Too Ethnic
I was once in the middle of a presentation where I was up in front of all the big wigs of a large company. I was a product designer with a love for artisan craft handmade products. So in most meetings, I was advocating for a particular product to be adopted into the seasonal line. We had just returned to New York from a development trip in Guatemala with the intent of incorporating craft items made by artisans into the brand’s collection. A co-worker, let’s call her Susie, didn’t care for the collection, stating it was “too ethnic.”
I stayed silent.
And paralyzed.
And offended.
What I really wanted to say was, what ethnicity are you speaking of? There are many ethnicities, which one? What are you referring to when you say something is “too ethnic”?
I left the meeting feeling the need to not only advocate for the collection but to justify that it’s aesthetic was of value. I also felt the need to justify myself, my value, and my even my identity.
I was born in a country that borders Guatemala. That the items were “too ethnic” implied to me I too could be seen as “too ethnic” in the current space.
Ethnicity
One of the problems with ethnicity is that it is often used interchangeably with race and nationality. For the sake of some clarity, here’s a break down:
Race is a system of people categorizing others on the basis of their physical appearance. It has been established that there is absolutely no biological basis for “race.” It is a social construct.
Nationality is the status of belonging to a particular state or country. It’s a legal creation.
Ethnic/ethnicity is someone (or something) associated with a particular subgroup that has a shared national origin, cultural identity or race, language, ancestry, practices, and beliefs.
By that definition, “ethnic” or “ethnicity” would include just about anyone. But in casual conversation, particularly here in the U.S., it is a designation for anyone who is non-white. This is the status-quo.
In the United States, white people are exempt from having to state their ethnicity. Of course there is no denying there are a variety of ethnic groups in the U.S. and in other parts of the world but in our daily language, the word “ethnic” is a label. What that labels implies is “other”.
Otherness, to “otherize.”
What does it mean to “otherize?” It implies “less-than” and positions people in inferior groupings by aligning them as non-main stream, not “the norm”, not the majority.
Note this example: everyday in the U.S., people shop in supermarkets where there can often be found one single “ethnic” food aisle. Supermarkets could definitely have classified these products by other criteria. Perhaps even.…I don’t know, maybe by a food group? After all, isn’t that the one thing supermarkets do well? Categorize products based on food groups so customers know where to find what they need? But instead, “ethnic” food can be found in its own aisle. All non-white food grouped together in one area.
Maybe the supermarkets are trying to make shopping for these items more convenient. But if that’s the case, it begs the question, convenient for who?
To see how this orthodoxy is being flipped, please read this excerpt from an article on Sedano’s supermarket chain based in Miami. “As part of a strategy to target the growing segment of White millennials moving to Miami’s urban core, products featured in the new “Anglo” aisles include almond milk, brussels sprouts, goji berries*, kombucha*, gluten-free crackers, and assortments of artisanal jams sold in mason jars. “South Florida is a community of immigrants,” said Carlos Perez-Santiago, a Sedano’s spokesperson. “We are proud to provide our newly arrived Anglo neighbors with food from their homeland.”” (*Important to note that goji berries are native to Asia & kombucha is thought to have originated in Northeastern China. In my opinion, this points out what’s at risk when we lump groups of people and cultures together.)
Why it is Dangerous
It’s dangerous to otherize because it lumps people from all different cultures into one big group and it flattens and obliterates the diversity and nuances and of a specific culture or ethnicity. Being lumped as “other” produces confusion about one’s own self identity. An example of this can be seen in the numerous ways the Census Bureau has created a systemic way of categorizing Latinx peoples in this country.
A growing percentage of Americans do not select a race category provided on the census form. As many as 6.2% of census respondents selected only “some other race” in the 2010 census.
“The “some other race” option is not an official federal race category and was intended to be a residual option for a small number of respondents in census surveys. Instead, it has grown to become the third-largest race group counted by the Census Bureau in the past two censuses. In the 2010 census, 97% of those who checked “some other race” were Hispanic.” (Pew research, ) When asked about their race in census forms, a significant number of Hispanics do not choose a standard census race category such as white, black or Asian. Instead, about four-in-ten select the “some other race” category.These findings reflect the challenges the U.S. Census Bureau faces when measuring Hispanic racial identity. This is coupled with the fact that two-thirds of U.S. Hispanic adults consider being Hispanic as part of their racial background, not just an ethnicity.” (Pew Research, 2014)
In fact, many communities, including Hispanics, Arabs and people of mixed race have said they’re unsure of how to identify themselves on census forms.
The way in which race and ethnicity is asked about and classified has changed from census to census (census occurs every ten years). A proposed solution to this problem included census bureau staffers spending years researching how to collect more accurate race and ethnicity data. The goal was to reduce the number of people who select “some other race” in the 2020 census.
This is the previous census of 2010
This is what they came up with:
Unfortunately as of January 2018, The Census Bureau chose to ignore years of research and decided they will not include a combined question format for collecting Hispanic origin and race, or a separate Middle Eastern or North African category on the 2020 census form. (Suggested form)
It will keep the same racial and ethnic categories used for the 2010 census. It will also continue asking about those topics as two questions, despite showing that the changes could encourage more census participants to provide more accurate race and ethnicity data.
Because of this inaccuracy the ethnicity and race of the US is reflected as being predominately white, resulting in millions of Latinx people unaccounted for.
So why does this matter?
We have become so entrenched in these classifications, however inaccurate, that we now can argue for the need for it. In research fields, it is used to quantify statistics and demographics and to measure if a particular group needs a particular service, or how they use specific services. This type of classification can be positive if it helps services to further improve and better aid a group of people.
In the NY times article “Why an Accurate Census Count is So Important” it states that the census is not just a head count but it “determines how congressional seats are apportioned, how state and federal dollars are distributed, where businesses choose to ship products and where they build new stores. To do all that properly, the count needs to be accurate.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/27/us/politics/census-citizenship-question.html
Here’s a break down of the commercial, political and research efforts that depend on census data:
Representation & Policy Depending on the population, there is an apportion of seats in Congress among the states. This means the number of seats in Congress and state legislatures are inline with the state’s population- citizens and non citizens are taken into account. This includes: Congressional district boundaries, state legislatures and local city councils and school boards.
Federal Spending The allocation of large amounts of federal spending decisions are based on census data. Many of the services are to serve lower-income families.
Private sectors Private business determines location of potential customer and make decisions on where to place distribution centers, where to expand operations, open new stores and where they have the best chance of seeing a high return on investment, or even what items to put on their shelves.
Health Scientists use census data to understand the distribution of diseases and health concerns such as cancer and obesity across the United States population.This includes statistics on race and ethnicity to identify health patterns across demographics.
Conclusion
The U.S. Census is a reputable source for other research and many services use the information from the census to make educated decisions. If a group of people are not identifying with the standard classifications they are not being accurately represented. If they are not being represented they run the risk of not receiving the benefits of allocated services. Even more problematic is that the very system of allocation is working in favor of maintaining America as a white majority country by keeping others as “others”.
