15 Ethnicity and Race Anthropology Appreciating Human Diversity

15 Ethnicity and Race Anthropology: Appreciating Human Diversity 14 th Edition Conrad Phillip Kottak

2 Ethnicity and Race • • • Ethnic Groups and Ethnicity Race and Ethnicity The Social Construction of Race Ethnic Groups, Nations, and Nationalities Ethnic Tolerance and Accommodation Roots of Ethnic Conflict © 2011 The Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc.

3 Ethnicity and Race • What is social status, and how does it relate to ethnicity? • How are race and ethnicity socially constructed in various societies? • What are the positive and negative aspects of ethnicity? © 2011 The Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc.

4 Ethnic Groups and Ethnicity • Ethnic group: a gathering whose members share certain beliefs, values, habits, customs, and norms because of their common background • Ethnicity: identification with, and feeling part of, a particular ethnic group and exclusion from certain other groups because of this affiliation © 2011 The Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc.

5 Ethnic Groups and Ethnicity • Ethnic feelings and their associated behavior vary in intensity within ethnic groups and countries over time. – Cultural differences may be associated with ethnicity, class, region, or religion. © 2011 The Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc.

6 Ethnic Groups and Ethnicity • Status: any position that determines where someone fits in society – Ascribed status: little or no choice about occupying the status given – Achieved status: gained through choices, actions, efforts, talents, or accomplishments © 2011 The Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc.

7 Table 15. 1: Race/Ethnic Identification in the United States, 2007 © 2011 The Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc.

8 Figure 15. 1: Social Statuses © 2011 The Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc.

9 Status Shifting • Some statuses, particularly ascribed ones, are mutually exclusive. – Some statuses are contextual. – Minority groups: have an ascribed status that is associated with their position in the sociopolitical hierarchy • Inferior power and less secure access to resources than majority groups © 2011 The Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc.

10 Table 15. 2: American Hispanics and Latinos, 2007 © 2011 The Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc.

11 Race • Race: an ethnic group assumed to have a biological basis • Racism: discrimination against an ethnic group assumed to have a biological basis © 2011 The Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc.

12 Race and Ethnicity • Race is a cultural category rather than a biological reality. – It is not possible to define human races biologically. • U. S. culture does not draw a very clear line between ethnicity and race. – “Hispanic”: ethnic category that cuts across racial contrasts like “black” and “white” – Better to use ethnic group than race © 2011 The Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc.

13 Hypodescent: Race in the United States • In U. S. culture, one acquires one’s racial identity at birth. – Rule of Descent: assigns social identity on the basis of ancestry – Hypodescent: automatically places the children of a union or mating between members of different groups into a minority group • Divides U. S. society into groups unequal in their access to wealth, power, and prestige © 2011 The Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc.

14 Race in the Census • The U. S. Census Bureau has been gathering data by race since 1790. – The Constitution specified that a slave counted as three-fifths of a white person, and Indians were not taxed. – Attempts by social scientists and interested citizens to add a “multiracial” category to the Census were opposed by the NAACP and the National Council of La Raza. © 2011 The Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc.

15 Race in the Census • Canadian census asks about “visible minorities” – “persons, other than Aboriginal peoples [a. k. a. the First Nation in Canada, Native Americans in the United States], who are non. Caucasian in race or nonwhite in colour” – Canada’s visible minority population has been increasing steadily. © 2011 The Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc.

16 Figure 15. 2: The Questions on Race and Hispanic Origin, from U. S. Census 2000 © 2011 The Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc.

17 Table 15. 3: The Visible Minority Population of Canada, from the 2006 Census © 2011 The Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc.

18 Not Us: Race in Japan • American culture ignores considerable diversity, as it socially constructs race within the U. S. – Overlooks diversity in Japan – Scholars estimate 10 percent of Japan’s population is minorities of various sorts. – Intrinsic racism: the belief that a perceived racial difference is a sufficient reason to value one person less than another © 2011 The Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc.

19 Not Us: Race in Japan • Most Japanese define themselves by their opposition to others—anyone not us. – Burakumin are perceived as standing apart from the majority of Japanese. – Like blacks in the U. S. , Japan’s burakumin are stratified: class structured, with differences in wealth, prestige, and power © 2011 The Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc.

20 Phenotype and Fluidity: Race in Brazil • Brazil’s construction of race is attuned to relatively slight phenotypic differences. – Phenotype: an organism’s evident traits, physiology and anatomy, including skin color, hair form, facial features, and eye color – More than 500 distinct racial labels have been reported in Brazil. © 2011 The Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc.

21 Phenotype and Fluidity: Race in Brazil • Brazil: “race” more flexible than in U. S. – An individual’s racial classification may change due to his or her achieved status, developmental biological changes, and other irregular factors. – No hypodescent rule ever developed in Brazil to ensure that whites and blacks remained separate. © 2011 The Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc.

22 Ethnic Groups, Nations, and Nationalities • Nation: a society sharing a common language, religion, history, territory, ancestry, and kinship – State: a stratified society with a formal, centralized government – Nation-State: an autonomous political entity; a country • Migration, conquest, and colonialism led most nation-states not to be ethnically homogeneous. © 2011 The Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc.

23 Nationalities and Imagined Communities • Nationalities: groups that now have, or wish to have or regain, their autonomous political status • Imagined communities –Language and print played a crucial role in various European national consciousnesses. – Colonialism (the long-term foreign domination of a territory and its people) often erected boundaries that corresponded poorly with preexisting cultural divisions. © 2011 The Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc.

24 Assimilation • Assimilation: when a minority adopts the patterns and norms of the host culture – Incorporates the dominant culture to the point where it no longer exists as a separate cultural unit © 2011 The Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc.

25 The Plural Society • Plural society: a culture combining ethnic contrasts, ecological specialization, and economic interdependence – Barth: Ethnic boundaries are the most stable and enduring when groups occupy different ecological niches. • Shifted focus from specific cultural practices and values to relations between ethnic groups © 2011 The Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc.

26 Multiculturalism and Ethnic Identity • Multiculturalism: The view of cultural diversity as valuable and worth maintaining in its own right – Of growing importance in U. S. and Canada – Multiculturalism seeks ways for people to understand interact with a respect for their differences. © 2011 The Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc.

27 Figure 15. 3: Ethnic Composition of the United States © 2011 The Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc.

28 Roots of Ethnic Conflict • Prejudice: the devaluing of a group because of its assumed behavior, values, capabilities, or attributes – Stereotypes: fixed ideas about what the members of a group are like © 2011 The Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc.

29 Roots of Ethnic Conflict • Discrimination: policies and practices that harm a group and its members – De facto: practiced but not legally sanctioned – De jure: part of the law © 2011 The Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc.

30 Roots of Ethnic Conflict • Chips in the Mosaic – Ethnic competition and conflict are evident in North America. • New arrivals versus long-established ethnic groups © 2011 The Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc.

31 Roots of Ethnic Conflict • Aftermaths of oppression – Genocide: deliberate elimination of a group – Ethnocide: an attempt to destroy the cultures of certain ethnic groups • Forced assimilation: when the dominant group forces an ethnic group to adopt the dominant culture © 2011 The Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc.

32 Roots of Ethnic Conflict (Continued) • Aftermaths of oppression – Ethnic expulsion: removing groups who are culturally different from a country – Refugees: people who are forced or who have chosen to flee a country – Cultural colonialism: internal domination by one group and its culture or ideology over others © 2011 The Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc.

33 Recap 15. 1: Types of Ethnic Interaction © 2011 The Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc.