Lecture Three
The (Racial) History of the US
Who is American?
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When you hear the word “American” who do
you think of?
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Why do we hyphenate American?
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Describe this person.
African-American, Mexican-American, etc?
“Race,…has functioned as a metaphor
necessary to the construction of
Americanness…American has been defined as
White.” - Takaki
Ethnicities
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Optional Ethnicity:
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Option to claim ancestry or just be “White”
Choice of which ancestry to choose
Symbolic Ethnicity: ethnicity that is individual
in nature and without real social cost to the
individual
American Racial/Ethnic History
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Immigrants (forced and voluntary) enter into a
society with a clearly defined racial/ethnic
hierarchy
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Inherited Inequality
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Institutional inequality – economy, politics, education,
etc
Cultural inequality – dominant culture supports dominant
group
Social inequality – relationships, opportunities,
resources
Racial Stratification
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Existing and emerging racial stratification is
determined by three factors:
1.
Ethnocentrism – cultural difference & inequality
2.
Competition – economic resources
3.
Differential Power – political resources
American Racial Triangle
1st Class Citizens:
Whites
3rd Class Citizens: Native Americans
2nd Class Citizens:
Blacks
Native Americans
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Invisible history
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Only non-immigrant minority group
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Colonization and genocide
Separate Nations
Significant diversity among native groups
Native Americans Today
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Over 1.5 Million identified as Native American
in the Census
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1% of the population
554 tribal groups recognized
Poorest, least educated, and poor health
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Lowest income
Lowest education
Highest rates of obesity and diabetes
Cultural Genocide
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Assimilation
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Education
Religion
Family formation
Integration and elimination
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Intermarriage
Sterilization
European Americans
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The movement of people from Europe to the Americas is
the largest in history
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Old Immigration (before 1890)
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Established political, economic, and social institutions
1790 4 million – 60-80% British
Protestant and from Northern Europe
Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882
New Immigration (1890 – 1914)
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70% from eastern and southern Europe
Immigration Act of 1924
Ethnic Conflict to Assimilation
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Constructing a “White” Ethnicity
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Aided by structural conditions (Massey, 1995)
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Assimilation over several generations
Ethnicity symbolic and voluntary
Declining immigration
Good economic times
Expansion of education
A declining population?
African Americans
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Principle racial division in American society has
been Black/White
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Slavery: “ The Peculiar Institution”
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Racialization
Ethnocentrism - “One drop rule”
Competition – labor
Differential Power – military force
Established the race/caste dynamic
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Defined the experience of all race/ethnic groups in the
US
Slavery to Segregation
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Segregation: separation of racial and ethnic
groups in daily activities
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De Jure Segregation
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Civil service, housing, education, marriage
Jim Crow Laws
De Facto Segregation
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Formal segregation replaced with informal segregation
today
Hispanics/Latinos
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One of the fastest growing ethnic groups
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Puerto Ricans
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Cuban Americans
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2/3 live in New York City
Since 1898 colonial dependency
1959 750,00 Cubans entered the US
Most affluent of all Hispanic groups
Mexican Americans (Chicanos)
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Early Colonizers & Immigration
Bracero Program 1942-1965
Mexican Immigration and Integration
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Texas was a central point of contact between
Mexican and Anglo immigrants in the 19th C
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Initially Anglos and Mexicans coexisted and
cooperated
Mid 1800’s competition over land intensified
Political, social, economic subordination of
Mexican Americans arose
Mexican immigrants now entered a society
with clearly defined racial/class positions
Asian Americans
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Proportionately, Asians today are the fastest growing
racial category
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Early Immigration: Chinese and Japanese
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Chinese: 1873-1882
Japanese: 1900-1909
Later Immigrants: Koreans, Filipinos, Indochinese, and
Indians
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40% Asians live in CA
Post 1965 Immigration
“Yellow Peril” to “model minority”