Racial Classification Research Articles

Horizons of liberation: materialism, ecology, and the colonial question

The question of materialism – what it is, how it is studied and practised, and who takes it seriously enough – has long animated debates among Marxists and scholars of race and the colonial question. Today, our contemporary socioecological crises challenge established understandings of materialism and merit a return to these debates with the goal of collective liberation on a warming planet in mind. Taking up this task, this article builds an understanding of materialism as theory and practice working towards liberation – a theory and practice shaped variously by culture, ontology, and the experience of oppressive structural conditions. The contributions of scholarship focused on race and colonial projects and legacies particularly illuminate these multiple dimensions of materialism. Among a wealth of other insights, anticolonial Third Worldist thinkers left us with an astute diagnosis of value in the world system; Black radical scholars have revealed the ontological roots of material struggles; decolonial scholars have exposed the solidification of racial classification systems as structures; and Indigenous (Fourth World) ontologies continue to maintain a commitment to metabolic repair and reciprocity. While contemporary ecology-focused conceptual innovations – such as metabolic rift and material throughput – expand materialist analyses, approaches focused on race and the colonial question bring particular insight to the global structural elements of socioecological crises and generate a materialism oriented towards horizons of liberation for all.

Experiences of Immigrants During Disasters in the US: A Systematic Literature Review.

As a vulnerable population, immigrants can be disproportionately affected by disasters. Because of their legal and migratory status, immigrants may have different challenges, needs, and possibilities when facing a disaster. Yet, within disaster studies, immigrants are rarely studied alone. Instead, they are often considered part of the large heterogeneous group of racial and ethnic minorities in the United States. This racial classification points to a gap in the literature and in our understanding of how disadvantaged groups may cope with disasters. To address this gap, the current study hypothesizes that: (1) Immigrants have unique experiences and disaster impacts compared to the broader aggregated category of racial and ethnic minorities in the U.S. and (2) There are variations in disaster experiences and impacts across different types of immigrant subgroups beyond refugees. To explore these hypotheses, a study of the literature across six databases from 2018 to 2023was conducted. The review identified a total of 17 articles discussing immigrant experiences during disasters. Major cross-cutting themes on immigrant disaster experiences include fear of deportation, restrictive immigration status, excessive economic burden and labor exploitation, employment rigidity, adverse health outcomes, limited informational resources and limited social capital, selective disaster relief measures, and infrastructural challenges as regards to housing and transportation. Many of the themes identified are unique to immigrants, such as the fear of deportation, restrictive immigration status and visa policies, and selective disaster relief measures.

Disentangling Race from Skin Color in Modern Biology and Medicine

In this review, we examine the taxonomies used to classify people, which influenced the development of the modern disciplines of biology and medicine, including dermatology, throughout the world. Early European scientists and physicians were intertwined with the social environment that created classifications and hierarchies of skin-color-based races, which were reinforced by prevailing political systems that supported colonial economic structures and, in many cases, chattel slavery. Even after genomic analysis of diverse human DNA sequences have revealed that systems of skin color-based racial and ethnic classification lacked biological meaning and were socially constructed, these classifications persist and are reinforced by census classifications and frameworks for comparisons in biomedicine in many parts of the world. The bodies of knowledge and practices that were built on these classifications did not reflect the observable biological diversity of people but the dominant cultural institutions and economic systems of their times. We provide actions for our modern institutions to reduce the underpinnings and ramifications of racial and ethnic classifications ultimately to improve biomedical research and medical care for all patients.

Early developmental insights into the social construction of race.

The way that societies assign people to racial categories has far-reaching social, economic, and political consequences. One framework for establishing racial boundaries is based on ancestry, which historically has been leveraged to create rigid racial categories, particularly with respect to being categorized as white. A second framework is based on skin tone, which can vary within families and across the lifespan, and is thus more likely to blur racial boundaries. The persistence of these distinct cultural beliefs about race requires that they be transmitted to each new generation, but there have been few cross-cultural studies on their development during childhood. Participants (5- to 12-year-old children, N = 123) were from the United States, in which the ancestry model has been more prevalent, or from Brazil, in which the skin tone model has been more prevalent. In both countries, 5- to 7-year-olds endorsed the belief that skin tone determines race, for example, by assigning biological siblings with differing skin tones to different racial categories. However, racial concepts diverged among the 10- to 12-year-olds, with children from the United States shifting toward a classification based on ancestry and children in Brazil endorsing a classification based on skin tone even more strongly with age. These differing conceptions were especially evident with reference to white racial categorization: Older children from Brazil persisted in classifying lighter skinned people as white when they had African ancestry, unlike older children from the United States. These findings provide important insights into the developmental and cultural influences on racial classification systems. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Research on Social Stratification in Brazil

ABSTRACTBrazil, as the most unequal and populous country in Latin America, demands a closer examination of its patterns and trends of social stratification. With an emphasis on recent contributions, the paper reviews the literature on four major areas of stratification research: race relations and inequality, educational stratification, intergenerational mobility, and income inequality. The literature on racial stratification focuses on the following subjects: racial classification, discrimination, marital selectivity, educational stratification, and intergenerational mobility. In addition, educational stratification literature concerning trends and patterns is reviewed with special attention to studies advanced by sociologists of social stratification. Intergenerational mobility studies are also presented and discussed. Finally, studies on income and wealth inequality are reviewed. In all these areas the contribution of sociologists is highlighted, and trends and patterns of stratification are presented.

‘Do I really need to check that box?’ Ethnoracial ambiguity among Indigenous North Africans in the United States

ABSTRACT This article examines the experiences of Amazigh people (plural: Imazighen) and how they negotiate ethnoracial hierarchies in the United States. Imazighen are Indigenous peoples from North Africa; upon arrival to the U.S., they are confronted with ethnoracial categories into which they don’t fit neatly, particularly due to their Indigenous status. Drawing on interviews with 75 Imazighen, we explore how they navigate ethnoracial identity through five themes: (1) illegibility in racial appraisal through everyday interactions; (2) navigating pre-existing ethnoracial hierarchies; (3) discourses about being ‘African (American), but not Black,’ which results in ‘lumping’ by geography, but ‘splitting’ by race; (4) discourses about being ‘not Arab,’ which results in ‘splitting’ processes to highlight Indigeneity; and (5) being appraised as Latine and ‘lumped’ through perceived proximity to other racialized groups. This article explores how a categorically ambiguous population grapples with everyday moments of racial appraisal and how they arrive at a sense of reflected race. Because the labels they are accustomed to (e.g. Amazigh or Berber) are illegible in the U.S., they become open to racialization processes, usually in conversation with notions of Arabness and Africanness. Simultaneously, they challenge norms of racial classification, particularly by introducing an Indigenous dimension.

Oceania in the Desert: A QuantCrit Analysis of the (Under)Counting of Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Students at an AANAPISI-HSI

Most education research uses the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), often leaving the logic undergirding the IPEDS racial classification system (i.e., categorization and counting) unquestioned. Framed by Quantitative Critical Race Theory (QuantCrit) principles, this research demonstrates how the NCES IPEDS racial classification misrepresents and undercounts students. Specifically, we show how IPEDS guidance around racial classification misrepresents the number of Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AA&NHPI) undergraduates, with particular attention to NHPI students, at a single institution. We show the ways in which IPEDS logic leads to undercounting, namely that, based on the NCES IPEDS racial classification system, most undergraduates identifying as NHPI are classified as Two or More Races and Hispanic or Latino. A similar pattern of suppression is found to varying degrees for students identifying as American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, and Black or African American. Our findings complicate the taken-for-granted nature of IPEDS racial classification and have implications for serving racially minoritized student groups and for institutions that may qualify as enrollment-based Minority-Serving Institutions.

Survival shifts in multiple myeloma: Evaluating the impact of therapeutic advances and racial disparities after a decade of change.

e19509 Background: Multiple myeloma (MM) is the second most common hematologic malignancy and is considered an incurable disease. However, the last two decades have witnessed the emergence of new therapies that have improved overall survival by several folds. In the current study, we are examining the evolving trends in age-adjusted incidence and relative survival among myeloma patients over the last 20 years, specifically focusing on discerning disparities in these trends based on racial classifications. Methods: We performed a retrospective cohort study using the SEER Plus Data, 12 registries, Nov 2022 Sub (1992-2020) to calculate the age-adjusted incidence and relative survival rate (RSR) of MM in the US in two specific time intervals 2001-2010 & 2011-2020 consistent with changes in MM treatment during 2011-2020 including the emergence of immunomodulatory drugs (IMiDs). The year of diagnosis, sex, and race data were available for each case. We excluded cases diagnosed before 2001 and after 2020. Patients were stratified by sex and categorized into two racial groups: White and Black. The 60-month (5-year) and 116-month (used as a 10-year estimate) RSR and age-adjusted incidence rate were calculated for the cohort and each racial group. We calculated survival utilizing the Kaplan-Meier method. Using the log-rank test, we also found hazard ratios (HR), with the corresponding CI for each racial group stratified by sex. Results: We investigated MM incidence and survival rate trends over two decades while considering gender and race. The age-adjusted incidence rate showed a significant overall increase from 6.5 to 7.4 per 100,000, with changes in gender-specific rates. Higher incidence rates among Black populations were noted. Cohort relative survival analysis revealed improved median survival (53 to 83 months) and increased relative survival rate both at five years (46.4% to 56.3%) and at ten years (28.8% to 40.8%). An investigation based on race revealed substantial improvements among both White and Black populations. The HR (Table) emphasized the improved survival outcomes for patients diagnosed in period two across genders and races. Conclusions: The study highlights the changes in the incidence and survival rates of MM. Notably, MM incidence has seen a significant rise in the last decade, particularly among the Black population. The survival of patients diagnosed between 2011 and 2020 revealed statistically significant improvement at both the 5- and 10-year mark compared to patients diagnosed between 2001 and 2010. [Table: see text]

Clinicians’ perspectives on race-specific guidelines for hypertensive treatment

Despite the general consensus that there is no biological basis to race, racial categorization is still used by clinicians to guide diagnosis and treatment plans for certain diseases. In medicine, race is commonly used as a rough proxy for unmeasured social, environmental, and genetic factors. The American College of Cardiology's Eighth Joint National Committee's (JNC 8) guidelines for the treatment of hypertension provide race-specific medication recommendations for Black versus non-Black patients, without strong evidence for race-specific physiological differences in drug response. Clinicians practicing family or geriatric medicine (n = 21) were shown a video of a mock hypertensive patient with genetic ancestry test results that could be viewed as discordant with their phenotype and self-identified race. After viewing the videos, we conducted in-depth interviews to examine how clinicians value and prioritize different cues about race -- namely genetic ancestry data, phenotypic appearance, and self-identified racial classifications – when making treatment decisions in the context of race-specific guidelines, particularly in situations when patients claim mixed-race or complex racial identities. Results indicate that clinicians inconsistently follow the race-specific guidelines for patients whose genetic ancestry test results do not match neatly with their self-identified race or phenotypic features. However, many clinicians also emphasized the importance of clinical experience, side effects, and other factors in their decision making. Clinicians' definitions of race, categorization of the patient's race, and prioritization of racial cues greatly varied. The existence of the race-specific guidelines clearly influences treatment decisions, even as clinicians' express uncertainty about how to incorporate consideration of a patient's genetic ancestry. In light of widespread debate about removal of race from medical diagnostics, researchers should revisit the clinical justification for maintaining these race-specific guidelines. Based on our findings and prior studies indicating a lack of convincing evidence for biological differences by race in medication response, we suggest removing race from the JNC 8 guidelines to avoid risk of perpetuating or exacerbating health disparities in hypertension.

The invention of race and the persistence of racial hierarchy: White privilege, White supremacy, and White colorblindness

AbstractGiven the long history of contention over the meaning of race and the continued discomfort about what role it plays in the structure of inequality, I endeavor to clarify the origins of the association of race with skin color and other physical features by briefly discussing the historical record by which race became codified in law. My focus is the U.S. and specifically Colonial Virginia, where the codification of racial categories in law was especially consequential. I also discuss the existence of a racial hierarchy in which Whites are dominant and Nonwhites of various types are subordinate. I argue that the continued existence of this racial hierarchy not only has a legacy from the past, but it is reproduced in the present and continues to have major effects on the life chances of those thought of as belonging to different racial groups. I also discuss the elasticity, ambiguity, and contested nature of racial classifications, as well as the internal differentiation among those thought to belong to the same racial groups and the changes and variations over time that are continually remaking the meaning of race. Because of the political significance of race, I also clarify the meaning of key concepts that have been receiving recent attention: White privilege, White supremacy, and White colorblindness. Finally, I discuss race as a process rather than as a classification and briefly discuss how Whites and men can become allies, advocates, and activists in support of social justice.

The Roots of Ethnic Conflict in Post-World War II Myanmar, Malaysia, and the Philippines

The impacts of colonial history on present-day ethnic relations in Southeast Asia, a region known for its cultural and ethnic diversity, remain significant in understanding the sociopolitical developments within the countries of the region. This paper examines the historical origins and contemporary implications of long-standing ethnic conflicts in Southeast Asia, focusing on Myanmar, Malaysia, and the Philippines. I argue that these conflicts stemmed from colonial legacies and can be traced back to each country’s respective colonial periods, which took place at different points in history. From the imposition of territorial boundaries to racial classification and differential treatment, colonial policies resulted in enduring tensions between ethnic populations, which continue to shape ethnic relations in these countries today. British colonial rule in Myanmar fostered tensions between the Bamar majority and non-Bamar minorities, while in Malaysia, disparities between Malays and ethnic Chinese were fueled by British migration policies. In the Philippines, conflicts involving the Muslim minority in Mindanao originated from attempts by the Spanish at Christianization and subjugation, further exacerbated by American imperialism. Despite variations in colonial experiences and timelines, ethnic conflicts underscore the lasting impact of colonization on these countries’ present-day social and political dynamics.

Racial classification as a multistate process

Racial classification as a multistate process

Even with ChatGPT, race matters

BackgroundApplications of large language models such as ChatGPT are increasingly being studied. Before these technologies become entrenched, it is crucial to analyze whether they perpetuate racial inequities. MethodsWe asked Open AI's ChatGPT-3.5 and ChatGPT-4 to simplify 750 radiology reports with the prompt “I am a ___ patient. Simplify this radiology report:” while providing the context of the five major racial classifications on the U.S. census: White, Black or African American, American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, and Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander. To ensure an unbiased analysis, the readability scores of the outputs were calculated and compared. ResultsStatistically significant differences were found in both models based on the racial context. For ChatGPT-3.5, output for White and Asian was at a significantly higher reading grade level than both Black or African American and American Indian or Alaska Native, among other differences. For ChatGPT-4, output for Asian was at a significantly higher reading grade level than American Indian or Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, among other differences. ConclusionHere, we tested an application where we would expect no differences in output based on racial classification. Hence, the differences found are alarming and demonstrate that the medical community must remain vigilant to ensure large language models do not provide biased or otherwise harmful outputs.

Morphometric analysis of the skulls of a ram and ewe Romanov sheep (Ovis aries) with 3D modelling.

With the development of technology, 2D images have left their place for 3D models. The 3D modelling technique is widely used in plastic surgery, orthopaedic surgery, neurosurgery, traumatology, dentistry and medical education. The skull is important in terms of containing the starting parts of systems with vital functions. The aim of the study is to reveal the difference between male and female and other species by 3D (three-dimensional) modelling and craniometric measurements of Romanov heads. In our study, skulls of Romanov sheep (10 females and 10 males) older than 1-year-old were used. The heads of Romanov sheep were scanned with computed tomography and modelled in 3D. In the study, it was determined that there was a statistically significant difference between male and female sheep in terms of the largest nose length, facial width, molar row length, viscerocranium length, and foramen magnum height parameters (p < 0.05). It was determined that the greatest width of the foramen magnum measurement parameter and the skull index showed statistically significant differences between the genders at the p < 0.01 level. No statistically significant difference was found in other measurements (p > 0.05). The data obtained as a result of the study will help in the racial discrimination and classification of bones obtained from zoo archaeological excavations.

The Dundus and the Chineyman

On the occasion of the twentieth anniversary of Charles V. Carnegie’s Postnationalism Prefigured (2002), this essay extends Carnegie’s insights about the inadequacy of using concepts of race as the foundation for nationalism to explore the social exclusions that are enforced in such constructions along lines of not only race but gender and sexuality as well. Taking a cue from a personal anecdote Carnegie relates in the book about the problem he poses as a “dundus” (Jamaican with albinism) for systems of racial classification, the author relies on reminiscence and a similar anecdote about his own misrecognition as “chineyman” (Chinese Jamaican) and possible “battyman” (gay man) to uncover the heterosexual and patriarchal norms that also underwrite the race/nation imaginary.

A Latent Class Analysis of Racial Terminology in Education Research: Patterns of Racial Classifications in AERA Journals

Education research commonly uses racial terminology but with little understanding of racial classification patterns across the field. In this study, we surface the use of racial terminology using a census of original research published in American Educational Research Association journals between 2009 and 2019. We do so as an ethical quantification exercise, seeking to further social justice goals by encouraging scholarship on racial terminology in education research. Using latent class analysis, we identify six classes of research ranging from about a third of articles that use almost no racial terminology to an eighth of articles that use terminology extensively. More recently published articles are more likely to be part of classes with extensive or narrow racial terminology usage and less likely to be in classes that are absent racial terminology. Qualitative research is more likely to use extensive racial terminology, and quantitative research is more likely to be absent of or narrowly use racial terminology. We conclude with recommendations for how future research can build off of these findings to address questions on how to authentically and purposefully use racial terminology in ways that reflect the complex ways people identify themselves to better situate education research to address racial inequality.

An Exploratory Analysis of Contributors to Cognitive Functioning Among Sexual and Gender Minority Individuals Who Had COVID-19

ABSTRACT Sexual and gender minority (SGM) individuals face mental health disparities. However, research analyzing SGM people’s mental health after a COVID-19 diagnosis is scarce. In this secondary analysis of a remote study, we 1) examined associations between cognitive and psychosocial health and 2) explored differences between these health outcomes among SGM (n = 14) and heterosexual cisgender (n = 64) U.S. adults who had COVID-19. We used the Patient Reported Outcome Measures Information System (PROMIS) v2.0 to assess subjective cognition and the BrainCheck cognitive test to analyze objective cognition. We administered the Perceived Stress Scale and PROMIS 57 Profile V.2.0 to measure psychosocial health. SGM COVID-19 survivors had worse scores in depression, anxiety, sleep disturbance, pain, stress, and objective cognition than heterosexual cisgender participants (p-values < .05). Objective cognition was associated with age, SGM classification, racial or ethnic minority classification, income, comorbidities, COVID-19 severity, number of symptoms, and pain (|0.137| < r < |0.373|, p-values < .05). Subjective cognition was associated with comorbidities, number of symptoms, depression, anxiety, sleep disturbance, pain, and stress (|0.158| < r < |0.537|, p-values < .05). Additional studies are needed to expand what is known about post-COVID-19 health disparities and to guide policies and interventions that promote cognitive functioning.

Racial Classifications in Higher Education Admissions Before and After SFFA

Hundreds of law review articles have discussed the legality of affirmative action programs. Virtually all of them begin with the implicit assumption that the racial classifications used in these programs are legitimate and uncontroversial (an assumption I challenge in my 2022 book, Classified: The Untold Story of Racial Classifications In America). That assumption has been undermined by Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College (“SFFA”). Chief Justice Roberts, writing for a 6–3 majority, asserted that the underlying classifications are “imprecise in many ways” and “opaque.” He quoted Justice Gorsuch’s concurring opinion, which criticized the classifications for relying on “incoherent” and “irrational” stereotypes. Using these classifications in admissions decisions, Chief Justice Roberts concluded, is inherently illegal because they are so arbitrary that using them could not be a narrowly tailored means to serve the universities’ asserted compelling interest in educational diversity. This Article focuses on the evolution of, and judicial reaction to, racial classifications in cases involving university affirmative action programs. The classifications initially included preferences for African-Americans plus an idiosyncratic collection of other groups. For example, in the DeFunis case, preferences were given to Mexican-Americans and Filipinos, but not to other Hispanic or Asian-Americans. By the early 2000s, however, all universities were using the racial and ethnic classifications established by the federal government in 1978 via Statistical Directive No. 15. Meanwhile, while lower courts sometimes raised important issues with regard to the scope and definition of the classifications used by universities, this issue played only a tangential role in relevant Supreme Court decisions until SFFA. Following SFFA, institutions seeking to classify people by race and ethnicity are going to need to show a much closer match between the classifications and the “compelling” interests they are pursuing than they needed to before SFFA. Without good reason that they can defend in court, they will not be able to utilize broad Directive 15 classifications such as “Asian-American” or “Hispanic” to combine people of wildly varied physiognomies, national origins, and cultural backgrounds.

Racial and ethnic differences in comorbid psychosis: a population-based study.

Differences in the prevalence of psychiatric conditions such as psychosis as well as patterns of comorbidity for psychosis have been reported between racial and ethnic groups. It is unclear whether those differences are consistent for comorbid psychosis. Self-reported diagnostic data from American adults ages 18-99 participating in the Collaborative Psychiatric Epidemiology Surveys (CPES) (N ~ 11,844) were used to test the association between four racial and ethnic group categories (White, Asian, Hispanic, Black) and comorbid psychosis. Comorbid psychosis was measured as a 4-level categorical variable (No mental illness nor psychosis, Mental Illness, Psychosis only, comorbid psychosis (i.e., Psychosis + Mental Illness). Chi-square tests were used to determine significant differences in the prevalence of comorbid psychosis by race and ethnicity. A multinomial logistic regression was used to test the association between racial and ethnic classifications and comorbid psychosis after adjusting for common demographic characteristics (i.e., education, sex, income, and age). Relative to White participants, Hispanic and Asian participants were less likely to be affected with comorbid psychosis. (Adjusted Odds Ratio, AORAsian = 0.32, CI = 0.22 - 0.47, p <0.0001, AORHispanic = 0.66, CI = 0.48 - 0.92, p = 0.012). Relative to White participants there was not significant association for comorbid psychosis in Black participants (AORBlack = 0.91, CI = 0.70 - 1.20, p = 0.52) In contrast Hispanic and Black participants were more likely to report psychosis alone (AORHispanic = 1.94, CI = 1.27-2.98, p = 0.002, AORBlack = 1.86, 1.24-2.82, p = 0.003) compared to White participants. There were different patterns of associations by race and ethnicity for psychosis and comorbid psychosis. The lower prevalence of comorbid psychosis in non-White groups may be due to underdiagnosis or underreporting of other mental disorders.

Framings of colourism among Kenyan Twitter users

Colourism is a form of discrimination where dark-skinned people of colour are perceived and treated less favourably than lighter-skinned people of the same ethnic group or racial classification. Much of the scholarly literature on colourism is focused on the experiences of African-Americans in the United States, but there is also substantial literature examining colourism’s impacts for Americans of Latinx, Indigenous, and Asian ancestry, and for people of colour in the Caribbean, Latin America, the UK, Europe, the Asia-Pacific, and parts of Africa. To date, there has not been significant scholarly focus on the phenomenon as it manifests in Kenya. This study sought to address that research gap by: (1) exploring the extent to which colourism is an issue of concern among Kenyan users of the social media platform Twitter; and (2) identifying the main colourism themes present in posts in the Kenyan Twitter ecosystem. The research entailed mining Kenyan Twitter data for nine and a half months in 2022, which resulted in the documentation of 7,726 unique posts on elements of colourism, as posted from 5,094 unique Twitter user accounts. Using inductive frame analysis, three predominant thematic categories were identified across the posts: (1) colourism perceptions; (2) colourism experiences; and (3) colourism influence. The frame analysis also uncovered sub-themes in each of these three broad categories. It was found that most of the Kenyan Twitter users who tweeted on matters of colourism during the period studied both acknowledged the existence of colourism’s manifestations and at the same time rejected the manifestations, advocating for a future free from such discrimination.