Karl
Marx, Max Weber and Robert Park all argued that race and ethnicity would cease
to matter, yet almost a hundred years later race and ethnicity are still
indicators of life chances, still influence policy and law and are still used
as justification for genocide, hatred and fear (Cornell and Hartmann, 2007). Race
and ethnicity have shaped the way the world is organized; they have contributed
the formation of both global and local societies including establishing systems
of privilege and denial (Dalmage, 2010a). The concepts of race and ethnicity
are so imbedded in the structures of society that it is not just a matter of
“seeing past race” or “moving beyond race” but looking at the way these
concepts have been institutionalized and have shaped individuals, beliefs and
ideals. In order to explain why race and ethnicity still matter, I will define these
terms, explore their historical construction and discuss how this effects the
current moment.
According
to Cornell and Hartmann, ethnicity is a relational construct used to
distinguish one group from another on the assumption that one group shares
something that the other does not (2007:20). Ethnicity does not exist by itself,
like all social constructions, it can only be seen in relation to what it is
not, therefore it is a portion of the whole population with some perceived
difference between itself and the remainder.
Cornell and Hartmann make an important distinction between an ethnic
category and ethnic group, a category being ascribed to a portion of the
population by outsiders and a group is when the ethnic identity is subscribed to
by the population itself (2007:21).
Cornell
and Hartmann define race as a “human group defined by itself or others as
distinct by virtue of perceived common physical characteristics that are held
to be inherent” (2007:25). Skin color, eye shape and hair texture vary across
the globe, but these physical attributes have no meaning in and of themselves,
only what we assign to it. We choose which physical attributes are important,
organize people according these boundaries and then behave in a way which gives
these categories meaning, thus creating races.
Proof of social construction can be found in the fluidity of the meaning
we assign to these categories, changing them when it is in the best interest of
those in power.
There
are two major differences between race and ethnicity. The first is that while both
are used to describe some perceived difference, ethnicity does not have to be
hierarchical, while race is inherently hierarchical (Dalmage, 2010b). Cornell
and Hartmann point out that race was generally assigned by a dominant group to
a less powerful one as a way of othering (2007:28). This was by and large done
by Europeans during their expansion and colonization and by the act of labeling
and designating race they were establishing a social hierarchy—placing
themselves at the top and labeling others as inferior, implying they had less
worth.
The
second difference is that ethnicity can be, and often is, assigned as a
category, but frequently it is asserted by the group itself. An ethnic identity
can be used to affirm a common culture, history and sense of community.
Ethnicity is not necessarily about the power dynamic between ethnic groups,
although it can be. In some cases a group can be both a race and an ethnicity,
in they have been assigned a hierarchical place as a race, but have self
identified as an ethnic group as well, subscribing to their own culture and
shared history (Cornell and Hartmann, 2007).
According
to Banton the academic classification of humans did not necessarily begin in an
effort to establish a hierarchy of races, although one can see Eurocentric
discrimination in the writings of people like Buffon and Kant (1987:46). It was
in 1774, in Edward Long’s History of Jamaica,
that placed what we would now refer to as racial groups into a hierarchy with,
of course, white Europeans at the head (Banton, 1987:50). It was not until the
1830s that a real school developed which supported the idea that blacks were
inherently inferior to whites and were a separate species developed (Banton,
1987:54). Most current academics have rejected the idea that there is any
biological significance to race.
The
construction of race as we know it began with expansion of European colonialism
(Winant, 2001; Cornell and Hartmann, 2007). As Europeans arrived they brought
with them ethnocentric ideals and a hunger for resources which provided the
reasoning behind and the motive for deeming native peoples as different and
inferior. Without doubt the construction of the black and white races is the
best example of this.
Slavery
existed in various forms prior to the chattel slavery that came with the
Atlantic slave trade; some groups took prisoners of war as slaves, while for
others it took a form closer to indentured servitude (Winant, 2001:53). As
Europeans began transporting slaves from Africa to the New World, slavery
became racialized—chattel slavery was permanent and transgenerational (meaning
that slaves bore slaves) and Africans became identified with slavery (Winant,
2001:54). To be black was to be a slave and to be white was to be free, thus
began the myth of white superiority.
As
these varied ethnic groups of enslaved Africans journeyed to and arrived in the
New World, they resisted their white captors in various ways: attempting mutiny
on slave ships; creating maroon communities; or participating in what Winant
calls “foot dragging” or work slowdowns (2001:60). As a result of these acts of
resistance and the shared goal of attaining their freedom, blacks, although diverse
racial category, also became an ethnic group (Winant, 2001; Cornell and
Hartmann, 2007). In various countries this division of power associated with
race effects the futures and life chances of their citizens up to the current
day, creating a color line which marks the boundaries of race, and therefore
power. These boundaries are patrolled by both blacks and whites, although for
different reasons, as Dalmage states, “whites patrol to protect privilege, blacks
as they struggle for liberation” (2000:34).
In
the U.S. the imbalance of power associated with race is inextricably entwined
in our history, culture and legislation. Europeans created a Eurocentric
culture and norm to which others were, and still are, expected to assimilate
(Cornell and Hartmann; 2007) Blacks were legislated as property, treated as
livestock and denied citizenship, and after emancipation from slavery they were
again subjected to legislated violence, segregation and discrimination under
Jim Crowe. They were denied equal wages and education—even after defending their
country in World War II, blacks were denied the G.I. Bill and affordable mortgages.
By creating and supporting racist legislation and policy that perpetuated the
white superiority myth for the past three hundred years, the U.S. has denied
African Americans the ability to build economic, cultural and social capital,
maintaining this racial power imbalance.
In
Africa the modern day effects of colonization and the construction of race by
Europeans is also evident. Besides establishing the white superiority myth and racial
borders, Europeans also established national borders; effectively shaping
physical boundaries of African countries regardless of the cultures and
language of the people they contained (Cornell and Hartmann, 2007:46).
Colonizers cast their lots with various tribes, shifting the balance of power from
one ethnic group to another or at times helping to establish new ethnic and/or
racial divides (Cornell and Hartmann, 2007).
In
South Africa whites established western cultural norms which Africans had
to conform to in order gain legal rights, such as to hold property (MacDonald,
2006:96). They established an apartheid system, which legislated racial classification
and segregation. Under the system a minority of whites retained power and
citizenship while blacks were stripped of citizenship and relegated to ghettos
or removed from the country. In 1990 the process of dismantling apartheid
began, but it has left the country an extreme imbalance of power, as well as
economic and cultural capital due to the increased access to wealth and
education for whites (MSU, 2010). Even in the face of a new racially integrated
government strong racial divisions exist, as MacDonald points out, new policy
may dictate equality, but “…the ANC could not and can not [sic] prevent South
Africans from harboring racial affinities” (2006:112).
Race and ethnicity still matter
because they are central to the organization of societies across the globe.
They have established power dynamics which are still maintained by legislation,
policy and public opinion and are so embedded in our society and individual
lives that it can be hard see the influence they have on us. Ultimately, race
and ethnicity still matter because power and privilege is still concentrated
within the confines of race and as long as there is racial inequality race and
ethnicity will be important.
REFERENCES
Banton, Michael. 1987. “The
classification of races in Europe and North America: 1700-1850.” International
Social Science Journal, 39(1):45-60.
Cornell, Stephen and Douglas
Hartmann. 2007. Ethnicity and Race:
Making Identities in a Changing World. Thousand Oaks: Pine Forge Press.
Dalmage, Heather. 2000. Tripping on the Color Line: Black-White Multiracial Families
in a Racially Divided World. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press.
----- 2010a. “Week Two Overview of
Questions.” Retrieved June 15, 2010: http://roosevelt.blackboard.edu.
-----.2010b. “Week Three Overview of
Questions/Comments.” Retrieved June 15, 2010: http://roosevelt.blackboard.edu.
MacDonald, Michael. 2006. Why Race Matters in South Africa. Cambridge:
Harvard University Press.
Michigan State University (MSU).
2010. South Africa: Overcoming Apartheid. “Introduction.” Retrieved, June 16,
2010: http://www.overcomingapartheid.msu.edu/unit.php?id=11
Winant, Howard. 2001. The World is a Ghetto: Race and Democracy
Since World War II. New York: Basic Books.
Thanks for your nice blog! Recently i’m promoting incontinence, wound care and bandages products named wound care . We’re selling Dignity, Molicare, Hartmann and Attends products.
ReplyDelete