Korie L. Edwards
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- September 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195314243
- eISBN:
- 9780199871810
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195314243.003.0005
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
In a race sensitive society, how people racially identify and the salience of these identities influence their associations, including the churches they to choose to attend. This chapter explores the ...
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In a race sensitive society, how people racially identify and the salience of these identities influence their associations, including the churches they to choose to attend. This chapter explores the racial identities of interracial church attendees, and the role of racial identity for explaining who attends interracial churches.Less
In a race sensitive society, how people racially identify and the salience of these identities influence their associations, including the churches they to choose to attend. This chapter explores the racial identities of interracial church attendees, and the role of racial identity for explaining who attends interracial churches.
Maxine Craig
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195152623
- eISBN:
- 9780199849345
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195152623.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, American History: 20th Century
This book is a study of black women as symbols, and as participants, in the reshaping of the meaning of black racial identity. The meanings and practices of racial identity are continually reshaped ...
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This book is a study of black women as symbols, and as participants, in the reshaping of the meaning of black racial identity. The meanings and practices of racial identity are continually reshaped as a result of the interplay of actions taken at the individual and institutional levels. In chapters that detail the history of pre-Civil Rights Movement black beauty pageants, later efforts to integrate beauty contests, and the transformation in beliefs and practices relating to black beauty in the 1960s, the book develops a model for understanding social processes of racial change. It places changing black hair practices and standards of beauty in historical context and shows the powerful role social movements have had in reshaping the texture of everyday life. The Civil Rights and Black Power Movements led a generation to question hair straightening and to establish a new standard of beauty that was summed up in the words “black is beautiful.” Through oral history interviews with Civil Rights and Black Power Movement activists and ordinary women, the book documents the meaning of these changes in black women's lives.Less
This book is a study of black women as symbols, and as participants, in the reshaping of the meaning of black racial identity. The meanings and practices of racial identity are continually reshaped as a result of the interplay of actions taken at the individual and institutional levels. In chapters that detail the history of pre-Civil Rights Movement black beauty pageants, later efforts to integrate beauty contests, and the transformation in beliefs and practices relating to black beauty in the 1960s, the book develops a model for understanding social processes of racial change. It places changing black hair practices and standards of beauty in historical context and shows the powerful role social movements have had in reshaping the texture of everyday life. The Civil Rights and Black Power Movements led a generation to question hair straightening and to establish a new standard of beauty that was summed up in the words “black is beautiful.” Through oral history interviews with Civil Rights and Black Power Movement activists and ordinary women, the book documents the meaning of these changes in black women's lives.
Korie L. Edwards
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- September 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195314243
- eISBN:
- 9780199871810
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195314243.003.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
The introductory chapter reviews the basic thesis of the book: whiteness (which includes the normativity of white culture, white privilege, and white structural dominance) governs how interracial ...
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The introductory chapter reviews the basic thesis of the book: whiteness (which includes the normativity of white culture, white privilege, and white structural dominance) governs how interracial churches work. Therefore, interracial churches work to the extent that they are first comfortable places for whites to attend. The chapter explains what is meant by whiteness and why whiteness matters. An historical overview of religious race relations in the United States is also provided. And the methods employed for this study are briefly reviewed.Less
The introductory chapter reviews the basic thesis of the book: whiteness (which includes the normativity of white culture, white privilege, and white structural dominance) governs how interracial churches work. Therefore, interracial churches work to the extent that they are first comfortable places for whites to attend. The chapter explains what is meant by whiteness and why whiteness matters. An historical overview of religious race relations in the United States is also provided. And the methods employed for this study are briefly reviewed.
Kimberly Eison Simmons
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780813036755
- eISBN:
- 9780813041858
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University Press of Florida
- DOI:
- 10.5744/florida/9780813036755.001.0001
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Latin American Studies
In Latin America and the Caribbean, racial issues are extremely complex and fluid, particularly the nature of “blackness.” What it means to be called “black” is still very different for an African ...
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In Latin America and the Caribbean, racial issues are extremely complex and fluid, particularly the nature of “blackness.” What it means to be called “black” is still very different for an African American living in the United States than it is for an individual with African ancestry in the Dominican Republic. Racial categories were far from concrete as the Dominican populace grew, altered, and solidified around present notions of identity. In effect, the African past was buried in historical memory, and Dominicans were denied their blackness due to concerted socialization efforts of the state for much of the twentieth century. In part due to movement of individuals between the Dominican Republic and the United States, where traditional notions of indio color categories are challenged and debated, new racial identities emerged. Local scholars and activists are organizing around Dominican blackness and raising awareness. How and why Dominicans define their racial identities reveal shifting coalitions between Caribbean peoples and African Americans, and proves intrinsic to understanding identities in the African diaspora. This book explores the socio-cultural shifts in Dominicans' racial categories, concluding that Dominicans are slowly embracing blackness and ideas of African ancestry as they unbury the African past.Less
In Latin America and the Caribbean, racial issues are extremely complex and fluid, particularly the nature of “blackness.” What it means to be called “black” is still very different for an African American living in the United States than it is for an individual with African ancestry in the Dominican Republic. Racial categories were far from concrete as the Dominican populace grew, altered, and solidified around present notions of identity. In effect, the African past was buried in historical memory, and Dominicans were denied their blackness due to concerted socialization efforts of the state for much of the twentieth century. In part due to movement of individuals between the Dominican Republic and the United States, where traditional notions of indio color categories are challenged and debated, new racial identities emerged. Local scholars and activists are organizing around Dominican blackness and raising awareness. How and why Dominicans define their racial identities reveal shifting coalitions between Caribbean peoples and African Americans, and proves intrinsic to understanding identities in the African diaspora. This book explores the socio-cultural shifts in Dominicans' racial categories, concluding that Dominicans are slowly embracing blackness and ideas of African ancestry as they unbury the African past.
Linda Martín Alcoff
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- February 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780195137347
- eISBN:
- 9780199785773
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195137345.003.0010
- Subject:
- Philosophy, General
This chapter focuses on the Latino identity. It calls for the understanding Latino identity as an ethnic identity. This option could allow for more internal heterogeneity and resist the racializing ...
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This chapter focuses on the Latino identity. It calls for the understanding Latino identity as an ethnic identity. This option could allow for more internal heterogeneity and resist the racializing that brings racism as well as the mischaracterization of the Latino's sense of self. However, it is also argued that the “ethnic option” is not fully adequate for contemporary social realities, and may inhibit the development of useful political strategies for diverse Latino communities. The main argument in this chapter will take the form of a negative: the ethnic option is not adequate. The very failure of the ethnic option will establish some of the necessary criteria for such an alternative.Less
This chapter focuses on the Latino identity. It calls for the understanding Latino identity as an ethnic identity. This option could allow for more internal heterogeneity and resist the racializing that brings racism as well as the mischaracterization of the Latino's sense of self. However, it is also argued that the “ethnic option” is not fully adequate for contemporary social realities, and may inhibit the development of useful political strategies for diverse Latino communities. The main argument in this chapter will take the form of a negative: the ethnic option is not adequate. The very failure of the ethnic option will establish some of the necessary criteria for such an alternative.
Prudence L. Carter
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780195168624
- eISBN:
- 9780199943968
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195168624.003.0026
- Subject:
- Sociology, Education
This chapter investigates how Latinos' racial and ethnic identities yield either similar or dissimilar educational outcomes to African American youth. It analyzes interethnic differences between ...
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This chapter investigates how Latinos' racial and ethnic identities yield either similar or dissimilar educational outcomes to African American youth. It analyzes interethnic differences between African Americans and Latinos in behaviors and attitudes about “acting white” and suggests that gender has the strongest influence. It discussed findings that Latinos are more likely than Latinas to share cultural styles, such as those of hip-hop culture, with African American youths.Less
This chapter investigates how Latinos' racial and ethnic identities yield either similar or dissimilar educational outcomes to African American youth. It analyzes interethnic differences between African Americans and Latinos in behaviors and attitudes about “acting white” and suggests that gender has the strongest influence. It discussed findings that Latinos are more likely than Latinas to share cultural styles, such as those of hip-hop culture, with African American youths.
Justine Burns
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199732166
- eISBN:
- 9780199866144
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199732166.003.0005
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
This chapter reports evidence from experimental games, adapted to explicitly observe whether racial identity has any impact on social interactions among black-and-white South Africans. In the first ...
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This chapter reports evidence from experimental games, adapted to explicitly observe whether racial identity has any impact on social interactions among black-and-white South Africans. In the first “dictator game,” respondents are given an endowment of money and asked how much they would like to give to another participant. In the control cases, the race of the possible recipient is hidden. In others it is indicated by either surname or a photograph. In a second variant of such games, this time with a strategic element added, the initial gift is tripled and the recipient then asked how much she would like to give back to the initiating respondent. If the first set of games measures some element of generosity or altruism, the second emphasizes strategic trust. The results indicate that both socioeconomic context and racial identity matter. In all settings black initiators give away less money than their white counterparts, reflecting the much lower economic resources common in the black community (and thus the relative higher value of each monetary unit).Less
This chapter reports evidence from experimental games, adapted to explicitly observe whether racial identity has any impact on social interactions among black-and-white South Africans. In the first “dictator game,” respondents are given an endowment of money and asked how much they would like to give to another participant. In the control cases, the race of the possible recipient is hidden. In others it is indicated by either surname or a photograph. In a second variant of such games, this time with a strategic element added, the initial gift is tripled and the recipient then asked how much she would like to give back to the initiating respondent. If the first set of games measures some element of generosity or altruism, the second emphasizes strategic trust. The results indicate that both socioeconomic context and racial identity matter. In all settings black initiators give away less money than their white counterparts, reflecting the much lower economic resources common in the black community (and thus the relative higher value of each monetary unit).
Linda Martín Alcoff
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- February 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780195137347
- eISBN:
- 9780199785773
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195137345.003.0012
- Subject:
- Philosophy, General
This chapter explores the metaphysics and politics of being mixed, as well as the conditions (metaphysical, historical, etc.) under which being mixed creates an identity problem in the first place. ...
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This chapter explores the metaphysics and politics of being mixed, as well as the conditions (metaphysical, historical, etc.) under which being mixed creates an identity problem in the first place. It considers various proposed solutions to the problem, including assimilationism and nomadic subjectivity. It concludes with a description, assessment, and political analysis of the two main metaphysical options for conceptualizing mixed identity. The primary focus will remain on mixed racial identity, but race is mediated by ethnic and cultural identities in such a way that these cannot always be neatly disentangled.Less
This chapter explores the metaphysics and politics of being mixed, as well as the conditions (metaphysical, historical, etc.) under which being mixed creates an identity problem in the first place. It considers various proposed solutions to the problem, including assimilationism and nomadic subjectivity. It concludes with a description, assessment, and political analysis of the two main metaphysical options for conceptualizing mixed identity. The primary focus will remain on mixed racial identity, but race is mediated by ethnic and cultural identities in such a way that these cannot always be neatly disentangled.
Ilan H. Meyer and Suzanne C. Ouellette
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- September 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195326789
- eISBN:
- 9780199870356
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195326789.003.0004
- Subject:
- Psychology, Social Psychology
This chapter addresses the question: How do Black lesbians, gay men, and bisexuals (LGBs) who inhabit two socially significant identities, experience these identities? It considers two dominant ...
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This chapter addresses the question: How do Black lesbians, gay men, and bisexuals (LGBs) who inhabit two socially significant identities, experience these identities? It considers two dominant perspectives in identity theory. One perspective views multiple salient identities as competing; the other perspective argues that multiple identities coexist to form a coherent self. It supplements these perspectives with two notions: (1) that individuals recognize the social origin of constraints placed on their identities; and (2) that identity is a dialectical process that occurs in distinctive interpersonal, sociocultural, and historical contexts. This conceptual framework shows how unity can exist alongside multiplicity and personal agency alongside social determination in Black LGB identities.Less
This chapter addresses the question: How do Black lesbians, gay men, and bisexuals (LGBs) who inhabit two socially significant identities, experience these identities? It considers two dominant perspectives in identity theory. One perspective views multiple salient identities as competing; the other perspective argues that multiple identities coexist to form a coherent self. It supplements these perspectives with two notions: (1) that individuals recognize the social origin of constraints placed on their identities; and (2) that identity is a dialectical process that occurs in distinctive interpersonal, sociocultural, and historical contexts. This conceptual framework shows how unity can exist alongside multiplicity and personal agency alongside social determination in Black LGB identities.
Natasha K. Warikoo
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520262102
- eISBN:
- 9780520947795
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520262102.003.0003
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Anthropology, Global
This chapter discusses how the drawing of symbolic boundaries between ethnic and racial groups and peer expectations of racial authenticity affect teens' taste preferences, focusing on the subtle ...
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This chapter discusses how the drawing of symbolic boundaries between ethnic and racial groups and peer expectations of racial authenticity affect teens' taste preferences, focusing on the subtle differences in taste preferences between the Indian, Afro-Caribbean, Indo-Caribbean, and white students in the schools. Hip-hop's association with African Americans has elevated black racial identity to high status among peers. Non-black students are sometimes chastised for acting black or inauthentic consumption of black popular culture. Hence, ethnic groups have found ways of engaging with hip-hop that connected with their particular ethnicity. Afro-Caribbean youth are equipped with the most authentic claim to hip-hop because of hip-hop's black roots. South Asian youth engage in hybrid bhangra–hip-hop and Hindi-hip-hop styles because they cannot easily boundary-cross in their consumption without being seen as racially inauthentic. The white youth in London choose from myriad cultural styles. Hence, although popular youth culture and status considerations exist in all social contexts, regardless of race and class, their manifestations differ by race and ethnicity.Less
This chapter discusses how the drawing of symbolic boundaries between ethnic and racial groups and peer expectations of racial authenticity affect teens' taste preferences, focusing on the subtle differences in taste preferences between the Indian, Afro-Caribbean, Indo-Caribbean, and white students in the schools. Hip-hop's association with African Americans has elevated black racial identity to high status among peers. Non-black students are sometimes chastised for acting black or inauthentic consumption of black popular culture. Hence, ethnic groups have found ways of engaging with hip-hop that connected with their particular ethnicity. Afro-Caribbean youth are equipped with the most authentic claim to hip-hop because of hip-hop's black roots. South Asian youth engage in hybrid bhangra–hip-hop and Hindi-hip-hop styles because they cannot easily boundary-cross in their consumption without being seen as racially inauthentic. The white youth in London choose from myriad cultural styles. Hence, although popular youth culture and status considerations exist in all social contexts, regardless of race and class, their manifestations differ by race and ethnicity.
ANTÓNIO SÉRGIO ALFREDO GUIMARÃES
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780197265246
- eISBN:
- 9780191754197
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197265246.003.0002
- Subject:
- History, Imperialism and Colonialism
The purpose of this chapter is to clarify the way in which Brazil has developed a system of colour classification with regard to Afro-descendants in the period since abolition. The intention is not ...
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The purpose of this chapter is to clarify the way in which Brazil has developed a system of colour classification with regard to Afro-descendants in the period since abolition. The intention is not only to show how this system developed over time, but also how it has been shaped by the mobilisation of the black population around the notion of race: as a group sharing solidarity and common experiences of subordination and discrimination. The strategy is to trace the terms ‘colour’ and ‘race’ and their meanings through time, as used or systematised into classifications by the state, social movements and social scientists. This study is both preliminary and incomplete, but it is hoped that it can serve as a guide for future and more systematic research on specific periods, places and social agents.Less
The purpose of this chapter is to clarify the way in which Brazil has developed a system of colour classification with regard to Afro-descendants in the period since abolition. The intention is not only to show how this system developed over time, but also how it has been shaped by the mobilisation of the black population around the notion of race: as a group sharing solidarity and common experiences of subordination and discrimination. The strategy is to trace the terms ‘colour’ and ‘race’ and their meanings through time, as used or systematised into classifications by the state, social movements and social scientists. This study is both preliminary and incomplete, but it is hoped that it can serve as a guide for future and more systematic research on specific periods, places and social agents.
Linda Martín Alcoff
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- February 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780195137347
- eISBN:
- 9780199785773
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195137345.003.0007
- Subject:
- Philosophy, General
When one realizes the indeterminacy of racial categories — their fluid borders, arbitrary criteria, and cultural variety — it may be tempting to adopt a nominalism about race, that race is no more ...
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When one realizes the indeterminacy of racial categories — their fluid borders, arbitrary criteria, and cultural variety — it may be tempting to adopt a nominalism about race, that race is no more real than phlogiston or witchcraft. This chapter resists this conclusion based on phenomenological grounds and insists that race is real. It explores reasons for the current confusion about race, considers various approaches to knowledge about race, and proposes a preliminary phenomenological account of racial identity as it is lived in the body of various racialized subjects at a given cultural moment. It is argued that only when we come to be very clear about how race is lived, in its multiple manifestations, and only when we can come to appreciate its often hidden epistemic effects and its power over collective imaginations can we entertain even the remote possibility of its eventual transformation.Less
When one realizes the indeterminacy of racial categories — their fluid borders, arbitrary criteria, and cultural variety — it may be tempting to adopt a nominalism about race, that race is no more real than phlogiston or witchcraft. This chapter resists this conclusion based on phenomenological grounds and insists that race is real. It explores reasons for the current confusion about race, considers various approaches to knowledge about race, and proposes a preliminary phenomenological account of racial identity as it is lived in the body of various racialized subjects at a given cultural moment. It is argued that only when we come to be very clear about how race is lived, in its multiple manifestations, and only when we can come to appreciate its often hidden epistemic effects and its power over collective imaginations can we entertain even the remote possibility of its eventual transformation.
Eiichiro Azuma
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195159400
- eISBN:
- 9780199788545
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195159400.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, American History: 20th Century
Before World War II, Japanese immigrants, or Issei, forged a unique transnational identity between their native land and the United States. Whether merchants, community leaders, or rural farmers, ...
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Before World War II, Japanese immigrants, or Issei, forged a unique transnational identity between their native land and the United States. Whether merchants, community leaders, or rural farmers, Japanese immigrants shared a collective racial identity as aliens ineligible for American citizenship, even as they worked to form communities in the American West. At the same time, Imperial Japan considered Issei and their descendents part of its racial expansion abroad and enlisted them to further their nationalist goals. This book shows how Japanese immigrants negotiated their racial and class positions alongside white Americans, Chinese, and Filipinos at a time when Japan was fighting their countries of origin. Utilizing rare Japanese and English language sources, the book stresses the tight grips, as well as the clashing influences, the Japanese and American states exercised over Japanese immigrants and how they created identities that diverged from either national narrative.Less
Before World War II, Japanese immigrants, or Issei, forged a unique transnational identity between their native land and the United States. Whether merchants, community leaders, or rural farmers, Japanese immigrants shared a collective racial identity as aliens ineligible for American citizenship, even as they worked to form communities in the American West. At the same time, Imperial Japan considered Issei and their descendents part of its racial expansion abroad and enlisted them to further their nationalist goals. This book shows how Japanese immigrants negotiated their racial and class positions alongside white Americans, Chinese, and Filipinos at a time when Japan was fighting their countries of origin. Utilizing rare Japanese and English language sources, the book stresses the tight grips, as well as the clashing influences, the Japanese and American states exercised over Japanese immigrants and how they created identities that diverged from either national narrative.
Irene W. Leigh
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195320664
- eISBN:
- 9780199864584
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195320664.003.0002
- Subject:
- Psychology, Social Psychology, Developmental Psychology
Psychosocial literature covering theory and research on identity evolution in deaf and hard-of-hearing persons is relatively recent. This chapter presents extensive conceptual and theoretical ...
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Psychosocial literature covering theory and research on identity evolution in deaf and hard-of-hearing persons is relatively recent. This chapter presents extensive conceptual and theoretical perspectives on the formation of diverse deaf identity categories and how individuals may transition into and out of categories. The following paradigms are covered: disability, racial identity, social identity, acculturation, and narration. Supporting research and anecdotal evidence are included for each paradigm. The interface of d/Deaf/hard of hearing with core identity is examined. Related to this interface, how covert and overt deaf identities influence adjustment is also explored.Less
Psychosocial literature covering theory and research on identity evolution in deaf and hard-of-hearing persons is relatively recent. This chapter presents extensive conceptual and theoretical perspectives on the formation of diverse deaf identity categories and how individuals may transition into and out of categories. The following paradigms are covered: disability, racial identity, social identity, acculturation, and narration. Supporting research and anecdotal evidence are included for each paradigm. The interface of d/Deaf/hard of hearing with core identity is examined. Related to this interface, how covert and overt deaf identities influence adjustment is also explored.
Andrea Louie
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- March 2016
- ISBN:
- 9781479890521
- eISBN:
- 9781479859887
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- NYU Press
- DOI:
- 10.18574/nyu/9781479890521.001.0001
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Social and Cultural Anthropology
Chinese adoption is often viewed as creating new possibilities for the formation of multicultural, cosmopolitan families. For white adoptive families, it is an opportunity to learn more about China ...
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Chinese adoption is often viewed as creating new possibilities for the formation of multicultural, cosmopolitan families. For white adoptive families, it is an opportunity to learn more about China and Chinese culture, as many adoptive families today try to honor what they view as their children's “birth culture.” However, transnational, transracial adoption also presents challenges to families who are trying to impart in their children cultural and racial identities that they themselves do not possess, while at the same time incorporating their own racial, ethnic, and religious identities. Many of their ideas are based on assumptions about how authentic Chinese and Chinese Americans practice Chinese culture. Based on a comparative ethnographic study of white and Asian American adoptive parents over an eight-year period, this book explores how white adoptive parents, adoption professionals, Chinese American adoptive parents, and teens adopted from China as children negotiate meanings of Chinese identity in the context of race, culture, and family. Viewing Chineseness as something produced, rather than inherited, the book examines how the idea of “ethnic options” differs for Asian American versus white adoptive parents as they produce Chinese adoptee identities, while re-working their own ethnic, racial, and parental identities. The book analyzes how both white and Asian American adoptive parents engage in changing understandings of and relationships with “Chineseness” as a form of ethnic identity, racial identity, or cultural capital over the life course.Less
Chinese adoption is often viewed as creating new possibilities for the formation of multicultural, cosmopolitan families. For white adoptive families, it is an opportunity to learn more about China and Chinese culture, as many adoptive families today try to honor what they view as their children's “birth culture.” However, transnational, transracial adoption also presents challenges to families who are trying to impart in their children cultural and racial identities that they themselves do not possess, while at the same time incorporating their own racial, ethnic, and religious identities. Many of their ideas are based on assumptions about how authentic Chinese and Chinese Americans practice Chinese culture. Based on a comparative ethnographic study of white and Asian American adoptive parents over an eight-year period, this book explores how white adoptive parents, adoption professionals, Chinese American adoptive parents, and teens adopted from China as children negotiate meanings of Chinese identity in the context of race, culture, and family. Viewing Chineseness as something produced, rather than inherited, the book examines how the idea of “ethnic options” differs for Asian American versus white adoptive parents as they produce Chinese adoptee identities, while re-working their own ethnic, racial, and parental identities. The book analyzes how both white and Asian American adoptive parents engage in changing understandings of and relationships with “Chineseness” as a form of ethnic identity, racial identity, or cultural capital over the life course.
Ruthellen Josselson and Michele Harway
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199732074
- eISBN:
- 9780199933457
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199732074.003.0001
- Subject:
- Psychology, Social Psychology
Increasing numbers of people manage multiple racial, ethnic, national, or gender identities. The question explored in this book is how people navigate a variety of socially constructed but deeply ...
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Increasing numbers of people manage multiple racial, ethnic, national, or gender identities. The question explored in this book is how people navigate a variety of socially constructed but deeply embodied identities, in a variety of circumstances and contexts. This first chapter provides the theoretical and organization context for the book. Addressed here is the issue of the construction of coherence when coherence is no longer guaranteed by the sameness of collective identity. A variety of theories shed light on the experience of individuals navigating multiple identities. This chapter focuses on such constructs as development of ego identity, identity formation, racial identity development, acculturation and immigration, transnationalism, intersectionality, multiple identity development, and cultural frame switching. The last section of the chapter details how chapter authors view these issues from a range of standpoints.Less
Increasing numbers of people manage multiple racial, ethnic, national, or gender identities. The question explored in this book is how people navigate a variety of socially constructed but deeply embodied identities, in a variety of circumstances and contexts. This first chapter provides the theoretical and organization context for the book. Addressed here is the issue of the construction of coherence when coherence is no longer guaranteed by the sameness of collective identity. A variety of theories shed light on the experience of individuals navigating multiple identities. This chapter focuses on such constructs as development of ego identity, identity formation, racial identity development, acculturation and immigration, transnationalism, intersectionality, multiple identity development, and cultural frame switching. The last section of the chapter details how chapter authors view these issues from a range of standpoints.
Linda Martín Alcoff
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- February 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780195137347
- eISBN:
- 9780199785773
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195137345.003.0011
- Subject:
- Philosophy, General
This chapter argues that even if we try to build coalition around what might seem to be our most obvious common concern — reducing racism — the black-white paradigm that dominates racial discourse in ...
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This chapter argues that even if we try to build coalition around what might seem to be our most obvious common concern — reducing racism — the black-white paradigm that dominates racial discourse in the United States inhibits our comprehension of the variety of racisms and racial identities and thus proves more of an obstacle to coalition building than an aid. It uses the situation of Latinos and Asian Americans to explore the black-white binary, what it is, how it operates, and how it is limiting. It then discusses the black-white paradigm.Less
This chapter argues that even if we try to build coalition around what might seem to be our most obvious common concern — reducing racism — the black-white paradigm that dominates racial discourse in the United States inhibits our comprehension of the variety of racisms and racial identities and thus proves more of an obstacle to coalition building than an aid. It uses the situation of Latinos and Asian Americans to explore the black-white binary, what it is, how it operates, and how it is limiting. It then discusses the black-white paradigm.
Justin A. Nystrom
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- March 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780823232024
- eISBN:
- 9780823240494
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Fordham University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5422/fso/9780823232024.003.0008
- Subject:
- History, American History: 19th Century
This chapter looks at case studies of the way the Civil War and its aftermath affected free Creoles of color. Antebellum New Orleans society was divided broadly into three ...
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This chapter looks at case studies of the way the Civil War and its aftermath affected free Creoles of color. Antebellum New Orleans society was divided broadly into three groups, with Creoles of color forming the vital middle ground between bound black slaves and free whites. Because these Creoles both obscured the relationship between race and freedom and served as a model to those slaves who would be free, white governments passed a series of laws increasingly restricting Creoles' freedoms. The war and early fall of New Orleans changed this three-tiered system in dramatic and unexpected ways. The ensuing end of slavery destroyed Creoles' former racial identity and forced them into a more rigid social structure of white and nonwhite. Many families reacted by taking a series of small steps across several generations to assume a white identity in this new bichromatic society—with varying degrees of success.Less
This chapter looks at case studies of the way the Civil War and its aftermath affected free Creoles of color. Antebellum New Orleans society was divided broadly into three groups, with Creoles of color forming the vital middle ground between bound black slaves and free whites. Because these Creoles both obscured the relationship between race and freedom and served as a model to those slaves who would be free, white governments passed a series of laws increasingly restricting Creoles' freedoms. The war and early fall of New Orleans changed this three-tiered system in dramatic and unexpected ways. The ensuing end of slavery destroyed Creoles' former racial identity and forced them into a more rigid social structure of white and nonwhite. Many families reacted by taking a series of small steps across several generations to assume a white identity in this new bichromatic society—with varying degrees of success.
Cameron Leader-Picone
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- May 2020
- ISBN:
- 9781496824516
- eISBN:
- 9781496824547
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Mississippi
- DOI:
- 10.14325/mississippi/9781496824516.003.0006
- Subject:
- Literature, African-American Literature
This chapter’s focus on Black immigrant authors addresses the tension between the continued racialization of American culture and shifting demographics that undermine the applicability of previous ...
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This chapter’s focus on Black immigrant authors addresses the tension between the continued racialization of American culture and shifting demographics that undermine the applicability of previous definitions of Blackness. Novels such as Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Americanah make explicit the connection between the prominence of such immigration and the rise of a figure such as Barack Obama. As Adichie’s novel makes clear, Obama’s background—the son of an African student and a white mother—underlines the shifting definitions of racial identity in twenty-first century America. While her protagonist’s presence in the United States is testament to the symbolic resonance that America still holds as a land of opportunity, her ultimate disillusionment with the United States, and the role that race plays in her return to Nigeria, underscores the incompleteness of the project of racial progress. The chapter engages with Afropolitanism as a post era discourse related to the African immigrant experience.Less
This chapter’s focus on Black immigrant authors addresses the tension between the continued racialization of American culture and shifting demographics that undermine the applicability of previous definitions of Blackness. Novels such as Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Americanah make explicit the connection between the prominence of such immigration and the rise of a figure such as Barack Obama. As Adichie’s novel makes clear, Obama’s background—the son of an African student and a white mother—underlines the shifting definitions of racial identity in twenty-first century America. While her protagonist’s presence in the United States is testament to the symbolic resonance that America still holds as a land of opportunity, her ultimate disillusionment with the United States, and the role that race plays in her return to Nigeria, underscores the incompleteness of the project of racial progress. The chapter engages with Afropolitanism as a post era discourse related to the African immigrant experience.
Thierry Devos
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- May 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199735204
- eISBN:
- 9780199894581
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199735204.003.0010
- Subject:
- Psychology, Social Psychology
Despite the outcome of the 2008 presidential election, the scientific literature reveals that race and racial attitudes continue to shape how political candidates are perceived and voting behavior. ...
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Despite the outcome of the 2008 presidential election, the scientific literature reveals that race and racial attitudes continue to shape how political candidates are perceived and voting behavior. This chapter discusses the multiple ways in which racial attitudes and identity play aubiquitous role in American politics. Blatant expressions of resentments, fears, or concerns for group interests have declined, but research on symbolic racism suggest that lingering racial biases account for affective and cognitive responses to political candidates and social policies. Today, racial prejudices operate largely at an automatic or unconscious level. In addition, the prevalence of egalitarian principles and an increasingly multicultural societal context have fostered more complex racial stereotypes and categorizations. Finally, the election of Barack Obama may produce paradoxical effects on political attitudes that underscore the challenges of overcoming racial divisions and oppression.Less
Despite the outcome of the 2008 presidential election, the scientific literature reveals that race and racial attitudes continue to shape how political candidates are perceived and voting behavior. This chapter discusses the multiple ways in which racial attitudes and identity play aubiquitous role in American politics. Blatant expressions of resentments, fears, or concerns for group interests have declined, but research on symbolic racism suggest that lingering racial biases account for affective and cognitive responses to political candidates and social policies. Today, racial prejudices operate largely at an automatic or unconscious level. In addition, the prevalence of egalitarian principles and an increasingly multicultural societal context have fostered more complex racial stereotypes and categorizations. Finally, the election of Barack Obama may produce paradoxical effects on political attitudes that underscore the challenges of overcoming racial divisions and oppression.
