Anthropology Appreciating Human Diversity Fifteenth Edition Conrad Phillip

Anthropology Appreciating Human Diversity Fifteenth Edition Conrad Phillip Kottak University of Michigan Mc. Graw-Hill © 2013 Mc. Graw-Hill Companies. All Rights Reserved.

C H A P T E R ETHNICITY AND RACE 15 -2

ETHNICITY AND RACE • • • Ethnic Groups and Ethnicity Race and Ethnicity The Social Construction of Race Ethnic Tolerance and Accommodation Roots of Ethnic Conflict 15 -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? 15 -4

Understanding Ourselves • • • Who are you? • What labels come to mind? • Situational Negotiation of Social Identity - most people have different identities in different contexts • Identities and behavior change with context • The “hats” we wear depend on the situation • Both black and Hispanic; both father and ballplayer; both daughter and teacher Face to face encounters – others see who we are or who they perceive us to be; may expect certain behaviors based on their perception of identity; hard to be anonymous when face to face Today, identities are not always constrained by physical attributes – can use modern technology to reveal and manipulate what we want them to think we are (i. e. “catfish) 15 -5

ETHNIC GROUPS AND ETHNICITY • • Ethnic group: a group whose members share certain beliefs, values, habits, customs, and norms because of their common background/cultural distinctions • Members may define themselves as distinct through language, religion, geography, history, ancestry, and race • Collective name, belief in common descent, sense of solidarity, association with specific territory Ethnicity: identification with, and feeling part of, an ethnic group and exclusion from certain other groups because of this affiliation • Ethnic feelings and associated behavior vary in intensity • A change in the degree of importance attached to ethnic identity may reflect political change • Soviet rule ended and ethnic feelings rose 15 -6

Status Shifting • Situational Negotiation of Identity • Different “hats” in different situations • Ethnicity is only one basis for group identity • Cultural differences may be associated with ethnicity, class, region, or religion • People belong to many different groups/have different identities • Loyal to neighborhood, school, town, state, nation, religion, ethnic group, interest group… • Complex societies – people constantly negotiate social identities 15 -7

Status Shifting • Status: positions that people occupy in society • Ascribed status: little or no choice about occupying the status given (age, race, gender, birthplace…) • People are born members of a group and remain members • Achieved status: through choices, actions, efforts, talents, or accomplishments; may be positive or negative (salesperson, mother, felon, college student) 15 -8

Table 15. 1: Race/Ethnic Identification in the United States, 2010 15 -9

Figure 15. 1: Social Statuses 15 -10

STATUS SHIFTING Ascribed Status • Some statuses, particularly ascribed ones, can be mutually exclusive • Can’t be both male and female, both son and daughter, both owner and employee • Some statuses are contextual • Situational negotiation of social identity – adjusting one’s status/identity to different social contexts • i. e. Hispanic, Latino, and Mexican or Cuban • Labels for a person, depend on the perception by others of that person’s status, as well as that person’s own assertions of status • In many societies, ascribed status associated with position in the sociopolitical hierarchy (i. e. India and the caste system) • Minority groups have inferior power and less secure access to resources than majority groups • Minority groups are obvious features of stratification in the U. S. • Look at discrepancies in income with different ethnic groups 15 -11

RACE AND ETHNICITY • Race: an ethnic group assumed to have biological basis; shared blood or genes • Racism: discrimination against an ethnic group that is assumed to have biological basis; based on physical features 15 -12

RACE AND ETHNICITY • • Race • only cultural/social constructions of race are possible • not a biological reality or we would have scientific categories based on common genes • Socially constructed category that is arbitrary • Black, white, yellow, red, Caucasian, Negroid, Mongoloid, American Indian… – not biologically distinct species • AAA stresses that inequalities among racial groups are not consequences of biological inheritance, but are products of social, economic, educational, or political circumstances U. S. culture does not draw very clear line between ethnicity and race • Americans often use “ethnicity” and “race” interchangeably • “Hispanic” - refers to one’s language and geography, rather than ethnicity • Better to use ethnic group than race 15 -13

HYPODESCENT: RACE IN THE UNITED STATES • • In U. S. culture, racial identity acquired at birth • Ascribed status • Is not based on biology or simple ancestry • 50% from black mom and 50% from white dad – child automatically classified as black • Arbitrary classification operating under rule of descent Rule of descent: assigns social identity on the basis of ancestry Hypodescent: automatically places children of mixed marriages in the group of their minority parent; common in U. S. Effects of Hypodescent: • Divides U. S. society into groups unequal in their access to wealth, power, and prestige • Population growth attributed more to minority categories • it is easier for Native Americans or Hispanics to negotiate identity than black identity, so blacks are more affected by the rule of hypodescent than others 15 -14

Hypodescent: Race in the U. S. • • Example: President Obama (Kenyan father, white American mother) Example: Louisiana case of Susie Guillory Phipps • In some states, anyone known to have ANY black ancestor, can be classified as member of black race • Light skinned woman, Caucasian features, straight black hair • Raised white; as adult, found out she was part black from birth certificate • Challenged Louisiana 1/32 law, but lost • Rare case because race is usually ascribed at birth and does not change; hers was on her birth certificate but she was raised based on her physical features, not ancestry • Race is ARBITRARY category 15 -15

Hypodescent • • • Rule of Hypodescent affects Blacks, Asians, Native Americans, and Hispanics differently • it is easier to negotiate Native American, Asian, or Hispanic identity than Black identity • rule of ascription isn’t as strong nor is assumption of biological differences • Race is arbitrary and socially constructed Racism still exists! Child of an ethnic group may not identify as a part of that ethnic group; child not raised as part of ethnic group may reclaim identity later in life 15 -16

RACE IN THE CENSUS • U. S. Census Bureau gathering data by race since 1790 • Rule of Hypodescent – results in population growth being attributed to minorities • 1980 – 2010 • Number of respondents tripled for people choosing “some other race” • Suggests an imprecision in and dissatisfaction with the existing categories • Interracial marriages and multiracial children are increasing • Children identify with more than one ethnicity • Troubling that important characteristic, like identity, is dictated by arbitrary rule of hypodescent 15 -17

RACE IN THE CENSUS • Canadian census asks about “visible minorities” rather than race • “Persons, other than Aboriginal peoples (aka First Nations in Canada), who are non-Caucasian in race or nonwhite in color” • South Asian and Chinese are largest visible minority; not racial categories • Minorities represent a smaller percentage of the total population than in the U. S. • In both the U. S. and Canada, the visible minority population is increasing steadily due to migration and rapid population growth 15 -18

Figure 15. 2: Reproduction of Questions on Race and Hispanic Origin from Census 2010 15 -19

NOT US: RACE IN JAPAN • Japan commonly viewed as homogeneous (same/similar in nature) in race, ethnicity, language, and culture • However, about 10% of population are minorities • Intrinsic racism: belief that perceived racial difference is sufficient reason to value one person less than another • Majority Japanese are seen as “pure” and believed to “share the same blood” • Similar to hypodescent but less precise • Children of mixed marriages may not get same “racial” label as minority parent, but are still stigmatized for non-Japanese ancestry 15 -20

NOT US: RACE IN JAPAN • • • Most Japanese define themselves by their opposition to others—anyone not us Not us should stay away Assimilation discouraged: taboos on interracial marriage, residential segregation, work that keeps minorities in their place Certain ethnic groups seen as having biological basis Burakumin perceived as standing apart from the majority of Japanese – their blood makes them not us • Low status social class • Genetically and physically indistinguishable from the dominant population, but they are treated as a different race • Segregated neighborhoods • Treated poorly (by teachers, children…) • Like blacks in the U. S. , Japan’s burakumin are stratified: class structured, with differences in wealth, prestige, and power 15 -21

PHENOTYPE AND FLUIDITY: RACE IN BRAZIL • Brazil: racial identity is more flexible, more of an achieved status • Although Brazil has history of slavery like U. S. , no hypodescent rule ever developed in Brazil to ensure that whites and blacks remained separate • Attuned to slight phenotypic (physical) differences; over 500 racial categories • Construction of race is more flexible; may change as a result of achieved status, developmental biological changes, and other factors • Phenotype and racial category may change due to environmental factors like tanning or effects of humidity on hair • Phenotype – an organism’s evident traits: physical biology, anatomy, skin color, hair form, facial features, eye color • Race may change due to manner of dress, language, location (rural versus urban), and even attitude (i. e. adopting urban behavior) 15 -22 att

Phenotype and Fluidity: Race in Brazil • • Multiplicity and overlapping of race labels allow one to be considered as of more than one race • In U. S. , researcher is white • In Brazil, researcher may be white, light, blond, light skinned redhead, light mulatto, mulatto; informant called himself dark, black, dark brunet Flexibility makes racial discrimination less likely; not blind to evident physical contrasts Brazil’s system of racial classification is changing/becoming less fluid in the context of international identity politics, rights movements, and access to strategic resources History: • U. S. colonists were men, women, and families; Brazil they were mainly men • Brazilian men married indigenous women; recognized mixed offspring as theirs • Plantation owners often freed their children with slave mothers (not classed with slaves; not rule of hypodescent) 15 -23

Ethnic Groups, Nations, and Nationalities • Nation-state refers to an autonomous political entity (a country, like the United States). • Most are ethnically heterogeneous (having foreign origins) due to migration, conquest, and colonialism • only 18% of all countries, including Brazil and Japan, have a single ethnic group accounting for 90% or more of its population 15 -24

ETHNIC TOLERANCE AND ACCOMMODATION • Ethnic diversity may be associated with positive group interaction or with conflict 15 -25

ASSIMILATION • Assimilation: when a minority adopts the patterns and norms of the host/dominant culture • Group moves to a place where another culture dominates • Incorporates the dominant culture to the point where it no longer exists as a separate cultural unit • May be forced or (seemingly) chosen • Example: Brazil • Many migrations in 19 th century from Germany, Italy, Japan, Middle East, and Eastern Europe • Immigrants assimilated into Brazilian culture • During WWII, Brazil forced assimilation by banning instruction in any other language than Portugese, especially German • U. S. had forced assimilation policies toward Native Americans • Removal of children, Mission schools, languages forbidden, laws against ceremonies, dismantling of tribes, allotment of communal lands 15 -26

Assimilation 15 -27

THE PLURAL SOCIETY • Plural society: • Assimilation isn’t inevitable and there can be ethnic harmony without it • Challenged idea that interaction always leads to assimilation • Society with economically interdependent ethnic groups • Ethnic groups do not assimilate but remain distinct in stable coexistence • Barth: • Studied three ethnic groups in Pakistan • Defines plural society as combining ethnic contrasts, ecological specialization (use of different environmental resources), and the economic interdependence of those groups • Ethnic boundaries are most stable and enduring when groups occupy different ecological niches • They make their living in different ways so they don’t compete; ideally, they depend on each other’s activities • Shifted focus from specific cultural practices and values to relationships between ethnic groups 15 -28

MULTICULTURALISM AND ETHNIC IDENTITY • Multiculturalism: view of cultural diversity as valuable and worth maintaining in its own right • Opposite of assimilation model • government level - officially encourages multiculturalism while simultaneously socializing individuals into the dominant culture. • Seeks ways for people to understand interact with a respect for their differences and contributions (rather than sameness) • In U. S. , many are bilingual, eat American and ethnic foods, celebrate both national and ethnic/religious holidays; ethnic neighborhoods and restaurants 15 -29

Changing Demographics • Multiculturalism • Of growing importance in U. S. and Canada • Growing away from assimilationist model to multiculturalism • Due to large scale migration and rapid population growth • With increased migration, ethnic identity has become more important (i. e. used to form self-help or activist organizations) • Due to globalization, much of the world is experiencing an “ethnic revival” • Rather than “melting pot”, we are ethnic “salads” 15 -30

Figure 15. 4: Ethnic Composition of the United States 15 -31

ROOTS OF ETHNIC CONFLICT • • Ethnicity can be experienced in peaceful multiculturalism or in discrimination or confrontation Perception of cultural differences can have disastrous effects on social interaction Prejudice and Discrimination: • 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 Prejudiced people assume members of the group will act as they are “supposed to act” and interpret a wide range of individual behaviors as evidence of this stereotype. They use this behavior to confirm their stereotype and low opinion of the group 15 -32

ROOTS OF ETHNIC CONFLICT • Discrimination: policies and practices that harm a group and its members • De facto: practiced but not legally sanctioned • Police and racial profiling • De jure: part of the law • segregation 15 -33

Chips in the Mosaic • • Although the multicultural model increasingly prominent in North America, ethnic competition and conflict are also evident. 1992 Riots – Rodney King • History of conflict between new immigrants and longer established ethnic groups • Attacks against whites, Koreans, and Latinos from African Americans • Poll prior to riots - found that blacks had a bleaker outlook than whites about the effects of immigration on their lives and felt they had less opportunities than recent immigrants • Ethnic groups (black community) expected other ethnic groups to assimilate • Antagonisms must be considered in relation to social history 15 -34

AFTERMATHS OF OPPRESSION Fueling ethnic conflict are forms of discrimination such as genocide, ethnocide, forced assimilation, and cultural colonialism • Genocide: deliberate elimination of a group; Germany • Ethnocide: destruction of cultures of certain ethnic groups • Forced assimilation: dominant group forces an ethnic group to adopt the dominant culture; many countries have penalized or banned the language and customs of other ethnic groups • Example: anti-Basque campaign that was waged in Spain; banned Basque books, journals, newspapers, signs, sermons, tombstones, and language • Ethnic expulsion – aims at removing groups who are culturally different from a country • A policy of expulsion may create refugees – people who have been forced or have chosen to flee a country or left to escape persecution or war • Contributes to the formation of diasporas • Cultural Colonialism: internal domination by one group and its culture or ideology over others; dominant culture makes itself official culture 15 -35

RECAP 15. 1: Types of Ethnic Interaction 15 -36