SOC 0832 Lecture Notes - Lecture 12: Panethnicity, White Privilege, Honorary Whites
22 Jun 2018
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●Ethnic and racial identity debate
○Primordialism: Ethnic identity is deeply rooted, enduring ( almost natural)
■(+) Explains strength and member commitment
■(-) Cannot change
○Circumstantialism: what accounts for ethnic identity are its practical uses
■(+) Ethnic groups are products of concrete social and historical situations
■(-) Ethnic groups are only products of external forces
○Constructionism
■(+) Ethnic identity is situational not rooted in nature
■(-) Interactive process of construction between internal and external forces
Why do we maintain ethnic identities?
●Ethnic Identities are useful
●They connect individuals to a community
●Ethnic bonds are supported by the shared experiences of daily life
●Ethnic identity can be asserted or assigned
●Emergency quota act 1921 (Annual Quota per country)
●Immigration Act 1924 (Annual quota of each country = 2% of total population of tht
country registered in the 1890 Census
○Irish Pop in 1890 census 1,871,509 2% quota allowed 37,430
○Itialian pop in 1890 census 182,580 2% quota allowed 3,651
●Immigration act 1965
○Family reunification, skills, refugees
What is different with the new qve of migration?
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●Immigrants have changed
○Come mostly from Asia, Africa, and Latin America
○There are skilled and unskilled immigrants.
●The context has Changed
○There are immigration restriction (and undocumented immigrants
○post-industrial society
○Discrimination and segregated neighborhoods in inner cities where many
immigrants settled.
○Multiculturalism ( A Result of Civil Rights Movement)
○Transnationalism (strong and permanent connections with countries of origin)
●How do new immigrants deal with identity in this new context?
○First Gen: Identification with the place of origin (outsider status)
○Class, gender, “race”, etc. affect this identity
○Second and one and 1 and ½ generations:
■Between two worlds: potential conflict with parents.
■It depends on the contact they person ad with the origin of the culture
■Intersectionality is critical (race,class,gender)
○African Immigrants (first gen)
■Ethnicity and class are important for defining people's’ identity and place
in society
■In the US, African Immigrants are perceived as blacks and considered
African Americans
■African Immigrants want to preserve their African ethnic identity, and
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Document Summary
Primordialism: ethnic identity is deeply rooted, enduring ( almost natural) Circumstantialism: what accounts for ethnic identity are its practical uses. (+) ethnic groups are products of concrete social and historical situations. (-) ethnic groups are only products of external forces. (+) ethnic identity is situational not rooted in nature. (-) interactive process of construction between internal and external forces. Ethnic bonds are supported by the shared experiences of daily life. Ethnic identity can be asserted or assigned. Emergency quota act 1921 (annual quota per country) Immigration act 1924 (annual quota of each country = 2% of total population of tht country registered in the 1890 census. Come mostly from asia, africa, and latin america. There are immigration restriction (and undocumented immigrants. Discrimination and segregated neighborhoods in inner cities where many immigrants settled. Multiculturalism ( a result of civil rights movement) Transnationalism (strong and permanent connections with countries of origin) First gen: identification with the place of origin (outsider status)
