in 1960 to 9101 in 2000 to 10500 in 2010; there are an estimated 6k Hispanics and 1k Asians in office (as of 2018). nevertheless, minorities are still underrepresented at every elected level (least pronounced in Congress, but only 10 Black senators in history, and govt @ local level is only 5.7% Black, 3.3% Hispanic, and 0.4% Asian). govt responsiveness to electorate also varies by race.
only within past 25 years that minority women began escaping low-wage jobs like household work, farm work, and manufacturing jobs. changed due to new laws and educational gains, primarily.
minority women are super important, especially in their communities— often family’s sole/major wage earner, eg. still, female-headed households tend to be poorer than male-headed or married ones.
Blacks are ~13% of the US population but only 9% of all managerial, professional, or related occupations. only 3% of chief execs are Black. ¼ of Blacks are employed in service occupations.
many Asian Americans, particularly those whose families have lived here for a long time, still live in poverty.
Asian subgroups have different experiences here— where 12% of Asian Americanas live in poverty, 35% of Burmese Americans, 17% of Native Hawai’ians and Pacific Islanders, and 8% of Filipino Ameircans do; while 76% of Indian Americans and 60% of Korean Americans have bachelor’s degrees, only 26% of Native Hawai’ians and other Pacific Islanders do.
racialization: the process by which understandings of race are used to classify individuals or groups of people
historically, theories to explain racial inequality focused on IQ, citing lower IQ scores Blacks have long achieved compared to whites. some said that genetically, Blacks were just dumber than whites. we now know this difference is explained primarily by environmental differences.
cultural theorists believe racial inequality is determined by each group’s distinct culture— Blacks just have the ‘wrong’ beliefs, values, and habits to succeed! they’re passed to each new generation, which perpetuates inequality! poor Blacks are isolated from mainstream values! this is controversial by blaming disadvantaged people for their situations.
economic theory: each generation of poor Blacks experience the same economic disadvantage, leading to inescapable poverty. they just don’t have the opportunity regardless of their efforts.
racial discrimination-based theories: discrimination against Blacks is still the primary cause of modern racial inequalities. up through WWI, employers encouraged policies accepting immigrants so they could hire them despite there being many Blacks to hire (always ‘last hired and first fired’). 1940s sociologists found employers only hired Blacks when they had literally no other options. by 1980s, even Latinos were sought out over Blacks— through today. studies show less-qualified whites are hired over more-qualified Blacks.