From sword to plowshare : using race for discrimination and antidiscrimination in the United States

This article addresses the question of how the United States' policies of antidiscrimination drew on official racial categories that were traditionally used explicitly for discriminatory purposes. After briefly recounting the history of official racial classification practices in the United States and their relation to racist laws and practices, we describe the development of legal prohibitions on racial discrimination, culminating in the civil rights movement of the 1950s, 60s, and 70s. This leads to an examination of how statistical data on race are used to implement civil rights law, before outlining contemporary official racial categories. Finally, we assess the debates that have arisen concerning the collection of racial statistics for the purposes of antidiscrimination enforcement. In conclusion, we argue that, more than any autonomous political challenge to the principle of government race classification, what has emerged powerfully in recent years is an awareness of tensions between the needs of the civil rights enforcement machinery and the emerging claim of Americans' “right” to self-define racially as they see fit – in short, between the politics of distribution and the politics of recognition

Multiracial Classification on the United States Census

La classification multiraciale dans le recensement américain : mythe, réalité et impact futur.En 1997, les directives fédérales des États-Unis sur la classification raciale furent amendées afin de permettre aux répondants individuels de s’identifier comme membres de plus d’une « race » (dans le sens anglo-saxon du terme, qui n’a aucune connotation biologique ou racialiste). Beaucoup considéraient que cette mesure, prise sous la pression de la communauté des personnes et organisations se revendiquant de « race mixte », allait avoir d’importantes conséquences. Dans cet article, j’examine les prévisions quant à l’impact de la classification multiraciale et j’évalue leur pertinence au regard des résultats obtenus. Je conclue que ni les espoirs, ni les craintes associées à la reconnaissance multiraciale ne se sont été concrétisées. Au lieu de cela, l’apport le plus important de la reconnaissance du caractère multiracial de l’Amérique sera probablement sa contribution au débat relatif à la classification d’un segment beaucoup plus large de la population: les Hispaniques.In 1997, the United States’ federal guidelines on racial classification were amended to permit individual respondents to identify themselves as members of more than one race. This measure, taken at the urging of a vocal community of mixed-race individuals and organizations, was seen by many as having important consequences. In this article I examine the predictions about the impact of multiple-race classification, and assess how accurate they have proved to be. I conclude however that neither the hopes nor fears associated with multiracial recognition have been realized. Instead, the most important legacy of the recognition of mixed-race America is likely to be its contribution to the debate about classifying a much larger segment of the population: the Hispanic community.Clasificación multirracial en el censo de Estados Unidos : Mito, realidad y impacto futuro.En 1997,las directivas federales de Estados Unidos sobre la clasificación racial fueron modificadas para permitir a los individuos de identificarse como miembros de mas de una raza. Muchos consideraron que esta medida, que respondía a la presión común de personas y organizaciones reivindicándose de “raza mixta”, tendría consecuencias importantes. En este articulo, examino las previsiones sobre el impacto de la clasificación multirracial, y evalúo la pertinencia de estas comparándolas con los resultados obtenidos. Concluyo que no se han concretizado ni las esperanzas ni los temores asociados al reconocimiento multirracial. Finalmente el principal aporte del reconocimiento del carácter multirracial de los Estados Unidos será probablemente su contribución al debate sobre la clasificación de los Hispano-Americanos, un segmento mucho mas ancho de la población

Reporting of Two or More Races In the 1999 American Community Survey

This study presents data on race, collected at selected sites throughout the country for the 1999 American Community Survey (ACS). In particular, the distribution of the population by race and Hispanic or Latino origin is examined, as are the reporting of multiple races, number of races, and major race combinations and the extent to which the race and Hispanic/Latino questions were not answered. Although the ACS sites were not intended to be a nationally representative sample, the study's results provide important insights into what might be learned from Census 2000.

"Reporting of Two or More Races in the 1999 American Community Survey"

This paper investigates the causes of western Germany's remarkably poor performance since 1992. The paper challenges the view that the poor record of the nineties, particularly the marked deterioration in public finances since unification, might be largely attributable to unification. Instead, the analysis highlights the role of ill-timed and overly ambitious fiscal consolidation in conjunction with tight monetary policies of an exceptional length and degree. The issue of fiscal sustainability and Germany's fiscal and monetary policies are assessed both in the light of economic theory and in comparison to the best practices of other more successful countries. The analysis concludes that Germany's dismal record of the nineties must not be seen as a direct and apparently inevitable result of unification. Rather, the record arose as a perfectly unnecessary consequence of unsound macro demand policies conducted under the Bundesbank's dictate in response to it, policies that caused the severe and protracted de-stabilization of western Germany in the first place.

What Constitutes Intermarriage for Multiracial People in Britain?

Intermarriage is of great interest to analysts because a group’s tendency to partner across ethnic boundaries is usually seen as a key indicator of the social distance between groups in a multiethnic society. Theories of intermarriage as a key indicator of integration are, however, typically premised upon the union of white and nonwhite individuals, and we know very little about what happens in the unions of multiracial people, who are the children of intermarried couples. What constitutes intermarriage for multiracial people? Do multiracial individuals think that ethnic or racial ancestries are a defining aspect of their relationships with their partners? In this article, I argue that there are no conventions for how we characterize endogamous or exogamous relationships for multiracial people. I then draw on examples of how multiracial people and their partners in Britain regard their relationships with their partners and the significance of their and their partners’ ethnic and racial backgrounds. I argue that partners’ specific ancestries do not necessarily predict the ways in which multiracial individuals regard their partners’ ethnic and racial backgrounds as constituting difference or commonality within their relationships

Response to "The Legitimacy of Genetic Ancestry Tests"

Anthropolog

Pour une sociologie de la conceptualisation raciale au 21ème siècle

Despite their longstanding interest in race, American sociologists have conducted little empirical research on sociodemographic patterns or longitudinal trends in “racial conceptualization” – that is, notions of what race is, how races differ, and the origins of race. This article outlines key empirical, methodological and theoretical considerations for a research agenda on racial conceptualization. Drawing on in-depth interviews with more than 50 college students, I describe the variety of race concepts among respondents, illustrate the importance of using multiple measures of conceptualization, and demonstrate the malleability of conceptualization, linking it to demographic context and thereby raising the question of its future evolution in the changing United States of the 21st century

Pour une sociologie de la conceptualisation raciale au 21ème siècle

En dépit d'un intérêt de longue date pour la notion de race, les sociologues américains ont mené peu de recherche sur les schémas sociodémographiques et les tendances longitudinales de la "conceptualisation raciale", c'est-à-dire sur la définition, les différenciations et les origines des races. Cet article expose les notions empiriques, méthodologiques et théoriques qu'il faut impérativement prendre en compte dans le développement d'une recherche sur la conceptualisation raciale. Sur la base d'entretiens approfondis réalisés avec 50 étudiants de premier cycle, je décris la variété de leurs concepts de race et démontre l'importance de l'usage de multiples mesures dans une telle conceptualisation, la malléabilité de celle-ci, son contexte démographique avant d'envisager son évolution future dans les États-Unis du 21ème siècle