Dr. Marquita L. ByrdCommunication Studies Department

San Jose State UniversityCopyright ByMar Diversity Training

dr.byrd@earthlink.net

1. Race is a social construct

2. All humans have the DNA of the same woman found in

the mitochondrial portion of the cell

3. Race and ethnicity overlap

4. Race most unreliable method of identifying people.

5. Racial classifications are used to divide and conquer

6. Racial designations are used by the federal

government to allocate funds.

7. Racial designation depends on who the group or family

say that they are, who the individual says he or she is,

who the government says you are and who society

says you are.

8. Ultimately the effective communicator asks people

about their racial and ethnic background, not inform

them of “who they are.”

Remember race is a social construct designed

to talk about something that varies in the

population. It does not actually exist.

Slavery: that history overshadows interracial and interethnic

relationships even today

Blacks, Amerindians, Asians, Mexicans, Pilipinos and poor whites

from Ireland and Great Britain were enslaved in the United States

The dominate culture used racial categories to keep people of colour

and poor whites from forming coalitions

Racial categories determine who gets what: land, jobs, education

Difference between slaves coming from the UK and people of colour in

slavery is that poor whites looked like the power dominant and over

generations have been able to outlive the chains while people of colour

continue to be distinguishable.

RACE ETHNICITY

Biologically determined

Transmitted by DNA

Based on anthropological,

religious and political

motives

• Hair, skin colour facial

structure, etc.

Distinguishable by things

that are learned

Language

Values, traditions

Worldview

Race EthnicityOverlap

Tonga Chinese

Indo Korean

All Asian/Pacific

Islanders

Hispanic

Mexican

Cubans

Puerto Rican

Dominican Honduran

Each group has Black, Brown

and White people

General guidelines used by the US Census Bureau

People with origins in the Sub-Sahara

On the continent of Africa or 1 drop of Black

blood

People originating on the Pacific Rim

People originating from any of the European

countries including Great Britain, Spain,

France, Germany, Italy

Ethnic Whites: Europeans that

maintain original cultures

including Italian, Irish, Polish

People conquered in the New World by Spain

First language Spanish

Last name Spanish

Does not include people from Spain

Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Pilipinos,

Latino, Chicano, Castilian (conquers in the New world,) Mestizos (mix of

Castilian and Amerindian)

Americans identifying self and group by tribal affiliation or recognized by the Bureau of Indian

AffairsCherokee, Apache, Oneida, Dakota,

Comanche, etc

1. Race is a social construct

2. All humans have the DNA of the same woman found in the

mitochondrial portion of the cell

3. Race and ethnicity overlap

4. Race most unreliable method of identifying people.

5. Racial classifications are used to divide and conquer

6. Racial designations are used by the federal government to allocate

funds.

7. Racial designation depends on who the group or family say that they

are, who the individual says he or she is, who the government says

you are and who society says you are.

8. Ultimately the effective communicator asks people about their racial

and ethnic background, not inform them of “who they are.”