Racializing ethnicity in the Spanish-speaking Caribbean: A comparison of haitians in the Dominican Republic and dominicans in Puerto Rico
Book Chapter
Duany, J. (2015). Racializing ethnicity in the Spanish-speaking Caribbean: A comparison of haitians in the Dominican Republic and dominicans in Puerto Rico
. 214-227. 10.4324/9781315634104-20
Duany, J. (2015). Racializing ethnicity in the Spanish-speaking Caribbean: A comparison of haitians in the Dominican Republic and dominicans in Puerto Rico
. 214-227. 10.4324/9781315634104-20
According to Howard Winant’s (1994:59) classic definition, racialization is “the extension of racial meaning to a previously racially unclassified relationship, social practice, or group.”;1 More specifically, racialization involves imputing a hereditary origin to an individual’s intellectual, emotional, or behavioral characteristics based on group membership. For example, many Americans believe that Asian Americans are mathematically inclined, African Americans are musically gifted, and Latinos are family-oriented. Such traits are supposed to be natural, involuntary, and enduring. In principle, any “ethnic”; group (whether defined by national origin, language, religion, or some other cultural variable) can be racialized. Under some circumstances, a group’s phenotypical characteristics (particularly skin color, hair texture, and facial features) are construed as primordial and socially significant. Once groups are racialized, they develop distinct patterns of occupational specialization, educational achievement, residential segregation, marriage, cultural representation, and legal treatment by the dominant society.
