Chapter 7 in a Nutshell Defining Ethnicity in the US –Black vs African American –Hispanic, Latino or Chicano Distribution: Where –US: Regional Distribution –US: Urban Distribution –Ethnicity and Racial Discrimination Ethnicity in the City Ethnicity and Nationality –Nationalism –Multinational States –Revival of ethnicity in Europe Ethnic Conflict –Dominance in multiethnic states –Ethnicities divided among multiple staes Ethnic Cleansing

Ethnicity Identity with a group of people who chare the cultural traditions of a particular homeland Ethnic usually implies outsider

Census Definitions Race – White, Black or African American, American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, some other race –2000: allowed to select multiple races Ethnicity: Hispanic or Latino, Not Hispanic or Latino Nationality Country of Birth

Race Race is “socially constructed” –It is meaningful because society says so –It is not biologically meaningful Most of the genetic diversity in human populations is found within ALL races, and not between races.

African-American vs Black American 1890 census: black, mulatto, quadroon, octoroon. 20 th century: colored -> Negro -> black -> African-American Jesse Jackson promoted African- American in the 1980s Can Americans descended from Africans, but not from Slaves, call themselves African-American?

Hispanic, Chicano, Latino Hispanic –1980 census: Spanish/Hispanic Origin or Descent –Spain included, Brazil excluded –Some consider derogatory Chicano –Exclusively Mexican-American –Tends to emphasize indigenous, not Spanish descent –Used by militants in 1960s/70s Latino –Latin American –My opinion - Perhaps a more neutral term, but perhaps gendered. Key point: Identity is both chosen for us and by us.

Ethnicity in US Cities

Why do ethnicities cluster? Defensive functions: Reduce isolation and vulnerability of individuals Support functions: “port-of entry” and “haven” functions. Religion, welfare, protection of ethnic enterprise, … Cultural preservation: preservation and promotion. “Attack” functions: political representation

The gatekeepers of segregation Discriminatory behavior –Lenders –Realtors Block-busting and Steering –Insurors –Landlords You and me –Different cultural definitions of “integrated”

Assimilation Both charter group and ethnic group are changed. Behavioral Assimilation: acquisition of language, norms and values of charter group. Structural Assimilation: diffusion of the ethnic group through social and occupational strata of charter group. Most research has assumed that assimilation is a good thing. –Is assimilation good? –If not, how should we change our descriptions of it?