Ethnicity

Ethnicity Terms Ethnicity identity with a group of people who share the cultural traditions of a particular homeland or hearth Comes from Greek word ethnikos (national) Race: identity with a group of people who share a biological ancestor Comes from the French word for generation Geographers are interested in where ethnicities are distributed across space Ethnic groups tied to a place No globalizing ethnicity Ethnicity is strongest bulwark for preservation of local diversity

Where are Ethnicities distributed? Ethnicities may be clustered in specific areas within a country, or the area it inhabits may closely match the boundaries of a country Distribution in U.S. Clustering on two scales May live in particular region(s) of the country May live in particular neighborhoods within cities Two largest ethnicities Hispanics (Latinos) – 15% of population African Americans – 13% of population Regional Concentrations South: African Americans Southwest: Hispanics West: Asians Mid-West: Native Americans

Concentration of Ethnicities in cities African-Americans and Hispanics cluster in urban areas African-Americans: ½ live in cities Only ¼ of American population lives in cities Example: Detroit African Americans comprise 85% of population in Detroit Only make up 7% of population of Michigan Chicago 1/3 African American 1/12 rest of Illinois

Concentration of Ethnicities in Cities Hispanic distribution similar to African-Americans New York City ¼ Hispanic 1/16 rest of New York States with largest populations California ½ of Los Angeles population ½ or less in other major Cali cities Texas El Paso and San Antonio are more than ½ Hispanic Other cities are at or below 1/3

African American Migration Patterns Three major migration flows: Africa to America in 1700’s Forced migration of slaves US South to Northern cities during early 1900s Ghettos formed Inner city to other urban neighborhoods during late 1900’s to 2000’s Forced Migration (1 st wave) 1 st Africans brought to American colonies as slaves arrived at Jamestown, Virginia in ’s 400,000 Africans shipped to 13 colonies 1808 US banned bringing in additional slaves, but 250,000 were illegally imported Height of slave trade ( ) at least 10 million Africans were forced to Western Hemisphere for sale in slave markets

African American Migration Patterns Nearly all Africans shipped to colonies ended up in Southeast Attitudes towards slavery dominated politics in 1800’s Civil War ( ) US adopted 13 th amendment to constitution prohibiting slavery Freed slaves remained in the south for the most part as sharecroppers System burdened poor African Americans with high interest rates and heavy debts Immigration to Northern cities (2 nd wave) Industrial boom pulled AA’s to the north Migrated out of clearly defined channels Two main waves 1910’s and 1920’s migrationmigration 1940’s and 1950’s Encouraged by jobs needed from WWI and WWII

African American Immigration Patterns AA clustered into one or two neighborhoods Named ghetto’s after the term from WWII Baltimore 1950s Baltimore’s ¼ of African Americans lived in a 1 square mile neighborhood Ghettos Densities typical of 40,000 inhabitants per square mile Compared to 2,000 p2m in suburbs Often result of multiple families living together Often lacked bathrooms, kitchens, hot water, and heat 3 rd wave: Ghettos to neighborhoods Moved into adjacent neighborhoods in 1950’s and 1960’s

Differentiating Ethnicity and Race Difficulty to differentiate between ethnicity and raceDifficulty to differentiate between ethnicity and race Three prominent ethnicities in US Hispanic Americans African Americans Asian Americans All three display distinct cultural features that originated at particular hearths Asian recognized as a distinct race by U.S. Bureau of Census Asian race and ethnicity usually same group Asian ethnicity “lumps” together people with ties to many countries in Asia African-American Supposedly two different groups African American trace heritage to an African Immigrant Ethnicity and group with extensive cultural tradition Black heritage from other regions like Latin American, Asia A principle that denotes darker skin (bio) Most see themselves as both Latino Not considered a race Can choose any race on the census

Race in the United States Traits that characterize race are those that can be genetically transmitted from parents to children Example: Lactose intolerance in large percentage of Asian- Americans Biological classification by race is the basis for racism Idea that some races are superior to others 2000 census White Black, African American American Indian or Alaska Native Asian Indian Chinese Filipino Japanese Korean Vietnamese Other Asian Native Hawiian Guamanian Samoan Other Pacific Islander Other race

South Africa While U.S. was repealing segregation laws in 1950s and 1960s, South Africa was enacting them System created by Boers (Afrikaners) of Dutch descent Cornerstone of South African policy = Apartheid Physical separation of races into different geographic areas Four classifications Black White Mixed Asian Consequences Different legal status Limitations Laws appealed in 1991 African National Congress legalized Nelson Mandela released from jail 1994 MandelaMandela 1 st elections Nelson Mandela elected 1 st black President Today Still a work in progress, especially economically

South Africa