Race and Ethnicity

Does race matter?

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sam3deneMgk

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGiVX9uVB3I

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zikzc9sx4fE

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjGLECNnxKE

• What is “race?” – a category of people who share physical

characteristics.

• What are the races? Make a list!

Races in the US (2000 Census)• White

– A person having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East, or North Africa. It includes people who indicate their race as "White" or report entries such as Irish, German, Italian, Lebanese, Near Easterner, Arab, or Polish."[11]

• Black or African American– A person having origins in any of the Black racial groups of Africa. It includes

people who indicate their race as 'Black, African Am., or Negro,' or provide written entries such as African American, Afro American, Kenyan, Nigerian, or Haitian."[11]

And the others…

• Asian– A person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East,

Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent including, for example, Cambodia, China, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippine Islands, Thailand, and Vietnam. It includes 'Asian Indian,' 'Chinese', 'Filipino', 'Korean', 'Japanese', 'Vietnamese', and 'Other Asian'.

• Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander• American Indian and Alaska Native• “Some other Race”• “Two or more races”

What is the difference between different races? (How can you tell the difference?)

• Our society makes our own definitions

• Race is socially constructed– Definitions vary from

society to society and person to person

That list is only the races according to the United States (or at least the US government) in 2000.

• Barack Obama has a white mother and a black father (he’s half black, half white)– Why is he black? Why isn't

he called white? Why isn't he part of a category called "gray"? or "mulatto"

• Because of America’s slave and white supremacist history, anyone with any “black blood” is black.

• Race is determined by society, and every society (and time period) has different definitions for what races are.

Race: a category of people who share physical characteristics.

–Past classification:•Caucasoids- fair skin, straight or wavy hair

•Mongoloids- yellowish or brownish skin, fold of eyelid called “Asiatic fold”

•Negroids- dark skin, wooly hair

Where did these terms come from?– Origin of the terms comes from racial "scholars" of the 1800s - many

of whom also practiced Craniometry and phrenology(the study of skulls to predict traits or intelligence)

– The study of skulls, and other physical traits was used by many scientists and psuedoscientists of the time to justify segregation, imperialism, and racism.

• It was a common belief at the time that a large skull meant a large brain and high intellectual capacity, and a small skull indicated a small brain and decreased intellectual capacity.

• Pseudoscientists like Samuel George Morton studied skulls from ancient Egypt and argued that the ancient Egyptians were not Negroes, but were Caucasians. (since they had smaller skulls, and were obviously developed)

– The different "races" were given different characteristics• The caucasoids were supposed to be smarter and more organized,

and the other groups not as much.

No clear cut categories

• There are some problems with the traditional classification system– Ainu of Japan have white skin and Asian eyes– Bushmen of Africa have yellowish skin and Asian eye– Australian aborigines have dark skin and blonde wooly hair

There is practically no genetic basis to race• With cross-breeding and constant movement of people

around the world, race becomes very complicated and impossible to truly distinguish

• In fact, scientists say there is practically no genetic basis to race! (no such thing)

With all of the variety in designations and self-designations, why do we still have, and still talk about

race?

The only way that the concept of race survives is because it is socially constructed

• Societies and groups decide the definitions of what a race is, and it can vary greatly from person to person or society to society.

• Example: Barack Obama – what is his race?– Most call him black- but his father is a black Kenyan dad and mom is

white from Kansas» Why is he called black? – In American society – “black” applies

even if someone only has a little bit of “African” ancestry. Legally in the south, even 1/16 “black” ancestry made one legally “black”

Why do we have race?

• History and society–America’s “one

drop rule”•Slave states made slaves of any with almost any black ancestor

The story of Homer Adolph Plessy

Why do we still have race today?

– Tradition passed down, despite scientific facts. (There is more genetic variety within "whites" then there is difference between the average "white" and the average "black")

– People are still treated differently on the basis of the color of their skin

“How Can a Plane Ride Change Your Race?”

• Basic Brazilian racial classification system

What is White?

• How many of you are white?– (after raised hands) – how many Irish, Italian,

Polish, Czech, Yugoslavian, Ukrainian, Russian, Jewish

– 150 years ago you were NOT white.

• Ethnic group: a group of individuals who have a common cultural background

Difference races, same ethnicity

• Ethnicity: cultural characteristics that distinguish one group from another; based on national origin, religion, language, customs, values

• Sometimes ethnicity goes beyond national origin. Jewish people linked by a common history and family values.

What about you???

• Do you do anything “ethnic” for holidays or special occasions? Or are you fully “American”?

• ethnic group is a group of people whose members identify with each other, through a common heritage that is real or assumed

• A shared culture