W. Carson Byrd

The souls of white folk beyond formation and structure: bound to identity

Abstract Omi and Winants Racial Formations (1994) and Feagins Systemic Racism (2006) and White Racial Frame (2010) provide robust analyses of race, racism and racial inequality. Yet, both models hold distinctive, even antagonistic, assumptions on how white racial identities are formed and their relationship to (anti-)racism. We point to a theoretical synthesis of the strengths of both paradigms that centres on ‘hegemonic whiteness’ (Hughey 2010, 2012a) – namely the role that interactional accountabilities and expectations of racial identity performance have to play as both product and cause of the racialized social order. The ongoing pursuit of an idealized white racial self is thus illuminated as the point of suture between Feagins focus on the relative uniformity of white privilege and Omi and Winants attention to the political and ideological heterogeneity of whiteness.

Biological Determinism and Racial Essentialism: The Ideological Double Helix of Racial Inequality

I August 2012, nine months after being artificially inseminated using a sperm donation from the Midwest Sperm Bank of Downers grove, Illinois, a white Ohio woman named Jennifer Cramblett gave birth to a racially “mixed” and healthy baby girl named Payton. Despite the triumph, the woman soon filed a “wrongful birth” suit in Cook County Circuit Court, alleging that the sperm bank gave her sperm vials from an African American donor instead of a white donor, which in turn caused “personal injuries . . . pain, suffering, emotional distress and other economic and non-economic losses” (Circuit Court 2014, 8). The lawsuit states “that they now live each day with fears, anxieties and uncertainty about her future and Payton’s future” (Circuit Court 2014, 6). The supposed racial mismatch between parent and child in Cramblett v. Midwest Sperm Bank reveals the presence of two powerful belief systems that haunt both the popular imagination and stalk the scientific landscape: the notions of “biological determinism” (that race is genetically inherited) and “racial essentialism” (that group-based biology maps to basic social behaviors). Together, biological determinism and racial essentialism form the “ideological double helix” that intertwines to shape beliefs about race and inequality and influence the theoretical approaches, analytic strategies, and interpretations taken by scholars

Ultimate Attribution in the Genetic Era White Support for Genetic Explanations of Racial Difference and Policies

This study uses a nationally representative survey to examine the relationship between attitudes about genetics and race. We focus on the ways in which negative out-group behavior can be explained as innate and genetic (Pettigrew’s “ultimate attribution error”), and how this may underlie racial prejudice and racial individualism—the notion that individual capabilities, not structural inequality or discrimination, drive racial stratification. We examine the relationship between attitudes about genetics and racially ameliorative policies. We find whites are more accepting of genetic explanations for blacks’ traits and behaviors. Our analyses show that racialized genetic attribution, among other factors, increases opposition to racial policies. When linked with racial individualism, though, genetic attribution can actually reduce opposition to racial policies—a finding that paints a disconcerting picture of how biological determinism is embedded in white racial ideology. Findings are discussed in relation to efforts to reduce racial inequality.

Beautiful Melodies Telling Me Terrible Things The Future of Race and Genetics for Scholars and Policy-Makers

To conclude this volume, we first engage in a brief history of scientific racism and the extent to which it resonates with the public. We then attempt to explain why American society and culture continue to fall prey to the seduction of biological determinism and racial essentialism: (1) the DNA mystique, (2) scientific revolutions and paradigm shifts, (3) the ethno-politics of genetics, (4) dismissals of social science as “soft,” (5) the defense of biology against reactionary dismissals, and (6) the aura of “objectivity” surrounding genetics. Last, we point to a way forward that may help scholars and the public avoid a return to old and debunked theories: (1) engagement with interdisciplinary fields and science and technology studies, (2) involvement of knowledgeable scholars and policy experts in government and higher education, (3) revision of the current additive funding model used by federal agencies, and (4) evolution in the training of future and current scholars and policy-makers toward mitigating inequality.

THE “SICK” RACIST

Since the early 1960s, there has been a movement among activists, scholars, and policymakers to redefine racism as a psychopathological condition, identifiable and treatable through psychotherapeutic and pharmacological interventions. This development reflects, and is reflected by, the popular framing among mass media and ordinary social actors of racism and racist events as individual pathology rather than as a social problem. This shifting perspective on racism, from a social problem and a system to an individual pathology, has increasingly become a part of academic and psychiatric discourse since Jim Crow. In this article, we have two aims: first, to trace the emergence of “psychopathological racism”; second, to illustrate the relationship between “psychopathological racism” and “colorblind racism” in the post-Civil Rights era. We argue that the psychopathological view of racism compliments colorblindness in that larger structural issues are dismissed in favor of individual pathos. Furthermore, psychopathological explanations for racism dismiss socio-political contexts, eschewing the contributions of well over fifty years of social scientific research in the process.

‘WE DON’T ALL LOOK ALIKE’

The examination of student group performance is a constant need as American higher education continues to expand and become more racially and ethnically diverse. Recent scholarship on the academic performance of Black students at elite colleges and universities has glossed over possible disparities among these students, particularly among different immigrant groups. The current study clarifies these differences in academic performance by examining four Black student groups at elite colleges and universities in the United States: native Blacks, Black immigrants from Africa, Black immigrants from the Caribbean and Latin America, and Black immigrants from other parts of the globe. The analyses point to many similarities and differences among the four Black student groups in their characteristics and influences on their academic performance in college such as gender, precollege friendships, high school academic preparation, college major, and closeness to Whites and Blacks. Additionally, this study found evidence of possible colorism among Black students at elite colleges.

The vitality of social media for establishing a research agenda on black lives and the movement

ABSTRACT Social media provides scholars with important portals into the lives of marginalized communities and the movements organized to combat issues of race and racism in society. However, how to incorporate the seemingly unwieldy amount of social media data for research in our fields can pose challenges to further clarify how people navigate our social world and the issues with in it, but also how they organize to push for social change and equality. In what follows, the authors discuss how social media data can be used to enhance our studies of black lives in reflection of the burgeoning Black Lives Matter movement on issues such as gun violence, public health, and higher education.

College Diversity Is (But Doesn’t Have to Be) for Whites

College diversity programs are designed to improve white students’ experiences, ignoring the benefits of cross-cultural interactions for all.

Between (Racial) Groups and a Hard Place: An Exploration of Social Science Approaches to Race and Genetics, 2000–2014

ABSTRACT As the social sciences expand their involvement in genetic and genomic research, more information is needed to understand how theoretical concepts are applied to genetic data found in social surveys. Given the layers of complexity of studying race in relation to genetics and genomics, it is important to identify the varying approaches used to discuss and operationalize race and identity by social scientists. The present study explores how social scientists have used race, ethnicity, and ancestry in studies published in four social science journals from 2000 to 2014. We identify not only how race, ethnicity, and ancestry are classified and conceptualized in this growing area of research, but also how these concepts are incorporated into the methodology and presentation of results, all of which structure the discussion of race, identity, and inequality. This research indicates the slippage between concepts, classifications, and their use by social scientists in their genetics-related research. The current study can assist social scientists with clarifying their use and interpretations of race and ethnicity with the incorporation of genetic data, while limiting possible misinterpretations of the complexities of the connection between genetics and the social world.

All Marked-Up in the Genetic Era: Race and Ethnicity as “Floating Signifiers” in Genetic and Genomic Research

Abstract Purpose Our primary aim is to discuss the variability that exists in the operationalization of race/ethnicity in research on genetic and biological markers. We employ Stuart Hall’s “floating signifiers” of race approach to explain the ambiguous manner in which researchers discuss the links between race and genetics. Methodology/approach We examine articles that use race/ethnicity and genetic or biological markers between 2000 and 2013 within three prominent genetic journals. We focused on original, empirical articles only. We utilize various race/ethnic-related search terms to obtain our sample and to categorize how terms were used. Findings A total of 336 articles fit our search criteria. The number of articles mentioning race/ethnicity and genetic or biological information increased over the time. A significant percentage of publications base their research on whites only. When discussions of race are included in studies, scientists often use multiple categories of race/ethnicity without much explanation. Research limitations/implications We omit non-research articles and commentary for each journal, which could contain important discussions regarding race and genetics. This work highlights how race/ethnicity can vary in application and interpretation. Originality/value Our discussion of race/ethnicity as “floating signifiers” adds a layer of complexity to the longstanding debate regarding the importance of race/ethnicity in genetic research. The “floating” nature of race/ethnicity underlines how subjective the characterizations of samples are and how possible interpretations of results for groups can impact health disparities research. Given the increased use of genetic data by social scientists, there is a need for more cross-disciplinary discussions on the race–gene relationship.