What Does "Black" Mean? Exploring the Epistemological Stranglehold of Racial Categorization

The "check all that apply" approach to race on the 2000 census has ignited a conceptual debate over the meaning & usefulness of racial categories. This debate is most intense over the category "black" because of the historically unique way that blackness has been defined. Tho...

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Veröffentlicht in:Critical sociology 2002-04, Vol.28 (1), p.101-121
Hauptverfasser: Brunsma, David L., Rockquemore, Kerry Ann
Format: Artikel
Sprache:eng
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Zusammenfassung:The "check all that apply" approach to race on the 2000 census has ignited a conceptual debate over the meaning & usefulness of racial categories. This debate is most intense over the category "black" because of the historically unique way that blackness has been defined. Though the lived reality of many people of color has changed over the past three decades, we question whether the construct black has mirrored these changes & if "black" remains a valid analytic or discursive unit today. While black racial group membership has historically been defined using the one-drop rule, we test the contemporary salience of this classification norm by examining racial identity construction among multiracial people. We find that that the one-drop rule has lost the power to determine racial identity, while the meaning of black is becoming increasingly multidimensional, varied, & contextually specific. Ultimately, we argue that social, cultural, & economic changes in post-Civil Rights America necessitates a re-evaluation of the validity of black as social construct & re-assessment of its continued use in social science research. 41 References. Adapted from the source document.
ISSN:0896-9205
1569-1632
DOI:10.1163/156916302320277628