Ethnicity

Ethnicity Terms

• Ethnicity• identity with a group of

people who share the cultural traditions of a particular homeland or hearth

• Comes from Greek word ethnikos (national)

• Race: • identity with a group of

people who share a biological ancestor

• Comes from the French word for generation

• Geographers are interested in where ethnicities are distributed across space• Ethnic groups tied to a

place

• No globalizing ethnicity

• Ethnicity is strongest bulwark for preservation of local diversity

Where are Ethnicities distributed?

• Ethnicities may be clustered in specific areas within a country, or the area it inhabits may closely match the boundaries of a country

• Distribution in U.S.• Clustering on two scales

• May live in particular region(s) of the country

• May live in particular neighborhoods within cities

• Two largest ethnicities• Hispanics (Latinos) –

15% of population• African Americans –

13% of population

• Regional Concentrations• South: African

Americans• Southwest: Hispanics• West: Asians• Mid-West: Native

Americans

Concentration of Ethnicities in cities

• African-Americans and Hispanics cluster in urban areas

• African-Americans:• ½ live in cities• Only ¼ of American

population lives in cities• Example: Detroit

• African Americans comprise 85% of population in Detroit

• Only make up 7% of population of Michigan

• Chicago• 1/3 African American• 1/12 rest of Illinois

Concentration of Ethnicities in Cities

• Hispanic distribution similar to African-Americans

• New York City• ¼ Hispanic• 1/16 rest of New York

• States with largest populations• California

• ½ of Los Angeles population• ½ or less in other major Cali

cities

• Texas• El Paso and San Antonio are

more than ½ Hispanic• Other cities are at or below

1/3

African American Migration Patterns

• Three major migration flows:

• Africa to America in 1700’s• Forced migration of

slaves

• US South to Northern cities during early 1900s• Ghettos formed

• Inner city to other urban neighborhoods during late 1900’s to 2000’s

• Forced Migration (1st wave)• 1st Africans brought to

American colonies as slaves arrived at Jamestown, Virginia in 1619

• 1700’s 400,000 Africans shipped to 13 colonies

• 1808 US banned bringing in additional slaves, but 250,000 were illegally imported

• Height of slave trade (1710-1810) at least 10 million Africans were forced to Western Hemisphere for sale in slave markets

African American Migration Patterns

• Nearly all Africans shipped to colonies ended up in Southeast

• Attitudes towards slavery dominated politics in 1800’s

• Civil War (1861-1865)

• US adopted 13th amendment to constitution prohibiting slavery• Freed slaves remained in the

south for the most part as sharecroppers

• System burdened poor African Americans with high interest rates and heavy debts

• Immigration to Northern cities (2nd wave)• Industrial boom pulled

AA’s to the north• Migrated out of clearly

defined channels• Two main waves

• 1910’s and 1920’s migration

• 1940’s and 1950’s• Encouraged by jobs

needed from WWI and WWII

African American Immigration Patterns

• AA clustered into one or two neighborhoods • Named ghetto’s after

the term from WWII

• Baltimore 1950s• Baltimore’s ¼ of African

Americans lived in a 1 square mile neighborhood

• Ghettos• Densities typical of

40,000 inhabitants per square mile• Compared to 2,000

p2m in suburbs• Often result of

multiple families living together

• Often lacked bathrooms, kitchens, hot water, and heat

• 3rd wave: Ghettos to neighborhoods• Moved into adjacent

neighborhoods in 1950’s and 1960’s

Differentiating Ethnicity and Race

• Difficulty to differentiate between ethnicity and race

• Three prominent ethnicities in US• Hispanic Americans• African Americans• Asian Americans

• All three display distinct cultural features that originated at particular hearths

• Asian • recognized as a distinct race by U.S.

Bureau of Census• Asian race and ethnicity usually

same group• Asian ethnicity “lumps” together

people with ties to many countries in Asia

• African-American• Supposedly two different groups

• African American• trace heritage to an African

Immigrant• Ethnicity and group with extensive

cultural tradition• Black

• heritage from other regions like Latin American, Asia

• A principle that denotes darker skin (bio)

• Most see themselves as both

• Latino• Not considered a race• Can choose any race on the census

Race in the United States

• Traits that characterize race are those that can be genetically transmitted from parents to children• Example:

• Lactose intolerance in large percentage of Asian-Americans

• Biological classification by race is the basis for racism• Idea that some races are

superior to others

• 2000 census• White• Black, African American• American Indian or Alaska Native• Asian Indian• Chinese• Filipino• Japanese• Korean• Vietnamese• Other Asian• Native Hawiian• Guamanian• Samoan• Other Pacific Islander• Other race

South Africa

• While U.S. was repealing segregation laws in 1950s and 1960s, South Africa was enacting them

• System created by Boers (Afrikaners) of Dutch descent

• Cornerstone of South African policy = Apartheid• Physical separation of races

into different geographic areas

• Four classifications• Black• White• Mixed• Asian

• Consequences• Different legal status• Limitations

• Laws appealed in 1991

• African National Congress legalized• Nelson Mandela released

from jail

• 1994 Mandela• 1st elections

• Nelson Mandela elected 1st black President

• Today• Still a work in progress,

especially economically

South Africa