Tradition and the invention of racial selves: symbolic boundaries, collective authenticity, and contemporary struggles for racial equality1

Vasquez, Jessica M.; Wetzel, Christopher

doi:10.1080/01419870802684232

Cited by 26 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 21 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Growing up in an ethnic enclave where "everything was Mexican," Mario explained his self-surveillance when dating non-Mexicans: For his Mexican immigrant relatives, it was "a big deal" for Mario to date non-Mexicans and he believed that a black woman would never have gained acceptance. While dating a black woman was taboo, marrying a woman with Mexican American descent ensured his "racial authenticity" (Vasquez and Wetzel 2009) within his immigrant family.…”

Section: Preserving Relative Group Privilege: Anti-black Prejudice Anmentioning

confidence: 99%

Disciplined Preferences: Explaining the (Re)Production of Latino Endogamy: Table A1.

Vasquez¹

2015

Soc Probl

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

While racial intermarriage is heralded as the last stage in integration processes, endogamy (intragroup marriage) is the overwhelming norm in the United States. What are the familial, dating, and community processes that produce endogamy? Drawing from 70 in-depth interviews with heterosexual Latinos concerning dating and marriage, this article reports that surveillance, punishment, and self-discipline harden racial boundaries and induce endogamy. Typically construed as highly personal, romantic preferences are, in fact, socially constructed and policed through family, peer, and community-level processes. "Third parties" such as family members, friends, and community members enforce intramarriage via advice, threats, censure, and violence. In turn, outsiders' surveillance and punishment converts into self-discipline, which constrains romantic preferences and choices. To maintain social distance, both non-Hispanic whites and Latinos discipline their kin and their kin's cross-racial romantic interests away from those who stand lower on the racial order. Latinos enjoy racial privilege relative to African Americans and preserve privilege by excluding blacks as romantic possibilities. Latino endogamy is a disciplined response to accumulated racial messages and racial boundary policing. Results show that racial communities are invested in perpetuating endogamy to preserve relative privilege and exert social pressures that largely support the contemporary racial hierarchy.

show abstract

Section: Preserving Relative Group Privilege: Anti-black Prejudice Anmentioning

confidence: 99%

Disciplined Preferences: Explaining the (Re)Production of Latino Endogamy: Table A1.

Vasquez¹

2015

Soc Probl

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Reviving and practising 'traditions' is one way that Indigenous peoples 'draw positive distinctions from the dominant culture' and re-invest their groups with 'a pride and dignity that they are not normally accorded' (Vasquez andWetzel 2009, p. 1569). In this case, WFS used traditional ceremonies Á formerly banned by the Canadian government Á to guide its decision-making.…”

Section: 'Subordinate' Group Tactics: Weechi-it-te-win and Alliesmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…In the Indigenous-settler relations context, 1 Vasquez and Wetzel (2009) show how Potawatomi Indians in the US Midwest 'challenge contemporary institutional racism through elaborating symbolic boundaries and articulating moral discourses. By emphasizing authentic traditions Á conceived of as values, roots, and cultural toolkits Á these historically and currently subordinated racial groups distinguish themselves from the American mainstream' and thereby uphold their dignity (p. 1557).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Transforming meanings and group positions: tactics and framing inAnishinaabe–white relations in Northwestern Ontario, Canada

Denis¹

2012

Ethnic and Racial Studies

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Antiracism research often examines how stigmatized groups transform the meanings associated with their group. A complementary approach analyses the tactics that dominant and subordinate groups use to defend or advance their 'group positions' in situations that threaten the status quo. A case study of the proposed relocation of an Aboriginal child welfare facility to a rural Ontario township sheds light on both processes. Before rejecting the proposal, white residents and municipal councillors used delaying tactics, searched for race-neutral justifications, offered unsolicited advice, created new rules, and censured 'traitors'. The Native agency (and its few white 'allies'), guided by traditional decision-making practices, initially tried to provide 'neutral' information, stay positive, and emphasize common interests. When these tactics failed, they considered others before foregoing the opportunity to appeal to an independent tribunal. Ultimately, this case shows how laissez-faire frames and small-town dynamics can limit the choice and effectiveness of antiracist tactics.

show abstract

“…Third generation Mexican Americans who wish to connect with their heritage largely rely on ''mediated resources,'' such as commercial consumption, in order to display and revivify an ethnic identity (Macias 2006 Since skin color is often (mis)understood to equate with cultural allegiance, Dillon elects to do ''authenticity work'' (Vasquez and Wetzel 2009) by displaying cultural symbols that he hopes will make up for his light skin color. If he lacks dark skin, he can at least have la Virgen de Guadalupe, the patron saint of Mexico, in his window.…”

Section: Third-generation Mexican Americansmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Bumpy Road of Assimilation: Gender, Phenotype, and Historical Era

Vasquez

2011

Sociological Spectrum

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Gender, phenotype, and historical era powerfully shape the life experiences, identities, and cultures of Mexican-origin families. Using interview data from three-generation Mexican-American families, second-generation Mexican-American women were inclined to revivify their heritage upon marriage or childbearing whereas men underwent the gendered racialization process of U.S. military service. Among the third generation, skin color determines the relevance or irrelevance of ''symbolic ethnicity.'' Women engaged in a ''third-generation return'' to ethnicity far more than men, revealing gendered expectations of cultural transmission. This article advances assimilation theory by identifying fractures within generations-gender, phenotype and historical context-that steer incorporation processes.

show abstract

Tradition and the invention of racial selves: symbolic boundaries, collective authenticity, and contemporary struggles for racial equality1

Cited by 26 publications

References 21 publications

Disciplined Preferences: Explaining the (Re)Production of Latino Endogamy: Table A1.

Disciplined Preferences: Explaining the (Re)Production of Latino Endogamy: Table A1.

Transforming meanings and group positions: tactics and framing inAnishinaabe–white relations in Northwestern Ontario, Canada

The Bumpy Road of Assimilation: Gender, Phenotype, and Historical Era

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About