Chapter 5

Identity:Race, Ethnicity, and Gender

I. What is Identity, and How are Identities Constructed?

• Identity- how we make sense of ourselves – Experiences, emotions, connections, & rejections

• Identifying Against- define others to see “what we are not”

Race

• Constructed Identity, false assumption– All “races” are biologically the same in the way

that humans refer to it

• Ideas of race grew out of European Colonialism– Benedict Anderson says socioeconomic classes

(wealth) fueled the idea of racial superiority– Europeans used terms such as “savages, mystical,

and others” leading to idea of superiority

Gender

• Gender – “a culture’s assumptions about the differences between men and women: their ‘characters,’ the roles they play in society, what they represent.”

- Domosh and Seager

What defines a Race?

• Skin color, eye color, hair color?– Each of these are differences WITHIN races, not

BETWEEN them• Skin color- Unreliable method of determining

race– Sunlight stimulates production of melanin which

darkens the skin to protect from UV rays– Dark skin means more melanin– Probably comes from generations of exposure to sun

in tropical areas, nothing more

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Racism in the US

• Categories of “Race” practiced through:– Residential segregation– Racialized divisions of labor– Categories of “race” recorded by the census

bureau• Hispanic is now defined as an ethnicity

• White/Hispanic white/non-Hispanic or black/Hispanic black/non-Hispanic

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Residential Segregation

• “degree to which 2 ore more groups live separately from one another, in different parts of urban environment”

• On the decline in the US everywhere & between all groups– Most segregated for African Americans: Milwaukee, Wis. –

least segregated is Orange County, Cal.– Most segregated for Asians: San Francisco - least is

Sulffolk (NY) & Baltimore MD– Most for Hispanics: New York City - Least is Baltimore, MD

• Oklahoma is the least segregated state overall

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II. How Do Places Affect Identity, and How Can We See Identities in Places?• Sense of Place- giving meaning to a place by

attaching experiences and memories

Ethnic Patterns and Process• Ethnicity is in many senses as important a category as race• Term ethnic comes from the Greek word ethnos, meaning

“people” or “nation”• Racial identity is largely a matter of self-perception• Defining characteristics differ from place to place

– Shared cultural traits– Common history– Treasured cultural landscape– Real or potential threats to language or faith

• The Hutu and Tutsi are African peoples who define themselves in terms of cultural history and lifestyle, not race – so this is an ethnic conflict- not a racial one

Ethnic Spaces and Places• In America, ethnic enclaves are common

– Have names such as “Chinatown,” “Little Italy,” or “Little Havana” etc.– Place names can record the aspirations of some of America’s

immigrants – use of the word “new”• Chinatown in Mexicali- map on page 137 shows how Chinese have made

huge impact in this town which was primarily Hispanic– Now cultural landscape is primarily Chinese due to businesses

• Some immigrants hoped to find comparable or familiar natural environments

• Ethnic Islands- certain rural ethnic groups are concentrated in environments similar to their source area

• Example- Scandinavians live in Minnesota

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Advantages of ethnic community

– Group identity and cohesiveness– Makes a social network– For the new arrival to the area it eases transition– A familiar language and common church– Preserves and protects customs and traditions to

mutual advantage

Ethnic Conflict

• Conflict is called “Ethnic” when “Racial” distinction can’t easily be made between conflicting groups

• Causes and deterrents– Deterring factors

• Achieving independence• Prosperity• Achieving power in government

– Causes• Discrimination and lack of political power• Lack of territory• When governments seek to suppress or deny the existence of

ethnic minorities

III. How do Power Relationships Subjugate Certain Groups of People?• Inequality of Gender• Economy and productivity–Women’s productivity• Their work is not included in the world’s

GNP–It is unpaid–If it was counted, GNP would increase

about 30%

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A woman’s unpaid labor in the periphery (less developed countries)

–Produce more than ½ of all the food–Build homes, dig wells, and make clothes–Plant and harvest crops

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Sub-Saharan Africa

Women probably have the hardest life Produce an estimated 70% of the food by hand labor Gather firewood from ever-increasing distances Left many times without a husband who has moved to

the city Cannot get bank loans or title to the land she works A young girl will start working 12 hours a day as soon as

she is able Cash crops such as tea are called “men’s crops” because

the men trade what the women produce

Women in the labor force• In the core realms from 35-39 percent of the labor

force– In Sub-Saharan Africa, nearly 80% work in agriculture– In Asia more than 50% work in agriculture

• The small number working in manufacturing is rising• Many women engage in home-based economic

activities– Tailoring, beer brewing, food preparation, and soap

making, etc.– These Informal Activities are often the mainstay of the

community• All over the world, women still face job discrimination

Politics and public life• The dominance of males

– In the United States, approximately half the voters are women– In the US and Canada, women did not receive full

enfranchisement- the right to vote- until 1920– Male domination of political institutions was well established by

1920– Not all countries have given women the right to vote– Many countries gave the right for women to vote only recently– The right to vote does not give women political power– In recent years there has been an increase of women in politics

• In 2001, 14% of Congress were women– A few national leaders have been women– When women have been in power, their policies tend to

emphasize equality, development, and peace

Cont.

• Ling interviewed woman- Husband demanded $25,000, flat screen TV, washing machine, air conditioners, refrigerators, & car

• Father didn’t pay b/c husband demanded even more after they were married, husband came to hurt her & she had cell phone to call police & stop this (p. 143 picture)

• Federal and state governments created legal aid offices to help women• Family courts to hear domestic cases have been created

• Tend to be run by older male judges• Try to force the battered or threatened women back into the

family fold• Hindu culture attaches great importance to the family structured

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Female infanticide in India• Revealed 300,000 more girls than boys die each year- many

are aborted after gender-detection tests• Many thousands of female infants are killed each year• Modern techniques of prenatal gender detection

contribute far more to the imbalance between male and female

• Laws prohibiting prenatal tests solely to determine sex of a fetus are being violated

• Fathers want male children to see the lineage preserved– Oldest son lights funeral pyre– Tradition of dowry makes males valuable even if it is now illegal

Power Relations in Los Angeles

• LA- jumped from 4% Hispanic in 1960 to 90+ percent Hispanic in 1990 in some neighborhoods

• Barrioization- ethnic succession of a neighborhood from one group to another

• Asians seen as “model minority” b/c they are stereotyped as prospering through peaceful means despite harassment, exclusion, and discrimination

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April 29-30th 1992- LA Riots Occur

• 43 dead, 2383 injured, 16,291 arrested• Property damage over $1 billion dollars!• Media said cause was “not guilty” verdict for

white officers beating Rodney King

Geographic Explanation show riots as local reactions to:

• Influx of new immigrants– Replacement of ethnic neighborhoods by new

ethnic groups

• Changing cultural landscape– Housing conditions declining– Scarce public resources

Cont.

• Myths such as “model minorities”– Many Koreans targeted during riots

• Economic Downturn- loss of many jobs– Manufacturing plants closed in S. Central LA,

moving out of city & country– Over 70,000 jobs lost there in early 1980’s alone!

• Police brutality simply topped off these problems to lead to violently vented frustrations