| Not-Hispanic | Hispanic | |
|---|---|---|
| White alone | 191,382,624 | 11,967,339 |
| Black or African American alone | 39,959,479 | 1,156,509 |
| American Indian and Alaska Native alone | 1,768,838 | 1,664,405 |
| Asian alone | 21,036,558 | 296,895 |
| Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone | 581,100 | 71,081 |
| Some other race alone | 1,852,889 | 23,430,023 |
| Two or more races | 15,515,949 | 29,427,301 |
| Total | 272,097,437 | 68,013,553 |
The social construction of race
SOC 131
Defining race
- According to our textbook, race is defined as “a system that humans created to classify and stratify groups of people based mostly on skin tone and other phenotypic characteristics, such as eye shape and hair texture.”
- We also learn that this system has consequences, as it has been “used to create, maintain, and enhance group distinctions and disparities.
- From this definition and its emphasis on the fact that this is a system that humans created, it should be clear that race is a social construction. But we can’t lose sight of the fact that this human-created system is real in its consequences.
And what about ethnicity?
- What is ethnicity?
- How is it different from race?
- In what ways are the two connected?
Race and the US Census
- The United States government has collected information about the racial/ethnic identity of its residents for most of its history, through the population census conducted at least every 10 years.
- The racial definitions and categories have changed significantly over the years, as seen on the next slide.
Race and ethnicity in the US today
- What do we know about the ethnic and racial makeup of the American society today?
The tables on the following slides provide the latest race and ethnicity data from the US Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (2024).
Before we consider the survey’s findings, let’s just quickly take a look at the questions that survey participants are asked to answer.
| Not-Hispanic | Hispanic | |
|---|---|---|
| White alone | 56.27% | 3.52% |
| Black or African American alone | 11.75% | 0.34% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native alone | 0.52% | 0.49% |
| Asian alone | 6.19% | 0.09% |
| Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone | 0.17% | 0.02% |
| Some other race alone | 0.54% | 6.89% |
| Two or more races | 4.56% | 8.65% |
| Total | 80% | 20% |
Breaking down the mixed-race category: what’s going on?
| Not-Hispanic | Hispanic | |
|---|---|---|
| Two races including Some other race | 3,374,580 | 26,516,597 |
| Two races excluding Some other race, and three or more races | 12,141,369 | 2,910,704 |
Why do we say that race is a social construct? Isn’t it real?
Remember our definition above.
- There we insisted that race was something that humans invented and gave meaning to in order to explain and/or justify certain differences and inequalities in the social world.
- One way to better understand that race is socially constructed, not biologically determined, is to travel in time or space to see the wide variation in how people are classified into racial groups in different societies and/or time periods.
The pseudo-science of race
While there are definitely physical and phenotypical differences among people and groups in the world, there is no genetic marker for “race” to be found in our DNA.
Nonetheless, as you’ve read about, there have been many pseudo-scientists over the years peddling eugenics and other supposedly biological theories of racial difference and superiority.
Genetic ancestry testing and race
Next let’s watch this talk by Wendy Roth on DNA testing and the meaning of race.
- As you watch, consider what it tells us about the social construction of race.
Questions for discussion
At the very end of the talk, Roth tells us that
”If there’s anyone out here today who is thinking about taking a genetic ancestry test, my recommendation is that you don’t take these tests just to find out your race or ethnicity. These tests might be able to tell you useful things … but they can’t tell you who you are or what your race or ethnicity is.”
- Can you clarify this for me? Why does she say that these tests can’t tell you your race or ethnicity?
