Title: ANTH 101 Intro to Cultural Anthropology
1ANTH 101Intro to Cultural Anthropology
Race Ethnicity What is Ethnicity? Race as a
Biological / Cultural Concept How Does Race
Differ from Culture to Culture? Race in the USA,
Japan, Brazil Mestizaje Status Privilege
2A Roman Philosophy of Race
- Country, not race, made a person inferior.
- Rome was in the center of their world
- Northerners were too light, southerners were
too dark. - Romans thought their olive skin was just right.
3An Ethiopian Philosophy of Race
- God undercooked one batch of people.
- They were doughy and pale, were thrown to the
north. - God overcooked another batch of people.
- They were burnt, were thrown to the south.
- God tried once more, and the last batch the
Ethiopians was perfect!
4Hispanics and Race in the New York Times,
5/29/1992
- What does Hispanic mean?
- 1st article - Hispanics could be of any race
- 2nd article Hispanics in the 92 LA riots were
questioned on the basis of their race
54. Does White Caucasian? (Wikipedia.org)
- Caucasus Mtn. peoples are considered inferior in
Russia. - Whiteness has changed over time.
- Modern day Caucasians are Europeans, Middle
Easterners - But only Europeans are White
- 19th c. America only English were White (not
Irish, Germans, etc.) - Are whites in Latin America (ex. Argentina,
Uruguay and Mexico) white in the US?
6Scienctific ViewRace without Color
- Most scientists believe there is no biological
basis for human races - Jared Diamond you need a concordance of
variations for biological races. - Some species do have unique biological races
- Ex. warbler subspecies
7Yellow-Rumped Warbler Races of North America
Warbler Race 3
Warbler Race 2
Warbler Race 1
Texture 3
Texture 2
Texture 1
Feather texture
Beak shape 3
Beak shape 2
Beak shape 1
Beak shape
Eye color 3
Eye color 2
Eye color 1
Eye color
Feather color 3
Feather color 2
Feather color 1
Feather color
Claw 3
Claw 2
Claw 1
Shape of claws
Blood type 3
Blood type 2
Blood type 1
Blood type
8- That concordance of variations exists in
warblers, but not humans - There is at most 0.1 difference in genetics
between any two of these persons. - When skin color and physical features are the
criteria, the racial lines look familiar. - But the races change completely when skin and
physical features arent the criteria.
9Ex. 1 Race by Resistance
- Genetic resistance to a disease (ex. malaria)
can determine race. - The malaria-resistant race includes
- tropical Africans (sickle-cell)
- Arabia (sickle-cell)
- Southern India (sickle-cell)
- Mediterranean Europe (favism)
- Middle East (favism)
10Ex. 2 Race by Digestion
- A geographically variable trait (ex. lactose
tolerance) can determine race. - Most humans cannot digest lactose.
- Members of the smaller lactose-tolerant race
include - Most Northern Central Europeans
- Some East Africans
- Some South Asians.
11Ex. 3 Race by Fingerprints
- Fingerprints can also be used to create races.
- One race includes most Europeans, most Africans
and East Asians, - A second race includes most Asians, American
Indians and Australian aborigines, - A third race includes the Khoisans of southern
Africa, and some Central Europeans
12Ex. 4 Race by Genetic Distinctness
- Genetic distinctness how closely related
ancient populations are to each other can
classify races, with - the Khoisan of Southern Africa in their own race
- all other Sub-Saharan African peoples comprising
five or six different races - everyone else in the world forming a single race
13How Race Differs from Culture to Culture
- Different societies define race differently, for
example, in - the USA
- Japan
- Brazil
14Race in the USA
- Usually ascribed (given) at birth
- Your race will never change in the US
- We like one race for every person!
- Census first allows Americans to check off more
than one box for race in 2000
15Hypodescent
- Multiracial person is lumped with the most
oppressed race / group in his or her heritage. - 50 white / 50 black black
- 1/32 black (one great-great-great grandparent)
legally black (some states) - 1/16 American Indian legally an Indian
(Federal law)
16- What about
- Tiger Woods (four races)?
- Mariah Carey (half Afro-Brazilian, half Irish)?
- Barack Obama (half Euro-American, half Kenyan)
- Susie Gillory Phipps, (white Louisiana woman
whose birth certificate labeled her colored)
17Whats My Race?
- Irish immigrants were not considered white by
white Americans in the 19th century - A Japanese immigrant in the 1900s demanded to be
called white based on his skin color. - A Punjabi Indian immigrant in the 1920s demanded
to be called white because Northern Indians were
scientifically Aryan.
18Race in Japan
- Race by opposition to others anyone who is not
us is not a member of our race. - Assimilation is highly encouraged (as with US
immigrants). - If you are not pure Japanese, you are
biologically different and inferior.
19- Many groups face discrimination in Japan
- Koreans / Chinese
- Okinawans
- Ainu
- burakumin
- Burakumin are biologically the same as pure
Japanese, but have ancestors who dealt in unclean
jobs - Treated as a separate race! (eta, ??)
???
20Race in Brazil
- Race is by phenotype based on your outward
appearance. But is superficial - Your race can change weekly, unlike in the US!
- Up to 500 races documented in Brazil.
- One Brazilian village had 70 races in it!
21- Discrimination in Brazil is based on
socioeconomics and class - Often, but not always in sync with skin color.
- It is possible to change your race by moving up
the social class ladder.
22Race in Other Parts of Latin America
- Mestizaje Spanish for mixedness
- Basis of national identity in Mexico
- mixture of indigenous and white races to form a
new race - Mestizo label can be achieved in Peru (but looked
down upon by both indios and those born mestizo).
23Status Ascribed and Achieved
- A status is any position that you occupy in your
culture. - Status is either ascribed (given) at birth /
other times, or achieved later in life. - Some statuses rank you lower in society than
others you have more privileges with a higher
status. - Trappings of status
- Status Symbols
- Master Statuses
- Status Inconsistency
Microsoft Image
24Whats My Status?
- Are the following ascribed or achieved?
- Father
- Sister
- Wife
- Teacher
- High school graduate
- African-American
- Lesbian
- Ph.D.
- Woman
- How many are master statuses?
25White Privilege (Peggy McIntosh)
- McIntosh Whites are privileged by race
- Take part in a racist system they dont know
about and cant see - Easier to see the racism if you are oppressed,
not privileged, by the system. - A privileged person is racist if (s)he tries to
keep the privilege system in place.
26Ex. School Segregation before Brown v. BOE of
Topeka, Kansas (1954)
Required by law
No law in place
Optional / limited segregation
Forbidden by law
27Other Types of Privilege
- McIntosh used male privilege to explore white
privilege. - McIntosh is white and female.
- But, many types of privilege exist, such as
- Class
- Language
- Religion
- Ethnicity
- Physical Ability
- Age
- Sexual Orientation
- Etc.
- There are few people in the US that arent
oppressed in some way, according to McIntosh.
28Implications of a Raceless World
- Anthropologists believe race exists, but only as
a social construct. - Just saying there is no race wont stop racism.
- Where does this leave
- affirmative action?
- racial profiling?
- English-only movements?
29Redefining Race in 21st Century America
- In the US, the clear racial lines are not clear
anymore. - 1860 3 racial categories
- 1967 Anti-miscegenation laws struck down
- Loving v. Virginia allowed interracial marriage
throughout the Southern US - 2000 30 racial categories, with 11 Hispanic
subcategories - Today 3 majority-minority states DC
- The old labels cant capture the shifting
subtleties of blood, culture and identity
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31Ex. 1 Up from Jim Crow
- Birmingham, AL once the most segregated city
in America - Changing face of Birmingham?
- Blacks, whites mix in public
- Small but growing Latino population
- Race is still on our minds all the time
32Ex. 2 Brown against Brown
- Anti-Mexicano discrimination from Chicanos?
- Mixing of Mexicanos and Chicanos
- Americanization of Chicanos
- Still strong sense of obligation
- Discrimination vs. indÃgenas?
- Do Americans look down upon immigrants from the
Old Country?
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34Ex. 3 Tomorrowland, Today
- Northern California as the microcosm of the
future? - Major success for Chinese-American, South
Asian-American entrepreneurs. - Is there still a glass ceiling?
35Ex. 4 We Have the Power
- Issues facing black professional women in the
21st century? - Is the African-American community at a
crossroads? - What issues do they face as women? As
African-Americans?
36Ex. 5 Berkeleys New Colors
- UC Berkeleys reaction to Prop 209
- Surging Asian-American enrollment
- Plunging enrollment of African-Americans,
Hispanics, Native Americans - Today minority enrollment still low at Berkeley
37Ex. 6 Love without Borders
- Interracial and interethnic marriage
- 1998 1.3M racially mixed marriages in the US
- Inter-ethnic marriages fall under the radar
- Build on shared heritage without losing
cherished traditions
38Ex. 7 Whats White, Anyway?
- Boundaries of whiteness have expanded, but
- specialness of whiteness has eroded.
- Who is white has changed over the past two
centuries.