anthropology

• Ethnicity


  Identification with a cultural group
• Race


  Ethnic group assumed to have a biological basis
• Racism


  Discrimination against an ethnic group assumed to have a biological basis
• It is not possible to define human races biologically. Only cultural constructions of race are possible even though the average person conceptualizes "race" in biological terms.
• The belief that human races exist and are important is much more common among the public than it is among scientists.
• Inequalities among "racial" groups are not consequences of their biological inheritance but products of social, economic, educational, and political circumstances.
• Hispanics "can be of any race"
• During the Los Angeles riots in spring 1992, "hundreds of Hispanic residents were interrogated about their immigration status on the basis of their race alone"
• In a 2001 lecture, newly nominated Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor referred to herself as a "Latina"
• Racial/Ethnic Identification in the United States, 2007


  • White (non-Hispanic)
  • Hispanic
  • Black
  • Asian
  • American Indian
  • Pacific Islander
• The total US population in 2007 was 301.1 million
• Ethnic group


  One among several culturally distinct groups in a society or region
• Ethnicity


  Identification with an ethnic group
• Status

  Any position that determines where someone fits in society
• Ascribed status


  Social status based on little or no choice
• Achieved status


  Social status based on choices or accomplishments
• Some statuses are mutually exclusive, while others are contextual and can be negotiated situationally
• Hispanics may move through levels of culture (shifting ethnic affiliations) as they negotiate their identities
• Mexican Americans, Cuban Americans, and Puerto Ricans may act as separate interest groups in certain contexts
• "Hispanic"


  An ethnic category that crosscuts racial contrasts such as that between "black" and "white"
• The article is reporting on ethnic, not racial, discrimination because "Hispanic" usually refers to a linguistically based (Spanish-speaking) ethnic group, rather than a biologically based race
• In a 2001 lecture, newly nominated Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor declared "I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life"
• Conservatives criticised Sotomayor's declaration as evidence that she was a "racist" or a "reverse racist", but "Latina" is an ethnic (and gendered-female) rather than a racial category
• It is better to use the term "ethnic group" rather than "race" to describe social groups like African Americans, Asian Americans, Anglo Americans, Hispanics, Latinos, Latinas, and non-Hispanic whites
• Races


  Ethnic groups assumed (by members of a particular culture) to have a biological basis, but actually race is socially constructed
• Hypodescent


  Children assigned to the same group as the minority parent
• In the United States, the rule of hypodescent divides American society into groups that have been unequal in their access to wealth, power, and prestige
• The case of Susie Guillory Phipps in Louisiana illustrates the arbitrariness of the hypodescent rule and the role that governments play in legalizing, inventing, or eradicating race and ethnicity
• Racial identity is usually ascribed at birth and doesn't change, but the rule of hypodescent affects different groups (blacks, Asians, Native Americans, Hispanics) differently
• To be considered Native American, one ancestor out of eight (great-grandparents) or out of four (grandparents) may suffice, depending on whether the assignment is by federal or state law or by an Indian tribal council
• Cases like Phipps's are rare because racial identity usually is ascribed at birth and doesn't change
• Rule of hypodescent


  Affects blacks, Asians, Native Americans, and Hispanics differently
• It's easier to negotiate Indian or Hispanic identity than black identity
• To be considered Native American

  One ancestor out of eight (great-grandparents) or out of four (grandparents) may suffice, depending on whether the assignment is by federal or state law or by an Indian tribal council
• The child of a Hispanic


  May (or may not, depending on context) claim Hispanic identity
• Many Americans with an Indian or Latino grandparent consider themselves white and lay no claim to minority group status
• The U.S. Census Bureau has gathered data by race since 1790
• The racial categories included in the 1990 census were "White," "Black or Negro," "Indian (American)," "Eskimo," "Aleut or Pacific Islander," and "Other"
• A separate question was asked about Spanish-Hispanic heritage
• Attempts by social scientists and interested citizens to add a "multiracial" census category have been opposed by the NAACP and the National Council of La Raza