Race, Ethnicity, and Families

1
Introduction to Family Studies

• Race, Ethnicity, and Families

2
Race, Ethnicity Families

• How do we define race?
• How do we define ethnicity?

3
Racial-Ethnic Groups

• Racial groups are those with a common set of
  physical features that distinguishes them from
  other groups
• Race is defined as a category composed of people
  who share real or alleged physical traits that
  members of a society deem to be socially
  significant

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Race, Ethnicity Families

• But race is also a social concept
• Race is socially constructed
• The characteristics associated with each racial
  group are subjective
• Definitions of race
• vary over time
• from one society to another
• have emerged from interaction of various
  populations over long periods of human history

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Race, Ethnicity Families

• Why do sociologists argue that race is socially
  constructed?
• 1) While racial characteristics may have been
  based on biology -- the interpretation of those
  characteristics varies from one society to the
  next, from one group to the next
• Societies each decide which racial differences
  are meaningful

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Race, Ethnicity Families

• Why do sociologists argue that race is socially
  constructed?
• Choice of racial characteristics is subjective
• People differ in many ways, but only some of
  those differences are emphasized
• For example, in defining differences in racial
  characteristics, why have we focused on skin
  color or the shape of a persons eyes?
• Why isnt race based on different blood types or
  eye color?

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Race, Ethnicity Families

• Why do sociologists argue that race is socially
  constructed?
• 3) The characteristics used to distinguish racial
  differences and stereotypes change over time
• 4) And the last reason to argue that race is
  socially constructed is that definitions of race
  differences vary from one society to the next

8
Race, Ethnicity Families

• How do we define ethnicity?
• A population that shares a cultural heritage
• Ethnic Groups have a sense of group identity
  based on a distinctive cultural pattern or
  heritage
• They often share a place of common ancestry,
  language, or religion that is the basis of their
  collective identity

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Race, Ethnicity Families

• How do we define ethnicity??
• Ethnic groups often have a sense of brotherhood
  or sisterhood that is maintained within a larger
  society.
• Members of ethnic groups have usually migrated to
  a new nation or have been conquered by an
  invading population.

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Race, Ethnicity, and Families

• An indication of how fluid (always changing)
  racial/ethnic categories are
• U.S. Census changed the way they measured race
  and ethnicity in the 2000 Census
• The federal government considers race and
  Hispanic origin to be two separate and distinct
  concepts.

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U.S. Census Form 2010

• On the next slide, note questions 8 9 on the
  next slide showing the 2010 U.S. Census form
• 8 measures whether you are Hispanic/Latino etc
• 9 measures race

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Race, Ethnicity and Families

• The Census defines Hispanic or Latino as a
  person of Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South or
  Central American,or other Spanish culture or
  origin regardless of race.

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U.S. Population by Race, 2010
  Number (in 100s) Percent
Total 308,745,538 100.0
White only 72.4
Black or African American only 12.6
American Indian and Alaska Native alone 0.9
Asian only 4.8
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander only 0.2
Some other race 6.2
Two or more Races 2.9

Source U.S. Bureau of the Census retrieved from http//www.census.gov/prod/cen2010/briefs/c2010br-02.pdf Source U.S. Bureau of the Census retrieved from http//www.census.gov/prod/cen2010/briefs/c2010br-02.pdf Source U.S. Bureau of the Census retrieved from http//www.census.gov/prod/cen2010/briefs/c2010br-02.pdf
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U.S. Population by Hispanic Origin2000 2010
Hispanic Origin  2000 2010
Not Hispanic or Latino 87.0 83.7
Hispanic or Latino 13.0 16.3

• Between 2000 and 2010, the Hispanic population
  grew by 43 percent!!!
• The Hispanic population increased by 15.2 million
  between 2000 and 2010,
• Number of Hispanics rose from 35.3 million in
  2000 when group made up 13 percent of the total
  population to 50.5 million or 16.3 percent of
  total population

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Social Construction of Race

• Social Experiment repeated after 50 years
• Young filmaker, Kiri Davis tests some old ideas
• See Assignment 3

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Race, Ethnicity Families

• Need to recognize diversity in families
• How do families vary by race/ethnicity?
• How does family structure vary?
• How do families ties to other social
  institutions, like education system, the economy,
  or health care system, vary by race/ethnicity?

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Race, Ethnicity Families

• Different racial groups make their homes in
  different neighborhoods
• This means they have different access to a
  different set of social institutions
• Social institutions create paths in which
  families are assigned to a different set of
  opportunities
• Think about schools

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Race, Ethnicity Families

• Minority families are MORE likely to
• live in disadvantaged neighborhoods
• attend under-funded schools
• have less access to high level colleges
• have poorer health care options
• have less access to better, higher paying jobs

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Interfamily differences

• Great differences in families by racial ethnic
  groups

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African-American Families

• Decline of marriage
• Fewer young women who will ever marrya
• 64 in 1990s (88 in 1950s)
• Increase in percentage of nonmarital birthsb
• 69 in 1998 (38 in 1970) Increases in
  female-headed familiesc
• 58 in 1998 (33 in 1970)

Source a Rodgers Thornton, 1985 Goldstein
Kenney, 2001 b U.S. Bureau of the Census, 1991
NCHS, 2005a c U.S. Bureau of the Census, 2003a,
2004a.
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African-American Families

• Union formation - first unions formed are twice
  as likely to be cohabitations compared to whites
• Family incomes for black families well below
  averages for white families
• Economic gains to marriage have declined for
  black women

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Families vary by race/ethnicity
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Hispanic Families

• As much variation within the group as between
  Hispanics and other groups
• Mexican Americans, Cuban Americans, Puerto Ricans
  31.3 million people
• Mexicans and Mexican Americans 65
• Central and South Americans 14
• Puerto Rican 10
• Cuban Americans 4

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Asian-American Families

• Again Asian is an umbrella term that includes
  diverse groups
• Less research on Asian-American families as prior
  to 1965 numbers were lower than Hispanics
• But for Example, in 1970 there were 69,000 Korean
  Americans
• By 1998 there were 980,000

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Asian-American Families

• In general Asian-Americans emphasize
  interdependence among family members over
  individualism favored by western cultures
• Asian families place more emphasis on childrens
  loyalty and service to parents
• Asian-American adults are more likely to live in
  a household with an adult child who provide most
  of the income

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Percent of Mothers who were not Married
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Summary

• Race is socially constructed
• Family patterns vary greatly by race/ethnicity
• Rates of marriage and fertility vary across
  racial and ethnic groups
• Make sure you know percentages of major
  racial/ethnic groups
• Race is based on biological characteristics
• Ethnicity is based on cultural characteristics