Remapping American-ness: Heritage Production and the Staging of the Native American and the African American as Other in 'Historyland'

The American tourism industry in the 1950s helped to produce certain notions of America, or what it meant to be American, at a time when these identities were in flux. Visitors to 'Historyland', an attraction that reconstructed a nineteenth-century Wisconsin logging town, could experience a living lumberjack community, as well as an 'authentic' Indian Village and a dining car restaurant with black waiters. The Native Americans and African Americans, by performing their 'historic' roles, were staged as examples of 'the other' which European American tourists could encounter, and against which they could define their own sense of American-ness.     

A Clearer Picture of Multiracial Substance Use: Rates and Correlates of Alcohol and Tobacco Use in Multiracial Adolescents and Adults

Existing studies indicate that multiracial adolescents face greater substance use rates than monoracial adolescents. However, it is unclear whether the risk identified in adolescence persists into adulthood. The current study uses data from the 2001 California Health Interview Survey to analyze the alcohol and tobacco use of multiracial adolescents and adults compared to European American, African American, Native American, Asian/Pacific Islander American, and Latino American individuals. Results generally support the hypothesis that multiracial adolescents and adults face higher rates of substance use than African American and Asian/Pacific Islander American individuals, though this pattern of results was reversed in comparison with Native Americans and European Americans, and less consistent compared to Latino Americans. We further establish and discuss the correlates of drinking and smoking behavior for mixed-race individuals—comparing them to other racial groups. We review the limitations of our design and the implications for future research on multiracial substance use.     

Indigenous identity construction: enacted upon us,or within us

ABSTRACT

This commentary essay questions, theorizes, explores and grapples with the phenomenon of the creation of racial, social and cultural identity: in childhood as Native American identity is negotiated from others; and in adulthood as Native identity is constructed from within. ‘Indigenous Identity Construction: Enacted upon Us, or Within Us?’ is a commentary piece focused around Native American identity and how it is formed both through childhood and into adulthood. I analyze and interpret my experiences and understanding of my identity formation as an indigenous person- which usually is left out of the socio-political notions of modernity. Conceptualizations from ‘othering’ racial identities are discussed along with indigenous ontologies constructed within land and water. Through metaphorically revisiting past racializing incidents this piece continues working through the idea of othering and induction into whiteness in childhood, but also focuses on how indigenous identities might be constructed and sustained in adulthood. Efforts to model the indigenous assertion of self-determination and decolonizing the mind was used to re-present thoughts on the construction of Native American identity     

‘How I show up for Brown and Black students’: Asian American male mathematics teachers seeking solidarity

ABSTRACT

The ratio of Asian American teachers to Asian American students is the most disproportionate of all racial groups, where Asian American students are least likely to have an Asian American teacher. In addition, little research focuses on the experiences of Asian American teachers, particularly in connection with issues of racism. Using AsianCrit, internalized racism, and stereotype management, this study investigates how Asian American male mathematics teachers conceptualize their racial/ethnic and mathematics teacher identities given the prevalence of the Model Minority Myth. Using photovoice interviews, findings indicate that participants experienced internalized racism and engaged in stereotype management by distancing themselves from other Asian Americans, discussing their own difficulties in mathematics, and actively reaching out to form relationships with Black and Latinx students. We recommend supports for Asian American teachers and all teachers of color to build critical consciousness to reduce internalized racism and empower themselves and their students.     

Postethnic Experience in Contemporary Jewish American Fiction

Multiculturalism has meant something of a crisis for many Jews in the United States in that it has placed them in the paradoxical position of being part of the dominant white majority while they continue to maintain their particularity as an ethnic minority. Some scholars who subscribe to the ideal of a postethnic society as a means of resolving the divisiveness and fragmentation in multicultural America have, however, argued that this very dualism experienced by American Jews today may well point toward what they hope will come about in American society as a whole when it moves beyond multiculturalism. This essay explores some of the ways in which the contradictions experienced by Jewish Americans as members of an ethnic minority with majority status figure in recent Jewish American fiction. It concludes with a brief discussion of the possible implications of the anomalous position of American Jews for the place of contemporary Jewish writing within the rapidly changing canon of American literature.     

The Benefits of in-betweenness: return migration of second-generation Chinese American professionals to China

In an era of growing transnational practices, this paper considers the trend of second-generation Chinese Americans who have ‘returned’ to the People's Republic of China (PRC) to work. Previous studies of return migration to China have focused on issues of ethnic and racial identity that arise during temporary homeland trips undertaken by those seeking to connect with ancestral and cultural origins. Accordingly, most research has highlighted the sense of cultural ‘in-betweenness’ experienced by Chinese Americans whose travels in the ancestral homeland bring an uncomfortable realisation that they are considered neither fully Chinese nor fully American. By contrast, my in-depth interviews with 52 second-generation Chinese American professionals in Beijing and Shanghai suggest that this liminality can be particularly useful in the workplace. I argue that first-world Chinese co-ethnics who work on a long-term basis in the PRC can uniquely leverage Western training with their assumed knowledge of Chinese culture to create personal economic advantage: a practice that I refer to as ‘strategic in-betweenness'. Nonetheless, while participants described distinct career-related benefits to being Chinese American in the PRC, they also feared they would soon be replaced by high-skilled, Western-educated Chinese natives who are moving back to their home country in large numbers.     

The Role of Historical Knowledge in Perception of Race-Based Conspiracies

We test the hypothesis that knowledge of historically documented, anti-black conspiracies affects perceived plausibility of new, anti-black conspiracies. In Experiment 1 (N = 78), African Americans and European Americans read about a current conspiracy aimed at undermining either African American or European American–elected officials. African Americans perceived the anti-black conspiracy as more plausible and the conspiracy informant as more credible than did European Americans. The difference in perception of informant credibility was mediated by recognition of historically documented, anti-black conspiracies. In Experiment 2, we manipulated European Americans’ (N = 105) exposure to information about historically documented, anti-black conspiracies. European Americans who learned about actual, past anti-black conspiracies perceived new anti-black conspiracies as more plausible than did European Americans who learned about race-silent conspiracies or who did not learn about conspiracies. To the extent that European Americans lack awareness of incidents of racism in US history, they are likely to underestimate the possibility that racism impacts contemporary events.     

A Paradox of Bias: Racial Differences in Forensic Psychiatric Diagnosis and Determinations of Criminal Responsibility

Although there is substantial evidence that African Americans receive unequal treatment in both the healthcare and criminal justice systems, less research has investigated the role of race when these two systems converge. Here, we examine the influence of race on patterns of forensic psychiatric diagnosis and determinations of criminal responsibility in pre-trial correctional facilities (e.g., forensic psychiatric hospitals). Data are from a medical chart review of 129 randomly selected competency evaluations that occurred in a pre-trial correctional psychiatric facility. Consistent with previous research, findings indicate that African Americans are disproportionately diagnosed with highly stigmatized psychotic spectrum disorders relative to whites. In addition, they unexpectedly indicate that African Americans are significantly more likely than whites to be found not criminally responsible by the court-appointed evaluating mental health professional, controlling for sociodemographic characteristics, number of violent and non-violent charges, and other potential confounding variables. Mediation analysis reveals the important and previously undocumented finding that the effect of race on criminal responsibility determinations is fully mediated by differential diagnosis. This suggests that patterns of racial inequality and potential bias in the diagnostic process may confer medical resources and other benefits for African Americans in the context of the criminal justice system.     

Failure of Muslim Leadership in America From the Perspective of First-Generation Muslim Americans: A Phenomenological Study

While leadership is a foundational component of guidance in most societies, Muslim children born in America to immigrant parents lack such guidance. A qualitative case study was recently conducted with six first-generation Muslim American college students and professionals. The purpose of this study was six-fold: to examine the concept of leadership in Muslim communities in America, to observe perceptions of Muslim leadership in mosques and community centers, to examine the practice and beliefs of Muslims in America, to view the social interaction of Muslim Americans within their community, to view the mentorship and leadership aspects of Muslim Americans in their community and to inspect marital and cultural aspects within those societies. Findings reveal four themes that show that Muslim Americans are subject to role confusion as they go through adolescence and need a leadership role model to assist them through this stage.     

Still left out: healthcare stratification under the Affordable Care Act

ABSTRACT

The 2010 Affordable Care Act (ACA) increased healthcare access for many Americans. But, its exclusion of most noncitizens and imperfect state-level implementation stratified coverage by documentation status, place, income level, race, and ethnicity across the U.S.A. Drawing from the sociological literature on boundaries, this paper argues that these demographic boundaries facilitate de jure and de facto stratification for immigrants and low-income Americans of various ethnoracial backgrounds. Using existing survey research regarding national ACA implementation and a qualitative study of ACA implementation in Boston, MA, this paper shows how such stratification may worsen existing disparities in healthcare coverage and access among the U.S. population. Implications regarding President Donald Trump and conservative lawmakers’ plans to repeal the ACA are also discussed. The paper contributes to researchers’ understanding of how public policies produce boundaries by place, documentation status, race, ethnicity, and income that facilitate inequality.     

Immigration and Economic Conditions Among Older Asian Americans

This study compares native-immigrant gaps in economic conditions among older Asian Americans to those in other racial groups. This study uses the American Community Survey data collected from 2006 to 2010. The sample consists of Asians, whites, blacks, and Hispanics, who are 65 years old or older (N = 2,205,148). The dependent variables are per capita income, poverty, asset income, homeownership, and vehicle ownership. This study employs linear and logit regressions. Analysis results show that older native Asian Americans’ economic statuses are comparable to or better than older native whites. Older immigrant Asian Americans’ economic situations are worse off than older immigrant whites but better off than their black and Hispanic counterparts. Regression analyses indicate that native-immigrant gaps among older Asian Americans are significantly larger than those among other racial groups. These findings suggest that the public perception of economically successful immigrant Asians is not consistent with the economic reality of older immigrant Asian Americans. Analysis results call for further research on native-immigrant gaps among older Asian Americans and policy interventions to enhance economic security among older minority groups, including older immigrant Asian Americans.     

Performing Identity and Persuading a Public: The Harlem On My Mind Controversy

This article analyses the performance of racial identity in the events surrounding the 1969 exhibition Harlem On My Mind held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. This racial performativity reflected widespread anxiety about the inclusion of African Americans in American art museums, where they had typically been excluded, and the ambiguous role of whites in addressing demands for representation. Faced with such demands, white curators, directors, and other museum professionals did not easily cede their authority. Instead they tried to demonstrate that they were no longer impediments to African American access, but rather facilitators of that access. Using the exhibition Harlem On My Mind as a case study, this article aims to shed light on the instrumental uses of race identity in the field of museums in the 1960s and today.     

Mexican illegality,black citizenship,and white power: immigrant perceptions of the U.S. socioracial hierarchy

While some scholars contend that immigrant integration is predicated on a strategic distancing from Blacks and closeness to Whites, others argue that highly racialised immigrants share more commonality with Black Americans than Whites. Drawing on in-depth interviews with Mexican immigrant newcomers to Los Angeles, California, this article examines how immigrants make sense of their position in U.S. socioracial hierarchy vis-à-vis other racialised groups. I show that as immigrants navigate U.S. social, racial, and political landscapes, they come to view ‘American-ness’ and the citizenship status inherent in it as a key marker of distinction between themselves and those they deem ‘American’. Immigrants thus view their group status as an inferior one relative not only to the dominant White group, but also to Black Americans, albeit for qualitatively different reasons. Findings highlight how the vulnerability of ‘illegality’ not only reinforces existing social boundaries with Whites, but also shapes the nature of socioracial boundaries with Black Americans that can hinder the potential for racial solidarity and has broader implications for the U.S. socioracial hierarchy.     

Mental Health Help-Seeking Profiles Among African Americans: Exploring the Influence of Religion

African Americans with mental health problems consult a variety of sources for assistance. Most studies report a preference for informal sources rather than professional sources of help with mental health concerns. While it is clear that African Americans seek help from both informal and professional sources, less known is whether there are unique subpopulations of African Americans that can be defined by their support and services use. Given the importance of religion in the lives of African Americans, it also important to understand the role of religious involvement in determining help-seeking behaviors. This study used latent class analysis and data from the National Survey of American Life (n = 1315) to identify distinct profiles of help-seeking behavior among African Americans with mental health disorders defined by informal (e.g., clergy, family, and friends) and professional sources (e.g., health and mental healthcare providers) of support and services. Findings revealed two help-seeking classes: Low Use/Informal Support (95%) and High Use/All Support (5%). Low subjective religious involvement was associated with membership in the Low Use/Informal Support class. High non-organizational religious involvement was associated with membership in the High Use/All Support class. No associations between demographic characteristics were found between the two classes. Findings highlight heterogeneity in help-seeking behavior among African Americans and the importance of considering multiple domains of religious involvement in influencing these behaviors. Findings highlight the importance of collaborative efforts between religious institutions, health and mental healthcare providers, family and friendship networks in the delivery of mental health care to African Americans.     

Racial and Ethnic Differentials in Idleness,Highest-Risk Idleness,and Dropping Out of High School

This research investigates three different indicators of at-risk socio-demographic conditions including dropping out of high school, being idle, and being in highest-risk idleness among non-immigrant persons aged 19–24. Using data from the 2000 US Census, our results detail the differentials in these characteristics for 30 different racial/ethnic groups that are further broken down by gender. The findings indicate a wide range in the prevalence of these at-risk socio-demographic conditions. Groups that tend to be the most at-risk in terms of these indicators include African Americans, Cambodians, Laotians, Native Americans, other Hispanic whites, and white Mexicans. With the exception of the other Pacific Islander and Thai, young women have lower high school dropout rates than do young men. However, young women are substantially more likely than young men to be idle which we define as not being in school, the labor force, or the military. After defining highest-risk idleness as never-married persons without children who are idle, however, the rates are slightly lower for young women than for young men.     

Understanding the role of schools in the Asian-white gap: a seasonal comparison approach

Asian Americans are the most highly educated racial group in the United States and are commonly heralded as the model minority for their high academic success. Nevertheless, previous research suggests that Asian Americans may face certain disadvantages in school settings. For example, Asian Americans’ academic advantage over non-Hispanic white students diminishes between kindergarten entry and the next several years of schooling. This study provides a closer examination of the educational progress of Asian American students compared to white students through a seasonal comparison approach. Using the Northwest Evaluation Association, we analyze reading and math scores for over 130,000 Asian American and white students in grades K-7 in approximately 675 public schools across the US. We find that Asian Americans have higher academic achievement than white students in general, but that these advantages are maintained primarily through faster rates of learning during the summer months. When school is in session, the Asian advantage either remains unchanged or shrinks, consistent with the view that some school processes undermine the educational progress of Asian American students relative to white students.     

‘Hunger has brought us into this jungle’: understanding mobility and immobility of Bengali immigrants in the Chittagong Hills of Bangladesh

ABSTRACT

The recent history of the Chittagong Hills in Bangladesh is marked by ongoing conflicts between minority (non-Muslim and non-Bengali) locals and state-sponsored (Bengali Muslim) immigrants. In general, these immigrants are framed as land grabbers who have been receiving protection from a pro-Bengali military force. We propose instead, that the understanding of these Bengalis as a homogenous category of mobile perpetrators fails to take into account their complex histories as mobile landless peasants. Our ethnographic research reveals that the framing of the local minorities and the mobile Bengalis as two antagonistic categories with opposing interests obscures the fact that both categories have fallen victim to very similar regimes of mobilities and immobilities of the state and national and local (political, economic and military) elites. Here, we reject binary thinking that counterpoises mobility and immobility as two antagonistic concepts and argue that mobility and immobility are intrinsically related and their relationship is asymmetrical.     

Goal-Striving Stress and Racial Differences in Mental Health

This study investigated the associations among goal-striving stress, racial related stressors, and mental health. Goal-striving stress was defined as the discrepancy between aspiration for and achievement of a better way of life, weighted by the subjective probability of success, and the level of disappointment experienced if those life goals were not realized. Data are from the National Survey of American Life’s African American (N = 3,570) and non-Hispanic white (N = 891) adult samples. Regression analysis was used to assess the relationship between goal-striving stress and five mental health outcomes: happiness, life satisfaction, self-esteem, psychological distress, and depressive symptoms. After controlling for socio-demographic factors, a personal problems checklist, and racial discrimination, goal-striving stress was significantly related to all mental health measures such that as goal-striving stress increased, mental health worsened. Additionally, the relationship of goal-striving stress to mental health was found to be conditional upon race. Specifically, goal-striving stress had a stronger effect among white Americans than African Americans. Goal-striving stress was associated differentially with lower levels of mental health for black and white Americans. Racial differences in the impact of goal-striving stress suggest a need for analyses exploring resilience and coping in relation to the impact of goal-striving stress on black–white differences in mental health.     

The disinterested state: negative diasporic policy as an expression of state inclusion and national exclusion

ABSTRACT

This article engages with the understudied phenomenon of the ‘disinterested, denouncing’ diaspora state (Levitt, P., and N. G. Schiller. 2004. “Conceptualizing Simultaneity: A Transnational Social Field Perspective on Society.” International Migration Review 38 (3): 1002–1039. doi:10.1111/j.1747-7379.2004.tb00227.x) or ‘indifferent’ diaspora state (Ragazzi, F. 2009. “Governing Diasporas.” International Political Sociology 3 (4): 378–397. doi:10.1111/j.1749-5687.2009.00082.x). Focusing on U.S. citizens abroad, the article argues that there is negative diasporic outreach on the part of the state – ‘disinterested’ from the state's perspective, but ‘denouncing’ from that of the diaspora. Negative diasporic outreach is exemplified by the 2010 FATCA legislation, which sought to root out tax evaders resident in the U.S., but has, instead, affected millions of American emigrants through increased financial control and the repercussions of those policies, and has resulted in sharply higher citizenship renunciation figures. Impact on an American diaspora was not considered in the law's proposal, debate and passage into law. Second, the article argues that this negative diasporic outreach, in combination with the continued facilitation of the right to vote, is a reflection of the inclusion of these American emigrants in the American state, but their simultaneous exclusion from the American nation.     

An Ecological Approach to Racial Environments and Their Relationship to Mental Health

Although research has demonstrated that aspects of racial environments such as racial experiences and racial diversity can relate to psychological health and well-being, few studies have examined what specifically happens when individuals move from one racial environment to another. The present study asked 179 African Americans transitioning to a predominantly white institution (freshmen or junior transfers) about racial diversity (percentage of African Americans) at their prior institution, racial experiences at their prior institution, and racial experiences at the current institution and examined how these characteristics related to self-reported depression. Overall, we found that more negative previous racial experiences predicted greater depressive symptoms in college. Results also revealed a significant three-way interaction such that more positive current racial experiences predicted less depressive symptoms, but only for those students coming from predominantly negative racial environments—low racial diversity and more negative racial experiences. Our findings highlight the complex role of past and present racial environmental factors in influencing psychological health. Implications for African American college students’ success and well-being are discussed.