population trends and policy the concept of race roger b. hammer assistant professor department of...

Population Trends and Policy

The Concept of RaceThe Concept of Race

Roger B. HammerAssistant Professor

Department of SociologyOregon State University

Is Race Self Evident?Is Race Self Evident?• People whose ancestors originated in Africa,

Asia, and Europe typically have different skin color, hair texture and other superficial features.

• It is assumed that race has been a source of identity and intergroup antagonism throughout history.

• Race remains a widely used term for socially defined groups.


The Origins of DiversityThe Origins of Diversity• Modern human beings (Homo sapiens sapiens) are the

most recent branch of hominids that emerged in Africa around 100,000 to 150,000 years ago.

• As humans became the dominant species in their initial ecosystem, they experienced reproductive success that increased their numbers relative to local food supplies.

• The most common response to population growth in excess of the carrying capacity of a local environment is migration to new regions and ecosystems.


EthnocentricismEthnocentricism• The nearly universal tendency to believe in the

rightness of one’s own group and the natural aversion to difference (Simpson and Yinger 1985).

• A product of socialization into the beliefs and practices of one’s own society, seeing them as natural and, by contrast, seeing the behavior and culture of those who are different as unnatural.

• Patriotism, the celebration of a society’s virtues, and the disparagement of the backwardness and the savagery of others have their roots in ethnocentrism.


RacismRacism• “Others” and “otherness” is not simply a product of

socialization, language, or culture, but is part of the inherent character of different groups.

• The belief that humans can be divided into a finite number of races with differing inherited and immutable characteristics and capacities.

• Ethnocentrism is a common feature of most societies, but racism is a modern development of the last few centuries.

• The word “race” did not appear until the late 17th century and did not acquire its modern connotation until the early 19th century.


RaceRaceA modern idea that emerged in recent centuries as a

result of three transformations that created sharp divides between Europeans and other peoples:

1) the enslavement of millions of Africans in plantation economies in the New World;

2) the spread of European colonial rule across the world, especially in Asia and Africa in the nineteenth century; and

3) the development of Social Darwinism—the pseudoscientific theory of European superiority that became dominant in the nineteenth century.


Race-Making InstitutionsRace-Making InstitutionsTraditional -vs- Modern SlaveryTraditional -vs- Modern Slavery

• Although inherently exploitative, traditional slavery was tempered (children of slaves could be assimilated into the dominant population). There was often a shared history and culture between masters and slaves that did not deny the humanity of slaves.

• European enslavement of Africans in the New World played a critical role in the emergence of the racial ideology of white supremacy. The extreme levels of economic exploitation combined with the denial of even the most basic human rights could only be explained by dehumanizing the enslaved population.


Race-Making InstitutionsRace-Making InstitutionsEuropean ImperialismEuropean Imperialism

• With the beginnings of the Industrial Revolution in the 19th century, European powers were able to dominate, militarily and politically, the landmasses and peoples of Asia and Africa.

• European colonialists created sharp divisions of prestige, power, and economic status between the rulers and the ruled , because these divisions coincided with differences in color and other physical attributes between Europeans and Asians and Africans, racism provided a powerful legitimation of imperialism.


Race Without RacismRace Without Racism• As the world changed in the second half of the

twentieth century, racism waned but the formerly defined races and racial boundaries remained meaningful social categories in many societies, influencing both popular perceptions and the design of public policy and scientific research.

• Although the historical assumption that populations consist of a finite number of mutually exclusive racial groups is no longer tenable, awareness of this fact is relatively new.



Measuring RaceMeasuring Race1890 – Scientific Racism1890 – Scientific Racism

U. S. Census Bureau. 2002. Measuring America: The Decennial Censuses from 1790 to 2000


Measuring RaceMeasuring Race1930 – One-drop Rule1930 – One-drop Rule



Measuring RaceMeasuring Race1960 – Self-Enumeration1960 – Self-Enumeration


Shift from interviewer observation to householder

enumeration in 1960



Number of American Indians was 50% higher according to 1960 Census than according to estimates based on 1950

Census.

Race and Civil RightsRace and Civil Rights• The 1965 Voting Rights Act gave the federal

government the right to review electoral boundaries in areas where the potential voting power of racial groups and language minorities might be diluted by local government bodies.

• 1975 legislation specified that in addition to blacks, the law was intended to protect the rights of “persons who are American Indian, Asian American, Alaska Native, or of Spanish heritage.”

• These new federal responsibilities could only be undertaken with detailed census data on race and other groups by geographic areas.


Race and EthnicityRace and Ethnicity• In the 1970 census, a new question on Hispanic origin

was included on the long form (5 percent sample). • In 1980 Hispanic origin was moved to the short form

(100 percent of the respondents). • This was a complete turnaround from the response to

the creation of a category for Mexicans in the race question in the 1930 census when the Mexican American population (and the Mexican government) protested against stygmatization of being a race.

• By 1970 leadership of the Latino community insisted on being labeled an ethnic group rather than a racial one.


Race and EthnicityRace and Ethnicity• In 1977 the US Office of Management and Budget

(OMB) issued Statistical Directive No. 15, which defines “race and ethnic standards.”

• The only rationale it offers for the racial classification is that it was developed in response to needs of the executive branch and Congress.

• Although it defines race and ethnic categories but it does not provide clear criteria to define race or ethnicity.


• 1990 detailed listing of specific Asian and 1990 detailed listing of specific Asian and Pacific Islander populations, including eight Pacific Islander populations, including eight specific national-origin populations (and an specific national-origin populations (and an “other” category).“other” category).

Race as a Political CategoryRace as a Political Category

Population Trends and Policies


Measuring RaceMeasuring Race1970 1970 –– 1990 Race and Ethnicity1990 Race and Ethnicity

The 1980 Census omitted “Race.”


Measuring RaceMeasuring Race2000 – Multiple Racial Groups2000 – Multiple Racial Groups


Measuring RaceMeasuring Race2000 Multiple Race2000 Multiple Race

Number of American Indians in 2000 was either 24% or 110% higher than in 1990

depending on usage of single or multiple identifiers.


Measuring RaceMeasuring Race2000 Multiple Race2000 Multiple Race

42% of Hispanics checked “some other race,” another 6% checked multiple races

with one of those being “some other race.”


Measuring RaceMeasuring Race

• Ethnicity is explicitly subjective, it Ethnicity is explicitly subjective, it acknowledges multiple ancestries, and it acknowledges multiple ancestries, and it recognizes that ethnic groups are porous and recognizes that ethnic groups are porous and heterogeneous. heterogeneous.

• The challenging task is to develop meaningful The challenging task is to develop meaningful measures of ethnicity and alternative concepts measures of ethnicity and alternative concepts for use in censuses, surveys, and for use in censuses, surveys, and administrative records.administrative records.

Race or EthnicityRace or EthnicityPopulation Trends and Policies

population trends and policy the concept of race roger b. hammer assistant professor department of...

Documents

word race

new world

modern development

dominant population

modern slaveryalthough

european powers

modern connotation

new regions