Racial and Ethnic Identity
Racial Formation and Social
Construction
Test and 5-week grades
• 5-week totals in discussion section
• Students did well on rigorous test
• Faithful discussion attendance,
participation, and papers bring grades
up
• Maintain balance and perspective
Introductory Questions
• Which of the following identities is
socially constructed?
– Race
– Ethnicity
– Class
– Gender
– Merit
Questions, continued
• How would you rank the relative importance
of the following in determining success in
American society?
–
–
–
–
–
–
Race
Ethnicity
Class
Gender
Merit
Luck
Theories of Racial and Ethnic
Identity
• Racial Formation: Omi, Michael and
Howard Winant, RACIAL FORMATION
IN THE UNITED STATES: FROM THE
1960S TO THE 1990S, 1994.
• Social Construction: Cornell, Stephen
and Douglas Hartmann, ETHNICITY
AND RACE: MAKING IDENTITIES IN
A CHANGING WORLD, 1998.
Racial Formation
• race = a concept which signifies and
symbolizes social conflicts and interests
by referring to different types of human
bodies
• racial formation = a social and historical
process by which racial categories are
created, inhabited, transformed or
destroyed
Racial Projects
• racial project = simultaneously an
interpretation, representation, or explanation of
racial dynamics, and an effort to reorganize and
redistribute resources along racial lines
• racial projects range from the right (welfare
reform) to the left (affirmative action) and can
be societal wide or at the interpersonal level
(most people use race in their interpretations of
their daily life, e.g., describing others, choosing
movies and books, etc.)
Neoconservative and
Neoliberal Racial Projects
Neoconservative
• Race is no longer an
important factor
Neoliberal
• Avoid discussion of
race
• Resist Redistribution
• Moderate
redistribution
• Focus on
Black/White issues
• Portray whites as
victims
Which project is most
compelling?
• Does race still affect one’s life in our
society?
• Should government be involved in
redistributing resources?
• Have we gone too far to help
minorities?
Social Construction
Two axes
–asserted-assigned
–thin-thick
Examples
• assigned and thick: black South
Africans
• assigned and thin: characterizing recent
Vietnamese immigrants as Asian
Americans
• asserted and thick: Afrikaners in South
Africa
• asserted and thin: Italian Americans
Summary and Conclusions
• Racial and ethnic identities are social
constructions, not biological or
primordial constructions.
• Societal institutions, including the OMB,
the Census, and the Courts, play a role
in defining and redefining race and
ethnicity
• Racial and ethnic identity is more of a
choice for some than for others
(asserted v. assigned)
Summary, continued
• Racial and ethnic identity means more to
some than to others (thick v. thin)
• Race and ethnicity can serve as the
basis for the pursuit of political and
economic interests.
• Race and ethnicity can serve as the
basis for denying equality in society.
Fredrik Barth: What is an
Ethnic Group?
1. Biologically self-perpetuating.
2. Shares fundamental cultural values.
3. In-group communication and
interaction differs from out-group.
4. Assert and are assigned an ethnic
identity.
Intersecting Identities
• National Identity (experiences in other
countries?)
• Racial Identity
• Ethnic Identity
• Religious Identity
• Class Identity
• Gender
Fluid Identities
• American identity
• Pan-ethnic identities
• Situational identities
Challenging v. Conforming
Identities
• Malcolm X: I am not an American
– Origins of Hip Hop
– Origins of Reggae
• Martin Luther King, Jr.: brotherhood of
all mankind
– Crossover music by Latino artists: Gloria
Estefan, J-LO, Ricky Martin, Mark Anthony
– Will Smith, Nelly
Will we ever quit viewing race
as real?
• George Will: can we say race is still an
important barrier in American society
given Oprah, Colin Powell, and Michael
Jordan?
• Counter evidence
– Guadalupe, Arizona (Bob Herbert)
– Residential segregation, economic
inequality