Overriding Identity / Watch the Stereotyping

by: Glenn Robinson

In sociology class I learned that when someone commits a horrendous crime that person's new identity becomes synonymous with that criminal act. No matter how that person self defined in the past - they will now have a new identity that society places on them.  


History and media together constantly contribute stereotypes to whole populations. Growing up in the U.S. I've seen enough WWII movies to where my brain is now wired to identify Germans as "those holocaust perpetrators". I know; unfair to every new innocent German baby.


Another lesson from my sociology class and from a psychology teacher is that all stereotyping is bad. I knew that applying negative stereotypes to a whole population was bad, however, not until I made a video about positive stereotypes did I realized that positive stereotyping is equally wrong. Attempting to apply positive stereotypes to a whole population is akin to saying all other people do not have that said positive quality.


I think this explains why I feel uncomfortable when I watch this video that I made. Lesson learned. Kudos to all the sociology students that participated though. 

The list of stereotyping oversimplifications (positive or negative) can go on and on. Hollywood does an "excellent" job of reinforcing stereotypes. I've also noticed stereotyping in cartoons that my daughter watches.


U.S. media is complicit in creating an Overriding Identity fallacy by calling undocumented immigrants "Illegal Aliens". U.S. media is attempting to make it vogue to hate on Hispanic Latino Mexicas because of the labels applied to them that "criminalizes" the whole group.

When a person breaks the speed limit, U.S. media will not label that person illegal. The media should not label undocumented immigrants illegal either. It's dehumanizing and has incited hatred toward Hispanic Latino Mexicas from U.S. citizens.





The "war" on drugs is another dehumanizing word choice that government and media use. There is no need for a "war" on drugs. There is a need to provide help to drug addicts.  

What Overriding Identity issues have you noticed that the media perpetuates. 

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Glenn is a European-American married to a Mexican-American. They have two children. Glenn is interested in progressive immigration reform, and desegregation within schools and communities. He is a life long learner with interests in sociology, anthropology, psychology, history and politics.
Connect to Glenn at CommunityVillage.us

What makes us who we are

Glenn's Map
Click graphic to enlarge

Ethnicity is amorphous, and only

a small fraction of what makes us who we are.

Charo's Map

Make your map free at bubbl.us

"There are no races, there are only clines."

-Frank Livingstone, anthropologist

It has been illegal for the government of France to collect data on ethnicity and race since 1789.

Race and ethnicity questions serve to divide and exclude.

Colors are not races.

People are Tints and Shades of flesh color.

Original photo from National Geographic.

If there were black and white people, their offspring would be grey.

"Citing Blumenbach by name, Emerson agrees that races shade into each other imperceptibly."

-Nell Irvin Painter, The History of White People

The 'race' check boxes are not derived from physical science, but from political science with an underlying ideology of exclusion.

Makeup from brushesbykaren

Hair from headkandy

In 1997, the American Association of Physical Anthropologists urged the American governmnet to phase out the use of race as a data category and to substitute ethnic categories instead. Geneticists studying DNA ... were also concluding that race as a biological category made no sense. --Nell Irvin Painter

The book "Modernizing the U.S. Census" sums up the race and ethnicity question saying that the question will continue to have an amorphous answer and will soon be inconsequential.

Modernizing the U.S. Census

Chapter 7: Data on Race and Ethnicity

Modernizing the U.S. Census

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Modernizing the U.S. Census

Quality of Data on Race and Ethnicity

YouTube response explaining One Human Race

Here is the information I could not find on the US census website. The answers to the questions:

How many 'race' categories does the US feel are worthy of recognizing?

Why has the US been collecting data on race and ethnicity?

What do they do with the data?

From the webpage:

A Brief History of Census “Race”

Frank W. Sweet, author of Legal History of the Color Line

Changes in “Racial” Categories

A problem faced by the census today is that many Americans no longer take the “race” question seriously. This is a consequence of the 1960 switch to self-reporting. Having opened the door to self-classification, the bureau has been unable to stop millions of Americans from checking off the “other” category and filling in “human,” or something equally frivolous or non-racial. To discourage such lack of cooperation, the bureau has threatened criminal prosecution of anyone who fails to choose a government-approved “race.”
From 1790 to 1880, the census recorded only “color,” not “race.”

The word “race” first appeared in the census in 1900. From 1900 to 1940, the census asked each person’s “color or race.”

In 1950, the word “color” was dropped and the census asked only for the person’s “race”.

In 1970, “color” made a brief comeback. The census asked each person’s “color or race,” as in the 1900-1940 period. This was the last census to use the word “color.”

Changes in Stated “Racial” Goals

The earliest mention of the need to classify free Americans by “race” was in the late 17th century, long before the census (or the nation) was founded). At that time (1691-1723), the reason given was that: (1) Racial classification was necessary to prevent intermarriage, (2) Intermarriage had to be prevented to stop the birth of Americans of mixed Euro-Afro ancestry, (3) The existence of mixed-ancestry Americans would enable alliance between European and African involuntary forced laborers, and (4) Such alliance would overthrow English rule and turn colonies into free maroon communities.[19] In fact, Latin American colonies encouraged intermarriage (and consequent mixed-ancestry colonists) and yet were not overthrown.


In the 1830s, as a consequence of the Nat Turner incident, free African Americans came to be seen as a threat. The justification for “racially” classifying Americans on the census was to prevent African-American migration to the free states. Several Midwestern states’ constitutions forbade African-American immigration.[20] In fact, no evidence ever emerged that free African Americans were a threat.


In the 1850s, intermarriage was believed to produce mentally defective offspring. Census “scientists” published findings that mixed-ancestry children were usually born retarded or insane. And so, the justification for “racially” classifying Americans on the census was to prevent intermarriage and thus protect public health.[21] In fact, even cursory examination of the data shows it to be falsified, since many communities reported more insane mixed-race individuals than their entire population.


In the Jim Crow era (1900-1965), the elites in power argued the importance of preserving “White racial purity.” The justification for “racially” classifying Americans on the census was that it helped to prevent contamination of the White “race.”[22] In fact, liaisons between White males and Black females were encouraged while the reverse was often punished with death by public torture.[23]


Since 1970, U.S. society has tried to atone for slavery and the state-sponsored terrorism of the Jim Crow era by enforcing laws, regulations, entitlements, policies, and practices that favor African Americans. Since that time, “racially” classifying Americans on the census has been justified on the grounds that such classification is needed in order to fight “racism.”[24] In fact, no “anti-racist” or civil rights federal regulation or law enforcement over the past 30 years has ever used census data.[25]

-Frank W Sweet, A Brief History of Census “Race”

Multiracialism In America - Jane Junn

Choose one or more:
☐ Mixed
☐ Other
☐ Unsure
☐ Don't know
☐ None of your business

Snoop finds out what percentage of Native American, European and African he is.

Should I stop using the word "race"?

Unless you are a physical anthropologist, or discussing the word itself, the word 'race' should be avoided.

Replace the word 'race' with ethnicity. True, the meaning is different, but conversations about human differences usually revolve around ethnic differences.

The term 'race' equates to the noun 'breed'. Humans do not want to be thought of as breeds.

Nell Irvin Painter
Professor of American History, Princeton
Speaking about the History of White People

Using the term 'race' runs the risk of sounding uneducated, and worse, the risk of sounding racist.

‪NYTimes.com - Being Multiracial in America‬

‪Mixed‬
Listen at 3:20

Learn More about 'race' and ethnicity at understandingrace.org