chapter 7: ethnicity. ethnicity ethnicity – group of people that share a common cultural...

Chapter 7: Ethnicity

Ethnicity

• Ethnicity – group of people that share a common cultural background

• Controversy in U.S.– How much discrimination still exists?– Should preference be given to correct past mistakes?– To what extent should distinct identity of ethnicity be

encouraged or protected• Race – group that shares a biological ancestor- usually

related to skin color or other physical characteristics• Ethnicity cannot be changed, but it can be mixed and

diluted

Key Issue #1: Where Are Ethnicities Distributed?

• Distribution in the U.S.– Hispanic/Latino 14%– African American 12%– Asian American 4%– American Indian 1%

• Clustering of Ethnicities– African Americans – in Southeast; over 25% of AL, GA, LA, MD, SC, &

MS (33%)– Hispanics – in Southwest; 25% of CA, 33% of AZ, NM, TX; 30% of all

Hispanics live in CA, 20% in TX, 15% in FL; 64% Mexican/Chicano, 10% Puerto Rican, 4% Cuban

– Asian – in West; 12% of CA (1/2 of all Asians), 40% of HI; 23% Chinese, 19% Indian, 18% Filipino, 10% Vietnamese, 10% Korean, 7% Japanese

– American Indian – in Southwest & Great Plains; also in Alaska


• Concentration in Cities– African Americans – 50% in cities

• Detroit – 85% African American; MI is 7%; 50% of Michigan’s African Americans live in Detroit

• Chicago – 1/3 African American; IL 1/12; 50% of Illinois’ African Americans live in Chicago

– Hispanics• NYC – 25%; NY State – 1/16; 75% of NY’s Hispanics live in NYC• 50% of Los Angeles, El Paso, San Antonio

– Neighborhood Scale• Ethnicities cluster in neighborhoods (African Americans, Asians, Hispanics,

Little Italy, Chinatown, etc.)• Southern & Eastern European immigrants in Midwest (Chicago, Detroit,

Cleveland) for steel & auto factories• 1910 – 75% of Detroit were immigrants; clustered in neighborhoods

(Greektown, Poletown)• Los Angeles – AA in south central, Hispanics in east, Asians in south & west

– 1992 riots (Rodney King); Asian stores looted by African Americans


• African American Migration Patterns (3 major flows):① Forced migration from Africa

– Slavery – 1st to American colonies in 1619 (Jamestown, VA)– 1700s – 400,000 brought by British– U.S. banned new slaves in 1808 – 250,000 brought illegally for next 50+

years– Very few slaves in Europe, but 10 million brought by Europeans to Western

Hemisphere 1710-1810 (Brazil, Caribbean, etc.) – 5% to U.S.– Coastal Africans had better weapons and traded slaves with Europeans

(captured interior peoples)– Spanish & Portuguese in 1500s; British, Dutch, French in 1600s– Most slaves from West Africa– Triangular Slave Trade – goods to Africa, gold & slaves to Caribbean,

rum/molasses/tobacco/cotton to Europe– Hardships on journey, leaving families, forced labor– Slavery was big issue in U.S. from Constitution to Civil War (slave states vs.

free states)– 13th, 14th, & 15th Amendments


• African American Migration Patterns (3 major flows):② Great Migration North

– Freed slaves mostly lived in South as sharecroppers– Decline in cotton demand and increase in machinery forced

many off farms– Pulled towards industrial jobs in the North– Main routes:

• Carolinas & South Atlantic to Baltimore, Philadelphia, NYC (U.S. 1 or I-95)

• AL & E. TN to Detroit or Cleveland (U.S. 25 or 21 & I-75 or I-77)• MS & W. TN to St. Louis & Chicago (U.S. 61 or 66 & I-55)• TX to CA (U.S. 80 or 90 & I-10 or I-20)

– 2 waves: 1910s-20s before and after WWI & 1940s-50s before and after WWII

– Detroit African American pop. 5,741 – 500,000 (1910-1960)


• African American Migration Patterns (3 major flows):③Expansion of the Ghetto– Clustering of African Americans in cities– Areas referred to as ghettos as many were unable to live

in other areas (refusal to sell, poverty, etc.)– South Side Chicago – 500,000 African Americans in 3

square miles– Baltimore – 250,000 in 1 square mile (1950) NW of

downtown– High density in inner-city vs. suburbs (100,000/sq. mile

vs. 5,000/sq. mile– Moved from ghettos to adjacent neighborhoods in 1950s

& 60s – expansion of ghettos along major roads


• Differentiating Ethnicity & Race– In U.S:

• Asian race roughly = Asian ethnicity• Black race vs. African American (black may include Latin American,

Caribbean, Asian, or Pacific)• Hispanic/Latino is NOT a race – must choose white, black, or other

– Racism – belief in superiority/inferiority of a race or racial characteristics

– Ethnocentrism – belief in superiority of one’s ethnicity– Ethnicity is more tied to location & culture

• 2000 U.S. Census (14 races)– White 75%, Black 12%, American Indian, Asian Indian, Chinese,

Filipino, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Other Asian, Native Hawaiian, Guamanian, Samoan, Other Pacific Islander, Other race (2% checked more than 1 box)


• Separate But Equal Doctrine– Once legal spatial separation of races– Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) – Supreme Court ruling that allowed/legalized

segregation as long as facilities were “equal”– Jim Crow Laws – segregation in South (buses, schools, hotels, restaurants,

shops, bathrooms, etc.)– Deeds with restrictions on selling homes to blacks (sometimes also to

Catholics & Jews)• White Flight

– Elimination of segregation in 1950s & 60s (Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, KS)

– Minority facilities inferior and therefore unequal– Whites fled rather than integrate (Ex. Detroit 1.5 million whites left 1950-

2000)– Whites often moved to suburbs – blacks moved in– Blockbusting – illegal real estate practice to convince whites to sell cheaply

& sell at a higher price to blacks trying to escape ghettos– Kerner Commission (1968) – U.S. cities were 2 separate & unequal societies

Key Issue #1: Where Are Ethnicities Distributed?• Apartheid in South Africa

– South Africa increased segregation while U.S. was ending it– 4 races: white (14%), colored (mix of white & black – 8%), Asian (3%), black (75%)– Race determined where you could live, go to school, shop, own land, travel within

country– Blacks could not vote or run for office, could only hold certain jobs with lower

wages– Dutch 1652 settled Cape Town area (known as Boers/farmers or Afrikaaner)– British captured Cape, Boers moved inland (Transvaal & Orange Free State)– Gold & diamonds discovered – British moved in & won Boer Wars in 1902– British & Afrikaaners both refused to give power to blacks– 1970s & 80s – other countries imposed economic sanctions to oppose apartheid– 4 black homelands created (10 proposed) – would have been 13% of land for 44%

of population (forced moving of blacks by gov’t)– End of Apartheid (1991) helped by African National Congress (ANC)– Nelson Mandela (jailed for 27 years) & Bishop Desmond Tutu– Mandela elected 1st black president of South Africa in 1994– Blacks have political equality but remain much poorer (whites make 10x more than

blacks on average)

chapter 7: ethnicity. ethnicity ethnicity – group of people that share a common cultural...

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