Third Generation Disadvantage among Mexican Americans

Among Mexican Americans, generational differences in education do not fit with assimilation theory’s predictions of significant improvement from the second to third generation; instead, education for third generation remains similar to the second generation and falls behind that of non-Hispanic whites. Scholars have not examined this educational gap for recent cohorts, nor have they considered a wide range of economic outcomes by generation. Using a nationally representative sample of young adults from the National Educational Longitudinal Survey, we examine various educational and economic outcomes among second- and third-generation Mexican Americans and compare it to whites and blacks. We find that third-generation Mexican Americans have similar outcomes to the second generation and lower education and economic levels than whites and blacks, even when controlling for key factors. Our findings reveal limitations to assimilation theory and suggest that the persistent low status of third-generation Mexican Americans may be largely due to their racialization. These findings coupled with prior research on Mexican Americans point to a consistent pattern of third generation disadvantage, which stands in contrast to second generation advantage

Multiracial versus Collective Black Categories

Current census debates in Brazil surrounding Brazilian race categories center on two contrasting proposals: the adoption of the multiracial moreno term vs. the use of the collective black classification negro. Those proposing the former base their argument on the right to self-classify according to one’s own sense of identity. Proponents of the negro category contend that it would be most efficient for redressing racial discrimination. We examine the meaning and saliency of these categories and explore the possible consequences of their adoption. Using national survey data, we demonstrate how education, age, color, sex and local racial composition structure the choices of moreno and negro over official census terms. Findings include a negative correlation between education and the choice of moreno, while the opposite is true for negro. In addition, an age effect on both categories suggests a popular shift in racial labeling away from official census terms. We note that similar issues structure current census debates in the USA

Os mexicanos-americanos e a nação americana: resposta ao professor Huntington

This essay is based on a talk I delivered at Texas A&M University on December 10, 2005, in response to an earlier lecture at the university by Professor Samuel P. Huntington. It relies on social science evidence to first address Huntington's contention that Mexicans are overwhelming American borders. It then turns to evidence that Mexican Americans are in fact assimilating culturally but still have been less economically successful than the descendants of earlier European immigrants. The essay examines factors that have differentiated the Mexican American trajectory of incorporation and are likely to continue to do so. Finally, it calls for the American public and policy makers to make well-informed choices about what levels of immigration are desirable and who should be admitted, to improve immigrants' economic opportunities through education, and to embrace a multilingual and multiethnic future for the country.Este artigo baseia-se em uma palestra dada na Texas A&M University em 10 de dezembro de 2005, em resposta a uma palestra anterior do professor Samuel P. Huntington. Os dados obtidos pela ciência social são usados para analisar a tese de Huntington de que os mexicanos estão sobrecarregando as fronteiras americanas. O artigo analisa ainda a evidência de que os mexicanos-americanos estão sendo assimilados culturalmente, mas, em termos econômicos, não são tão bem-sucedidos quanto os descendentes dos primeiros imigrantes europeus; e examina os fatores que diferenciam, e provavelmente continuarão a fazê-lo, a trajetória de incorporação dos mexicanos-americanos. Por fim, recomenda que a opinião pública americana e os políticos façam opções fundamentadas a respeito dos níveis desejáveis de imigração e das pessoas que devem ser aceitas, aperfeiçoem por meio da educação as oportunidades econômicas dos imigrantes e fomentem um futuro multilinguístico e multiétnico para o país

The Significance of Skin Color Among African Americans and Mexican Americans

As W.E.B. Du Bois predicted in his July, 1900 speech before the Pan-African Conference in London, race continues to challenge our society. Du Bois asserted that: The problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the colour line, the question as to how far differences of race, which show themselves chiefly in the colour of the skin and the texture of the hair, are going to be made hereafter, the basis for denying to over half the world the right of sharing to their utmost ability the opportunities and privileges of modern civilisation (Lewis 1995:639). What Du Bois did not anticipate, and what for the most part social science has failed to address adequately, is how race in this country would be affected by immigration. Immigration has had profound consequences for how this country thinks about and responds to race. The dramatic demographic increase in cultural, racial and ethnic diversity over the past quarter century—linked with the politicization of race, ethnicity, and culture—has compelled an elaboration of the country’s racial construct beyond the historically simple (and never completely accurate) Black-White dichotomy (Almaguer 1994; Omi and Winant 1994). Previous research has shown that a skin color continuum is an important component of how race is conceived and how race determines life chances for two of the largest U.S. minority groups (Keith and Herring 1991; Telles and Murguia 1992). This study seeks to advance our understanding of the complexities of race by taking a comparative look at how skin color, ethnic identity and racial discrimination operate in the lives of African Americans and Mexican Americans

Pigmentocracies: Educational inequality, skin color and census ethnoracial identification in eight Latin American countries

AbstractFor the first time, most Latin American censuses ask respondents to self-identify by race or ethnicity allowing researchers to examine long-ignored ethnoracial inequalities. However, reliance on census ethnoracial categories could poorly capture the manifestation(s) of race that lead to inequality in the region, because of classificatory ambiguity and within-category racial or color heterogeneity. To overcome this, we modeled the relation of both interviewer-rated skin color and census ethnoracial categories with educational inequality using innovative data from the 2010 America's Barometer from the Latin American Public Opinion Project (LAPOP) and 2010 surveys from the Project on Ethnicity and Race in Latin America (PERLA) for eight Latin American countries (Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico and Peru). We found that darker skin color was negatively and consistently related to schooling in all countries, with and without extensive controls. Indigenous and black self-identification was also negatively related to schooling, though not always at a statistically significant and robust level like skin color. In contrast, results for self-identified mulattos, mestizos and whites were inconsistent and often counter to the expected racial hierarchy, suggesting that skin color measures often capture racial inequalities that census measures miss

Racial Intermarriage in the Americas

We compare intermarriage in Brazil, Cuba, and the United States among the black, white, and mixed-race population using log-linear models with data from newly available anonymized and harmonized individual census microdata for the 2000 round of censuses. We find that black–white intermarriage is 105 times as likely in Brazil and 28 times as likely in Cuba compared to the United States; that Brazilian mulatos are four times as likely to marry whites than blacks, but Cuban mulatos are equally likely to marry whites and blacks; and negative educational gradients for black–white intermarriage for Cuba and Brazil but nonexistent or positive gradients in the United States. We propose a theory of intergenerational mixture and intermarriage and discuss implications for the role of preferences versus structure, universalism and education, and mulato escape-hatch theory

Racial and ethnic inequality in Latin America

This chapter examines socioeconomic inequality in Latin America through the lens of race and ethnicity. We primarily use national census data from the International Public Use Micro Data Sample (IPUMS). Since censuses use inconsistent measures of race and ethnicity, we also draw on two additional measures from the Latin American Public Opinion Project (LAPOP). Unlike censuses, LAPOP data offer a more consistent ethnoracial scheme across countries and a unique interviewer-rated skin color measure. Our study shows that black and indigenous populations and those with darker skin color experience educational, income, and occupational disadvantages, even after controlling for their social origins. However, inequality and hierarchical ordering of Afro-descendants, indigenous peoples, mestizos, whites, and others vary across countries. We include an extended examination of educational inequality in Brazil, the region’s largest country. The chapter concludes with an exploration of public policy approaches to address black and indigenous disadvantage across Latin America while also highlighting the case of Brazil, where targeted antiracism policy is most advanced

The color of health: Skin color, ethnoracial classification, and discrimination in the health of Latin Americans

Latin America is one of the most ethnoracially heterogeneous regions of the world. Despite this, health disparities research in Latin America tends to focus on gender, class and regional health differences while downplaying ethnoracial differences. Few scholars have conducted studies of ethnoracial identification and health disparities in Latin America. Research that examines multiple measures of ethnoracial identification is rarer still. Official data on race/ethnicity in Latin America are based on self-identification which can differ from interviewer-ascribed or phenotypic classification based on skin color. We use data from Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru to examine associations of interviewer-ascribed skin color, interviewer-ascribed race/ethnicity, and self-reported race/ethnicity with self-rated health among Latin American adults (ages 18-65). We also examine associations of observer-ascribed skin color with three additional correlates of health – skin color discrimination, class discrimination, and socio-economic status. We find a significant gradient in self-rated health by skin color. Those with darker skin colors report poorer health. Darker skin color influences self-rated health primarily by increasing exposure to class discrimination and low socio-economic status