Race Relations

Issue Of The Week II Fall 2011-2012: The Darker The Skin, The Greater The Discrimination

Login to rate this article
Latest News: 
Authored by: 
Janice S. Ellis Ph.D.

When you examine any of the quality of life indicators — whether it is the amount of wealth and the rate of employment, the quality of health or access to healthcare services, ghetto dwelling or equal access to quality housing, and access to quality education or the educational achievement gap — it seems that the darker your skin the worst you are by any of those measures.


Evidence abounds — too much to be summarized in this space. But findings from some well-respected research paint a compelling picture.

Conversation Of The Week I Fall 2011-2012: Pigments of Our Imagination: The Racialization of the Hispanic-Latino Category

Login to rate this article
Authored by: 
Rubén G. Rumbaut Professor of Sociology U Of C Irvine

Race is a pigment of our imagination. It is a social status, not a biological one; a product of history, not of nature; a contextual variable, not a given. The concept of race is a historically contingent, relational, subjective phenomenon, yet it is typically misbegotten as a natural, fixed trait of phenotypic difference inherent in human bodies, independent of human will or intention.

Pages

Subscribe to RSS - Race Relations