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Racial Distancing in a Southern City: Latino Immigrants’ Views of Black Americans
Abstract
The United States is undergoing dramatic demographic change, primarily from immigration, and many of the new Latino immigrants are settling in the South. This paper examines hypotheses related to attitudes of Latino immigrants toward black Americans in a Southern city. The analyses are based on a survey of black, white, and Latino residents (n = 500). The results show, for the most part, Latino immigrants hold negative stereotypical views of blacks and feel that they have more in common with whites than with blacks. Yet, whites do not reciprocate in their feelings toward Latinos. Latinos’ negative attitudes toward blacks, however, are modulated by a sense of linked fate with other Latinos. This research is important because the South still contains the largest population of African Americans in the United States, and no section of the country has been more rigidly defined along a black-white racial divide. How these new Latino immigrants situate themselves vis-à-vis black Americans has profound implications for the social and political fabric of the South.
... Historic accounts suggest previously racialized immigrant origin groups access psychic and material benefits of whiteness via acculturation by intensifying their derogation of Black Americans and adopting dominant group attitudes toward Black people (Ignatiev, 2012;Warren & Twine, 1997). However, contemporary evidence suggests members of the largest immigrant ethnic groups (Latinxs, Asians), are not more inclined to adopt anti-Black beliefs as they acculturate despite incentives to derogate Black Americans and exposure to anti-Black sending country ideologies (McClain et al., 2006;Tokeshi, 2021). ...
... While acculturated contemporary immigrant group members might increase their social proximity to Anglo whites relative to less acculturated co-ethnics (e.g. intermarriage, white neighborhood selection) (Yancey et al., 2003), they may not be more likely to adopt anti-Black appraisals (McClain et al., 2006;Tokeshi, 2021). Moreover, prior evidence finds acculturated co-ethnics may not increasingly oppose Black political interests. ...
... First, adjusting for perceived Latinx discrimination is critical since a prominent alternative explanation for pro-Black Latinx beliefs is that anti-Latinx marginalization generates commonality and cross-group support (Craig & Richeson, 2012). Second, we adjust for Latinx linked fate which prior literature establishes as an antecedent to pro-Black support (McClain et al., 2006). Third, we adjust for skin color, often associated with pro-Black Latinx beliefs (Wilkinson & Earle, 2013). ...
Historic accounts posit immigrant ethnic groups adopt the anti-Black attitudes of their Anglo counterparts as they acculturate in the U.S. However, contemporary evidence suggests acculturated immigrant co-ethnics may not be more likely to possess anti-Black appraisals and oppositive attitudes toward Black socio-political interests vis-a-vis their less acculturated counterparts. Drawing from reactive ethnicity and segmented assimilation theory, we posit the threatening contemporary immigration enforcement context may undercut assimilation to Anglo anti-Black attitudes among Latinxs. Using two large nationally representative Latinx surveys, we demonstrate, relative to less acculturated Latinxs, acculturated Latinxs threatened by immigration enforcement adopt attitudes concerning Black people and Black political interests akin to Black people while acculturated unthreatened Latinxs adopt or maintain attitudes closer to their Anglo counterparts. These findings suggest the extent of anti-Black assimilation among contemporary acculturated immigrant co-ethnics is conditional on the receptivity of the host society.
... Direct comparisons of Latinos' perceptions of both groups have been limited, with a greater emphasis being placed on perceived competition when examining attitudes toward Black Americans, in comparison to a greater emphasis placed on commonality when examining Whites. Of the scholarly work that does examine this question, scholars find that Latinos have better relations with Whites (Marrow 2009;McClain et al. 2006). ...
... With the rapid growth of the U.S. Latino population in recent decades, more research has begun to examine Latino racial attitudes. Much of this work has centered on Latinos' perceptions of Blacks (McClain et al. 2006;Marrow 2009;Krupnikov and Piston 2016), particularly how assimilation and competition shape Black-Latino relations. ...
... ). At the same time, other contact, including having Black neighbors, seems to reinforce the idea that Latinos have less in common with Blacks than they do with Whites(McClain et al. 2006). And, in many cases social contact, such as having Black coworkers or neighbors, has been found to predict higher levels of perceived competition(Deeb-Sossa 2013;Ribas 2016;Jones-Correa 2011;Carey et al. 2016; Morin et al. 2011). ...
As a group comprised of mostly immigrants and their descendants, Latinos’ eventual “assimilation” and the place they occupy in American society remains an open question. Despite the immigrant incorporation literature’s emphasis on intermarriage as symbolizing the erosion of group boundaries, this dissertation examines incorporation more broadly. I argue that Latino incorporation is tied to racialization. First, I evaluate the position Latinos occupy in the racial hierarchy, which I examine by comparing the perceptions that Latinos have of various groups—White, Black and other Latinos, through a survey of the group’s racial attitudes in Durham, North Carolina. Second, I examine whether Latinos are perceived to be full participants in American society, from the perspective of White and Black Americans, which I explore in two ways. I examine whether Latinos are seen as American through a conjoint survey experiment. Next, I explore whether the benefits of a shared group identity are extended to Latinos, by comparing support for redistribution toward Latino and White owned businesses in the aftermath of COVID-19 through a survey experiment. This dissertation highlights the importance of the group’s racialization in shaping their path to incorporation. Unlike European migrants from the 20th century, the overall picture is that Latinos are not neatly assimilating into American society by gravitating closer to whites. At the same time, this dissertation shows how the heterogeneity of the group should be explicitly considered. Latinos will have different incorporation pathways depending on their immigration status, family background, skin color, contact with others, perceived insecurity, among other factors. This dissertation also emphasizes the importance of considering social incorporation to fully understand the experiences of Latinos in the United States, as full structural incorporation is likely to be influenced by Latinos’ experiences of discrimination and exclusion.
... Studies focusing on political relations among minority groups in the United States are overwhelmingly dominated by the Black-white paradigm (McClain et al., 2006;McClain et al., 2007). However, it is reasonable to expect that minority groups interacting with each other would shape political partisanship. ...
... However, it is reasonable to expect that minority groups interacting with each other would shape political partisanship. Past studies demonstrate that perceived competition or threats from other minority groups can affect the social and economic positions of various minority groups (Bobo & Hutchings, 1996;McClain et al., 2006;McClain et al., 2007). A natural extension of this research is to ask how competition affects partisanship. ...
... Some work by McClain, however, focuses on Latino and Black Americans, highlighting the importance of considering a minority-minority perspective (McClain et al., 2006;McClain & Karnig, 1990). Specifically, this work argues that Latino American immigrants "hold negative stereotypical views of Blacks and feel they have more in common with whites than with Blacks" (McClain et al., 2006). ...
Increasingly salient in democratic politics are the divides among political parties regarding how they mobilize support between ethnic majorities and minorities. Why, then, do some members of a minority group support political parties seemingly antithetical to the interests of minority groups? We draw on group conflict theory to suggest that a partial explanation rests on perceived competition within minority groups. We test this theory by focusing on Republican Party support among Asian Americans in the United States. Based on two representative surveys and an original survey experiment of Asian Americans, we demonstrate that perceived competition among racial minority groups has a significant effect on the partisanship of Asian Americans, pushing them toward the Republican Party. Our findings provide critical implications on how race affects politics in democracies with increasingly diversified ethnic minority groups.
... The heightened attention in recent years to the shootings of unarmed Black people by law enforcement has greatly elevated the issue of race relations in the U.S. As a new generation of Black activists seeks to organize around the issue of mass incarceration, their efforts would be more likely to succeed if they could count on Latinos to serve as coalitional partners. The popular, and heretofore scholarly, perception has been that the prevalence of anti-Black stereotypes among Latino immigrants is largely responsible for the lack of social and political unity between the Latino and Black communities (McClain et al., 2006;Mindiola et al., 2003). Yet, if it is indeed the case that Latino immigrants show less affinity toward Blacks than native-born Latinos, could it also be possible that their immigrant identity-a source of civic ostracism and reticence to engage with law enforcement for some-serves as a potential coalitional bridge to the Black community? ...
... Results identify the opportunities and challenges to building multi-racial movements for social justice across a range of racial, ethnic, and immigrant identities. This study marks a methodological improvement upon McClain et al.'s (2006) study of Latino-Black relations in the South because it (1) is based on a nationally representative sample; (2) includes a substantial sample of native-born Latinos and Latino immigrants (McClain et al. only used a sample of foreign-born Latinos); and (3) includes a parallel analysis of white attitudes for further contextualization. ...
... Despite research suggesting the average U.S. worker benefits from increased migration (Peri, 2010), and that Latino immigration specifically is strongly correlated with "higher African American wages, lower unemployment, and increased job creation" (Strauss, 2013), anti-immigrant appeals are regularly deployed to drive a wedge between these two groups. These conflict narratives have resonated with Latinos and Blacks as political science research has consistently found perceptions of competition between Blacks and Latinos (Gay, 2006;Kaufmann, 2007;McClain et al., 2006;McClain & Karnig, 1990;Sonenshein, 2003). ...
While many Latinos suffer the injustices of racial profiling at the hands of law enforcement and immigration officials, differences in immigration status, racial identity, contact with the Black community, and the prevalence anti-Black sentiment pose challenges for coalition building with Blacks. This study explores the factors that lead to an avenue for allyship from the Latino community to the Black community. Using attitudes about the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement, a series of hypotheses are tested to examine the structure of Latino-Black compared to white-Black coalitions. Two major findings emerge from the analysis; first, differences between whites and Latinos reveal that the effect of harboring anti-Black stereotypes are extraordinarily predictive of rejecting calls for racial social justice and combatting the scourge of police killings of unarmed Black men among whites but not among Latinos. Second, differences according to Latino racial identity and indicators of acculturation also impact support for the BLM movement in ways that both reaffirm but also challenge previous scholarship. These results suggest that while on the whole Latinos, and especially immigrants, are uninformed about BLM, once aware they exhibit a generally supportive stance toward the movement’s goals of criminal justice reform.
... Literature on interracial contact and race relations, particularly as it pertains to African Americans and Latinos, emphasize the relationship between resource competition and intergroup conflicts in line with the social context perspective of Blalock (1967). A large group of scholars exploring the formation of race relations argue that group tensions 220 Gomez-Aguinaga et al. between Blacks and Latinos emerge largely due to perceptions of competition within US economic structures (Marrow 2008;McClain et al. 2006;2007;Vaca 2003). Along the same lines, some studies argue that intergroup competition between Blacks and Latinos occurs due to their similar economic and political conditions at the bottom of the social structure, which is frequently referred to as fighting for crumbs or a zero-sum game (Bobo and Hutchings 1996;Borjas 2001;Gimpel and Morris 2007). ...
... The authors collected survey data indicating that Blacks in Durham feel that Latino immigration threatens both their economic and political positions (McClain et al. 2009). In a related study, McClain et al. (2006) find that the Latino stereotypes of Blacks in Durham are more negative than those of Whites, with 57% of Latinos feeling that few or almost no Blacks could be trusted, and 59% believing that few or almost no Blacks are hardworking (McClain et al. 2006, 578). Particularly when contrasted with the significantly less negative perceptions of Whites in the study, it appears as though Latinos (at least those in Durham, NC) do not have strong feelings of commonality with Blacks. ...
... Finally, in addition to the ability to explore the impact of region and social interactions on Black-Brown relations, the LNS provides the opportunity to account for Latinos' perceptions of competition with Blacks relative to perceptions of competition with other groups-including other Latinos. Previous work finds Latinos to have high perceptions of conflict and competition with African Americans (Barreto, Gonzalez, and Sanchez 2013;Cummings and Lambert 1997;Martinez and Rios 2011;McClain et al. 2006;2007;Morín, Sanchez, and Barreto 2011;Tatcho, Niemann, and Rodriguez 2002;Telles et al. 2011;Welche and Sigelman 2000). While some of this research controls for general perceptions of conflict and/or competition, no study has a relative measurement that not only accounts for out-group perceptions of conflict or commonality, but also in-group perceptions of the same measure (except for Barreto, Gonzalez, and Sanchez 2010 for competition only). ...
This study explores Latino perceptions of commonality and competition with African Americans across the country, focusing on the South. Using the Latino National Survey (LNS), we test the existing inter-group relation theories using an original measurement approach. With the creation of relative measures of commonality and competition of Latinos toward Blacks, we find that Latinos perceive co-ethnics as a greater source of competition than Blacks when our relative measure is used to interpret Latino perceptions of competition with African Americans. Moreover, our results suggest that Latinos in the South have similar perceptions of commonality to Blacks as Latinos more generally, across both approaches that measure perceptions of commonality. Most importantly, we find that when the relative competition measure is employed, Latinos who live in Southern states do in fact have higher perceptions of competition with Blacks than Latinos at large. These trends provide a valuable addition to the extant literature focused on inter-group relations by emphasizing that not only place and context matter, but also the way perceptions of competition and commonality are measured and operationalized.
... For example, the difference between a Latino worker and white colleagues is treated the same as a white worker's difference from African American colleagues. Because of unequal social distance among racial/ethnic groups in the United States (McClain et al., 2006), it is inappropriate to use the d-score in a study with more than two racial/ethnic groups. In this study, we regard workplace racial composition as a context for each worker's social experience. ...
... For many, seeking economic opportunity is their major reason for migrating (Gong, Xu, Fujishiro, & Takeuchi, 2011;Viruell-Fuentes, 2007). Because Latino immigrants commonly expect that migration to the United States will provide better jobs, working in a workplace with a high proportion of American employees, especially whites (McClain, et al., 2006;Portes & Zhou, 1993), may enhance perceived social standing whereas working in a Latino-dominant workplace may not. Immigrants whose social standing declined after migration (e.g., a physician in the home country now drives a taxi in an adopted country) typically experience low job satisfaction (Dean & Wilson, 2010;Kats, 1983). ...
Racial and ethnic minority employees constitute a significant proportion of the U.S. workforce. The literature on demographic similarity in the workplace suggests that the proportion of co-workers who share the same racial/ethnic background (racial/ethnic similarity) can influence job attitudes and employee well-being and that the reactions to racial/ethnic similarity may differ between the racially dominant and subordinate groups. This study applies status construction theory to examine the extent to which racial/ethnic similarity is associated with job satisfaction and lumbar back health among warehouse employees. We surveyed 361 warehouse workers (204 whites, 94 African-Americans, and 63 Latino workers) in 68 jobs in nine distribution centers in the United States. Multilevel analyses indicate that white and racial/ethnic minority groups react differently to racial/ethnic similarity. For job satisfaction, white employees experience higher job satisfaction when they are highly racially/ethnically similar to their colleagues, whereas Latino employees experience higher job satisfaction when they are racially/ethnically dissimilar to others. As for lumbar back health, among Latino and African-American employees, higher racial/ethnic similarity is associated with better lumbar back health whereas for white employees, the association is the opposite. Across all groups, moderate levels of racial/ethnic similarity were associated with the best lumbar back health.
... As communities across the country become more culturally diverse, there is a tendency for increased rivalry among ethnic groups and potential heightened aggression towards one another, which may result in hostile behavior and even hate crimes. One such rivalry may be growing among Latinos and African Americans (McClain, et al., 2006). As the population of Latinos has increased in areas once heavily inhabited by African Americans, competition for scarce economical resources has heightened friction between the two groups. ...
This article highlights the experience of a city in Southern California in which members reached out to protect its citizens after two brutal hate crimes were committed there in 2001. The authors, one of whom served as a commissioner on the city's Human Relations Commission, describe the steps taken by the City Council and other administrative officials to insure the safety of its citizens. As a result of their collaboration with members of the police department, community agencies, local schools, and the state Hate Crimes Taskforce, the city's Human Relations Commission (HRC) was created. Since that time, the HRC has addressed incidents of hate and intolerance through community outreach and a series of civic events designed to educate and empower local citizens in the fight against racial injustice. It is hoped that the actions of the Human Relations Commission and of this community, unnamed in the article, will serve as a template for other cities seeking ways to promote harmony among its citizens. Historical information and general statistics about racially motivated violence are also provided.
... Research looking at the relationship between one marginalized ethno-racial group and the possibility of preference for candidates from another marginalized ethno-racial group, however, is limited and somewhat mixed. Studies of Black-Latino/a politics show the possibility of animosity between the groups, particularly when the success of one group is perceived as threatening the well-being of the other (Dyer, Vedlitz, and Worchel 1989;Marrow 2011;McClain et al. 2006;Morin, Sanchez, and Barreto 2011). However, other studies have shown the possibility of mutually supportive relationship when the groups perceive shared common interests (Hero and Preuhs 2009;Jones-Correa 2011;Jones-Correa, Wallace, and Zepeda-Millán 2016;Masuoka and Sanchez 2010;Stokes 2003). ...
Research on political representation demonstrates that the presence of historically underrepresented groups in political office ( descriptive representation) can have not only a substantive impact on policies and procedures but also a symbolic impact that changes the attitudes and even behavior of those groups. The dynamics of group identity and its significance for representation, however, are complicated. Individuals often hold multiple identities, and the meanings attached to those identities may vary in relation to each other and to the particular political context. In this article, we provide an intersectional analysis of two minoritized ethno-racial groups, African Americans and Latinos/as. Using data from the 2016 Collaborative Multiracial Post-Election Survey, we explore the extent to which shared identity matters for perceptions of representation. Our findings demonstrate that while shared identity does influence perceptions of representation, the impact varies in complicated ways that are simultaneously raced and gendered.
... Within Mexico, this process allows one to aspire to whiteness (away from indigeneity and Blackness) through class position. Furthermore, as race scholars have noted, Latina/o/x immigrants often enter the United States with notions of race and anti-Black views learned through transnational social networks (Marrow 2009;McClain et al. 2006;Mindiola, Flores Niemann, and Rodr ıguez 2002;Zamora 2016). For both recent Latina/o/x immigrants and native-born populations, anti-Black ideology may be rooted in a desire to elevate one's class and racial position (Treitler Bashi 2013; Zamora 2016). ...
Extending the rich literature about women-of-color activism, this article analyzes the ways Chicago-based Chicanas and Black women maintain, build, and expand low-income residents’ access to and ownership of the city. I draw on 30 months of community-engaged, ethnographic fieldwork within high-poverty Mexican- and African-American neighborhoods and on interviews with 22 women-of-color activists across Chicago. Combining the cultural signifiers “ratchet” and “rasquache,” I highlight the strategic use of discursive and aesthetic frames to disrupt negative narratives of these women’s activism and their often-vilified communities. As a framework, ratchet-rasquache activism counters urban development practices that marginalize Black and Chicana/o/x communities. Emerging from African-American communities, “ratchet” connotes unruliness and low-class behavior. In Mexican communities, “rasquache” similarly connotes negative or low-class behavior but also means making the most with the tools one has. Both concepts, rooted in working-class sensibilities, can subvert narratives of racial uplift and reject normative whiteness as the standard for both activism and community development. Deploying “ratchet” and “rasquache” as positive attributes, Chicago-based women-of-color activists used nonhierarchical community-organizing tactics to operate as neighborhood strategists. Acknowledging the strength and expertise within marginalized, impoverished communities, they embraced a working-class, asset-based, ratchet and rasquache strategy, while striving to build something from something.
... In general, research shows that White individuals have the strongest racial residential preferences (Krysan, Crowder, and Bader, 2014) and, in particular, seek to avoid Black and Latinx neighbors (Lewis, Emerson, and Klineberg, 2011). Research on residential preferences for groups of color suggests that Asian and Latinx individuals have anti-Black residential preferences (Charles, 2006;McClain et al., 2006), while Black individuals are far more flexible in their racial residential preferences (Charles, 2006;Krysan and Bader, 2007). ...
Objective
To what extent do mainstream media, social media, and ethnic media consumption, as dominant and counter‐dominant forms of public discourse, connect to where people prefer to live? We unpack whether media consumption influences such preferences in Texas, a racially segregated and increasingly racially diverse state.
Methods
Using the Texas Diversity Survey (n = 1,322), we run a series of logit regression models, stratified by respondent race (Black, Latinx, Multiracial, and White), to measure the relationship between media consumption and racial residential preferences.
Results
We find that racial residential preferences are shaped not only by expected attributes (e.g., age, education, racial composition of current neighborhood of residence) but also by whether mainstream media are consumed for Latinx respondents. Whites who consume ethnic media are significantly more likely to prefer living in Black and Latinx communities.
Conclusion
These findings suggest that public discourse is connected to residential preference formation and a “sense of group position”—but how this happens depends on the media source as well as the group in question.
... Whether or not different ethnoracial minorities share a sense of linked fate with each other, and how it might shape political behavior, is an area of contention. Studies on Black-Latina/o relations have found mixed results, with some finding negative and/or competitive perceptions (McClain et al. 2006;Morin, Sanchez, and Barreto 2011;Tajfel and Turner 1979;Wilkinson 2014) while others find more positive evaluations based on shared experiences with inequality (Fraga et al. 2010;Jones-Correa 2011;Jones-Correa, Wallace, and Zepeda-Millán 2016;Sanchez 2008;Sanchez and Masuoka 2010). Cross-racial "minority linked fate" appears to be contingent. ...
Scholars of gender and race have long acknowledged the importance that descriptive representation plays for marginalized groups, if not substantively than symbolically. Yet, as candidate pools diversify to better reflect the population, it becomes less clear which among intersecting and overlapping identities will matter and how. Employing data from the 2016 Collaborative Multiracial Post-Election Survey, we explore the association between minority voters’ sense of linked fate and their beliefs about candidates who share (or do not share) their gender and racial identities. Using this timely and unique data, collected immediately after the 2016 election when race and gender were of particular salience, we examine whether shared racial and gender identity is associated with Black and Latina/o voters’ beliefs about how well different candidates will represent their interests. We conclude by discussing the implications of our research for the changing face of American political candidates and voters.
... First, as the percentage of Black people in a ZCTA increases, Latinxs' reported racial discrimination increases. This may be explained by group threat-two different groups vying for resources may have greater animosity as the size of one group increases (Barreto and Sanchez 2014;Gay 2006;McClain et al. 2006;Oliver and Wong 2003). Second, lighter-skinned Latinxs who believe others see them as Latinx and darker-skinned Latinxs who believe others see them as Latinx reporting more discrimination than mediumskinned Latinxs who believe others see them as non-Latinx emphasizes the importance of racial identity match. ...
How do Black, Latinx, and White people who believe they are mistaken as a member of another racial group perceive the amount of racial discrimination they experience, and what role does skin tone play? Using the Texas Diversity Survey (TDS), I analyze the amount of discrimination Black people, Latinxs, and Whites report when they believe others do not see them as their self-identified race. The data show that skin tone is connected to racial identity mismatch for all aforementioned groups. In addition, Latinxs with lighter- or darker-skin who believe others see them as Latinx report more racial discrimination than medium-skinned Latinxs who believe strangers do not see them as Latinx; Whites with darker-skin who believe others see them as White report less discrimination; and age is one of the most significant predictors of discrimination for Black and White respondents. I suggest that the Black-White binary continues to divide Black and White people across identity measures and emphasizes how racial identity is quite complex for Latinxs. The inter-related nature of these concepts means that if we better understand one aspect, we have a more accurate conceptualization of race in the twenty-first century and are closer to exposing the various factors connected to racial discrimination, particularly as the percentage of racial minorities in the USA increases. This timely work has implications for racial discrimination among relatively stable groups (Black and White people) and the largest and fastest growing minority group in the USA (Latinxs).
... In the United Kingdom, matching between ethnic minority clients and police officers tended to improve clients' outcomes. This may be a consequence of the unique conception of race in the United States, where race has been primarily interpreted as a consequence of skin color as opposed to national identity, ethnic identity, or other non-skin color physical characteristics (Horowitz, 2001;Kim, 2003;McClain et al., 2006;Mohl, 1990). ...
Representation in government tends to improve clients’ outcomes, but often has not done so for Black police clients. Representation may have perceptual effects on Black clients separate from its ability to influence outcomes. This mixed-methods research examines representation’s effects on Blacks’ perceptions of police. Representation did not seem to improve perceptions. Results led to a consideration of why representation was not effective. Qualitative analysis revealed that some Black police clients see Black officers as more like White officers than themselves. Participants came to understand that representation did not improve outcomes and adjusted their perceptions of Black officers.
... This disparity may explain why participants in the present investigation self-reported higher overall evaluations of Black Africans relative to Black Americans, but also self-reported they could not see themselves working under a Black African or Black American. Alternatively, Black Africans may be perceived as more culturally foreign than both White Americans and Black Americans, which may also influence evaluations of Black Africans from both dominate advantaged racial groups (e.g., Whites; Craig & Richeson, 2014;Danbold & Huo, 2015) and other racial/ethnic minorities (e.g., Asian Americans; Craig & Richeson, 2018;McClain et al., 2006;Waldinger, 1997). Future research in this area utilizing the two-dimensional Racial Position Model is necessary to address these questions. ...
Previous research has consistently shown that racial bias can influence employers’ perceptions and evaluations of Black individuals in hiring and promotion decisions. However, within-race differences (e.g., skin tone, Afrocentric features) can lead to variation in these decisions. In addition to phenotypical variation, ethnicity cues (e.g., perceived country of origin, name) may be important within-race factors influencing the perception and evaluations of Black job applicants. Using a resume evaluation paradigm, participants evaluated one of three resumes in which the target applicant’s name provided cues about ethnicity (either Black American, Black African, or White American). Results suggest that Black Americans may experience more discrimination in hiring and are generally perceived less positively across several employment-related domains than both White and Black African applicants. Specifically, we find that Black Americans are less likely to be selected for an interview or offered a job and are evaluated more negatively overall relative to Black Africans.
... Linked fate may complement perceptions of ethnoracial group competition among potential donors. In local and national contexts, individuals perceive their ethnoracial group to be engaged in competition with other groups for economic and political resources (e.g., Gay 2006;Kim 2000;McClain et al. 2006;Sanchez 2008). Perceptions of out-groups as competitive threats, whether based on stereotyping or feelings of collective alienation (Bobo and Hutchings 1996), can increase incentives to support coethnic candidates over candidates from other ethnoracial groups. ...
Racial inequality in voter turnout is well-documented, but we know less about racial inequality in campaign contributions. Using new data on the racial identities of over 27 million donors, we find an unrepresentative contributor class. Black and Latino shares of contributions are smaller than their shares of the population, electorate, and elected offices. However, we argue that the presence of ethnoracial minority candidates mobilizes coethnic donors. Results from regression discontinuity and difference-in-difference designs suggest that the presence of ethnoracial minority candidates increases the share of minority contributions in US House elections. We find a reduction in white contributions to black Democrats, and to black and Latino Republicans, but little difference in overall fundraising competitiveness. Although we cannot definitively rule out alternative mechanisms that covary with candidate ethnorace, the results suggest that the nomination of minority candidates can increase the ethnoracial representativeness of campaign finance without costs to fundraising.
... Linked fate, neighborhood poverty, and political participation Scholars typically measure linked fate by asking, "Do you think what happens generally to {insert group identity} … in this country will have something to do with what happens in your life?" (McClerking 2001). Linked fate has been applied to African American group identity and politics (Gurin, Hatchett, and Jackson 1989;Tate 1993;Dawson 1994) and to Latino group consciousness and politics (McClain et al. 2006;Sanchez 2006a;Sanchez and Masuoka 2010). We ponder whether rising in-group diversity (along class, gender, and other lines) among members of the Latino and African American populations, weakens linked fate. ...
We examine if and how race and contextual poverty, among other neighborhood effects, impact Black and Latino/a rates of political participation. To do so, we expand upon questions at the intersection of Cohen and Dawson’s [1993. “Neighborhood Poverty and African American Politics.” The American Political Science Review 87: 286–302.] highly-cited study of neighborhood poverty’s impact upon African American political participation and Dawson’s [1994. Behind the Mule: Race and Class in African American Politics. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.] seminal study of Black linked fate. Our analysis of Black and Latino/a subsamples of the 2016 Collaborative Multiracial Post-Election Study (CMPS) data yields three principle findings. First, somewhat contrary to Cohen and Dawson [1993. “Neighborhood Poverty and African American Politics.” The American Political Science Review 87: 286–302.], we find contextual poverty has no statistically significant effect upon African American political participation; however, we find it significantly and negatively effects Latino/a political participation. This may speak to how contemporary forms of economic segregation impact Latino/a communities. Second, we find linked fate has positive and statistically significant effects upon Black and Latino/a political participation, which reinforces Dawson’s [1994. Behind the Mule: Race and Class in African American Politics. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.] previous findings. And third, beyond the scope of the aforementioned works, we find that face-to-face neighbor interactions positively and significantly promote Black and Latino/a political participation. In conclusion, we discuss how, despite changing political and economic contexts, Dawson’s work remains relevant for understanding Black (and Latino/a) political participation.
While partisanship in American politics has been historically tied to racial identity and racial attitudes, most studies of Latino partisanship do not incorporate these factors into understanding their partisan attachments. I argue that the concepts of race, color, and mestizaje as they are understood within Latino communities in the United States can influence political attitudes and partisanship among Latinos themselves. Using six consecutive Cooperative Election Study (formerly Cooperative Congressional Election Study) surveys I examine how self-identification as white, racial resentment, and color-blind attitudes influence Latino partisanship. I find that white racial identity has a small but significant positive association with Republican partisanship among Latinos, and a negative association with Democratic partisanship. Additionally, negative racial attitudes among Latinos are strongly related to identification as Republican, even when controlling for ideology and other factors like immigrant generation and religion. These results have important implications for understanding current and future Latino voting patterns.
Aligned with critical scholarship and upholding minoritized populations’ agency and power, this survey research study addresses Latinx college students’ resistance strategies in two Nuevo South states by examining the social issues that students are aware of, engage with, and the nature of their interactions with these issues. We apply Southern epistemology as a framework to center the unique Nuevo South sociopolitical context and examine modern issues Latinx communities face in this geographic region and how Latinx college students resist hostility. Findings empirically establish how the Southern epistemology remains to modernly construct and constrain the lives of Latinx college students in the Nuevo South.
This book offers a critical re-evaluation of three fundamental and interlocking themes in American democracy: the relationship between race and politics, the performance and reform of election systems and the role of courts in regulating the political process. This edited volume features contributions from some of the leading voices in election law and social science. The authors address the recurring questions for American democracy and identify new challenges for the twenty-first century. They not only consider where current policy and scholarship are headed, but also suggest where they ought to go over the next two decades. The book thus provides intellectual guideposts for future scholarship and policy making in American democracy.
The U.S. Census showed that the number of Latinos responding as some other race continues to increase. How can we more accurately measure racial identity among Latinos? Do Latinos’ self described race and/or skin color influence feelings of closeness with racial rather than ethnic groups? This article seeks to challenge the notion of Latinos as racially homogenous, what we call the browning effect, or as a racial category rather than an ethnic category to examine how racial identity and skin color may play a role in self-identification and group closeness. Using a survey of Puerto Ricans living in the United States conducted in 2020 by the Center for American Progress, we examine both racial self identification and skin color arguing for new racial categories that include mixed race options.
Drawing on social identity theory, we predicted that affirming Black and Latino individuals as American would undermine solidarity between people of color (PoC), who are broadly stereotyped by society as un-American. We tested this prediction in two pre-registered experiments with Black and Latino adults ( N = 1,880), where participants read about another minoritized group’s contribution to U.S. culture (i.e., Latino people: reggaetón and hip hop; Black people: jazz and hip hop). Reading about Latinos’ musical contributions to U.S. culture insignificantly reduced Black solidarity with PoC, although an increase in Black solidarity with PoC unexpectedly boosted support for pro-Latino policies. In turn, reading about Black contributions to U.S. culture surprisingly increased Latino solidarity with PoC, which then substantially heightened pro-Black policy support. This unanticipated mediation effect is statistically robust and substantively meaningful. We explain how these contradictory results help advance research on the conditions that catalyze solidarity between PoC.
The goal of the study was to determine if Black, White, and Hispanic respondents differed in how they rated Black and White individuals in government leadership positions. In so doing, an online experiment was conducted using racially specific names as a proxy for the leader’s race. The findings revealed that White respondents did not rate the performance of an agency director who was Black any differently than they did the performance of an agency director who was White. Similarly, disparities were not found in how Black respondents rated the performance of a Black or White agency director of a government agency. However, Black respondents were more likely to report that the mayor should keep a high performing Black director than a White director. No such disparities were found in the reporting of White respondents. White and Black respondents did rate the performance of the White director differently in some performance cues. Finally, Hispanic respondents were not found to rate the performance of the Black and White director in the middle of the ratings given by Black and White respondents. These findings do suggest that Black and White individuals can look past color and judge a leader by their performance.
This paper draws on participant‐observation and a series of focus group interviews with TPS and DACA youth in Northeast Georgia to understand youth activism emerging from their positionality of being “stuck in‐between”. “Stuck in‐between” captures the liminal legal status of DACA and TPS, denotes the feeling of “stuckness” in mixed‐status multigenerational families, and foregrounds the profound ways in which place and race intersect with legal, social, and ideological practices of inclusion/exclusion. Underdocumented youth form multiracial coalitions, guided by Black geographies of the region, to challenge imperial borders that criminalise and (re)produce categories of vulnerability. This place in‐between shapes underdocumented youth understanding of the world, informed by, rather than in competition with, Black radical visions of themselves and of the place of the US South. Este artículo académico se basa en observaciones de participantes y series de entrevistas de grupos focales en la parte noreste de Georgia con jóvenes que tienen estatus de DACA o TPS (subdocumentado) para comprender el activismo de esos jóvenes cual asciende de su posicionalidad de estar “atorados en medio”. “Atorados en medio” se refiere a el estatus legal liminal de DACA o TPS y denota los sentimientos de estar “atorados” en familias multigeneracionales con estatus mixto y destaca las maneras profundas en cuales locación y raza se cruzan con prácticas ideológicas, legales y sociales de inclusión y exclusión. Los jóvenes subdocumentados forman coaliciones multirraciales que son guiadas por regiones con geografías Negras, para desafiar fronteras imperiales que criminalizan y (re)producen las categorías de vulnerabilidad. Esta posición de “en medio” da forma a la comprensión de jóvenes subdocumentados de el mundo, cual es informado por, en vez de hacer competencia, con visiones radicales Negras de ellos mismos y en la región Sur de los Estados Unidos.
How do social group boundaries evolve? Does the appearance of a new out-group change the in-group’s perceptions of other out-groups? We introduce a conceptual framework of context-dependent categorization in which exposure to one minority leads to recategorization of other minorities as in- or out-groups depending on perceived distances across groups. We test this framework by studying how Mexican immigration to the United States affected white Americans’ attitudes and behaviors toward Black Americans. We combine survey and crime data with a difference-in-differences design and an instrumental variables strategy. Consistent with the theory, Mexican immigration improves whites’ racial attitudes, increases support for pro-Black government policies, and lowers anti-Black hate crimes while simultaneously increasing prejudice against Hispanics. Results generalize beyond Hispanics and Blacks, and a survey experiment provides direct evidence for recategorization. Our findings imply that changes in the size of one group can affect the entire web of intergroup relations in diverse societies.
Theories of out-group hostility have long held that attitudes about marginalized groups are important predictors of policy support. These theories, however, have mostly examined the attitudes of white people and sexual orientation has rarely been a category of analysis. Thus, we know less about whether these theories are conditional on group position in racial and sexual hierarchies. This paper argues that processes of marginalization shape out-group hostility. Using comparative relational analysis, I examine support for pro-minority policies among white lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) people, straight people of color and whites. I find that ethnocentrism is not a general predictor of out-group hostility among the members of marginalized groups. Alternatively, group-targeted homophobia, racism, and nativism predict opposition to pro-minority policies, but the members of marginalized groups have more egalitarian attitudes overall. These findings challenge long-held conventional wisdoms about prejudice, underscoring the importance of centering on marginalized groups in public opinion.
America's racial sands are quickly shifting, with parallel growth in theories to explain how varied groups respond, politically, to demographic changes. This Element develops a unified framework to predict when, why, and how racial groups react defensively toward others. America's racial groups can be arrayed along two dimensions: how American and how superior are they considered? This Element claims that location along these axes motivates political reactions to outgroups. Using original survey data and experiments, this Element reveals the acute sensitivity that people of color have to their social station and how it animates political responses to racial diversity.
Despite the growing size and political relevance of the Asian American population, existing research provides limited insight into how anti-Black prejudice shapes Asian American public opinion. Using four Cooperative Congressional Election Surveys (CCES) and additional tests using two National Asian American Surveys (NAAS), I show four key findings. First, US-born Asians exhibit lower levels of anti-Black prejudice than foreign-born Asians even after accounting for the effects of other plausible influences. Furthermore, both groups are more racially sympathetic than whites. Second, US-born Asians’ racial attitudes liberalized at a faster rate than foreign-born Asians’ after 2016, in line with trends found in existing research on white Democrats. Third, despite having lower overall levels of anti-Black animus, US-born Asians’ racial sentiments are more strongly correlated with a variety of political attitudes than the racial sentiments of their foreign-born counterparts. Fourth, this racialization of political attitudes for US-born Asians appears to be the result of racially liberal US-born Asians being especially likely to hold liberal political views.
We argue that two factors are important for cross-racial coalition building: policy convergence in key issue arenas and perceived interest alignment with other racial groups. Drawing on the 2016 National Asian American Survey, we examine two of the most salient issues Asian Americans consistently rate as among the most important: immigration and economic policy. Using principal component analysis, we plot mean scores by group to analyze national-origin clustering along these two dimensions. Next, we analyze national-origin differences in perceived interest alignment with Blacks and Latinos. Combining these two factors, we identify clusters of groups that have a strong potential for cross-racial coalition building and that face greater constraints. In sum, we propose a theoretical framework for understanding cross-racial coalition building that includes disaggregating Asian Americans by national origin, and then identify which national-origin groups have the greater opportunity to form such coalitions.
While nearly three decades of new immigrant destination research has vastly enriched our understanding of diversity in contexts of reception within the United States, there is a striking lack of consensus as to the implications of geographic dispersion for immigrant incorporation. We review the literature on new destinations as they relate to ongoing debates regarding spatial assimilation and segmented assimilation; the influence of coethnic communities on immigrant incorporation; and the extent to which growth in immigrant populations stimulates perceived threat, nativism, and reactive ethnicity. In each of these areas, the sheer diversity of new destinations undermines consensus about their impact. Coupled with the continuous evolution in immigrant destinations over time, most dramatically but not limited to the impact of the Great Recession, we argue for the need to move beyond the general concept of new destinations and focus more directly on identifying the precise mechanisms through which the local context of reception shapes immigrant incorporation, where the historical presence of coethnic communities is but one of many dimensions considered, together with other labor, housing, and educational structures.
Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Sociology, Volume 47 is July 2021. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.
Past research has shown the Southern United States to have more conservative immigration attitudes compared to more established immigrant destination states. However, it is unclear whether or not the places that immigrants have arrived share these conservative attitudes and how this impacts the reception of immigrant groups. Analyzing the Cooperative Congressional Election Study, I find that U.S.-born White attitudes toward immigration are less conservative in zip codes where immigrant-origin groups in the South are most likely to live, often by substantial margins. This indicates that immigrant-origin groups in the South are likely to encounter Southern Whites with a more liberal orientation than Southern Whites more generally. The implications for how these attitudes compare to established immigrant destination states and counties are addressed in detail, as are Southern Black attitudes toward immigration. Regardless, on various questions approximating racial experience/understanding, immigrant-origin groups in the South do not report more negative feelings than those in established destinations and report more positive feelings in some cases, although these results could also indicate a lower awareness of racial issues. Overall, these findings point to a context of reception in the South that is likely more positive than past research on Southern immigration attitudes has implied.
Past research finds that Americans hold biased stereotypes about ethnoracial groups and about immigrants, but we lack an understanding of how these group identities intersect. Immigration theories offer opposing predictions; while the straight-line assimilation model predicts Americans will hold weaker ethnoracial stereotypes about the native-born compared to their immigrant coethnics, theories of racialized assimilation suggest that the enduring power of race will limit any differential stereotyping of immigrant and native-born members of racialized groups. I use an original survey experiment to compare Americans’ stereotypes of native- and foreign-born members of the four largest ethnoracial groups in the United States—Whites, Blacks, Latinos, and Asians. As predicted by straight-line assimilation theory, I find that Whites’ negative stereotypes of Latinos fade away with nativity; however, White Americans do not substantially alter their stereotypes of Asians and Blacks based on nativity status. Moreover, native-born Black and Latino Americans do not appear to hold differential stereotypes of ethnoracial groups based on their nativity status. This research highlights both the importance and limitations of accounting for nativity status to understand ethnoracial group boundaries in the United States.
An important macrosystem surrounding immigrant groups in the United States, which impact the lived experience of how immigrants are perceived and treated, are the stereotypes and social representations held about the groups. Although research has consistently found that stereotypes about Black Americans are profoundly negative and generally shared, it is unclear whether stereotypes about Black immigrants follow a similar pattern, or whether the set of traits forms a distinct category. Black immigrants, a group making up about 10% of the broader Black population in the United States, may be navigating within bioecological systems in which race lessens ethnic differences between immigrant and Black Americans and similar stereotypic characterizations exist about both groups. Alternately, it may be that Black immigrants are negotiating within a broader context of stereotypes and social representations that are distinct from those about Black Americans. This study measured the distribution and content of stereotype traits about Black Americans and Black immigrants to the United States across three participant groups: Black immigrants, Black Americans, and White Americans. The traits generated about Black Americans were broad, primarily negative, and widely shared across and within the three participant groups. Stereotype traits about Black immigrants, in contrast, were comparatively narrow and showed low consensus, but were relatively positive. The implications of the findings about group representations at the macrosystem level are discussed for interpersonal, intergroup, and socioeconomic outcomes.
Racial attitudes have long been studied for their salience to inter-group relations and the insight they provide into the nature of ethno-racial hierarchies. While research on racial attitudes among Latinos, now the largest minority group in the United States, has grown in recent decades, critical gaps remain. As such, this paper explores Latino immigrants’ attitudes toward Whites, Blacks, and other Latinos across multiple dimensions, including perceived affluence, intelligence, cultural behaviors, and receptivity to contact. We examine cross-group and cross-dimension variation in attitudes in order to evaluate key theories in the literature on racial attitudes, including the effects of socio-demographic factors, social contact, perceived threat, and forms of insecurity. Overall, Latino attitudes do not neatly subscribe to White superiority across dimensions, as they perceive differences in intelligence to be more modest than those in affluence, and rate their own cultural behaviors above those of Whites. Increased contact is associated with more positive views toward Blacks, but more negative views toward Whites and to a lesser extent, other Latinos. Perceived threat results in lower evaluations of all groups, whereas greater insecurity results in negative attitudes toward Whites and Blacks, but appears to push Latinos closer to their own group. Overall, results suggest that among immigrant Latinos, greater integration and social contact reduce White supremacy, rather than simply improving attitudes towards all out-groups, but that the softening of anti-Black prejudice is undermined by perceived vulnerability to crime and anti-immigrant forces.
The potential for cross-racial coalitions between minoritized communities in educational advocacy and policymaking is enhanced as communities become increasingly diverse. In this qualitative case study, we use interviews and archival data to explore coalition politics between Black and Latinx community leaders in a large, metropolitan school district in the U.S. Mountain West. Utilizing postcolonial feminist theory and critical race theory, we explore how and why Black and Latinx communities engage (or not) in coalition politics to advocate for educational equity. We found that although these communities rarely engaged in coalition politics, they sometimes developed what we termed micro-coalitions. This is a small, yet powerful and promising coalition grounded in a deep understanding of historical racial injustices and explicit efforts to navigate tensions and support both communities. We further highlight how district and state leaders leveraged existing tensions and adopted broadened but weakened policies to appease these communities.
What is the relationship between the sense of perceived discrimination among members of a marginalized racial, ethnic, or religious group and their political attitudes towards other marginalized groups within their society? Research on minority groups in politics has established that the feeling that one’s own group is socially deprived and discriminated against is generally associated with an increase in within-group solidarity, observable in members’ stronger expressions of collective identity—also called “group consciousness” or “linked fate”—as well as their robust support for political parties and policies seen as directly benefitting members of their in group. Yet an underappreciated strand of this same research suggests that a strong sense of in-group deprivation may also lead to greater empathy and political support for other marginalized minorities, a phenomenon we refer to as intergroup solidarity. In this paper, we use the case of Muslim Americans to test the hypothesis that perceptions of group deprivation can lead to increased intergroup solidarity with other socially marginalized racial, ethnic, and religious minorities. We find that Muslims who feel that they have been discriminated against and/or who believe Muslims as a group are a target of discrimination are more likely to embrace the struggles of other groups and recognize the marginalization of other groups. Our findings suggest that in-group political consciousness raising may be a first step toward intergroup coalition building among those who suffer from discrimination and marginalization.
Using data from the 2003 Mexican Values Survey and an innovative approach to capture premigration socialization, this article analyzes the impact of political experience before migration and its interaction with acculturation in shaping Latino immigrants’ attitudes toward government in the United States. Findings show that trust in government in the new host nation is shaped by individuals’ premigratory exposure to democracy during preadult socialization in their countries of origin. Immigrants who were socialized under more democratic regimes exhibit less trust in the national government than do their counterparts socialized under authoritarian systems. We also find a negative effect of acculturation on trust in all levels of government, an effect that is moderated by both premigratory exposure to democracy and by income.
Cambridge Core - American Studies - Immigration and the American Ethos - by Morris Levy
Discourse on “identity politics” tends to treat political minority identities as distinct entities, discussing them as if an individual is either black or a woman or LGBT, etc. This separates race and sexuality in a way that, supported by white homonormativity and a possessive investment in whiteness, renders the LGBT community “white” despite racial diversity. This masks the ways that the policy preferences of LGBT individuals are structured along racial lines and hinders inter-minority coalition building. Utilizing a Pew Research Center dataset of LGBT Americans collected in 2013, I show that race is significantly correlated with economic policy preferences and perceptions of racial discrimination. While a majority of white LGBT Americans hold liberal positions, the significant differences between white and nonwhite individuals and the well-documented self-reports of experiences of racism by nonwhite LGBT Americans, suggest that white LGBT Americans must actively address the question of race in order to build successful coalitions.
Highlights
Latino day laborers are vulnerable to crime victimization in new immigrant settlement cities.
Victimization led to sociocultural alienation, despair or desesperación, and problem drinking.
Findings highlight the intersection of structural vulnerability, violence, and mental health.
Muslims in the U.S. have been politically targeted as a threat to the nation. Yet, little is known about how most Americans’ attitudes are formed toward this growing group. While often othered in terms of their religion, race-ethnicity, and national background, Muslims also constitute the latest minority group in America’s racialized landscape. This study draws on theories of race-ethnicity, intergroup relations, and religious exclusion to situate Muslims relative to existing intergroup relations in the United States. Using four waves of the American National Election Survey, the study finds little evidence for affective solidarities between America’s largest racial-ethnic groups and Muslims. Instead, intergroup boundaries tend to predict lower levels of Muslim favorability. Further, the study uncovers a religious dimension concentrated among largely White evangelical Protestants. Findings are discussed within the context of sociodemographic changes in the U.S., and the prospect for shifting colour lines in the wake of increasing immigration-led diversity.
This study examines how Black and Hispanic parents’ report of intergroup relations measured through group identity, linked fate, competition, and conflict are related to their utilization of Head Start services in a region that experienced Hispanic population growth. Surveys were conducted with 227 Black and 130 Hispanic parents in poverty in a mid‐sized city in the South. For Hispanic parents, a sense of linked fate within their ethnic group is associated with a lower likelihood of enrollment, however, measures of intergroup relations are not related to the Head Start enrollment status of Black parents. Implications for policies on preschool expansion are discussed.
Can We All Get Along? The Arc of Paula D. McClain’s Career Shows That We Can - Volume 52 Issue 4 - Gloria Y. A. Alee, Jessica D. Johnson Carew, Niambi M. Carter, Victoria M. DeFrancesco Soto, Monique L. Lyle, Taneisha N. Means, Shayla C. Nunnally, Efrén Pérez, Candis Watts Smith
This essay examines the use of the term Juan Crow in protests against anti-immigrant legislation in the South. Using the passage of Alabama’s 2011 HB 56 law and the subsequent resistance to the legislation, this essay considers the limits of Juan Crow as a framework for immigrant justice. More specifically, it argues that the term erases the historical and contemporary presence of Afro-Latinos/ as in the South and that those deploying Juan Crow often inadvertently stage Jim Crow as a historical relic and Juan Crow as a present concern, thereby erasing contemporary black oppression in the region.
This qualitative study explores how Black students in community college developmental mathematics navigate stereotypes about their abilities and succeed. I apply stereotype management, a conceptual framework typically used to explain how minoritized groups in K-12 settings and universities succeed despite negative labeling. Using data from a narrative study about Black students who succeeded in developmental mathematics, this study features eight participants (two females and six males) and reveals (a) implicit and explicit offenses endured from faculty and peers in math classrooms; (b) behaviors prompting management practices; and (c) strategies employed to navigate the offenses. Results suggest that despite participants’ ability to navigate discriminatory behaviors, emotional stressors shaped their perceptions about the treatment Black students withstand in these courses. Implications address negative relations between Black students and their Latinx peers and faculty and provide strategies to support students, particularly those whose mathematics abilities are questioned.
Racism (and racial discrimination) is, to a certain extent, alive and well in every society, country, and region of the world.1 It can appear in a variety of forms depending on the culture or context in which it occurs and the period of history during which it rears its head. Nonetheless, one common thread that seems to be woven throughout almost every culture, country, and region is that people deny that racism even exists.
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This chapter presents finding of a case study that describes the social process of migration, incorporation, and integration of Latino and Mexican immigrants arriving to a new region of settlement in the Northwest of Georgia. The influx started at the end of the 80's and continue growing until 2000.
The contact hypothesis — the idea that contact between members of different races fosters positive racial attitudes — has
performed indifferently in research conducted over the past four decades, leading to a recommendation that the hypothesis
be discarded and that attention turn to other sources of positive and negative racial attitudes. However, most of this research
is now badly dated and focuses solely on the racial attitudes of whites. We present a new test of the contact hypothesis,
drawing on a national survey of blacks and whites conducted in 1989. Analysis reveals that in several instances interracial
contact is associated with more positive racial attitudes, especially among whites, and that some effects are appreciable.
Hillbrow, a high-rise, inner city suburb in Johannesburg was one of the first neighbourhoods to become racially diverse in spite of the Group Areas Act of 1950. From the late 1970s, its whites-only policy started crumbling and by 1993 when the data for this study were collected, under 20 per cent of its population was white. The central questions that are addressed in this paper are: how did racial propinquity impact on race relations and interracial interaction in the neighbourhood in the early 1990s? Did it increase racism amongst residents or did it lead to its diminution? Related questions are: how were the respective racial categories and other 'races' constructed, and what traits were assigned to the various racial categories? In order to establish the extent to which an integrated, rather than a merely mixed neighbourhood emerged, this study explores the range and limits of interracial friendships and socializing. Data for the study were obtained mainly through a household survey and in-depth interviews with apartment-dwellers. The study found that racial propinquity had a mixed impact. Almost all respondents felt that racial barriers had declined, overt acts of racism were minimal, and there was evidence of signficant racial tolerance, interracial contact and mutual assistance. On the other hand, many of the residents in the face-to-face interview situation voiced racist sentiments. White residents were most likely to express racist views. Another significant finding was that racial clustering was a dominant trend. Most apartment blocks were occupied solely or mainly by one particular racial category. The neighbourhood was certainly racially diverse but not significantly integrated.
Recent research has demonstrated that black Americans are far more politically active than whites of similar socioeconomic status. The difference has been related to black consciousness. Yet the reasons for this relationship have not been adequately explained. Starting with the work of Gurin and Gamson, this article theorizes that black consciousness contributes to political mistrust and a sense of internal political efficacy which in turn encourages policy-related participation. The relationship between the two attitudes and policy-related behavior is demonstrated to be conditional. The conditions favor blacks more than whites. What I shall call the Gamson-Gurin thesis is supported by data from Verba's and Nie's 1967 survey of the American public. The thesis, and its derivations, prove useful in clarifying the scope and nature of black participation in the American political process as well as helping us to understand how individuals in general select one mode of participation over another and how the choice varies by race and social class.
Dramatic demographic changes are occurring in the United States, and some of the most dramatic changes are occurring in the South from Latino immigration. Latinos, by and large, are an entirely new population in the region. How are Black southerners reacting to this new population? Using survey data gathered from a southern location, this article explores several questions related to whether Blacks see these new residents as friendly neighbors or economic competitors. Results suggest that Blacks and non-Blacks perceive a potential economic threat from continued Latino immigration, but Blacks are more concerned about the effects of Latino immigration than are Whites.
Recovering History, Constructing Race: The Indian, Black, and White Roots of Mexican Americans. Martha Menchaca. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2001. xi. 375 pp., maps, photographs, notes, bibliography, index.
A model is presented that traces the origins of the anxiety people experience when interacting with outgroup members to fear of negative psychological or behavioral consequences for the self and fear of negative evaluations by ingroup or outgroup members. Prior relations between the groups, intergroup cognitions, the structure of the situation, and personal experience are hypothesized to determine the amount of anxiety that participants in intergroup interactions experience. It is proposed that high levels of intergroup anxiety amplify normative behavior patterns, cause cognitive and motivational information-processing biases, intensify self-awareness, lead to augmented emotional reactions, and polarize evaluations of outgroup members. Regression analyses of data from Hispanic students indicate that high levels of intergroup anxiety are associated with low levels of contact with outgroup members, stereotyping of outgroup members, and assumed dissimilarity to outgroup members.
Culturalist definitions of race have been central to the invention of Latin American nations. Key to those definitions has been the concept of racial mixture-mestizaje— which remains a highly contested concept.
Findings from the 2000 Census indicate two important trends affecting the Hispanic population. The first is the extraordinarily high rate of Hispanic population increase outside of urban areas over the past decade, with growth rates exceeding both metropolitan and nonmetropolitan growth rates for all other racial and ethnic groups (Cromartie 1999; Pérez 2001). In addition, for the first time in U.S. history, half of all nonmetropolitan His-panics currently live outside the five southwestern states of Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas (Cromartie and Kandel 2002). The diversity of new rural areas raises questions about forces outside of the Southwest that are attracting migrants, the Hispanic population's assimilation patterns into communities unaccustomed to dealing with immigration, and the connection between structural economic change and Hispanic population growth. The main objective of this chapter is to link changes in the poultry industry with the growth of the Hispanic population in nonmetropolitan counties in nine southeastern states: Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. We document the restructuring of the poultry industry and spatially correlate poultry production and areas of Hispanic settlement. Next, given the impact of these population changes on local communities, we examine two case studies to elaborate more directly on the implications of Hispanic growth for the culture, organization, and everyday life of two nonmetropolitan counties in Virginia and North Carolina. Finally, we derive implications for further research to address relations between Hispanics and other minority groups. (Table Presented).
Objective. This paper presents a case study of an emerging Mexican immigrant community in a small city of the U.S. historic South. Within the bounds of the case, the paper shows how new destinations of immigration are established in the post-IRCA era. Methods. Using ethnographic and Census data, the authors examine immigrant community demographic and labor market characteristics. The authors analyze survey data on the trajectories and time line that newcomer men and women have followed to form a permanent settlement in an atypical location. Results. The results indicate the rapid and sizable growth of a Mexican immigrant settlement and the incorporation of its members into local industrial labor markets. Origins, trajectories, and timing of arrival are differentiated for men and women. Men have arrived first, some of them as secondary migrants, leaving the traditional Mexican Southwestern homeland. Women and children have come next, some of them directly from Mexico. Conclusions. Findings suggest that a new array of post-IRCA destinations are rising as a consequence of the secondary migrations of amnestied Mexicans. Permanent settlement is a feature of these new destinations as family reunification is taking place in such nontraditional receiving areas.
One of the most serious criticisms of research on the contact hypothesis is the contention that selection bias operates to
promote interaction between whites and blacks who are already relatively unprejudiced toward one another. Accordingly, attempts
to infer the effect of interracial contact on racial attitudes must recognize and correct for this potential source of bias.
Endogenous switching regression models are used to estimate the effect of close interracial friendship on selected racial
attitude variables while accounting for possible selectivity bias. Each model implies a distinct assumption about the process
generating interracial contact and racial attitudes. Using data from the National Survey of Black Americans, we find no evidence
of sample selection bias in estimating the effect of close interracial contact on black racial attitudes. Therefore, we cannot
reject the conventional models used in research on the contact hypothesis that treat interracial contact as an exogenous variable
affecting racial attitudes. However, our results show the usefulness of a switching regressions approach to reveal the contingent
nature of the contact hypothesis.
1. Introduction: race and residence 2. Race relations in Detroit, 1968-92 3. Black-white social interaction 4. Perceptions of racial discriminations 5. Black racial solidarity 6. White racial prejudice 7. Opinions on urban issues - the schools and the police 8. Conclusions.
Social Scientists rarely take full advantage of the information available in their statistical results. As a consequence, they miss opportunities to present quantities that are of greatest substantive interest for their research and express the appropriate degree of certainty about these quantities. In this article, we offer an approach, built on the technique of statistical simulation, to extract the currently overlooked information from any statistical method and to interpret and present it in a reader-friendly manner. Using this technique requires some expertise, which we try to provide herein, but its application should make the results of quantitative articles more informative and transparent. To illustrate our recommendations, we replicate the results of several published works, showing in each case how the authors' own conclusions can be expressed more sharply and informatively, and, without changing any data or statistical assumptions, how our approach reveals important new information about the research questions at hand. We also offer very easy-to-use Clarify software that implements our suggestions.
This research focuses on whites' reactions to the racial composition of the local population. Multilevel modeling is applied to a micro/macro data file that links 1990 General Social Survey responses to census information about respondents' localities. On summary scales representing traditional prejudice, opposition to race-targeting, and policy-related beliefs, white negativity swells as the local black population share expands. Among non-Southern whites, a 10-point rise in the local percentage of blacks brings an increase in traditional prejudice greater than the decrease in prejudice that comes with three additional years of education. South/non-South differences in whites' views about blacks are generally reduced to about one-half of their original size and fall short of statistical significance when local racial composition is controlled. Interestingly, concentrations of local Asian American and Latino populations do not engender white antipathy toward these groups. If whites' reactions To the presence of blacks is a threat response, the specific dynamics of this threat await description.
The focus of this article is on mass attitudes and the propensity of blacks and Latinos to build electoral coalitions. The theoretical argument is that perceived commonality between Latinos and African-Americans is essential to constructing mass political alliances. Using recent public opinion data, this research explores the levels of perceived commonality between blacks and Latinos and in particular studies the process by which Latinos come to feel close to African-Americans. This article tests four main hypotheses: pan-Latino affinity, acculturation, perceived discrimination, and racial identity. Findings suggest that pan-Latino affinity is a robust predictor of Latino/black commonality, but that long-term Latino political acculturation, in its current form, is unlikely to result in particularly high levels of closeness to blacks. The conclusion of the article points to the important role that Latino leadership and political organizations play in promoting strong pan-ethnic identities and suggests that the prospects for future coalitions between African-Americans and Latinos rest, in part, on the development of these more inclusive Latino orientations.
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During the last decade, there has been an internal migration of Latinos to the Southeast. Attracted by the rural South's healthy economy, the Hispanic population in the South is projected to double by 2025. Most in-migrants are seeking permanent rather than seasonal employment. With an increased Hispanic population comes increased purchasing power. On the downside, higher concentrations of Latinos also impose immediate needs for education to meet additional or special needs of the new population; for bilingual media and religious services; and for bilingual service providers in health care, social services, and law enforcement. Many factors in successful development are related to social capital. Latinos must acquire additional social and human capital to fully contribute to the economic prosperity of the rural South. This will require that meaningful interaction takes place between Latino and non-Latino residents in host communities. How the South decides to funnel its resources to enhance the skills and knowledge necessary for full participation of Latinos will determine how successful it will be at remaining in the economic forefront. (Contains 20 references and data tables on Hispanic population growth and school enrollment in 13 southern states.) (TD)
Society in the Delta region of Mississippi is still rigidly segregated. A vast social and economic gulf yawns between the dominant white and subordinate black. Yet one group in Mississippi, a "third race," the Chinese, has managed to leap that chasm. This book focuses on the causes of their changes in status, the processes by which it came about, and the opposition it engendered. Following an introductory chapter, Chapter 2 argues that the concentration and economic success of the Chinese groceries indicate that something was amiss in the segregation system. In turn, the economic advance of the Chinese made possible their later social rise, though not in any simple way. Chapters 3 and 4 define their earlier, near-black status and analyze the process by which they came to be defined almost white. Chapter 5 observes that there was a great deal of opposition to the Chinese in the earlier parts of this century, and it continued to manifest itself whenever the minority attempted to break another social barrier. Parallels between anti-Chinese and anti-Negro discrimination are assessed. As the Chinese rose in status, one group was left behind: those members who had married or lived common-law with black wives and families. These families are the subject of Chapter 6. The concluding chapter projects present trends and tries to assess the future of the group. (Author/JM)
In this article I argue that the bi-racial order (white vs non-white) typical of the United States is undergoing a profound transformation. Because of drastic changes in the demography of the nation as well as changes in the racial structure of the world-system, the United States is developing a complex, Latin America-like racial order. Specifically, I suggest that the new order will have two central features: three loosely organized racial strata (white, honorary white, and the collective black) and a pigmentocratic logic. I examine some objective, subjective, and social interaction indicators to assess if the Latin Americanization thesis holds some water. Although more refined data are needed to conclusively make my case, the available indicators support my thesis. I conclude this article by outlining some of the potential implications of Latin Americanization for the future of race relations in the United States.
Examined several possible causes of regional differences and temporal change in White racial attitudes toward Blacks by analyzing survey data from the 1972–91 General Social Surveys. It is concluded that (1) support for race-targeted policies has not changed over birth cohorts, (2) changes in individual characteristics explain only a small portion of the decline in traditional prejudice over birth cohorts, (3) the influence of education on racial attitudes has been increasing over birth cohorts, and (4) percentage Black and average per capita income are good predictors of racial attitudes and explain a portion of the North/South gap and the change over time in racial prejudice. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Used data in the National Survey of Black Americans (
N = 2,107) to explore the relevance of the contact hypothesis for the distribution of racial attitudes in the Black population. Interracial friendship was among the strongest predictors of Blacks' racial attitudes. Childhood and adult interracial contacts were weakly and inconsistently related to Blacks' perceptions of Whites and White-dominated society. Interracial contact, especially when it occurred early in life, enhanced the likelihood that Blacks will develop close friendships with Whites. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Despite the heroic efforts and real achievements provided by the Civil Rights movement, the United States remains today a profoundly segregated society. Here we investigate whether racial isolation affects the extent to which prejudice becomes insinuated into the opinions white Americans express on matters of racial policy. Analyzing national survey data well suited to this question, we find that racial isolation generally enhances the impact of prejudice on opinion; that the political potency of prejudice increases insofar as racial isolation prevails in whites' everyday lives. In the conclusion of the article, we locate our results in the broader literature on segregation and draw out their implications for racial politics into the future.
Introduction: the Repudiation of the Centenário
13 May 1988 was the 100th anniversary of the abolition of slavery in Brazil. In honour of that date, various official celebrations and commemorations of the centenário , organised by the Brazilian government, church groups and cultural organisations, took place throughout the country, even including a speech by President José Sarney.
This celebration of the emancipation was not, however, universal. Many Afro—Brazilian groups staged actions and marches, issued denunciations and organised cultural events repudiating the ‘farce of abolition’. These were unprecedented efforts to draw national and international attention to the extensive racial inequality and discrimination which Brazilian blacks – by far the largest concentration of people of African descent in any country in the western hemisphere – continue to confront. Particular interventions had such titles as ‘100 Years of Lies’, ‘One Hundred Years Without Abolition’, ‘March for the Real Liberation of the Race’, ‘Symbolic Burial of the 13th of May’, ‘March in Protest of the Farce of Abolition’, and ‘Discommemoration ( Descomemoraçāo ) of the Centenary of Abolition’. ¹ The repudiation of the centenário suggests that Brazilian racial dynamics, traditionally quiescent, are emerging with the rest of society from the extended twilight of military dictatorship. Racial conflict and mobilisation, long almost entirely absent from the Brazilian scene, are reappearing. New racial patterns and processes – political, cultural, economic, social and psychological – are emerging, while racial inequalities of course continue as well. How much do we know about race in contemporary Brazil? How effectively does the extensive literature explain the present situation?
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