Race and Racism Chapter 6 Race A flawed

Race and Racism Chapter 6

Race A flawed system of classification, with no biological basis that uses certain physical distinction to divide the human population into supposedly discrete groups: . . Skin pigments. . Eye color. . Hair color. . Body size Before Darwin’s theory, when talking about ‘races’ would be described as “ English race”, “ Irish race”, etc. After theory in 1859 views then changed to what was more ‘Ape’ characteristics.

Racism Individual thoughts and actions and institutional patterns and policies that create unequal access to power, resources, and opportunities based on imagined differences among groups.

Do Biologically Separate Races Exist? LINKING PHENOTYPE TO GENOTYPE Considering human physical diversity, physical anthropologists distinguish between genotype and phenotype. Genotype: the inherited genetic factors that provide the framework for an organism’s physical form. Phenotype: way genes are expressed in an organism’s physical form as a result of genotype interaction with environmental factors.

Race and the Legacy of Colonialism The practice a nation-state extends political, economic, & military power beyond its own borders over an extended period of time to secure access to raw materials, cheap labor, markets in other countries or regions.

How is Race constructed In U. S. ? Every 10 years the U. S. conducts a Census. It began in 1790 to provide an idea of changing conception of ‘race’. 1850 - census had three categories‘White, Black, Mulatto’. 1870 - census expanded to five categories to incorporate new immigrants from China and account for Native American pop. - ‘White, Black, Mulatto, Chinese, Indian (Native American)’. 1940 - eight categories- ‘White, Negro, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, Hindu, Korean. 2010 census- 14 separate “race” boxes

Racial Categories White supremacy: belief that whites are biologically different and superior to people of other races. Whiteness: culturally constructed concept originating in 1691 Virginia. Designed to establish clear boundaries of who is white and who is not, a process central to the formation of U. S. racial stratification. • http: //www. cnn. com/2 013/11/20/living/whitesupremacist-one-dropidentity/index. html

The Rule of Hypodescent Sometimes known as the “one drop rule”- the assignment of children of racially ‘mixed’ union to the subordinate group. Sanctioned by the United States Supreme Court- began during slavery. In 1982 a court case to determine the listing of an individual born in 1977 in the South as being ‘colored’ but looked ‘white’. All based on the % of black ancestry.

Race & Immigration Nativism Favoring certain long-term inhabitants over new immigrants. 19 th cent. ‘Nativists’ fought hard to preserve the so-called racial purity of nations Anglo-Saxon origins. Riots, violence, discrimination, antiimmigrant views common.

Eugenics A pseudoscience attempting to scientifically prove the existence of separate human races to improve the population’s genetic composition by favoring some races over others.

Types of Racism Racialization: to categorize, to differentiate, and attribute a particular racial character to a person or group of people. Individual racism: personal prejudiced beliefs and discriminatory actions based on race. Racial ideology: a set of popular ideas about race that allow the discriminatory behaviors of individuals and institutions to seem reasonable, rational and normal. Institutional racism: patterns by which racial inequality is structured through key cultural institutions, policies, and systems.