Majority Minority Research Articles

Black–Brown Coalitions in Local City Council Elections

Abstract Previous work suggests that African American and Latino voters lack political cohesiveness. Recently, these findings have been cited by opponents of “minority aggregation,” which is the idea that African Americans and Latinos can be thought of as constituting a single “class of citizens” when filing claims under the Voting Rights Act. I replicate one influential study, Rocha (2007), with updated data and greater attentiveness to moderating conditions that are meaningful in voting rights law. My findings suggest African Americans and Latinos are more cohesive than previously thought, especially in majority–minority jurisdictions. Furthermore, cohesion cannot be explained solely by shared partisanship.

Multi-Objective Majority–Minority Cellular Automata Algorithm for Global and Engineering Design Optimization

Multi-Objective Majority–Minority Cellular Automata Algorithm for Global and Engineering Design Optimization

Navigating Social Boundaries and Belonging: People Without Migration Background in Majority–Minority Cities

This editorial introduces the articles in this thematic issue, which revolves around the ERC Advanced research project Becoming a Minority (BaM), carried out between 2018 and 2023. The aim of the project was to understand how people without a migration background think about and live in diversity. Through this aim, the BaM project has tried to advance our thinking about the concept of integration.

Middle‐Class Versus Working‐Class White Mothers’ Approaches to Diversity in the Netherlands

There is a large body of literature on how white middle‐class parents select schools for their children in gentrifying urban contexts. In this study, we aimed to explore the experiences of such parents after enrolling their children in ethnically mixed schools but also how these experiences varied in gentrifying urban contexts and smaller cities. We interviewed mothers without a migration background living in a large city (Amsterdam) or a medium‐sized city (Tilburg) who had chosen to send their children to an ethnically mixed school in a majority–minority neighbourhood, asking them to reflect on their neighbourhood choice, school choice, and subsequent experiences. Based on our analysis, we developed a typology of parents’ positions towards diversity, whereby they could be described as idealists, pragmatists, and realists. Aligned with previous studies, this article shows that the idealist position on diversity was more common among the white middle classes in Amsterdam, who expressed a positive attitude towards diversity but engaged with it to a controlled and limited extent. However, we also identified a group of mothers, mostly working class but also middle class, who did not take an idealized approach to diversity but embraced it as a lived reality. The study underlines the importance of mothers’ engagement with diversity during their own childhood and youth as an important factor in shaping parenting behaviour around diversity.

Racial Composition and Perceptions of Microaggressions: Implications for High School Counselors

This study examined the impact racial composition of prior environment (specifically, high school and neighborhood environments) has on reported racial microaggression occurrence among self-identified minority college students in the Midwest. Participating students completed the Racial Microaggression Scale, a survey instrument whose primary domain is intended to assess the frequency of occurrence for racial microaggressions. Findings indicated that racial composition of high school and neighborhood environments has a statistically significant effect on reported racial microaggression occurrence. Additionally, findings indicated that microaggression themes of criminality and undesirability are particularly related to the racial composition of prior environment, with students from a majority minority background reporting incidents of criminality and undesirability themed racial microaggressions more frequently than their peers. Implications will be included for professional school counselors working with these students at the high school level.

Negotiating the Progressive Paradox: Middle‐Class Parents in Majority–Minority Primary Schools in Amsterdam

Across Western Europe, progressive issues take centre stage within integration debates and discourse. This article addresses the paradox middle‐class progressives get caught up in when arguing for openness towards diversity, while also expecting adaptation to the progressive “modern” norm on sexuality, especially from Muslim Others. Going beyond existing literature, this article demonstrates the understudied manifestations of this paradox in everyday life, within a diverse majority–minority primary school context in Amsterdam. Taking sex education as a case, the authors reveal three different approaches—confrontational, continued discussion, and compromise—with which middle‐class parents without a migration background negotiate difference, each emphasizing different aspects of the paradox. The results show how, despite being a local numerical minority, progressive parents still enact their power position at large arguing for (gradual) adaptation to “modernity.” However, some parents provide solutions to difference that move away from consensus and envision a future that allows for multiple norms to exist.

Defining Swedishness: When Swedes Without a Migration Background Are a Local Numerical Minority

In this study, we examine how people without a migration background living in majority–minority neighbourhoods in Malmö, Sweden, define national identity in daily life. This setting provides a look into the intersection between the dominant position these people occupy in the Swedish national context and the confrontation with ethnic diversity as a result of becoming a local numerical minority. We address articulations of what being Swedish means in interviews with 22 Swedes without a migration background. We find that people mostly reproduce the national identity discourse that is nationally dominant. Most people explicitly articulate an achievable national identity, presenting Swedishness as accessible to everyone, in line with how Swedish integration policy is framed, and the current dominant political discourse. However, when talking about Swedishness as an identity and an attribute, the Swedishness of Swedes without a migration background is taken for granted, which indicates that despite changing local hierarchies, the establishment of the Swede without a migration background as the dominant Swede remains unchallenged. Swedishness might be achievable, but only because the dominant Swede defines it as such. Nonetheless, some respondents engage critically and reflectively with their own position of power as the nationally dominant group. This discourse is mostly expressed by raising the issue of white privilege and acknowledging it as a hindrance to the social positioning of people with a migration background in Swedish society. This reflexivity might be a result of confrontation with diversity and becoming a minority.

Abstract 1007: Breast cancer related lymphedema patient characteristics and treatment patterns in a Hispanic majority population

Abstract Background: Studies have shown an increased risk of Breast Cancer Related Lymphedema (BCRL) in Hispanic populations, however there are limited studies examining factors specific to BCRL in this minority population. This retrospective study aims to characterize and analyze treatment and demographic related factors associated with BCRL in the Hispanic majority population of San Antonio. Methods: This is a retrospective, single institution study of patients with BCRL between 2017-2020 at Mays Cancer Center in San Antonio, Texas, a city with a majority minority Hispanic population.Results: 110 subjects with BCRL were identified with a median age of 62 years old. 52.7% were Hispanic while 47.3% were non-Hispanic. The median BMI was 31 with over 75% of subjects with BCRL categorized with BMIs of overweight or obese. 89.1% received some form of chemotherapy, whether neoadjuvant or adjuvant, and 80.9% were exposed to some form of taxane. The majority underwent more invasive procedures and surgeries: 69.1% had axillary lymph node dissection and 71.2% underwent mastectomy. The median number of lymph nodes removed were 12. 62.7% of BCRL patients were exposed to nodal radiation. Regarding BCRL severity, 29.4% were classified as grade 1 while 11% classified as grade 3. Of note, there was a statistically significant correlation between more severe lymphedema (grade 2 and 3) and use of chemotherapy (P-value = 0.04.)Conclusion: The demographic composition of patients with BCRL closely mirrors the ethnically diverse population of San Antonio, with a large Hispanic predominance. Within this cohort of patients of BCRL, a large portion demonstrated factors of elevated BMI, more invasive surgical interventions, and exposure to chemotherapy, specifically taxane. The examination of these factors in a Hispanic-centric urban setting such as San Antonio offers crucial insight into a patient population at heightened risk for developing BCRL. Citation Format: Sarah A. Shaker, Lauren P. Rahman, Marcela Mazo Canola. Breast cancer related lymphedema patient characteristics and treatment patterns in a Hispanic majority population [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2024; Part 1 (Regular Abstracts); 2024 Apr 5-10; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2024;84(6_Suppl):Abstract nr 1007.

Risk and Protective Factors of Juvenile Delinquency among Youth Exposed to Political Conflict: The Role of Social Resistance

AbstractPrevious studies have identified diverse risk and protective factors of youth involvement in delinquency. However, less is known about the causes of this phenomenon in the context of political conflict. Drawing from theoretical frameworks emphasizing the notion of social resistance, in the current study we examine the risk and protective factors of juvenile delinquency in the context of majority–minority political conflict. Applying multilevel analysis to survey data provided by a representative sample of 814 Arab youth from East Jerusalem, we find that, although this behaviour shares similar lines with juvenile delinquency in regular contexts, in the context of political conflict it bears a unique core of resistance to the social order. Specifically, we find that a strong predictor of juvenile delinquency is attitudes towards political violence, whereas, surprisingly, attitudes towards general violence do not have a significant effect. Our findings suggest that juvenile delinquency in the context of social conflict stems, at least partially, from a unique mechanism of resistance towards political order.

A practical optimization framework for political redistricting: A case study in Arizona

Following the decennial census, each state in the U.S. redraws its congressional and state legislative district boundaries, which must satisfy various legal criteria. For example, Arizona’s Constitution describes six legal criteria, including contiguity, population balance, competitiveness, compactness, and the preservation of communities of interest, political subdivisions and majority–minority districts, each of which is to be enforced “to the extent practicable”. Optimization algorithms are well suited to draw district maps, although existing models and methods have limitations that inhibit their ability to draw legally-valid maps. Adapting existing optimization methods presents two major challenges: the complexity of modeling to achieve multiple and subjective criteria, and the computational intractability when dealing with large redistricting input graphs. In this paper, we present a multi-stage optimization framework tailored to redistricting in Arizona. This framework combines key features from existing methods, such as a multilevel algorithm that reduces graph input sizes and a larger local search neighborhood that encourages faster exploration of the solution space. This framework heuristically optimizes geographical compactness and political competitiveness while ensuring that other criteria in Arizona’s Constitution are satisfied relative to existing norms. Compared to Arizona’s enacted map (CD118) to be used until 2032, the most compact map produced by the algorithm is 41% more compact, and the most competitive map has five more competitive districts. To enable accessibility and to promote future research, we have created Optimap, a publicly accessible tool to interact with a part of this framework. Beyond the creation of these maps, this case study demonstrates the positive impact of adapting optimization-based methodologies for political redistricting in practice.

POST COVID-19 PANDEMIC EMPLOYMENT RECOVERY BY HEALTHCARE SECTOR IN US RACIAL MAJORITY-MINORITY COUNTIES

Abstract Health care sector employment trends following the COVID-19 pandemic have revealed a labor force participation gap. Racial/ethnic composition differences between counties may contribute to an uneven labor market recovery. This study’s objectives were to compare post-pandemic employment recovery between five health care sectors (ambulatory services (AS), home health care (HHC), nursing and residential care (NRC), assisted living (AL), nursing facilities/homes (NH)), and to examine whether health care sector recovery differences exist between racial majority-minority (MM) and non-racial MM counties in the USA. First Quarter 2020 and fourth Quarter 2022 data from the US Bureau of Labour Statistics Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) were used to calculate cumulative percentage change in health care sector employment. The Race Origin Variables from the latest 2021 data from the American Community Survey were used to identify racial MM counties. The sector with the greatest number of counties with positive employment recovery was the AS sector in 1562/3176 (49%) counties, and 252/468 (54%) MM counties. The NH sector had the lowest number of counties with positive employment recovery in 170/2818 (6%) counties, and 34/389 (9%) MM counties. This is the first analysis of post-pandemic health care sector employment recovery examining MM counties. Differences in county and state policies may account for varying degrees of recovery. Further research is necessary for the development of best practice guidelines and policies to improve post-pandemic health care employment recovery and the quality of nursing home care among older adults.

Abstract C057: Methylome-wide profiling of early-onset colorectal cancer in underrepresented populations

Abstract Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third leading cause of death from cancer in both men and women in the United States. Late onset colorectal cancer (LOCRC) or CRC diagnosed in older adults >50 years old has continued to decline while early onset colorectal cancer (EOCRC) or colorectal cancer in patients under the age of 50 continues to rise at an alarming rate since the mid-1990s. In fact, EOCRC is now the second most common cancer and the third leading cause of cancer mortality in people <50 years of age in the USA. The incidence of EOCRC has been on the rise over the past four decades and is expected to increase by >140% by 2030. Notably, Blacks and Hispanics are disproportionately affected with the EOCRC diagnosis. Despite this, minority patients remain underrepresented in clinical trials and translational research. It has been proposed that environmental exposures including westernized diet, metabolic factors, and the microbiome might be responsible for the rise in incidence of EOCRC. Epigenetic modifications are well-known mechanisms by which the environment can modulate gene expression without changing the DNA sequence. One such modification is DNA methylation, which controls DNA accessibility, chromatin formation, and gene transcriptional activity. Unfortunately, however, little is known about the role of DNA methylation in EOCRC and much less is understood of EOCRC in minority populations. Therefore, we identified a unique cohort of 11 EOCRC patients within the Baylor College of Medicine/Harris Health System which is comprised of majority minority EOCRC population (7- Hispanic, 2 Non-Hispanic (NH) Black, and 1 NH-White EOCRC patients). Using whole-genome bisulfite sequencing, we comprehensively characterized the DNA methylome at single-base resolution in our 11 EOCRC patient samples. Our analyses revealed distinct EOCRC methylation patterns including both global hypomethylation and promoter-specific hypermethylation, which were not previously captured in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) Analyses. Among the differentially methylated regions (DMRs), we discovered that DNA and RNA transcription pathways were enriched in EOCRCs at advanced stage. Furthermore, we identify differential DMRs patterns among ethnicities. Taken together, our work supports a pathogenic role for DNA methylation in EOCRC. We are the first group to take this comprehensive unbiased approach to analyze the methylome in an underrepresented EOCRC cohort of patients. Citation Format: Karen Riggins, Jason Sheng Li, Benjamin Musher, Li Yang, Patricia Castro, Wedad Alfarkh, Neda Zarrin-Kamah, Michael Scheurer, Chad Creighton, Wei Li, Lanlan Shen. Methylome-wide profiling of early-onset colorectal cancer in underrepresented populations [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 16th AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2023 Sep 29-Oct 2;Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2023;32(12 Suppl):Abstract nr C057.

Leveraging PDS teacher preparation grants: a majority–minority research university’s approach to increasing the diverse teacher pipeline

PurposeA primary goal of the Collaboration and Resources for Encouraging and Supporting Transformations in Education (CREST-Ed) program was to increase the number of highly qualified, minoritized teachers committed to teaching in minority-serving, high-need school districts. This study's purpose was to evaluate the CREST-Ed program's impact on teacher residency outcomes using multiple sources of program evaluation data collected during the five-year grant.Design/methodology/approachThis study of a federal Teacher Quality Partnership (TQP) grant at Georgia State University (GSU), a minority-serving institution (MSI) and research university, shows teacher residency programs can improve the diverse teacher pipeline. The grant, CREST-Ed, provided professional development schools (PDS) support for four urban and 23 rural school districts through partnerships with GSU, Albany State University (ASU) and Columbus State University (CSU).FindingsThe study findings suggest that teacher preparation grants can be leveraged to recruit traditionally minoritized teachers of color to increase the diverse teacher pipeline and strengthen PDS partnerships.Originality/valueBoth urban and rural PDSs could benefit from teacher residency programs like the CREST-Ed model that catered to the unique needs of each school and partnership district.

Integration into diversity theory renewing – once again – assimilation theory

ABSTRACT Richard Alba has been at the forefront of renewing classical assimilation theory based on empirical data on post-1960s migrants in the US. He focused on the assimilation of migrant groups into the dominant non-Hispanic white majority group. This article − once again − rethinks assimilation theory. I argue that the new demographic reality in majority–minority cities in Europe and North America necessitates a new research direction, entailing the development of a novel theoretical framework and partially new research tools. Not only has the relative size of the majority group decreased, but shifting positions of power are also challenging us to rethink assimilation frameworks. I propose to look at present-day processes of integration and assimilation more as multi-directional. Everyone (including the former majority group) integrates into the ethnically and racially diverse urban context. I outline the contours of a new theoretical framework: Integration into Diversity (ID) Theory. This article focuses on how members of the former majority group integrate into the diverse city context. Based on their diversity attitudes and diversity practices, I analyse how their ID positions relate to socio-economic outcomes, the quality of inter-ethnic relations and feelings of belonging and safety.

Is sport's ‘gateway for inclusion’ on the latch for ethnic minorities? A discourse analysis of sport policy for inclusion and integration

Scholars have increasingly called for the need to problematise and critically examine sport policy for integration/inclusion. This article aims to contribute to this ongoing debate by presenting a Foucauldian-inspired discourse analysis of the languaging of three decades of Norwegian sport policy for integration/inclusion, as well as non-sport policy that seeks to use sport as a policy tool. The analysis demonstrates how ideas and practices about the integration of ethnic minorities in sport are constructed in the shadows of the ‘real business’ of sport. Self-evident ‘Truths’ about inclusion/integration convey simplistic notions of assimilation into existing sport practices, reify notions of homogenous groups both with regard to the majority and the ethnic minority Norwegian population, distributing power unequally across the majority–minority divide, and contribute to construct sport as a racially coded, Eurocentric practice. The pervasive, long-standing idea that sport is inclusive works discursively to marginalise contradictory ideas, such as the complexities of integration that focus upon the need for a transformation of structures and practices, and ‘Truths’ like resourceful ethnic minorities or an adaptable sports organisation remain currently almost unthinkable. The analysis bears witness to scholars’ claims for the need to broaden research methodologies and policies for integration in/through sport, such that inequitable, Eurocentric, assimilated practices can be re-languaged to enable hybrid, transnational sports spaces frequented by resourceful participants.

A Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child Approach to Support Student Physical Activity and Nutrition: Introduction/Methods.

We introduce the Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child approach to supporting student and school staff physical activity and nutrition and describe the methods used to generate the evidence synthesized across the special issue articles. A 2-phase literature review search included a search of systematic reviews (2010-2018) for individual qualifying articles (Phase 1) and a search for individual articles on topics not addressed by a review (2010-2020) or that needed an update because they were in a review that was older (2010-2016) or showed insufficient evidence (Phase 2). Research librarians developed search strategies. In each phase, pairs of subject matter experts applied criteria to review abstracts and full-text articles and extracted data using standardized forms. We included 314 articles, describing 293 studies. Most of the included studies looked at elementary or secondary school level interventions; 51% were rated poor quality, and few took place in a rural setting. Most of the identified studies engaged majority minority or racially/ethnically diverse schools, suggesting that these interventions are feasible in a variety of settings. This collection of 10 articles identifies evidence-based interventions, gaps in research, and implications for health equity.

Pluralization Challenges to Religion as a Social Imaginary: Anti-Caste Contestations of the Muslim Quota in India

Postcolonial democratic deepening brings new challenges to religion as a social imaginary in India. Increasing cultural differentiation and pluralization are countered by fundamentalization, but also challenge existing minority/multicultural imaginations. Religion, as the overarching identity category, has come under scrutiny given the politicization of caste among Muslims, who form the country’s most significant religious minority. Through social-justice and anti-caste politics in the 1990s, lowered-caste Muslims started to enact a new identity named Pasmanda, which means “those who have been left behind”. The Pasmanda discourse emphasizes internal heterogeneities and hegemonies and pluralizes the “Muslim”. It thus ruptures the imaginary of Muslims as a homogeneous minority in a culturally diverse country and problematizes the majority–minority framework. An important site of contestation is the reservation (quota) policy in public employment, education, and the legislature. While privileged-caste Muslims generally prefer a quota based on religion, the lowered-caste Pasmanda Muslims increasingly mobilize for a caste-based quota, thus challenging systems of recognition and redistribution.

Revisiting Multiculturalism in Ambedkar’s Thought: A Theoretical Perspective

Dr Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (1891–1956) was not only the messiah of the downtrodden people in India but was also the champion of minority rights, women’s rights, farmer’s and labourer’s rights. He was an individualist as well as a communitarian. He was a modernist, rationalist and moralist. His philosophy covers a wide range of ideas including justice, liberty, equality, democracy, minority rights, women’s rights, group representation, social exclusion and inclusion, majority–minority conflicts, cultural and linguistic diversity and identity and recognition which offer a non-western experience of the early part of twentieth century to the present-day literature on multiculturalism. But his ideas have paid little scholarly attention both in western and Indian scholarships. The existing scholarships on B. R. Ambedkar largely highlight on his socio-economic, cultural, religious, political and constitutional ideas. But his multicultural ideas are hardly explored in academic discourses. This article thus attempts first to highlight on some leading theorists of multiculturalism and their views and then discusses Ambedkar’s multicultural ideas. The article, however, restricts itself to some selected theorists of multiculturalism for deliberation only with an aim to compare them with Ambedkar’s writings.

Together but Separate: Relationships and Boundaries between North and South Koreans in Multiethnic Britain

The United Kingdom hosts the largest North Korean immigrant community in Europe, and the majority have settled in New Malden, London’s Koreatown. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork, this study examines the relationships North Korean immigrants have established with their South Korean counterparts in the course of secondary migration from South Korea to the UK, focusing on how the shift from a majority–minority relationship between the two communities in ethnic-hierarchical South Korea to a minority–minority relationship in multi-ethnic Britain has influenced the North Koreans’ perceptions of and boundaries with South Koreans. Faced with language barriers and many other disadvantages in the host society, North Korean immigrants in the UK make pragmatic use of commonalities they share with their South Korean counterparts as well as of previous experiences and skills learned in South Korea. However, instead of fully assimilating into the South Korean immigrant community, they freely acknowledge the differences in the post-partition era, resulting in an enduring invisible boundary between the two groups. In doing so, they perceive that the two groups are in a relatively equal position as respective minorities vis-à-vis broader society, and the sense of ethnic stratification and hierarchy between them is largely dissolved. This study thus offers insights into how ethnic relations are contingent on social contexts and how migrants as transnational agents use and navigate their experiences, resources, and relationships to position themselves in the host society and shape their everyday life practices in a complex migration context.

Intersectional Opportunities: Majority Minority Districts and the Descriptive Representation of Latinas and Latinos

Majority minority districts are widely viewed as opportunities for racial minority groups to expand their representation in elected office. Do these districts facilitate the same opportunities for descriptive representation for women and men? I argue that majority minority districts have served as important but distinct opportunities for Latinas and Latinos to get on the ballot. Analyzing pooled data from 57,812 state legislative general elections from the mid-1990s to 2015, and during the first rounds of elections following 2000 and 2010 census-based redistricting, I find support for this view. Key factors often associated with majority minority districts’ capacity as vehicles for minority representation, such as increasingly large Latina/o proportions of district populations and incumbent networks, are more robustly related to the presence of Latinos than Latinas on the ballot. These findings bear directly on our understanding of how majority minority districts fit into a portfolio of institutions for expanding descriptive representation.