Measuring Race and Ancestry in the Age of Genetic Testing.

Will the rise of genetic ancestry tests (GATs) change how Americans respond to questions about race and ancestry on censuses and surveys? To provide an answer, we draw on a unique study of more than 100,000 U.S. adults that inquired about respondents' race, ancestry, and genealogical knowledge. We find that people in our sample who have taken a GAT, compared with those who have not, are more likely to self-identify as multiracial and are particularly likely to select three or more races. This difference in multiple-race reporting stems from three factors: (1) people who identify as multiracial are more likely to take GATs; (2) GAT takers are more likely to report multiple regions of ancestral origin; and (3) GAT takers more frequently translate reported ancestral diversity into multiracial self-identification. Our results imply that Americans will select three or more races at higher rates in future demographic data collection, with marked increases in multiple-race reporting among middle-aged adults. We also present experimental evidence that asking questions about ancestry before racial identification moderates some of these GAT-linked reporting differences. Demographers should consider how the meaning of U.S. race data may be changing as more Americans are exposed to information from GATs.

Multiracial identities, single race history: Contemporary consequences of historical race and marriage laws for racial classification.

This work interrogates the role of the law as an "actor" in the spatial patterning of racial classification. Laws governing racial intermarriage represent key ways that rigid distinctions between groups were codified. Critically, there is a great deal of state variation in these laws. We draw on a unique data set that combines samples from the 1990 and 2000 Census (5 percent IPUMS) and the 2009-2011 estimates from the American Community Survey with information on state-specific legal bans against intermarriage. Results from multilevel logistic and multinomial analyses indicate that a past of legal regulation is associated with a lower likelihood of a "mixed" classification for the offspring of black-white interracial unions, particularly in the 2009-11 period. Our results provide evidence that place-specific institutional legacies are imprinted on the classification choices made even in the midst of expanding options.

Diversity and its causes: Lewontin on racism, biological determinism and the adaptationist programme.

Lewontin's 1972 paper (RC Lewontin, 1972 The apportionment of human diversity, in Evolutionary biology, vol. 6 (eds T Dobzhansky, MK Hecht, WC Steere), pp. 381-398) can be viewed as one foray in his battle against biological determinism. Our paper shows where Lewontin, The apportionment of human diversity, fits in the debate over human classification that it stimulated. We outline three assumptions inherent in the biological deterministic view of human phenotypic diversity and show how the 1972 paper, as well as Lewontin's papers in 1970 and 1974 on the problems with the heritability statistic and his 1979 criticism of naive pan-selectionism, invalidate these assumptions. These papers were crucial components of his campaign against biological determinism and the racism with which it was associated. In the current climate of widespread racism and the rise of sociogenomics, it is important to revisit Lewontin's writings and to disseminate the messages they contain. This article is part of the theme issue 'Celebrating 50 years since Lewontin's apportionment of human diversity'.

Are Morphs a Valid Substitute for Real Multiracial Faces in Race Categorization Research?

The rise of the multiracial population has been met with a growing body of research examining multiracial face perception. A common method for creating multiracial face stimuli in past research has been mathematically averaging two monoracial "parent" faces of different races to create computer-generated multiracial morphs, but conclusions from research using morphs will only be accurate to the extent that morphs yield perceptual decisions similar to those that would be made with real multiracial faces. The current studies compared race classifications of real and morphed multiracial face stimuli. We found that oval-masked morphed faces were classified as multiracial significantly more often than oval-masked real multiracial faces (Studies 1 and 2), but at comparable levels to unmasked real multiracial faces (Study 2). Study 3 examined factors that could explain differences in how morphs and real multiracial faces are categorized and pointed to the potential role that unusualness/distinctiveness might play.

Abandon "Race." Focus on Racism.

The concept of "race" emerged in the 1600s with the trans-Atlantic slave trade, justifying slavery; it has been used to justify exploitation, denigration and decimation. Since then, despite contrary scientific evidence, a deeply-rooted belief has taken hold that "race," indicated by, e.g., skin color or facial features, reflects fundamental biological differences. We propose that the term "race" be abandoned, substituting "ethnic group" while retaining "racism," with the goal of dismantling it. Despite scientific consensus that "race" is a social construct, in official U.S. classifications, "Hispanic"/"Latino" is an "ethnicity" while African American/Black, American Indian/Alaska Native, Asian/Pacific Islander, and European American/White are "races." There is no scientific basis for this. Each grouping reflects ancestry in a particular continent/region and shared history, e.g., the genocide and expropriation of Indigenous peoples, African Americans' enslavement, oppression and ongoing disenfranchisement, Latin America's Indigenous roots and colonization. Given migrations over millennia, each group reflects extensive genetic admixture across and within continents/regions. "Ethnicity" evokes social characteristics such as history, language, beliefs, customs. "Race" reinforces notions of inherent biological differences based on physical appearance. While not useful as a biological category, geographic ancestry is a key social category for monitoring and addressing health inequities because of racism's profound influence on health and well-being. We must continue to collect and analyze data on the population groups that have been racialized into socially constructed categories called "races." We must not, however, continue to use that term; it is not the only obstacle to dismantling racism, but it is a significant one.

Blurred lines: racial misclassification in death certificates in Brazil.

OBJECTIVES: To analyze the agreement between self-reported race and race reported on death certificates for older (≥ 60 years) residents of São Paulo, Brazil (from 2000 to 2016) and to estimate weights to correct mortality data by race. METHODS: We used data from the Health, Well-Being and Aging Study (SABE) and from Brazil's Mortality Information System. Misclassification was identified by comparing individual self-reported race with the corresponding race on the death certificate (n = 1012). Racial agreement was analyzed by performing sensitivity and Cohen's Kappa tests. Multinomial logistic regressions were adjusted to identify characteristics associated with misclassification. Correction weights were applied to race-specific mortality rates. RESULTS: Total racial misclassification was 17.3% (13.1% corresponded to whitening, and 4.2% to blackening). Racial misclassification was higher for self-reported pardos/mixed (63.5%), followed by blacks (42.6%). Official vital statistics suggest highest elderly mortality rates for whites, but after applying correction weights, black individuals had the highest rate (45.85/1000 population), followed by pardos/mixed (42.30/1000 population) and whites (37.91/1000 population). CONCLUSIONS: Official Brazilian data on race-specific mortality rates may be severely misclassified, resulting in biased estimates of racial inequalities.

A tale of two generations: Maternal skin color and adverse birth outcomes in Black/African American women.

We examined how sociopolitical context (marked by generational cohort) and maternal skin color interacted to influence preterm delivery (PTD) rates in sample of Black women. Data were from 1410 Black women, ages 18-45 years, residing in Metropolitan Detroit, MI enrolled (2009-2011) in the Life-course Influences on Fetal Environments (LIFE) Study. Because we hypothesized that generational differences marked by changes in the sociopolitical context would influence exposure to racism, we categorized women into two cohorts by maternal birth year: a) Generation X, 1964-1983 and b) Millennial, 1984-1993. Descriptive results showed similar PTD rates by generational cohort, Generation X: 16.3% vs. Millennials: 16.1%. Yet, within each generation, PTD rates varied by women's skin tone (categorized: light, medium, and dark brown). Poisson regression models confirmed a significant interaction between generational cohort and maternal skin tone predicting PTD (P = 0.001); suggesting a salubrious association between light brown skin tone (compared to medium and dark) and PTD for Generation X. However, Millennials with medium and dark brown skin experienced lower PTD rates than their light Millennial counterparts. Research should consider sociopolitical context and the salience of skin tone bias when investigating racial health disparities, including those in perinatal health.

Placing Racial Classification in Context.

This article extends previous research on place-based patterns of racial categorization by linking it to sociological theory that posits subnational variation in cultural schemas and applying regression techniques that allow for spatial variation in model estimates. We use data from a U.S. restricted-use geocoded longitudinal survey to predict racial classification as a function of both individual and county characteristics. We first estimate national average associations, then turn to spatial-regime models and geographically weighted regression to explore how these relationships vary across the country. We find that individual characteristics matter most for classification as "Black," while contextual characteristics are important predictors of classification as "White" or "Other," but some predictors also vary across space, as expected. These results affirm the importance of place in defining racial boundaries and suggest that U.S. racial schemas operate at different spatial scales, with some being national in scope while others are more locally situated.

The uncanny return of the race concept.

The aim of this Hypothesis and Theory is to question the recently increasing use of the "race" concept in contemporary genetic, psychiatric, neuroscience as well as social studies. We discuss "race" and related terms used to assign individuals to distinct groups and caution that also concepts such as "ethnicity" or "culture" unduly neglect diversity. We suggest that one factor contributing to the dangerous nature of the "race" concept is that it is based on a mixture of traditional stereotypes about "physiognomy", which are deeply imbued by colonial traditions. Furthermore, the social impact of "race classifications" will be critically reflected. We then examine current ways to apply the term "culture" and caution that while originally derived from a fundamentally different background, "culture" is all too often used as a proxy for "race", particularly when referring to the population of a certain national state or wider region. When used in such contexts, suggesting that all inhabitants of a geographical or political unit belong to a certain "culture" tends to ignore diversity and to suggest a homogeneity, which consciously or unconsciously appears to extend into the realm of biological similarities and differences. Finally, we discuss alternative approaches and their respective relevance to biological and cultural studies.

Classificação de raça, cor e etnia: conceitos, terminologia e métodosutilizados nas ciências da saúde no Brasil, no período de 2000 à 2009 / Classification of race, color, and ethnicity: concepts, terminology and methods used in the health sciences in Brazil, from 2000 to 2009

Esta dissertação tem como objetivo principal analisar a utilização e a fundamentação teórico-metodológica da classificação de raça, cor e etnia na literatura das ciências da saúde, produzida no período de 2000 a 2009 , no Brasil. A metodologia utilizada é a revisão bibliográfica sistemática através das bases de dados do MEDLINE, LILACS e SCIELO. Preliminarmente comparou-se a terminologia de identificação étnico-racial utilizada nas publicações brasileiras e norte-americanas. No período em questão houve expressivo aumento de estudos em saúde com foco em cor/raça, embora ainda seja restrito o seu espectro nas ciências da saúde. O debate público sobre identidade racial também aumentou neste período, influenciado pelas políticas públicas e ações da sociedade civil voltadas para negros e indígenas. No estudo mapeou-se aspectos históricos, sociais , ideológicos e metodológicos que permeiam a abordagem da classificação étnico-racial ; concepções e valores vinculados a identidade, desigualdade, racismo, discriminação, mistura racial e equidade, entre outros, estão entremeados na literatura analisada. Ressalta-se a ausência e inconsistência conceitual no uso dos termos raça, cor e etnia e o emprego de terminologia diversificada e não padronizada na identificação dos indivíduos. Conclui-se que nas ciências da saúde ainda é insuficiente a abordagem metodológica na classificação de raça, cor e etnia , além de ser necessária a ampliação da investigação dos seus aspectos teóricos, conceituais e técnicos, sendo estes indissociáveis da discussão sobre desigualdades raciais e racismo.

Classificação de raça, cor e etnia: conceitos, terminologia e métodosutilizados nas ciências da saúde no Brasil, no período de 2000 à 2009 / Classification of race, color, and ethnicity: concepts, terminology and methods used in the health sciences in Brazil, from 2000 to 2009

Esta dissertação tem como objetivo principal analisar a utilização e a fundamentação teórico-metodológica da classificação de raça, cor e etnia na literatura das ciências da saúde, produzida no período de 2000 a 2009 , no Brasil. A metodologia utilizada é arevisão bibliográfica sistemática através das bases de dados do MEDLINE, LILACS e SCIELO. Preliminarmente comparou-se a terminologia de identificação étnico-racial utilizada nas publicações brasileiras e norte-americanas. No período em questão houve expressivo aumento de estudos em saúde com foco em cor / raça, embora ainda seja restrito o seu espectro nas ciências da saúde. O debate público sobre identidade racial também aumentou neste período, influenciado pelas políticas públicas e ações da sociedade civil voltadas para negros e indígenas. No estudo mapeou-se aspectos históricos, sociais , ideológicos e metodológicos que permeiam a abordagem da classificação étnico-racial ; concepções e valores vinculados a identidade, desigualdade, racismo, discriminação, mistura racial e equidade, entre outros, estão entre meados na literatura analisada. Ressalta-se a ausência e inconsistência conceitual no uso dos termos raça, cor e etnia e o emprego de terminologia diversificada e não padronizada na identificação dos indivíduos. Conclui-se que nas ciências da saúde ainda é insuficiente a abordagem metodológica na classificação de raça, cor e etnia, além de ser necessária a ampliação da investigação dos seus aspectos teóricos, conceituais etécnicos, sendo estes indissociáveis da discussão sobre desigualdades raciais e racismo.

This dissertation aims to analyze mainly the usage and the theoretical-methodological basis for the race, color and ethnicity classification in the Brazilian health sciences literature from 2000 through 2009. A systematic bibliographic review is the chosenmethodology by searching MEDLINE, LILACS and SCIELO databases, comparing preliminarily the ethnic/racial identification terminology used in North American andBrazilian publications. There was an expressive increase of Health studies focusing on color/race in this period, although their range is still restricted to what concerns Health Sciences. Public debate on racial identity has also intensified in this period, influencedby public policies and civil society actions targeted for Blacks and Indians. This study has mapped historical, societal, ideological and methodological aspects that permeate ethnic/racial classification approach; concepts and values connected to identity, inequality, racism, discrimination, racial mixture and equity, among others, are mingledin the literature analyzed. It is underlined the conceptual absence and inconsistency in the usage of the terms race, color and ethnicity and the use of diversified and nonstandardizedterminology in the identification of individuals. The conclusion is that themethodological approach in Health Sciences for the classification of race, color and ethnicity is still insufficient, in addition to the necessity of the expansion of investigations of their theoretical, conceptual and technical aspects, which must be associated to the discussion on racial inequalities and racism.