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Race and Ethnicity: Anthropological and Sociological Perspectives

Race and Ethnicity: Anthropological and Sociological Perspectives

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Race and Ethnicity: Anthropological and Sociological Perspectives

Raymond Scupin, Lindenwood University

In 1999, 21-year-old Benjamin Smith spent the July 4th weekend cruising in his car in Chicago and central Indiana areas shooting at African , Orthodox , and Asians. In this three-day shooting spree, two were killed and nine were wounded before Smith shot and killed himself during a police chase. The African killed was Rick Birdsong, a former basket- ball coach at Northwestern University. He was jogging with his children when he was shot in the back. Won Joined Soon, a Korean graduate student at Indiana University, was killed outside of a Korean church. Benjamin Smith was a former member of the World Church of the Creator, which is currently led by Matt Hale of East Peoria, Illinois. Hale refers to himself as Pontifex Maximus and teaches that only white Anglo- are true beings, descendants of Adam and Eve. Jews are believed to be illegitimate offspring of Eve and Satan, and and of color are descendants of inferior non-Adamite anthropoids called “mud people.” The church believes that the should be “cleansed” of all Jews and nonwhites. The church’s Web site features a discussion of the mental inferiority of African Americans, with a reference to Canadian psychologist Philippe Rushton’s “scientific” research confirming this view. Although groups such as the World Church of the Creator are small, with only a few thousand members, their influence seems to be on the rise. For many years, most social scientists believed that and were going to decline. However, the Southern Poverty Law Center (splcenter.org), a group that has been a leading authority on reporting hate groups, indicates that since 2000 there are a record number of 926 hate groups in the United States, an increase of more than 50 percent. These hate groups include Klu Klux Klan cells, Neo-Nazi sects, white nationalists, racist skinheads, and other merchants of hate. Despite the fact that the current U.S. president is an African American and the United States has politicians who are

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Jewish, Muslim, and Hispanic, hate groups and and persists in U.S. (and racism are still a reality in U.S. society and the elsewhere throughout the world). The claim that world. race or ethnicity does not matter any longer in the Some commentators have suggested that United States or elsewhere has to be viewed with since Obama was elected as president, the United a great deal of skepticism. States has become a post-racial society. In And in other parts of the world, extremist one major interpretation of this post-racial phe- racist and ethnic groups have emerged within the nomenon, Obama represents the fulfillment of two decades. For example, in the former East Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s famed “I Have a Germany there has been a rise of a neo-Nazi Dream” in 1963 in which he suggested a movement among German youth who resent the future U.S. society where all would be immigration of nonwhites into their society. judged by the content of their character, rather Ethnic extremism among the Hutu and Tutsi than the color of their skin. This interpretation of in Central has resulted in tragic post-racial suggests that President Obama’s elec- genocidal policies. Conflicts among , tion has ended and discrimination based Croatians, and Bosnians in Yugoslavia, Tamils on skin color or ethnicity and the reduction of and Sinhalese in , Jews and in inequality in income, education, and political , and so-called “white Europeans” and “peo- power. However, as the various chapters in this ple of color” in the United States are ongoing. textbook will indicate, the term post-racial Everywhere one looks, ethnic conflict seems to appears to be a greatly exaggerated interpretation be emerging worldwide. Although the causes of of Barack Obama’s 2008 election. Racial prejudice these conflicts are very complex, ethnic and race conflicts remain a continuing global problem in the twenty-first century. Currently, we live in that are becoming more globalized, with more extensive contact among peoples of different ethnic back- grounds and . Globalization refers to the expansion and interlinking of the world’s econ- omy through the spread of market , technology, and industrializa- tion and their consequences. One of the results of globalization has been the transfer of capital, technology, labor, and media throughout the world. Global migration trends have been radi- cally transformed since the 1950s. Immigration from America and the , , Africa, and the Middle East—the so-called Third World—to the industrial societies of , the United States, Australia, and has increased substantially. For example, and have growing numbers of immigrants from their former colonies in Africa and Asia. Furthermore, the societies in the Third World are also being transformed by new trends in immigra- tion. Refugees and migrants are becoming President Barack Obama. increasingly mobile throughout the world. M01_SCUP4472_02_SE_C01.QXD 12/22/10 5:32 PM Page 3

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Societies that may have been very homogeneous from one another’s cultures, thereby discovering or ethnically similar in the past are now facing that multicultural environments can enrich one’s questions about their increasing multicultural and experience and be extremely rewarding. multiethnic differences. In any case, many people are seeking As we will see in later chapters, U.S. society answers to basic questions regarding these new in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries changes in race and ethnic trends within their soci- faced similar issues. Immigrants flowed into the eties in the twenty-first century. What are the United States from many areas of the world. reasons for these continuing race and ethnic con- Currently, the United States is again encountering flicts and problems? Do the claims of people like the challenge of . For example, a Matt Hale and the World Church about superior typical elementary school in Los Angeles may and inferior racial groups have any scientific have as many as 20 different native spo- validity? What are the significant distinctions ken by members of the school . In 2000, among the races? What is the difference between California became the first U.S. where the race and ethnicity? What is the basis of one’s population became a minority. Due to ethnic identity? Why do some societies and the increase of Hispanic and Asian , countries have less race and ethnic conflict than the white ethnic population was 49.9 percent. others? Why has there been a recent increase in Event calendars in daily newspapers announce racial and ethnic conflict around the globe? Have ethnic festivals in major U.S. cities that originated these racial and ethnic conflicts always existed? in many . All of these changes have Under what conditions do increases in race and resulted in some reservations regarding the new ethnic conflict occur? Under what societal condi- ethnic patterns and multiculturalism in the United tions do race and ethnic prejudice and discrimina- States. In 1991, the distinguished Arthur tion develop? In what interracial and interethnic Schlesinger wrote a book entitled The Disuniting situations can race and ethnic prejudice be of America, which argued that ethnic and racial reduced? Under what conditions do different was the major obstacle for a truly inte- ethnic groups live peaceably together and benefit grated multicultural society in the United States. from each other’s experience? Schlesinger believes that extreme versions of mul- Sociologists and are cur- ticultural education and what he terms the “cult of rently engaged in major research efforts in an ethnicity” are tearing apart the U.S. social and attempt to answer some of these questions. In political fabric. He suggests that the growing fact, both disciplines have an intimate acquain- emphasis on multicultural heritage exalts racial tanceship with questions about race and ethnicity and ethnic pride at the expense of social and polit- issues. was the first field devoted ical cohesion. On the other hand, other scholars, to systematic scientific investigations into ques- such as Nathan Glazer in his book We Are All tions about race and ethnicity. These questions Multiculturalists Now, argue that all children persist as one of the fundamental priorities should be taught mutual tolerance and respect for within the research efforts of contemporary all of the various ethnic groups in U.S. society. anthropologists. As societies become more multicultural and This textbook will cover some of the most multiethnic, they confront new challenges. In important research on race and ethnicity by both many circumstances, ethnic groups may be in sociologists and anthropologists. Although the competition with each other over political and authors of the various chapters are anthropolo- economic resources. In other cases, they may be at gists, most of them have drawn from sociological odds over religious or other cultural differences. studies, too. But, first, we will discuss the interre- Conversely, some people are benefiting from the lationship between these questions about race and multicultural trends in their society by learning ethnicity and the discipline of anthropology. M01_SCUP4472_02_SE_C01.QXD 12/22/10 5:32 PM Page 4

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ANTHROPOLOGY: THE FOUR FIELDS universal using the concept of unilineal AND RACE AND ETHNICITY ISSUES .1 They constructed a model of a hierar- chy of societies that could be ranked from savage The anthropology stems from the Greek to civilized based on differences in society, anthropo, meaning “human beings” or , technology, and race. “humankind,” and logia, translated as “knowledge Since the nineteenth century, anthropology of” or “the study of.” Thus, we can define anthro- as a field has continued its research efforts of dif- pology as the systematic study of humankind. The ferent societies, cultures, and “races.” However, field of anthropology emerged in Western society beginning in the twentieth century, many of the in an attempt to understand non-Western peoples. ideas of nineteenth-century theorists were thor- Europeans, including Christopher Columbus, had oughly criticized and debunked through systematic been exploring and colonizing the world since the and scientific research techniques. The efforts of fifteenth century. They had encounters with non- nineteenth-century anthropologists need to be Western peoples in the , Africa, the understood within their own historical setting. Middle East, and Asia. Various European travel- These early anthropologists did not have a very ers, missionaries, and government officials had precise understanding of the concept of “culture,” described some of these non-Western societies, nor did they comprehend the roles of genetics and cultures, and races. By the nineteenth century, heredity. The development of a more thorough anthropology had developed into the primary concept of culture and a scientific understanding of discipline and science for understanding these heredity and genetics did not develop until the non-Western societies, races, and cultures. The twentieth century. Because of their limited under- major questions that these early nineteenth- standing of culture and heredity, they labored century anthropologists grappled with had to do under many misconceptions about non-Western with the basic differences and similarities of societies, cultures, and races. One of the basic human societies, cultures, and races throughout underlying assumptions was that their own society the world. and culture were superior to those of any other. The predominant explanation that nine- This is an example of what is known as ethno- teenth-century anthropologists offered to explain centrism, the belief that one’s own society and the differences and similarities among human culture are superior to any other. In addition, societies, cultures, and races became known as during the nineteenth century, most of these early unilineal evolution. Charles Darwin had devel- anthropologists were convinced that their own oped his theory regarding the evolution of life in so-called “race” was superior to that of any other 1859, with the publication of his book On the “race.” This is known as racism, the belief that Origin of Species. Many anthropologists of the there are distinctive biological “races” and that one nineteenth century were influenced by Darwin’s can rank and categorize superior and inferior thesis, and attempted to apply these evolutionary biological “races” within the human species. concepts to the study of human societies, cul- It was only after twentieth-century anthro- tures, and races. These early anthropologists took pologists absorbed the new findings of genetics the descriptions of early , archaeolo- and heredity, developed a more sophisticated gists, classical scholars, travelers, missionaries, comprehension of the concept of culture, and had and colonial officials for their basic data. Based a better appreciation of concepts of “race” and on these data, they proposed that all societies and “ethnicity” that these earlier views could be cultures had developed from early, original criticized exhaustively. One of the major anthro- “savage” stages through a stage of “- pological projects that critiqued these early views ism,” and eventually some evolved into “civi- was associated with the efforts of lized” stages. Thus, these early anthropologists (1858–1942). Boas had been born, educated, and developed models of the stages of humankind’s trained in physics in Germany. Later, he became M01_SCUP4472_02_SE_C01.QXD 12/22/10 5:32 PM Page 5

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interested in and culture and did related to the natural sciences. Physical anthro- research among the Eskimo in the Canadian pologists conduct research in two major areas: Arctic. Through these experiences he turned to the human evolution and human . The study of anthropology, immigrated to the United majority of physical anthropologists focus on States, and taught for many years at Columbia human evolution. Some investigate fossils, the University. While at Columbia, Boas and his preserved remains of bones and living materials students carried out extensive research in physical from earlier periods, to reconstruct the evolution anthropology, , , and cul- and anatomical characteristics of early human tural anthropology (or ), providing the . The study of human evolution through contemporary foundations for the systematic of fossils is called investigation of such topics as race, culture, and (the prefix paleo means “old” or “prehistoric”). ethnicity (Degler 1991; Stocking 1968). One of Paleoanthropologists use a of sophisti- the primary aspects of research that Boas empha- cated scientific techniques to date, classify, and sized was the “fieldwork” experience in anthro- compare fossil bones in order to determine the pology. Instead of speculating on various theories links between modern humans and their biologi- about the evolution of culture based on written cal ancestors. For example, paleoanthropologists materials, anthropologists had to go into the are studying the relationship of early populations “field” and do empirical research among the of Homo erectus and Neandertals to determine people in different societies. their precise connections with modern humans. In the United States, Boas’s research activi- As we will see in Chapter 3, on race, pale- ties developed into what has become known as the oanthropologists have been doing basic research “four-field approach” within anthropology. Most on the evolution of physical characteristics of U.S. anthropology programs feature four sub- ancestral populations in all parts of the world. disciplines, or subfields, that bridge the natural Paleoanthropologists have developed elaborate sciences, the social sciences, and the humanities. techniques to measure observable physical char- These four subdisciplines—physical anthropol- acteristics of humans based on their fossil ogy, archaeology, , and remains, primarily fossil bones and teeth. Early ethnology—give anthropologists a broad, holistic paleoanthropologists tried to establish clear-cut approach to the study of humanity through space criteria for distinguishing the evolution of various and time. In addition, all four of these fields have “races” in different regions of the world. enabled contemporary anthropologists to con- However, modern paleoanthropologists have con- tribute significantly toward the study of race and cluded that these early attempts were based on ethnicity. Though these four subfields demarcate simplistic categories of racial differences. Today, the fields within which most anthropological paleoanthropologists have much more sophisti- research is conducted, we need to emphasize that cated methods and techniques for differentiating within these four fields anthropologists draw on ancestral human populations, and they exercise the findings of many other disciplines, such as extreme caution when evaluating the evolution of biology, history, psychology, economics, sociol- different races. ogy, and , to examine race and Another group of physical anthropologists ethnic relations. These four fields, however, offer focuses their research on the range of physical anthropologists a unique perspective for assessing variation within and among different “modern” questions of race and ethnicity. human populations. These physical anthro- pologists study human variation by measuring physical characteristics such as body size, by Physical Anthropology comparing types, and by examining differ- Physical anthropology (or biological anthropol- ences in skin color or hair texture. Human osteol- ogy) is the branch of anthropology most closely ogy is the particular area of specialization within M01_SCUP4472_02_SE_C01.QXD 12/22/10 5:32 PM Page 6

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physical anthropology dealing with the compara- possible means of inferring evolutionary relation- tive study of the human skeleton and teeth. ships within the species. For example, genetic Physical anthropologists are also interested in studies have been used to determine the physical evaluating how disparate physical characteristics and evolutionary connections between Native reflect evolutionary adaptations to different envi- American Indians and Asian peoples. ronmental conditions, thus shedding light on why human populations vary. Noting how specific Archaeology physical traits have enabled these populations to adapt to different geographic environments, these Through archaeology, the branch of anthropology anthropologists reveal how human populations that seeks out and examines the artifacts of past have developed. Early physical anthropologists societies, we learn much about the lifestyles, wanted to use biological attributes to classify var- history, and evolution of those societies. Artifacts, ious living populations throughout the world into the material remains of former societies, provide distinctive “races.” Eventually, however, physical tangible clues to the lifestyle, environments, and anthropologists developed advanced research political economies of extinct societies. Some techniques and methods that led to the abandon- archaeologists investigate past societies that did ment of simplistic constructions of “race” among not have written documents through which to leave human populations. As physical anthropologists a record of their past. Known as prehistoric have learned more about physical variation archaeologists, these researchers study the artifacts among human populations, they became more of groups such as Native Americans to understand aware of how difficult it was to classify humans how these people lived. Other archaeologists, into distinguishable “racial” populations. They called classical archaeologists, conduct research discovered that traditional biological charac- on ancient , such as Egyptian, Greek, teristics such as skin color did not necessarily and Roman, in collaboration with historians and correlate with other physical characteristics that linguists. Another group of archaeologists, known demarcate one “race” from another. In fact, the as historical archaeologists, pursue research with vast majority of anthropologists have rejected the historians and investigate the artifacts of societies concept of “race” as a useful scientific concept. of the more recent past. For example, many histor- Thus, today, physical anthropologists have ical archaeologists are probing the remains of plan- learned to be extremely careful with their assess- tations in the southern United States to gain an ment procedures in attempting to study biological understanding of the lifestyles of slaves and slave characteristics and classifications among human owners during the nineteenth century. populations. Only after intensive analysis do archaeolo- An increasingly important area of research gists cautiously interpret the data they have for some physical anthropologists is genetics, the collected and begin to generalize about a past soci- study of the biological “blueprints” that dictate ety. Unlike the glorified adventures of fictional the inheritance of physical characteristics. archaeologists, the real-world field of archaeology Research on genetics examines a wide variety of thrives on the intellectually challenging adventure questions. It has, for example, been important in of careful, systematic, detail-oriented scientific identifying the genetic sources of some diseases research that enhances our understanding of past such as sickle-cell anemia, cystic fibrosis, and societies. Tay-Sachs disease. Genetics has also become an Modern archaeologists have developed a increasingly important complement to paleoan- greater in-depth understanding of past societies in thropological research. Through the study of the various parts of the world, and have shown how genetic makeup of modern humans, geneticists environmental circumstances and prehistoric or have been working on calculating the genetic dis- historic conditions have influenced the societal tance among modern humans, thus providing a development of human populations in different M01_SCUP4472_02_SE_C01.QXD 12/22/10 5:32 PM Page 7

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regions. They have illuminated through careful in different cultures. This specialty, called socio- research how nineteenth-century archaeologists linguistics, focuses on both how is used were misled by their simplistic categorizations, to define social groups and how belonging to and racist and ethnocentric beliefs, in assessing particular groups leads to specialized language the societal developments of other cultures. Thus, use. For example, a number of linguists have been recent archaeological research has refuted racist doing research on Ebonics, a distinctive variety of and ethnocentric views about non-European or spoken by some African non-Western societies. Americans. The term Ebonics is derived from the words “ebony” and “phonics,” meaning “black speech sounds” (Rickford 1997). These linguistic Linguistic Anthropology anthropologists find that Ebonics is no more a Linguistics, the study of language, has a long lazy form of English than Italian is a lazy form of history that dovetails with the discipline of phi- Latin. Instead, Ebonics is a different language losophy, but it is also one of the integral subfields with systematically ordered and - of anthropology. Linguistic anthropology focuses nunciation usages. Linguistic research such as on the relationship between language and culture, this has helped to undo racist and ethnocentric how language is used within society, and how the assumptions about various ethnic minorities. human brain acquires and uses language. Franz Another area of research of interest to Boas was the founder of linguistic anthropology linguistic anthropologists is . in North America, and his pioneering linguistic Historical linguistics concentrates on the compar- research revolutionized the study of language, ison and classification of different languages to culture, and ethnicity. discern their historical links. By examining and As do researchers in other fields within analyzing grammatical and sounds of anthropology, linguistic anthropologists seek to languages, researchers are able to discover rules discover the ways in which languages are different for how languages change over time, as well as from each other as well as how they are similar. which languages are related to each other histori- Two wide-ranging areas of research in linguistic cally. This type of historical linguistic research is anthropology are and particularly useful in tracing the migration routes historical linguistics. Structural linguistics of various groups through time, confirming explores how language works. Structural linguists archaeological and paleoanthropological data compare grammatical patterns and other linguistic gathered independently. For example, historical elements to learn how contemporary languages linguistics has been used to confirm the migration mirror and differ from one another. Structural of the Navajo Native American Indians from linguistics has uncovered some intriguing rela- Canada down into the southwest region of the tionships between language and thought patterns United States. among different groups of people. Do people who speak different languages with different grammat- ical structures think and perceive the world differ- ently from each other? For instance, do native Cultural anthropology is the subfield of anthro- Chinese speakers think or view the world and life pology that examines contemporary societies. experiences differently from native English speak- Contemporary cultural anthropologists do field- ers? This is just one of the questions that structural work in all parts of the world, from the tropical rain linguists attempt to answer. Such questions bear forests of Africa and Latin America to the Arctic on the relationship among language, culture, and regions of Canada, from the deserts of the Middle ethnicity. East to the urban areas of . Until recently, Linguistic anthropologists also examine the most cultural anthropologists conducted research connections between language and social behavior on non-Western or remote cultures in Africa, Asia, M01_SCUP4472_02_SE_C01.QXD 12/22/10 5:32 PM Page 8

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the Middle East, Latin America, and the Pacific environmental conditions or political institutions. Islands, and on the Native American populations in The description of a society is based on what the United States. Today, however, many anthro- anthropologists call ethnographic data. The gath- pologists are doing research on their own cultures ering of ethnographic data in a systematic manner in order to gain a better understanding of their is the specific research goal of the ethnologist or institutions and cultural values. In fact, as will be cultural . Some anthropologists use seen in chapters in Part II, which focuses on the ethnographic data to do comparative cross-cul- United States, ethnographers have been actively tural studies of different societies. These compara- engaged in research on ethnic groups in the United tive studies are extremely important in discovering States for decades. both differences and similarities among people Cultural anthropologists use a unique throughout the world—one of the major objec- research strategy in conducting their fieldwork in tives of the anthropological project. different settings. Unlike the early nineteenth- Most contemporary cultural anthropolo- century “armchair” anthropologists, contempo- gists do their research in a much more different rary ethnologists live for an extended amount of manner than Boas or Malinowski did in the time within the societies that they study. The beginning of the twentieth century. Today, in the American Franz Boas and the Polish-born British twenty-first century, many of the so-called natives Bronislaw Malinowski are two examples of those with whom ethnographers interact are combining who used this important research strategy in their traditional understanding of their own cul- twentieth-century anthropology. They knew that ture with formal education, and some are even the early studies relied too heavily on superficial, choosing to become anthropologists themselves. nonquantifiable descriptions and comparisons Thus, cultural anthropologists are becoming more from classical scholars, travelers, missionaries, like colleagues with the people they are studying, and colonial government officials. collaborating on research projects together. Boas and Malinowski promoted and institu- Instead of the “lone ranger” cultural anthropolo- tionalized the practice of doing intensive fieldwork gist doing research alone on an island among in the various societies around the world—a isolated tribal populations, contemporary anthro- research strategy called , pologists are more likely to reside in urban areas which involves learning the language and culture and work with teams of people from the native of the group being studied by participating in the population to comprehend the effects of global- group’s daily activities. Through this intensive par- ization and related processes and change within ticipation, the ethnologist becomes deeply familiar local regions of the world. And, as we will see in with the group and can understand and explain the this text, many present-day cultural anthropolo- society and culture of the group as an insider. gists are working with ethnic groups within their Presently, many anthropologists use the term etic own society and collaborating on research pro- to refer to the description of the culture by the jects to gain insights into ethnic interaction and anthropologist, and emic to refer to the natives’ cultural change within multicultural societies. point of view of their culture.2 Most U.S. anthropologists are exposed to The results of the fieldwork of the cultural all four subfields of anthropology in their educa- anthropologists are written up as an , tion. Because of all the research being done in a description of a society. The typical ethnography these different fields, however, with more than describes the environmental setting, economic 300 journals and 100 of books published every patterns, social organization, political , year dealing with anthropological research, no and religious and beliefs of the society one individual can keep abreast of all the develop- under study. However, some con- ments across the discipline’s full spectrum. centrate on particular areas such as religious Consequently, anthropologists usually specialize beliefs and practices, whereas others may focus on in one of the four subfields. Though the four-field M01_SCUP4472_02_SE_C01.QXD 12/22/10 5:32 PM Page 9

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approach tends to be an for anthropology in anthropologists to consider the biological, envi- this age of proliferating information and research ronmental, psychological, economic, historical, data, the research in these different disciplines social, and cultural conditions of humans at all has been important in establishing basic conclu- times and in all places. Sociologists and anthro- sions regarding race, culture, and ethnicity. pologists do not limit themselves to understanding As emphasized earlier, anthropology does a particular or set of societies but, not limit itself to its own four subfields to realize rather, they attempt to demonstrate the intercon- its research agenda. Although it stands as a dis- nections among different societies. This combined tinct discipline, anthropology is interdisciplinary holistic and global perspective is used throughout and has strong links to other fields of study. this text to demonstrate how different ethnic Cultural anthropology, for instance, is closely groups have developed unique interrelationships related to the fields of history, , and patterns throughout the world. and in particular . In the past, cultural In this age of rapid , world- anthropologists examined traditional, whereas wide travel, and increasing economic interconnec- sociologists focused on modern societies. Today, tions, young people preparing for careers in the cultural anthropologists and sociologists explore twenty-first century must recognize and be able to many of the same societies using similar research deal with the cultural and ethnic differences that approaches. For example, both rely on statistical exist among peoples while also understanding the and nonstatistical data whenever appropriate in fundamental similarities that make us all distinctly their studies of different types of societies. In human. In this age of cultural and later chapters, we will see how basic sociological increasing internationalization, sustaining this research has informed ethnographic studies of dual , of underlying similar human ethnicity. A recent, allied field that has influenced characteristics and outward cultural differences, anthropology is cultural studies, which combines has both practical and moral benefits. Although a number of disciplines with the concept of cul- nationalistic, ethnic, and racial bigotry are rife in ture to do research on a number of topics related many parts of the world, our continuing survival to ethnic and race relations. Likewise, anthropol- and successful adaptation depend on greater ogy dovetails considerably with the field of mutual understanding and cooperation. Anthro- history, which, like anthropology, encompasses a pology promotes a cross-cultural perspective that broad range of events. Studies of ethnicity could allows us to see ourselves as part of one human not be conducted without a comprehensive histor- family in the midst of tremendous diversity. Our ical perspective. These fields, as well as others, society needs citizens that have skills in empathy, which will become evident throughout this text- tolerance of others, and an understanding of a book, have contributed to the anthropological complex interlocking world. We need world citi- perspective on race and ethnic relations. zens who can function in inescapably multicultural Through their interdisciplinary approach, and multinational environments to work coopera- sociologists and anthropologists have emphasized tively and become productive citizens, as well as both a holistic and a global perspective. The holis- helping to solve humanity’s pressing problems of tic and global perspectives enable sociologists and bigotry, poverty, and violence.

References Cited

DEGLER,CARL N. 1991. In Search of : The STOCKING,JR., GEORGE W. 1982 [1968]. Race, Culture, Decline and the Revival of Darwinism in American and Evolution: Essays in the History of Social Thought. Oxford: . Anthropology. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago RICKFORD,JOHN R. 1997. Suite for ebony and phonics. Press. Discovery 18(2):82–87. M01_SCUP4472_02_SE_C01.QXD 12/22/10 5:32 PM Page 10

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Notes 1. The British Edward B. Tylor (1832–1917) is one Seneca Indians living in upstate New York. of the best-known nineteenth-century anthropol- Morgan’s later work included a cross-cultural ogists. Tylor’s major anthropological and analysis text called Ancient Society (1877), theoretical works are , 2 vols which had an enormous influence on nineteenth- (volume 2 is titled in Primitive Culture, century thought. part II of Primitive Culture, Harper Torchbooks, 2. The terms etic and emic are derived from the 1871/1958); Researches into the Early History words “phonetic” and “phonemic,” as used in of Mankind and the Development of linguistics. refers to the different types (John Murray, 1881); and Anthropology: An of sound units in languages. Thus, there is an Introduction to the Study of Man (D. Appleton, International Phonetic Alphabet used to desig- 1881/1898). The other well-known nineteenth- nate various sound units of languages through- century anthropologist is the American Lewis out the world. In contrast, a is a sound Henry Morgan (1818–1881). Morgan did an unit that is understood to have a meaning within early anthropological work entitled League of a particular language. Phonemics refers to the the Ho-De-No-Sau-Nee or (2 vols, New sound units understood by the native speaker of York), a detailed description of one group of a specific language.

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