In the United States, race is a grouping of people believed to share common descent, based on the perception of innate physical similarities. The social construction of race refers to the idea that race is more meaningful on a social level than on a biological level. More genetic differences exist within a particular race than between races. We also see historical and cultural variations in how race is defined. Race is a socially constructed status that is real in its consequences. Race is systematically rooted in American culture and used to create, establish, maintain, and enhance group differences.

Like class and gender systems explored in Chapter 8 and Chapter 9, racial stratification has structural foundations. The meaning and significance of race were fundamentally changed at the beginning of the twenty-first century. The blatant forms of racism that existed in the past have given way to new, more subtle practices.

In America, race seems to function on two main levels: 1) at the individual, micro level through face-to-face interaction and 2) at the institutional, macro level through institutions, such as education, the criminal justice system, family, and/or community. In the next section, we will examine the concepts of race and ethnicity.

What Is Race?

Race is a category of identity that ascribes social, cultural, and political meaning and consequence to physical characteristics. These commonly understood categories of human difference are unsupported by genetic research. There is far more genetic diversity within racial groups than between them. Even though ideas about race have been vigorously contested over time, many people accept contemporary racial categories as essential. Even people who say they don’t believe in race can describe characteristics and meanings associated with the racial categories we use most in the United States. If you would like to explore how you understand race and human variation, you can learn more by visiting Understanding Race [Website].

Formal classifications of racialized human differences is a much newer concept. It was not until the late eighteenth century when German anthropologist Johan Friedrich Blumenbach applied and expanded upon ideas about dark-skinned people from the global south. His ideas defined a racial hierarchical classification system that artificially correlated geographic location, skin color, and aesthetic value. Painter (2010) argues this system was incorrectly premised on a theory that humans were originally Caucasian (White) and that people classified as Mongoloid (Brown), Malaysian (Yellow), Ethiopian (Black), and American (Red) represent successively “degenerate” races.

Racial categories are unstable and constantly changing in response to social and historical contexts (Omi and Winant 1994). For example, the U.S. Census listed three racial categories in 1860 and five in 2020. You may choose to explore “Race and ethnicity” [Website] to learn more. That means people considered Black or mulatto (a term meaning a mix of Black and White that is now considered offensive) in the 1860 census, might choose to identify as White or “one or more races” in 2020. As you learned in the “Overview,” we can expect that the use of the multiracial option will grow on the census, especially among younger populations as interracial marriages continue to rise. Furthermore, racial classification is also organized differently from one country to another. This fluidity and inconsistency reveals the illusion and the persistence of race (figure 11.2).

What Is Ethnicity?

Ethnicity refers to categories of difference organized around shared language, culture, and faith tradition. Ethnicity is closely tied to place in terms of shared ancestral homelands. Human history being as it is, most modern nation-states are home to multiple ethnic groups with diverse, interconnecting, and conflicting cultures, languages, and values. As with race, individuals may be identified or self-identify with ethnicities in complex, even contradictory, ways. For example, ethnic groups such as Irish, Italian, Russian, Jewish, and Serbian might all be groups whose members are predominantly included in the “White” racial category.

Ethnicity, like race, is an identification method individuals and institutions use by way of the census, diversity initiatives, non-discrimination laws, or simply in personal day-to-day relations. The U.S. Census delineates between ethnicity and race so that a person may identify by ethnicity as Hispanic and by race as White, Black or African American, Asian, American Indian or Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander. Limiting the definition of ethnicity to a binary—Hispanic or non-Hispanic—reveals how unstable the line between race and ethnicity can be.

National origin associates racial and ethnic identities with political locations and affiliations. It is common for diverse but closely associated ethnic groups to develop “pan-ethnic” identities. For example, the various ethnic groups and national origins of people from Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, and adjoining nations, who may share cultural, linguistic, or other values, may group themselves in a collective identity.

Nativism exploits ethnic identity and ideas about racial hierarchy by assuming a shared connection to ancestral homelands, real or imagined, to build and consolidate political power. For example, Christian Nationalists in the United States are constructing a White, Christian, English-speaking ethnicity that is “native” to the United States. Within this emerging identity are people who claim diverse, mostly European ethnic heritages, some of which have not always been classified as White.

What Are Minority Groups?

Sociologist Louis Wirth (1945) defined a minority group as “any group of people who, because of their physical or cultural characteristics, are singled out from the others in the society in which they live for differential and unequal treatment, and who therefore regard themselves as objects of collective discrimination.” Because “minority” suggests discrimination, sociologists often use the term “subordinate group” instead. A dominant group is the group that represents a society’s rulers, is often in the majority, and can access power and privilege in a given society. These definitions correlate to the idea that the dominant group holds the most power in their society, while subordinate groups lack power compared to the dominant group. Because it is the ability to access power that matters, larger groups can be considered minority groups if they lack power.

According to Charles Wagley and Marvin Harris (1958), a minority group is distinguished by the following five characteristics:

1. Unequal treatment and less power over their lives
2. Distinguishing physical or cultural traits like skin color or language
3. Involuntary membership in the group
4. Awareness of subordination
5. High rate of in-group marriage

Additional examples of minority groups might include the LGBTQIA+ community, religious practitioners whose faith is not widely practiced where they live, and people with disabilities.

Licenses and Attributions for Racial, Ethnic, and Minority Groups

Open Content, Original

“Racial, Ethnic, and Minority Groups” by Jennifer Puentes is licensed under CC BY 4.0.

“What is Race?” by Nora Karena is licensed under CC BY 4.0.

Open Content, Shared Previously

“What is Ethnicity?” and “What are Minority Groups?” from “11.1 Racial, Ethnic, and Minority Groups” by Tonja R. Conerly, Kathleen Holmes, Asha Lal Tamang in Introduction to Sociology 3e, Openstax, which is licensed under CC BY 4.0.

All Rights Reserved Content

Figure 11.2. Photo by Sarah Leen for National Geographic is included under fair use.