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Cultural Identity: Race and Ethnicity
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Culture groups Races Ethnic groups
Few or many characteristics (language, religion, race, food, etc.) Subculture Races Single species Secondary biological characteristics Ethnic groups Ethnocentrism
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Race –a categorization of humans based on skin color and other physical characteristics. Racial categories are social and political constructions because they are based on ideas that some biological differences are more important than others.
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Race Does not exist on a scientific level, despite influence of the idea. Biological variation is real; the order we impose on this variation by using the concept of race is not. Race is a product of the human mind, not of nature. Based on a three category system developed in Europe in the 18th century: caucasians, mongoloids, and blacks. The truth is that there is very little fundamental genetic variety between humans and no way to tell where one category stops and another begins. Race is literally skin deep. There has not been enough time for much genetic variation. We do not have distinct “races” or “subspecies.”
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The Human Race Technically race is not a correct term-since we are all the same race or species-human. Example-all dogs are the same species-yet great variation in size, color, shape, etc.-FAR LESS VARIETY IN HUMANS. Human subspecies exhibit a difference in gene frequency-e.g. northern Europe-blue-eyed dominant, southern Europe brown-eyed is dominant Many anthropologist would like to see the term race dropped as we use it
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Four Basic Human Stocks
Negroid stock from African sources Australoid stock of Southeast Asia origins Mongoloid stock which arose in East Asia Caucasoid stock from Southwest Asia & European sources These stocks are based on skin color, physique, facial shape and hair style
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Skin Color Skin color is determined by melanin or pigment-dark skin originated in low latitudes-light skin originated at high latitudes. Melanin is a pigment that protects the inner layers of skin from damage from ultraviolet rays. Darker skin produces more vitamin D. Skin color not a reliable indicator of racial relationships-e.g. Aboriginal Australians & Sub-Saharan Africans are dark-skinned, but not closely related genetically. Why do Tropical South Americans have lighter skin than Tropical Africans?-Arrival time-South American indigenous population arrive there between 13,000 to 30,000 years ago-thus not enough time for more melanin development.
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Physique & Physical Traits
Bergmann’s Rule-people in warmer climates tend to be more slender-people in cooler climates tend to be more squat-this also applies to animals Heads-cephalic index-ratio of width & length of skull-Europeans—long heads, Japanese—round heads. Noses-warm, moist climates—short,wide, flat noses; Low latitudes deserts, high latitude dry zones—long narrow noses Top-a young Chinese girl in Shanghai Bottom-Italian mother & children from Palermo, Sicily Piera-30, Murizizio 2, Pietro 9
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Physique & Physical Traits
Hair- general tendency; Asians—straight hair; Europeans—curly hair, African—wooly hair. Eyes-epicanthic folds-small piece of overlapping skin that give the eyelid a distinctive appearance-the fold is present in East Asians, South African San people and Native Americans Haida boy-Northwest coast Native American
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Race as a Social Category
Race is more difficult to use as a social category due to increased mixing of races. In Africa-darkness of pigmentation is still the basis of “racial” divisions, to some degree in India-Aryan, Dravidian. Racism-a belief that your race is superior to others- Apartheid in South Africa ended in the 1990s Racial Segregation in the US not banned-but still de facto Picture at the bottom-South Africa during apatheid Chicago and Washington, DC remain remarkably segregated today despite attempts to desegrate.
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On Racism and Colonialism –
“Colonial racism was a major element in that conception of ‘Empire’ which attempted to weld dynastic legitimacy and national community. It did so by generalizing a principle of innate, inherited superiority on which its own domestic position was (however shakily) based on the vastness of overseas possessions, covertly (or not so covertly) conveying the idea that if, say, English lords were naturally superior to other Englishmen, no matter: these other Englishmen were no less superior to the subjected natives.” - Benedict Anderson Aborigines in Darwin, Australia
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Racial Categories are typically imposed on people through:
Residential segregation-(Milwaukee, Detroit) Racialized divisions of labor Racial categories defined by governments Overall residential segregation on the decline, however in the 220 urban areas it has increased For blacks the most racially segregated city is Milwaukee, followed by Detroit. The least racially segregated area for blacks was Orange County, California
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Japan Town, San Francisco, 1910
Race in the U.S. Genetic mixing is so common and complete that most geographers dismiss race as a category since it can not be clearly tied to place. Rosa Parks Japan Town, San Francisco, 1910 Dogs Used to Control Protestors, 1957
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Population in the U. S. by Race, 2000 In 2000, the U. S
Population in the U.S. by Race, 2000 In 2000, the U.S. Census Bureau allowed Americans to categorize themselves as one race or more than one race.
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Estimated Percentage of U. S
Estimated Percentage of U.S. Population by Race and Ethnicity until In 2000, the U.S. Census Bureau calculated race and Hispanic origin separately. Estimates are that by 2050, the “White, non-Hispanic population will no longer be the majority.
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Residential Segregation
The “degree to which two or more groups live separately from one another, in different parts of the urban environment.” Massey and Denton Chicago’s Robert Taylor Homes-now being torn down
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Highest Rate of Residential Segregation for African Americans:
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
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Lowest Rate of Residential Segregation for Hispanics/Latinos: Baltimore for Asians/Pacific Islanders: Baltimore, Maryland
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Invasion and Succession:
Identities in Neighborhoods change over time: The Santo Domingo enclave of Washington Heights, New York The Domincan flag waves from a flagpost-the language of the street & signs are all in Spanish. Juan Pablo Duarte Boulevard bustles with customers. Invasion and Succession: new immigrants to a city often move to areas occupied by older immigrant groups.
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Sense of Place We infuse places with meaning and feeling, with memories and emotions. Our sense of place becomes part of our identity and our identity affects the ways we define and experience place.
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What is ethnicity? How is it different than race?
1. identity with a group of people who share the cultural traditions of a particular homeland or hearth. Thus: customs, cultural characteristics, language, common history, homeland, etc... 2. a socially created system of rules about who belongs and who does not belong to a particular group based on actual or perceived commonality of origin, race, culture. This notion is clearly tied to place. Turkish Armenian Puerto Rican Mongolian Japanese Kazakh Thai Chinese
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Ethnicity Ethnicity – a constructed identity that is tied to a place … it is often considered “natural” because it implies ancient relations among people over time.
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Ethnic Patterns & Processes
Ethnicity is NOT the same as race, but it is as important. It is culture, NOT race, that dominates the world’s patterns today Ethnicity is more difficult to define Shared cultural traits Common history Treasured cultural landscapes Perceived threat to language or religion Quechuan woman at a sacred Incan site Quechuan woman at a sacred Incan site
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Ethnic Mosaics “Welcome to Little Havana”
Ethnic comes from the Greek word for people or nation “ethnos” Ethnic often used to describe a neighborhood or a cuisine. Ethnic enclaves are common in urban areas; “China Town,” “Little Italy,” or “Little Mexico.” Racial or ethnic identity often a matter of self perception. Examples: Slovenia became independent from Yugoslavia in 1991-justified it on “race”, the right to control its own domain. Northern Ireland-no racial distinction-2 ethnic groups with religion as the ethnic glue-Protestant versus Catholic. Belgium-a linguistic difference-Walloons versus Flemish Apartheid of South Africa homelands based on ethnic groups Popular American culture often erodes the ethnic neighborhood cohesiveness-e.g. Little Havana-old values such as family ties and church are eroded by the acculturation of the young-yet acculturation NOT resulting in rapid assimilation. “Welcome to Little Havana”
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Ethnicities in Chicago
Fig. 7-5: African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Asian Americans, and European Americans are clustered in different areas of the city.
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Cultural Revival & Linkage
Ethnic dispersal takes place-yet links to the old neighborhood or homeland remain. This linkage is aided by modern media & communication. African-Americans demonstrated against South African apartheid. Irish-Americans sent money to support the I.R.A. in its struggle against Britain.
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Hispanic Americans in the U.S.
Fig. 7-2: The highest percentages of Hispanic Americans are in the southwest and in northern cities.
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African Americans in the U.S.
Fig. 7-1: The highest percentages of African Americans are in the rural South and in northern cities.
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Native Americans in the U.S.
Fig. 7-4: The highest percentages of Native Americans are in parts of the plains, the southwest, and Alaska.
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How does a place change when the people who live there change?
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Sexuality and Space Where people with a shared identity cluster, how do they create a space for themselves?
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Power Relationships Power Relationships
assumptions and structures about who is in control, who has power over others. Through power relationships, people create places where they limit the access of other peoples Belfast, Northern Ireland
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How do Power Relationships factor into How People are Counted?
The U.S. Census undercounts: - minority populations - the homeless The Gross National Income (GNI) does not count: - unpaid work of women in the household - work done by rural women in poorer countries
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Ethnic Groups in Los Angeles
Barrioization – when the population of a neighborhood changes over largely to Hispanics. cultural landscapes change to reflect changing populations strife is usually tied to economic change
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Nationalities and States
Nationality - legally it is a term encompassing all the citizens of a state, but most definitions refer now to an identity with a group of people who generally occupy a specific territory and bound together by a sense of unity arising from shared ethnicity, customs, belief, or legal status. Such unity rarely exists today within a state today. State - a politically organized territory that is administered by a sovereign government Nation-state – a sovereign state that is overwhelmingly dominated by one ethnicity or “nationality” (see definition above). Are there any states that still meet the definition of nation-state?
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Nationalism As simple patriotism it helps create national unity
the policy or doctrine of asserting the interests of one's own nation, viewed as separate from the interests of other nations. As simple patriotism it helps create national unity When extreme it can be very dangerous to minorities and Can breed intolerance of difference and others
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