Marriages and Families:
Changes, Choices, and Constraints
Seventh Edition
Nijole V. Benokraitis
Chapter Four
Racial and Ethnic Families:
Strengths and Stresses
Susie Guillory Phipps
Alice Jones Rhinelander
Boxer Ralph Dupas
fought and lost to Sugar Ray Robinson in
1963
Black genes trump White genes
– One Black ancestor makes an Anglo-Saxon or
Chinese Black.
– But not the other way around.
Mauro Edmonson (Tulane)
– Average White Person 5% Black genes
– Average Black Person 25% White genes
Vermont-racially mixed parents have a baby that is
mixed.
North Carolina-racially mixed are not classified
Mississippi-”Inquire of the Principals”
West Virginia-”Black if either parent is Black.
Pennsylvania-The mother’s provides info
Florida-Mother is asked to determine race
Texas
-Father’s race
Comparison of US census classifications of race or colour, 1890-2000a
1890
1900
1910
1920
1930
1940
1950
1960
1970g
1980h
1990i
White
White
White
White
White
Whitee
Whitee
Whitef
White
White
White
White
Black
Black
Black
Black
Negro
Negro
Negro
Negro
Negro or
Black
Black or
Negro
Black or
Negro
Mulatto
Chinese
Mulatto
Mulatto
Mexican
Indian
American
Indian
American
Indian
Indian
(Amer.)
Japanese
Indian
(Amer.)
Black
African
American
or Negro
Asian
Indian
Quadroon
Japanese
Chinese
Chinese
Indiand
Chinese
Japanese
Japanese
Japanese
Chinese
Octoroon
Indianb
Japanese
Japanese
Chinese
Japanese
Chinese
Chinese
Chinese
Filipino
Chinese
Indianb
Indianb
Japanese
Filipino
Filipino
Filipino
Filipino
Korean
Japanese
Otherc
Other
Filipino
Hindu
Other
Hawaiian
Hindu
Korean
Korean
Other
Indianb
Other
Part
Hawaiian
Aleut
Eskimo
Other,
etc.f
2000
Eskimo/Al Chinese
eut
Chinese American
Indian or
Alaska
Native
Filipino
Filipino
Hawaiian Vietnames Hawaiian Japanese
e
Korean
Indian
Korean
Korean
(Amer.)
Other
Asian
Vietnames Vietnames
Indian
e
e
Hawaiian Japanese
Other
Asian
Guamanian Asian
Native
Indian
Hawaiian
Samoan
Samoan Guamanian
/ Chamorro
Guamanian
Samoan
Race and Ethnicity
The United States and Canada are relatively
small as far as countries go, but they
receive more than half of the world’s
immigrants.
Assimilation
and Cultural Pluralism
Assimilation is when an ethnic group totally
conforms to their new culture, including
interracial marriage. They hold on to
almost nothing from their original culture.
Cultural pluralism is when cultures maintain
many of their original cultural aspects,
including language and marrying within
their own group, while living peacefully
within their new culture.
Changes in Immigration
In 1900 almost 85% of immigrants came
from Europe. In 2006 Europeans
made up about 13% of the immigrant
population.
Today most immigrants come from Asia
(mostly China and the Philippines)
and Latin America (mostly Mexico).
Misconceptions about Illegal
Immigrants
Many Americans hold misgivings about
incoming illegal immigrants—they see
these people as “moochers.” However,
– More than 90% pay payroll and sales
taxes.
– They are not eligible for Medicare and
food stamps, Welfare, or most other
public-assistance programs.
Misconceptions about Illegal
Immigrants
–Fewer than 10% of Mexican
immigrants, both documented and
undocumented, have used an
emergency room, compared with about
20% of native-born Americans and
Mexican Americans.
–Undocumented immigrants pay on
average $80 per capita more in taxes
than they will use in government
services over their lifetime.
Undocumented Immigrants
The U.S. admits more than 1 million
immigrants every year—more than any
other country, however, another 12
million come into the country illegally,
59% from Mexico.
Attitudes about Immigrants
It really depends on the time in history
that we are talking about as to what
American’s think about immigration.
When the economy is booming and we
have an overabundance of jobs, we
welcome immigrants. However, when
it is a down economy, most Americans
see immigrants as taking muchneeded jobs.
Is Immigration Harmful or
Beneficial?
Some immigration critics allege that lowskilled workers reduce the standard of
living and overload schools and
welfare systems. Others note that
because immigrants are younger,
poorer, and less well-educated, they
use more government services and
pay less in taxes.
Is Immigration Harmful or
Beneficial?
Immigrants themselves also experience
costs. Employment recruiters promise
good jobs and training but immigrants
at the low end of the pay scale often
find themselves living in abject poverty
because they don’t receive the
promised wages.
Is Immigration Harmful or
Beneficial?
Immigrants also have fought in the Iraq war
and have been honorably discharged, but
they have not had their citizenship
applications processed as they were
promised.
Many immigrants provide work at low wages
and are more likely to take jobs that other
Americans are less willing to take.
Is There Balance?
Many scholars argue that on balance
and in the long run, immigrants
provide more benefits than costs.
Race and Ethnicity Still
Matter
A minority group is a group of people who
may be treated differently from the
dominant group because of their physical
or cultural characteristics such as skin color,
gender, sexual orientation, or other
characteristics.
Even in countries or states where minority
groups outnumber the majority group, they
usually have less political power.
Race
A racial group is a group of people who
are different from the majoritycategory people because of physical
characteristics. Racial traits like skin
color, eye shape, and hair texture are
inborn. As few as 6 of the body’s
inherited 35,000 genes determine the
color of a person’s skin.
Ethnicity
An ethnic group is a set of people who
identify with particular national origin
or cultural heritage. Race can
sometimes be seen—it is about
biology. Ethnicity cannot be seen—it
is about culture.
Social or Biological?
The idea of race and ethnicity are both
social and biological issues. Race is
really only skin deep and is only
important because a society believes
it is important.
Ethnicity is important because it gives
people their traditions and their
cultural identity.
What’s in a Name?
Some racial or ethnic groups prefer
certain labels over other labels.
Much of the controversy has to do
with where the original ancestors
have come from.
Racial and ethnic labels can be hurtful
or helpful, depending on the group’s
internal identity and how they prefer
to be named.
Racism, Discrimination,
and Prejudice
Racism is the belief that one’s own racial
group is inherently superior to others.
Prejudice is an attitude that prejudges
people, usually in a negative way, who are
different from us in race, religion, ethnicity,
or some other social characteristic.
Discrimination is the behavior that goes
along with being prejudiced. It treats people
unfairly and encompasses many areas.
African American Families
Like families of all ethnic or racial
groups, there are many differences
between African American families.
African American families are often
stetereotyped as matriarchal, but the
most common family is that of men
and women where there is equality in
the relationship.
Absent Fathers
Across all families, black children are
most likely to be raised by one parent,
usually by a mother.
As we will see in future chapters, fathers
play an important role in their
children’s lives.
Strengths of African
American Families
– Strong family kinship bonds
– An ability to adapt family roles to
outside pressures
– A strong work ethic
– Determination to succeed in
education
– Numerous self-help groups
African American Families
Parents and children—most African
American families play a huge role in the
lives of their children. Many black
fathers make a conscious effort to be
involved in their children’s lives.
The close relationship between African
American children and their parents can
be very beneficial to the children being
raised in these families.
African American Families
More than 33% of black low-income
working families, and 20% of lowincome working Hispanics, live in
high- poverty neighborhoods, while
only 3% of their white counterparts do.
Native American Families
American Indians and Alaska Natives
only make up about 1.5% of the total
population.
Family Structure—about 62% of the
nation's Native American children live
with both parents, compared with 40%
of the total population. They are also
much more likely to live in extended
family situations than most of the
American population.
Gender Roles
Research on contemporary American Indian
families and gender roles is virtually
nonexistent.
One exception is a study of 28 off-reservation
Navajo families. Compared with other
families, the Navajo fathers spent
significantly more time in day-to-day child
rearing activities.
Parents and Children
Children are important members of
American tribes. Parents spend
considerable time and effort in making
items for children to play with or use in
activities and ceremonies. Adults teach
children to respect their elders.
Elders and Grandparents
Elders are important to a child’s care,
upbringing, and development. They
contribute to a family’s cohesiveness
and stability.
Many grandparents care for their
grandchildren as it has become more
financially stable for both parents to
work outside the home.
Strengths of
Native American Families
Strengths include relational bonding, a core
that is built on widely-shared values and
beliefs such as respect, generosity, and
sharing across the tribe, band, and clan
group.
Some Native American cultures have spent
generations building tribal self-sufficient
businesses that can be passed down to the
next generation.
Latino Families
Latino families are very diverse. About
70% of Latino children live in two-parent
families. That is much higher than the
national average.
Gender Roles and Parenting—these vary
on factors such as how long a family has
lived in the U.S. and whether the wife or
mother works outside the home.
As with other groups, Latino parents
encourage their children to be
successful.
Parenting
Like most other parents, Latino parents
are caring and loving toward their
children. Even when both must work
full-time, they spend as much time as
possible with their children.
Women place much value on being wives
and mothers.
For many Latino families, extended
families meet needs of child care when
families are working.
Strengths of Latino Families
Many Latino families are very resilient.
They have adapted to hard economic
times and language barriers to
accomplish “The American Dream.”
Asian American Families
The term “Asian American”
encompasses a wide range of
cultures. They are from many different
countries.
Asian American families vary widely
depending on country of origin, time of
arrival in the U.S., past and current
immigration policies, and whether the
family are immigrants or refugees.
Family Structure
Asian American families are likely to be
extended rather than nuclear and might
include parents, children, grandparents,
and unmarried siblings.
Many Asian Americans follow
Confucianism, which endorses a
patriarchal social structure that instructs
women to obey their husbands.
Gender-role socialization tends to be very
traditional.
Parents and Children
In many Asian American families the
strongest ties are between parents
and their children, rather than
between spouses. Parents often
sacrifice their personal needs to make
sure the needs of their children are
met.
In turn, one is expected to obey one’s
parents.
The Model Minority?
Is it fact or fiction? Many Asian families
typify the “model minority,” but as with
all human beings, this can be
misleading.
The Model Minority?
There are three major factors why Asian
American families have become so
successful in the U.S.:
–Many who immigrate have college degrees.
–The Buddhist and Confucian values and
traditions of many Asian American families
follow closely the prerequisites for the
American dream—hard work, education, and
achievement.
–They are usually harder working than any
other group—majority or minority.
Middle Eastern Families
Middle Eastern family structures vary.
Wealth and children are the
“ornaments of life” for some of these
cultures.
Most Middle Eastern children live with
both parents—84%.
Middle Eastern families tend to frown
on divorce.
Marriage and Gender Roles
The family is the center of everything, thus
the family is the center of marriage.
People don’t marry out of romantic “love,”
they marry out of family obligation.
Marriages tend to be endogamous.
Middle Eastern culture mandates strict
gender-role expectations.
A wife should always act honorably and do
nothing that would humiliate her husband
or family.
Gender roles are changing.
Parents and Children
Parents and children usually have very
strong bonds. In one study of Arab
Canadian teenagers, for example, nine
out of ten said that they would prefer to
talk to their parent—mostly Mom—about
personal problems or issues.
There are, however, double standards in
the lives of many young teenagers and
their relationships with siblings and
parents. Boys are respected over girls.
Strengths of the Middle
Eastern Families
They cope well with discrimination
because they have a strong ethnic
identity. Most have extended kin
networks as well.
Interracial and Interethnic
Relationships
More and more people are choosing partners
who are not the same as they are in one
way or another.
In a recent report in the U.S., 4% of children
were identified as multiracial.
Of the three million intermarriages, the outmarriage rates of blacks and whites are
much less than the rates for Asians,
Latinos, and other racial and ethnic groups.
Interracial and Interethnic
Relationships
The racial and ethnic composition of
American families is changing.
These changes are expected to
continue in the future as more and
more people immigrate to the
United States.