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Race, Ethnicity, and Families ch 5

  1. Racial-Ethnic Groups- group of people who share a common identity and whose members think of themselves as distinct from others by virtue of ancestry, culture, and sometimes physical characteristics
    • Contructing Racial-Ethnic Groups
    • -great differences in family structure by racial ethnic groups
    • -Hispanic: Latin American ancestry
    • -1st listing in 1970 census
    • -12.5% in 2000 census
    • -only 42% of these listed themselves in specific racial category
    • Asian American: Came from an Asian country
    • -Everywhere from Japan to Pakistan
    • -Different races
    • -No overall asian category in 2000 census
  2. -US is structured around FIVE racial-ethnic group:
    1)African Americans
    2) Hispanics
    3)Asian and Pacific Islander
    4) Native American
    5)Non-Hispanic Whites
    • African American Families
    • -Economic ups and downs during last half of 20th century had profound effect on these families
    • -Especially on lower and working class black families
    • -Men and women reluctant to marry
    • Marriage:
    • -Decline in marriage rates
    • -More likely than whites to weigh economic considerations
    • -Effects of welfare on marriage
    • -May play lesser role in African American families than other families
    • Childbearing Outside of Marriage:
    • -70% of African American children born to unmarried mothers
    • -This gap has been narrowing w/ other races in terms of non-college educated women
  3. EXPLAINING THE TRENDS
    -Shortage of employed Black men
    -For every 3 unmarried women there is one man w/ earnings above the poverty line
    -Society wide shift in economic restructuring
    -jobs eliminated in central city areas and manufacturing areas
    Black Men:
    -High high school dropout rates
    -Violence and drugs taking a toll
    -High rate of imprisonment, high homicide rates
    -Many in mental hospitals due to drug addiction or alcoholism
    -shortage of marriageable black men
    Culture:
    -    Strengths of black families often overlooked
    -Black families are much more likely to have a grandparent or other kin living w/ them
    -Grandparents play a stronger role in black fams
    • Culture:
    • -Female centered kinship ties and network
    • -Network of kin ties more important than marital ties
    • -Support of children important--Daddy vs Father
    • -Female centered networks ease the hardship of persistant poverty
    • Gender and black families
    • Intersectionality: the extent to which black women's lives are affected by overlapping systems of class, racial and gender based disadvantage
  4. African Americans:the rise of middle class families
    -Black middle class families expanded greatly since the 1960's
    -some managed to escape poverty
    -educational stats show improvement
    -Black churches a great source of social support
    -Mediating Structures: Midlevel social institutions and groupings
    -Middle class blacks live in neighborhoods w/ less crime and poverty
    • Mexican Americans:
    • -Kinship very strong
    • -marry at younger age
    • -2 parent, single-earner families are more common than others
    • -high birth rate
    • Puerto Ricans:
    • -us citizens-47% live here
    • -most economically disadvantaged of hispanic groups
    • -highest unemployment levels and lowest labor force participation
    • -High rates of informal marriage-consensual union
    • -Lowest average levels of education
  5. Transnational families: families that maintain continual contact b/n members in the sending and recieving countries

    Cuban Americans:
    -1st wave immigrating for political asylum
    -most likely to go through assimilation
    -merging of their culture and the new culture
    -Live in immigrant enclave
    -large dense, single ethnic group, almost self sufficient community
    -most prosperous of hispanic groups
    -entrepreneurs
    Social Capital: resources that a person can access through his or her relationship w/ other people

    • American Indian Families:
    • -kinship networks important for identity and resources
    • -Only 1/3 of individuals who identified whemselves as soely of American Indian origin and were members of a tribe
    • -numbers increased due to intermarriages and claiming ancestry
    • -ecomomically disadvantaged
    • -substantial # of families headed by women
    • -36% headed by unmarried women
  6. Racial and Ethnic Intermarriage:
    -Among whites aged 20-34 in 2000, 2.7% had intermarried
    -7% of African American women and 14% of African men aged 20-34 were married to spouses of different races
    Kinship:
    -family ties central to success
    -substantial differences among and b/n groups
    -family ties provide critical assistance to start new businesses
    -Cultural differences reflected in kinship forms
    -women centered kin networks require sharing of resources
    -hard to rise above poverty level
    -Marriage based networks allow people to be upwardly mobile
    -can't provide to all kin that need help
Author
Anonymous
ID
7988
Card Set
Race, Ethnicity, and Families ch 5
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Race, Ethnicity, and Families ch 5
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