Self-Identifying in the 21st Century: Race and Ethnicity Reconsidered

Abstract

Racial categories continue to persist in present day multi-ethnic and cultural societies such as the U.S. The lack of an agreement between science and public opinion on how to account for human variation has resulted in the continued racialization of folk taxonomy that emerged at the turn of the late 19th century into the 20th century. Its persistence in the scientific and socio-political arenas can be attributed to its ambiguity and its application to a number of other social factors used to identify and marginalize minorities and outlier groups from mainstream society. This thesis reviews historical physical anthropological and Latino studies literature along with original ethnographic field research in an effort to understand if ethnic categories are taking on racial distinctions. Field interviews of Hispanics and Latinos in the Boston metro area reveal a blurring between race and ethnicity through new socially constructed ideologies and the racialization of terms such as Hispanic and Latino. A counter response by subjects is evident in either their rejection of or modification of imposed ideologies and categories in favor of an idealized identity founded on learned and lived experiences. Alternatives to the continued use of racialized concepts are presented as a means of furthering an understanding of the cognitive and cultural aspects of these marginalized groups’ adaptive responses to imposed ideologies.