Key Issue 1

Human GeographyLarson

Geographic Perspective

• Geographers reject race as biological classification because it doesn’t tell them anything about WHY people live WHERE they do.

• Ethnic classification are important because ethnicity is tied to place.

• However, race matters only as a tool to explain WHY certain groups of people who look similar live, attend school, or play near one another.

Ethnicity

• Identity with a group of people who share the cultural traditions of a particular homeland.

• Tied to place. • We get our ethnic traits through connections

with, and isolation from, other groups.

Where are ethnicities distributed?

• Clustering- different ethnic groups can live in distinct areas of both the country and a city.

City Ethnic Clustering

• African Americans- live in urban areas.• 1/4 of US citizens live in Urban areas• ½ of African Americans live in Urban areas.• Similar numbers for Hispanics

Ethnicity in the United States of America

• 3 Prominent Ethnic Groups determined by different criteria• African Americans

– Split into 2 groups– African American Ethnicity– Cultural Heritage from Latin America

• Asian Americans– Also a Race– Includes many Ethnicities

• Hispanic Americans– Not a race– On U.S. census Latinos may select whatever race they like

Racial Characteristics

• Genetically transmitted– Like father like son– Height, eye color, skin, shape, etc. determined by

genes passed along to people from their parents– Very little differences between races. All human. – Because of a lack of isolation among groups race is

too complex to be understood under a microscope.

Race and Racism

• A belief in one groups ‘genes’ are superior, better than, another groups ‘genes’

• Is race the primary influence on human traits and capacity?– i.e. Are Blacks better at basketball?

• Racist- a person who believes race is the primary influence on human traits and capacity

2010 U.S. Census Results

• 77.7% White• 13.2% Black• 5.3% Asian• 1.2% American Indian or Alaskan Native• 17.1% Hispanic*** no box available

• 2.9% selected more than one box

Separate But Equal

• Segregation or the separation of races in American History

• Plessy vs. Ferguson legalized “Separate but equal”• Jim Crow Laws

– Back of the bus– Separate facilities, schools, bathrooms, drinking fountains,

etc.– Separate but Equal inherently unequal- Brown vs. Board of

EducationHistorically, governmental regulation, now cultural preference. (voluntary segregation) thus creating an ethnic enclave.

White Flight

• Ethnic enclave-to have one ethnic neighborhood surrounded by a different ethnicity.

• Reaction to Brown vs. Board of Education: desegregation of schools.

• Alternative: white population to relocate to suburbs• Detroit Demographics 1950 1970 1990 2000

• White population 1.7 mil .9 mil .3 .2

• Black population .3 mil .7 mil .8 .8

Blockbusting-1950’s+

• Whites sell homes (quickly and cheaply which would cause property values to decrease) in fear neighborhood changing from dominant white to dominant black

• Blacks move into new neighborhood (at an increased price) to escape “Ghetto”.

• Neighborhood switches from predominantly white to dominantly black

Do we live in a segregated society?

• Does our city appear to be segregated?• Are other American Cities similarly

segregated?• Are certain neighborhoods or sections of the

city dominated by a specific ethnicity?• Are suburbs dominated by certain ethnicities?