Unit 4: Race & Ethnicity

Clockwise from top left: "Afro-Caribbean",

"Caucasian", "East Asian", "West Asian".

Aim: To what extent is the

concept of race a social construct?Do Now: fill out the 2010 census

form?

Make some general observations about theway this handout is formatted? What do

you notice? does anythingstrike you as

strange?

Discussion:

1. Did you feel that the available categories on this form lined up with your own racial and ethnic identity? Why or why not?

2. Do you think that having Hispanic as an ethnicity and not a race makes sense? Why or why not?

3. What benefits do you see to having Hispanic listed as an ethnicity? What drawbacks?

4. What might you change about this form if you could? Do you believe there are better ways to classify people racially?

These 3 things are not the same! Try to define them:

1. Race:

2. Ethnicity:

3. Nationality:

A group that is set apart from others because of physical differences that have social significance

A group set apart from others primarily due to distinctive cultural patterns.

A group set apart because of national origin

Racial Formation (Omi & Winant, 1994): a sociohistorical processwhereby racial categories are created, inhabited, transformed,

and destroyed

Think of the arbitrary nature of race like grades

in school…•On the scale of 1-100, which numbers correspond with the following grades?

•A •B•C•D

On the left, propaganda used to justify imperialist conquests. On the right, German WWII propaganda promoting the idea of a German ‘race’

An annotated reading of the American Anthropological

Association’s “Statement onRace” (1998)

Based on this reading, how would you now define ‘race’

Twins: Are they the same race?

Two sets of identical twins, each withracially specific features

Recognition of Multiple Identities

The ‘color line’ (Dubois) Has blurred significantly in

The United States

“The One Drop Rule”concept that even one ounce of ‘black blood’ erased all whiteness

“It’s very interesting because even

though your mother was white she said to you ‘you’re not half-white and

half-black, you’re black!”

---Barbara Walters Pre-Oscar Special

Aabout her daughter Nahla:

“I feel like she's black. I'm black and I'm her mother and I believe in the one-drop theory.'She went on:"What I think is that that's something she's going to have to decide. I'm not going to put a label on it. I had to decide for myself and that's what she's going to have to decide - how she identifies herself in the world. And I think, largely, that will be based on how the world identifies her. That's how I identified myself."And then she seemingly DOES put a label on her:"But I feel like she's black.

Recognition of Multiple Identities

OR..

“What are you???”

“What Kind of Sexy Half-Asian Are You?” - YouTube

• This mother in Brazil has 5 children (all shown above), 3 of whom are considered albinos

1. If you had a mixed-race child, how would you raise the child to think of themselves?

2. What good can come from having an increase in a mixed-raced population?

3. What bad can come from it?

Kelly Williams II, 17, Dallas, TexasSelf-ID: African American and German/multiracialCensus Boxes Checked: black

Sandra Williams, 46, Chicago, IllinoisSelf-ID: biracial/“human being”Census Boxes Checked: black

Daisy Fencl, 3, San Antonio, TexasParents’ ID for her: Korean and HispanicCensus Boxes Checked: has not yet been counted

Jakara Hubbard, 28, Monee, IllinoisSelf-ID: mixedCensus Boxes Checked: white/black

Gabriela Guizzo, 5, Rockville Centre, New YorkSelf-ID: “A little of everything”Census Boxes Checked: white/Japanese

Oona Wally, 25, Brooklyn, New YorkSelf-ID: Chinese and Jewish/CaucasianCensus Boxes Checked: white/Chinese

Hosanna Marshall, 32, New York, New YorkSelf-ID: African American, Native American, white, and JewishCensus Boxes Checked: black

Adrian Adrid, 24, Haleiwa, HawaiiSelf-ID: whiteCensus Boxes Checked: white/Filipino

Helen Robertson, 54, Los Angeles, CaliforniaSelf-ID: EnglishCensus Boxes Checked: white/Asian

Ariel Toole, 14, Chicago, IllinoisSelf-ID: mixed race/multiracialCensus Boxes Checked: white/black/Vietnamese

The Social Construction of Racial Behaviors

What are some Stereotypical, cultural behaviors

That we (NOT NECESSARILYYOU) associate with different

Racial/ethnic groups?Think in terms of…

DRESS?

SPEECH?

FOOD?

BEHAVIOR?

NAMES…

Dr. Roland Fryer, Harvard Universit

y

Fryer R, Levitt S. The Causes and Consequences of Distinctively Black Names.

Quarterly Journal of Economics. 2004;119(3):767-805.

http://scholar.harvard.edu/fryer/publications/causes-and-consequences-distinctively-black-names