Talking Race across the Disciplines

Should we just get rid of the terms 'race' and 'ethnicity'?

Would removing labels of group difference reduce their negative bi-products? A recent panel of race scholars hosted by the Center for Comparative Study of Race and Ethnicity came down on both sides of these questions. A sociologist, art historian, classicist, and French historian shared their perspectives on the terms ‘race’ and ‘ethnicity,’ and how they understand these concepts in their research. But this debate is more than an academic exercise; our understandings have impacts from how we write policy that protects the rights of racial and ethnic minorities to how we allocate resources on college campuses.

The panel focused on utility of the terms “race” and “ethnicity” to help us understand history and interpret present-day events within a larger, more nuanced context. For art historian Marci Kwon, works such as Tat2 by Carlos Villa (pictured left), can illustrate the inseparability between a person and a history. The permanence of ink on skin is analogous to the persistence of indigenous Filipino culture in present-day Filipinos, despite a history of destructive colonial rule.

Classicist Grant Parker traced contemporary conceptions of race and ethnicity back to the Ancient Greek concept of environmental determinism; the idea that a people who come from a certain geographical area and are predisposed to a particular type of character and health.

Historian Melanié Lamott recounted the tendency to affix race to biology to explain observable difference instead of understanding the historical work that goes into creating the distinct racial and ethnic groups we observe today. Research helps us understand how the concept of race was constructed throughout history. It also helps to understand how race has worked as a mechanism to build and concentrate power for certain racial groups.

Along these lines, sociologist Tomás Jiménez defined race as a process that has ascribed deservedness and hierarchy to perceived racial categories against the backdrop of a race-neutral ‘whiteness’. This process also results in an unequal allocation of resources based on observable group membership. Jiménez stressed the subjectivity in this process; racial categories are based on observations of social group membership, and not inherent differences that are biologically-based.

So, to what extent does race differ from ethnicity? And do we need both concepts? The panelists agree these terms are often used interchangeably, but Jiménez and Lamott distinguish ethnicity in that it has never been defined by biological difference, unlike race. For Jiménez, there is utility in both concepts because ethnicity uniquely demarks a shared ancestry, historical narrative, and cultural symbols and practice. It is often the case that a group’s racial and ethnic identities are one in the same, but the distinction is useful for our current society where racial categories are often defined bluntly and without nuance.

For example, African and Caribbean immigrants to the U.S. share a racial identity with African Americans, but claim distinct historical narratives and cultures that define unique ethnic identities. This kind of nuance is important on college campuses, for example, where universities are tasked with providing resources and promoting belonging for a diversity of racial and ethnic populations.

As a social psychologist who studies race in policing and education contexts, I am aware that racial and ethnic categories provide the basis for stereotypes, discrimination, and prejudice. It’s tempting to think that these manmade categories can just as easily be deconstructed, that we could rid ourselves of these negative bi-products. However, as we were reminded during the session, race and ethnicity are also the source of immense pride, belonging, and strength. Each line tattooed on the face produces pain and scarring, but also a permanent bond between the individual and a people, between the present and the past. As Marci Kwon put it, love and violence are often intertwined.

Camilla Griffiths

CCSRE Graduate Student Fellow

Psychology PhD Student