Racial and Ethnic Identity Racial Formation and Social

Racial and Ethnic Identity Racial Formation and Social Construction

Introductory Questions • Which of the following identities is socially constructed? – Race – Ethnicity – Class – Gender – Merit

Questions, continued • Which of the following is most important in determining one’s life chances in American society? – – – Race Ethnicity Class Gender Merit Luck

Waters: Overview Questions • What is the new ethnicity? • When Waters says that the two most important characteristics of latergeneration ethnicity are choice and dynamism, what does she mean?

Approaches to Understanding Racial and Ethnic Identities • The Racial Formation Approach (Omi and Winant) – Global processes (European, Islam) – Societal processes (acceptance, demands) • The Social Construction Approach – Thick/thin dimension – Asserted/assigned – Ethnic options (Mary Waters)

Questions Posed by Waters • Why do some people choose to be ethnic? • What factors influence our choice of ancestries? • What are the advantages and disadvantages of living in an ethnic neighborhood?

Questions, continued • What are the roles of cultural practices? – Language – Food – Holidays – Weddings and funerals

Challenging v. Conforming Identities • Malcolm X: I am not an American – Origins of Hip Hop – Will Smith, Nelly • Martin Luther King, Jr. : brotherhood of all mankind – Crossover music by Latino artists: Gloria Estevan, J-LO, Ricky Martin, Mark Anthony

Will we ever quit viewing race as real? • George Will: can we say race is still an important barrier in American society given Oprah, Colin Powell, and Michael Jordan? • Counter evidence – Guadalupe, Arizona (Bob Herbert) – Residential segregation, economic inequality