Ethnicity

What Is It? ► Refers to a group of people who share a common identity. ► First came into popular usage during the 1940’s as an alternative to the term “race,” which was negatively associated with Hitler’s Nazi regime. ► Involves more than physical characteristics associated with race; also includes a person’s perceived social and cultural identity.

Charter Group ► The first ethnic group to establish cultural norms in an area. ► Sometimes called the “first effective settlement” or “first self-perpetuating society,” whose imprint affects modern cultural geography or an area. ► Cultural geography of the eastern United States was heavily influenced by British settlers, while southwestern cultural geography displays more Spanish influence.

Ethnocentrism ► Tendency to evaluate other cultures against the standards of one’s own, implying superiority of one’s ethnic group. ► Can be negative in multiethnic societies by provoking social discord and isolation. ► Can be positive when ethnic groups exist in relative isolation by providing familiarity through traditions, friends, business opportunities, and political identification.

Ethnic Enclaves ► A relatively small area occupied by a distinct culture or ethnicity, which largely result from chain migration. ► “Little Italy” or “Chinatown” are common names of ethnic enclaves that exist in numerous American cities. ► Ease the adaptation process by providing business opportunities, community, and cultural items and traditions from home such as food and clothes.

Ethnic Cleansing and Genocide ► Cleansing involves the effort to rid a country or region of everyone of a particular ethnicity either through forced migration or genocide. ► Genocide is a premeditated effort to kill everyone from a particular ethnic group.

Ethnic Neighborhoods ► Concentrations of people from the same ethnicity in certain pockets of the city. ► Results from friends and relatives who have immigrated, encouraging friends and relatives back home to join them where opportunities or freedom are more available. ► When ethnic groups are forced to live in segregated parts of the city, the ethnic neighborhood becomes a “ghetto.” ► Ghettos exist in some of the least desirable locations within a city.

Ethnic Islands ► Small, rural areas settled by a single ethnic group as opposed to ethnic neighborhoods or enclaves, which are urban. ► Formed in the United States by later settlers including Scandinavians in the north central states; Germans in the Appalachians, upper midwest, and Texas; Slavics in the western plains; and Armenians and Italians in California. ► Leave their imprint in rural areas through housing, barn style, and farmstead layouts.

Ethnic Provinces ► When entire regions become associated with ethnic or racial aggregations. ► Include French Canadians in Quebec; African Americans in the U.S. southeast; Native Americans in Oklahoma, the southwest, the northern plains and prairies; and Hispanics in the southwestern border states.

Social Distance ► Measure of the perceived differences between an immigrant ethnic group and the charter or host society. ► Increases with greater perceived differences between groups, diminishing the likelihood of the charter group assimilating the newcomers. ► When distance is high, ethnic neighborhoods or enclaves exist for much longer than when it is low.

Segregation ► Measure of the extent to which members of a particular minority ethnic group are not uniformly distributed among the total population. ► Quantitatively measured using the segregation index or index of residential dissimilarity. ► Index indicates the percentage difference between two ethnic groups. ► In New York, in 2000, segregation measured at 82 percent, meaning 82 percent of blacks (or whites) need to locate to new census tracts before equal distribution is achieved.

Diaspora ► Experiences of people who come from a common ethnic background but live in different regions or ethnic neighborhoods. ► Often used to refer to Jews or blacks of African descent, who maintain aspects of their common heritage despite living outside their home community. ► Often illustrates itself through music, food, or religious traditions that allow individuals to celebrate and maintain common heritage outside of native culture region.

Gender and Sex ► Gender refers to socially created distinctions between masculinity and femininity, while sex connotes biological differences between males and females. ► Geographers are increasingly interested in spatial behavior pattern differences between males and females. ► For example, females, for safety reasons, may be less willing to travel alone in certain parts of a city as compared to males. ► Culture can play a strong role in determining a woman’s role in society, which often has implications for economic development.

Popular “Pop” Culture ► Conveys a notion of cultural productions fueled by mass media and consumerism. ► Includes visual and performing arts, culinary arts, architecture and city planning, music, fashion, sports, leisure activities, and other forms of entertainment. ► Does not reflect local environment; looks virtually the same anywhere it appears. ► Rapidly changes over time as evidenced by terms such as fad or trend commonly used in pop culture lingo.

Cultural Imperialism ► Dominance of one culture over another. ► Historically, often occurred as a result of colonization. ► Occurs in present day as pop culture, which is so easily diffused across national boundaries; causes local traditions to either die out or become completely commercialized. ► Sometimes called cultural homogenization, as pop culture continually pervades the globe.

Folk Culture ► Refers to cultural practices that form the sights, smells, sounds, and rituals of everyday existence in traditional societies in which they developed. ► Usually rural, with strong family ties and strong interpersonal relationships leading to cohesive group identity. ► Usually form a subsistence economy, where most goods are handmade, and most individuals perform a variety of tasks father than specializing in any one area. ► Elements vary dramatically from place to place but do not change much over time.

Folk Cultures Today ► Very few exist today, especially in North America. ► Many traditions perpetuated, materially and nonmaterially, through art and other handicraft as well as music, stories, philosophies, and belief systems. ► Relics of past folk culture exist in the present in the form of different types of houses, food and drink, and music, and different kinds of medicines and remedies.

Vernacular Regions ► A perceptual region defined by perceived unique physical and cultural characteristics in that area. ► While region boundaries are based on individual perception, much overlap exists among people as to where these regions exist. ► For example, most people in the United States would define the boundaries of the “Deep South” similarly. ► Many of the defining characteristics are based on stereotypes, often from mass media sources, particularly if an individual has not had direct experience with a place.

Sense of Place ► Term used to connote attachment to and comfort in a particular place. ► Typically individuals have strongest sense of place attached to where they grew up, which is manifested by loyalty to sports teams and other items people associated with “home.” ► Many argue that individuals are losing it as “placeless” landscapes of pop culture increasingly take over the unique characteristics of local landscapes.

Placelessness ► Loss of distinct local features in favor of standardized landscapes. ► Happens as a result of pervasiveness of pop culture and mass production and availability of a wide variety of consumables. ► Fought through opposition of establishment of pop culture elements such as big box stores like Walmart or standardized and stagnant strip malls. ► Communities fighting placelessness work to promote local businesses and local characteristics to keep their place unique.