Chapter 7 Ethnicity

1. Chapter 7 Ethnicity Where are ethnicities distributed? Why have they been transformed into nationalities?

2. Ethnicity • Ethnicity is a source of pride- groups have measurable differences like income, life expectancy, and infant mortality rate. • Ethnicity matters in places with a history of ethnic discrimination. • Ethnicity is a bulwark, or preserver, for diversity in the face of globalization of culture

3. Definitions • Ethnicity- identity w/ a group of people who share the cultural traditions of a homeland or hearth. From the Greek ethnikos- “national” • Race- identity w/ a group of people who share a biological ancestor. Ethnic identity derives from interaction with and isolation from other groups • Nationality- identity w/ a group who shares legal attachment and personal allegiance to a country. • Ethnicity can be suppressed/denied, but not changed like cultural traits- acculturation

4. Ethnic Distribution • Sometimes borders of countries match ethnic distributions closely. Sometimes ethnic groups are clustered in one area of a country, or split between countries. • Ethnic groups live in specific regions within a country, and specific neighborhoods within cities.

5. Distribution in the USA • Hispanics 14% • African Americans 12% • Asians 4% • Native American 1% • White is a race, not an ethnicity • African Americans are clustered in the SE, Asians in the West, and Hispanics in the SW

6. Concentrations of African Americans • ¼ AA in Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, S. Carolina, Mississippi • 9 states have <1% AA, in New England and N. Plains states

8. Concentrations of Asian Americans • 4% of US population • Over 50% of all Asian Americans live in CA, where they make up 12% of state pop • Hawaii 40% Asian American • Chinese largest Asian nationality, Followed by Filipinos and Koreans

10. Concentrations of Hispanics • Over 33% Hispanic pop in TX, NM, AZ • CA over 25% • Mexican largest nationality, followed by PR, Cuban

13. Ethnic clustering in cities • African Americans highly clustered in cities • Over 50% AA in cities, compared to 25% general population • 85% Detroit, 7% MI • Over 33% Chicago, 12% IL • Hispanics follow same pattern in large Northern cities, but in largest Hispanic states, distribution mixed.

14. Ethnic clustering in cities • Descendants of European immigrants have mostly left inner cities • European ethnic identity is retained through food, religion, not the old neighborhoods • Concentrations in US cities increasingly AA from the south, or Asian/Hispanic immigrants. • LA has a clustered distribution, while Chicago is less mixed. • Proximity of Asians and AA in LA has led to conflict

16. African American migration Patterns • Clustering of ethnicities is a result of migration • Three main migration flows of African Americans: • 1. From Africa to the colonies in the 18th century • 2. From South to North in early 20th • 3. From inner city to other neighborhoods 1950-present

17. From Africa: Slave Trade • 1st arrived in 1619 at Jamestown, VA on Dutch ships • 400,000 shipped by British in 1700’s • Slave trade illegal in 1808, but 250,000 smuggled in illegally • Between 1710-1810, 10 million shipped to new world • British 2 million to Caribbean, Portuguese 2 million to Brazil

20. From Africa: Slave Trade • Portuguese bought slaves from Angola, Mozambique. Others from W. Africa • Africans on the coast captured people in the interior and sold them to European traders • About 1/4 died crossing the Atlantic • Fewer than 5% of all slaves ended up in the US

23. From Africa: Slave Trade • After the Civil War, most AA remained in the South • Sharecropper- works rented fields and pays rent w/ a share of the crops • Sharecropper system burdened poor AA w/ high interest and heavy debts • Sharecropping declined in early 20th century w/ new farm machinery • AA pushed off land by machines and pulled toward factory work in Northern cities

30. Immigration to the North • 2 waves- 1910s and 1920s before/after WWI • 1940s and 1950s before/after WWII • Factories expanded and wars drew off workers • AA arrivals to N. cities settled in large concentrations in just 1-2 neighborhoods.

36. Expansion of the Ghetto • 1910-1950 pop density in ghetto increased • 500,000 jammed into Chicago’s South Side ghetto- 3mi² • 100,000 per mi² density common- in contrast, modern suburbs 5,000 per mi² • Whole families lived in 1 room w/o heat, kitchens, hot water • Pushed South 1 mi/yr in Chicago

38. Differentiating Ethnicity and Race • Traits characterizing race are those that can be transmitted genetically- Lactose intolerance 95% Asians, 65% AA/NA, 50% Hispanic, 15% N. European • Asians are a race and Asian American is an ethnicity • Most black Americans trace their ancestry to Africa, but some trace cultural heritage to LA, Africa, Asia, Caribbean

39. Differentiating Ethnicity and Race • Hispanic/Latino is not a race but an ethnicity • Racism- race is the primary determinant of human traits/capacities and racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race • Racial features are not rooted in specific places, so geographers reject biological classification • Skin color is important to geographers because that’s how society decides where groups live, go to school, etc.

40. Race in the US • US Census choose 1 of 14 races • 2000 Census- 75% white, 12% black, 4% Asian, 1% Native American, .1% Pacific Islander, 6% other

41. Race Relations • Race relations in the US discourage spatial interaction • In the past legal segregation, today through preference or discrimination • Plessy v. Ferguson- 1896 “separate but equal” • Jim Crow laws enforced legal segregation

42. What was Jim Crow? • Jim Crow- after Reconstruction states passed laws designed to enforce segregation • Jim Crow laws were an extension of the slave system • By the 1890s all southern states had legally segregated public transportation and schools- also parks, cemeteries, and other public places.

47. Race Relations • Throughout the US house deeds contained restrictive covenants that prevented owners from selling to blacks, as well as Roman Catholics or Jews in some places • Brown v. Board of Ed.- 1954 struck down separate but equal decision • Rather than integrate, whites fled. Expansion of the ghettos was possible by “white flight”, emigration of whites in anticipation of blacks moving in.

48. Race Relations • Detroit’s white population dropped by 1 million between 1950-1975, another ½ million 1975-2000 • White flight encouraged by real estate agents- used racism and fear to make $$ • Blockbusting- white homeowners talked into selling low before blacks cause property values to decline. Turn around and sell high to black families.

49. What was Apartheid? • Apartheid means “apartness” in Afrikaans- Strict separation of the races. • In 1600’s Dutch settled in S. Africa • Racial conflict was the result of colonial rule and a legacy of slavery • In 1948 the white minority government banned social contacts between blacks and whites. • Segregated schools, hospitals, neighborhoods

50. Apartheid or Jim Crow?