Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jkksz Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T11:32:06.188Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

LATINA/O WHITENING?

Which Latina/os Self-Classify as White and Report Being Perceived as White by Other Americans?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 May 2015

Nicholas Vargas
Nicholas Vargas*
Affiliation:
Department of Sociology and Public Affairs, The University of Texas at Dallas
*
*Corresponding author: Professor Nicholas Vargas, The University of Texas at Dallas, 800 W. Campbell Road GR31, Richardson, TX 75080. E-mail: Nicholas.Vargas@utdallas.edu
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Some scholars argue that Latina/os in the United States may soon become White, much like the supposed Whitening of Eastern European immigrant groups in the early twentieth century. High rates of White racial identification on surveys among Latina/os is one explanation provided for this assertion. However, personal identification is but one element of racial boundary maintenance. It is when personal identification is externally validated that it is most closely associated with group-based experiences. This article maps components of the White-Latino racial boundary that may be permeable to White expansion by examining conditions under which Latina/os self-identify as White and report that they are externally classified as White by other Americans. Employing novel data from the 2006 Portraits of American Life Study, this article shows that nearly 40% of Latina/os sometimes self-identify as White, yet a much smaller proportion—only 6%—report being externally classified as White by others. Moreover, logistic regression analyses suggest that for those with light phenotypical features and high levels of socioeconomic status, the odds of reported external Whitening are increased. Interestingly, phenotypically light Latina/os with low-socioeconomic-status levels have low probabilities of reporting external classification as White when compared to their phenotypically light and high-socioeconomic-status counterparts, suggesting that the combination of both skin color and class may be central to the White-Latino racial boundary. Results also indicate that many who report external Whitening do not prefer to self-identify as White. In sum, multidimensional measures of racial classification indicate that only a very small minority of Latina/os may be “becoming White” in ways that some previous researchers have predicted.

Keywords

WhiteningRacial IdentificationRacial ClassificationLatina/osRacial Boundaries
Type
State of the Art
Information
Du Bois Review: Social Science Research on Race , Volume 12 , Issue 1 , Spring 2015 , pp. 119 - 136
Copyright
Copyright © Hutchins Center for African and African American Research 2015 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Alba, Richard, and Nee, Victor (2005). Remaking the American Mainstream: Assimilation and Contemporary Immigration. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Allen, Walter, Telles, Edward E., and Hunter, Margaret (2000). Skin-Color, Income and Education: A Comparison of African-Americans and Mexican Americans. National Journal of Sociology, 12(1): 129–180.Google Scholar
Arce, Carlos A., Murguia, Edward, and Frisbie, W. Parker (1987). Phenotype and Life Chances among Chicanos. The Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 9(1): 19–32.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bonilla-Silva, Eduardo (2004). From Bi-Racial to Tri-Racial: Towards a New System of Racial Stratification in the USA. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 27(6): 931–950.Google Scholar
Brodkin, Karen (1998). How Jews Became White Folks and What That Says about Race in America. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.Google Scholar
Brown, Terry Jr., Dane, Francis C., and Durham, Marcus D. (1998). Perception of Race and Ethnicity. Journal of Social Behavior and Personality, 13(2): 295–306.Google Scholar
Campbell, Mary E., and Troyer, Lisa (2007). The Implications of Racial Misclassification by Observers. American Sociological Review, 72(5): 750–765.Google Scholar
Campbell, Mary E., and Troyer, Lisa (2011). Further Data on Misclassification: A Reply to Cheng and Powell. American Sociological Review, 76(2): 356–364.Google Scholar
Darity, William A., Dietrich, Jason, and Hamilton, Darrick (2001). Bleach in the Rainbow: Latin Ethnicity and Preference for Whiteness. Transforming Anthropology, 13(2): 103–109.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ennis, Sharon R., Rios-Vargas, Merarys, and Albert, Nora C. (2011). The Hispanic Population: 2010. United States Census Bureau. <http://www.census.gov/prod/cen2010/briefs/c2010br-04.pdf.> (accessed June 12, 2013).+(accessed+June+12,+2013).>Google Scholar
Emerson, Michael, and Sikkink, David (2006). Portraits of American Life Study, 1 stWave.Google Scholar
Emerson, Michael, Sikkink, David, and James, Adele (2010). The Panel Study of American Religion and Ethnicity: Background, Methods, and Selected Results. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 49(1): 162–171.Google Scholar
Feliciano, Cynthia (2001). Assimilation or Enduring Racial Boundaries?: Generational Differences in Intermarriage among Asians and Latinos in the United States. Race and Society, 4(1): 27–45.Google Scholar
Fox, Cybelle (2012). Three Worlds of Relief: Race, Immigration, and the American Welfare State from the Progressive Era to the New Deal. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Frank, Reanne, Akresh, Ilana Redstone, and Lu, Bo (2010). Latino Immigrants and the U.S. Racial Order: How and Where Do They Fit In? American Sociological Review, 75(3): 378–401.Google Scholar
Gans, Herbert J. (1979). Symbolic Ethnicity: The Future of Ethnic Groups and Cultures in America. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 2(1): 1–20.Google Scholar
Gans, Herbert J. (1999). The Possibility of a New Racial Hierarchy in the Twenty-First Century United States. In Lamont, Michele (Ed.), The Cultural Territories of Race: Black and White Boundaries, pp. 371–390. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press and Russell Sage Foundation.Google Scholar
Gans, Herbert J. (2012). Whitening and the Changing American Racial Hierarchy. Du Bois Review, 9(2): 267–279.Google Scholar
Golash-Boza, Tanya (2010). Does Whitening Happen?: Distinguishing between Race and Color Labels in an African-Descended Community in Peru. Social Problems, 57(1): 138–156.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Golash-Boza, Tanya, and Darity, William (2008). Latino Racial Choices: The Effects of Skin Colour and Discrimination on Latinos’ and Latinas’ Racial Self-Identifications. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 31(5): 899–934.Google Scholar
Haney López, Ian (2006). White by Law 10th Anniversary Edition: The Legal Construction of Race. New York: New York University Press.Google Scholar
Hitlin, Steven, Brown, J. Scott, and Elder, Glen H. Jr. (2007). Measuring Latinos: Racial vs. Ethnic Classification and Self-Understandings. Social Forces, 86(2): 587–611.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hochschild, Jennifer, Weaver, Vesla, and Burch, Traci (2012). Creating a New Racial Order: How Immigration, Multiracialism, Genomics, and the Young Can Remake Race in America. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Horton, Derrick H., Branch, Enobong H., Hixson, Lindsay, and Reynosa, Edelmira (2008). Redefining Whiteness: Who Is White and Does It Matter? In Gallagher, C. (Ed.), Racism in Post-Race America: New Theories, New Directions, pp. 67–77. Chapel Hill, NC: Social Forces.Google Scholar
Hunter, Margaret (2007). The Persistent Problem of Colorism: Skin Tone, Status, and Inequality. Sociology Compass, 1(1): 237–254.Google Scholar
Ignatiev, Noel (1995). How the Irish Became White. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Jacobson, Matthew Frye (1998). Whiteness of a Different Color. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Jenkins, Richard (1994). Rethinking Ethnicity: Identity, Categorization, and Power. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 17(2): 197–223.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jiménez, Tomàs (2008). Mexican Immigrant Replenishment and the Continuing Significance of Ethnicity and Race. American Journal of Sociology, 113(6): 1527–1567.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Keith, Verna, and Herring, Cedric (1991). Skin Tone and Stratification in the Black Community. American Journal of Sociology, 97(3): 760–778.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kim, Nadia Y. (2007). Critical Thoughts on Asian-American Assimilation in the Whitening Literature. Social Forces, 86(2): 561–574.Google Scholar
Kochhar, Rakesh, Fry, Richard, and Taylor, Paul (2011). Wealth Gaps Rise to Record Highs between Whites, Blacks, Hispanics. Pew Research Center Publications, July 26. <http://pewresearch.org/pubs/2069/housing-bubble-subprime-mortgages-hispanics-blacks-household-wealth-disparity> (accessed September 30, 2012).Google Scholar
Kohut, Andrew (2012). Trends in American Values: 1987–2012. Pew Research Center Publications, June 4. <http://www.people-press.org/2012/06/04/section-9–trends-in-party-affiliation/> (accessed February 13, 2014).Google Scholar
Lee, Jennifer, and Bean, Frank D. (2004). America’s Changing Color Lines: Immigration, Race/Ethnicity, and Multiracial Identification. Annual Review of Sociology, 30: 221–242.Google Scholar
Lee, Jennifer, and Bean, Frank D. (2007). Reinventing the Color Line: Immigration and America’s New Racial/Ethnic Divide. Social Forces, 86(2): 561–586.Google Scholar
Lichter, Daniel T. (2013). Integration or Fragmentation?: Racial Diversity and the American Future. Demography, 50(2): 359–391.Google Scholar
Lichter, Daniel T., Carmalt, Julie H., and Qian, Zhenchao (2011). Immigration and Intermarriage among Hispanics: Crossing Racial and Generational Boundaries. Sociological Forum, 26(2): 241–264.Google Scholar
Logan, John (2003). How Race Counts for Hispanic Americans. Lewis Mumford Center for Comparative and Urban Regional Research, The University of Albany, SUNY, July 14. <http://mumford.albany.edu/census/BlackLatinoReport/BlackLatino01.htm> (accessed June 12, 2013).Google Scholar
Loveman, Mara, and Muniz, Jeronimo O. ( 2007). How Puerto Rico Became White: Boundary Dynamics and Intercensus Racial Reclassification. American Sociological Review, 72(6): 915–939.Google Scholar
Marrow, Helen B. (2009). New Immigrant Destinations and the American Colour Line. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 32(6): 1037–1057.Google Scholar
Marrow, Helen B. (2011). New Destination Dreaming: Immigration, Race, and Legal Status in the Rural American South. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mason, Patrick L. (2004). Annual Income, Hourly Wages, and Identity among Mexican- Americans and Other Latinos. Industrial Relations, 43(4): 817–834.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Michael, Joseph, and Timberlake, Jeffrey M. (2008). Are Latinos Becoming White?: Determinants of Latinos’ Racial Self-Identification in the U.S. In Gallagher, C. (Ed.), Racism in Post-Race America: New Theories, New Directions, pp. 107–122. Chapel Hill, NC: Social Forces.Google Scholar
Murguia, Edward, and Forman, Tyrone (2003). Shades of Whiteness: The Mexican American Experience in Relation to Anglos and Blacks. In Doane, A. W. and Bonilla-Silva, E. (Eds.), White Out: The Continuing Significance of Racism, pp. 63–79. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Murguia, Edward, and Saenz, Rogelio (2002). An Analysis of Latin Americanization of Race in the United States: A Reconnaissance of Color Stratification among Mexicans. Race and Society, 5: 85–101.Google Scholar
O’Brien, Eileen (2008). The Racial Middle: Latinos and Asian-Americans Living beyond the Racial Divide. New York: New York University Press.Google Scholar
Omi, Michael, and Winant, Howard (1994). Racial Formation in the United States: From the 1960’s to the 1990’s. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Qian, Zhenchao, and Lichter, Daniel T. (2007). Social Boundaries and Marital Assimilation: Interpreting Trends in Racial and Ethnic Intermarriage. American Sociological Review, 72(1): 68–94.Google Scholar
Restifo, Salvatore J., Roscigno, Vincent J., and Qian, Zhenchao (2013). Segmented Assimilation, Split Labor Markets, and Racial/Ethnic Inequality: The Case of Early-Twentieth-Century New York. American Sociological Review, 78(5): 897–924.Google Scholar
Roediger, David R. (2005). Working toward Whiteness: How America’s Immigrants Became White: The Strange Journey from Ellis Island to the Suburbs. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Rodríguez, Clara E. (2000). Changing Race: Latinos, the Census, and the History of Ethnicity in the United States. New York: New York University Press.Google Scholar
Roth, Wendy D. (2012). Race Migrations: Latinos and the Cultural Transformation of Race. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.Google Scholar
Rumbaut, Rubén G. (2009) Pigments of Our Imagination: On the Racialization and Racial Identities of “Hispanics” and “Latinos.” In Cobas, J., Duany, J., and Feagin, J. (Eds.), How the United States Racializes Latinos, pp. 15–36. Boulder, CO: Paradigm Publishers.Google Scholar
Saperstein, Aliya, and Penner, Andrew M. (2010). The Race of a Criminal Record: How Incarceration Colors Racial Perceptions. Social Problems, 57(1): 92–113.Google Scholar
Saperstein, Aliya, and Penner, Andrew M. (2012). Racial Fluidity and Inequality in the United States. American Journal of Sociology, 118: 676–727.Google Scholar
Schwartzman, Luisa F. (2007). Does Money Whiten?: Intergenerational Changes in Racial Classification in Brazil. American Sociological Review, 72(6): 940–963.Google Scholar
Stokes-Brown, Atiya K. (2012). America’s Shifting Color Line?: Reexamining Determinants of Latino Racial Self-Identification. Social Science Quarterly, 93(2): 309–332.Google Scholar
Telles, Edward E., and Murguia, Edward (1990). Phenotypic Discrimination and Income Differences among Mexican Americans. Social Science Quarterly, 71(4): 682–696.Google Scholar
Telles, Edward E. (2004). Race in Another America: The Significance of Skin Color in Brazil. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Telles, Edward E., and Ortiz, Vilma (2008). Generations of Exclusion: Mexican Americans, Assimilation, and Race. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.Google Scholar
Torkelson, Jason, and Hartmann, Douglas (2010). White Ethnicity in Twenty-First-Century America: Findings from a New National Survey. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 33(8): 1310–1331.Google Scholar
U.S. Census Bureau, Statistical Abstract of the United States (2012). 131st Edition. Washington D.C. <http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/> (Accessed June 12, 2013).+(Accessed+June+12,+2013).>Google Scholar
Vasquez, Jessica M. (2010). Blurred Borders for Some but Not “Others”: Racialization, “Flexible Ethnicity,” Gender, and Third-Generation Mexican American Identity. Sociological Perspectives, 53(1): 45–71.Google Scholar
Vasquez, Jessica M. (2014). The Whitening Hypothesis Challenged: Biculturalism in Latino and Non-Hispanic White Intermarriage. Sociological Forum, 29(2): 386–407.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Von Hippel, Paul T. (2007). Regression with Missing Y’s: An Improved Strategy for Analyzing Multiply Imputed Data. Sociological Methodology, 37(1): 83–117.Google Scholar
Warren, Jonathan W., and Twine, France Winddance (1997). White Americans: The New Minority?: Non-Blacks and the Ever-Expanding Boundaries of Whiteness. Journal of Black Studies, 28(2): 200–218.Google Scholar
Waters, Mary C. (1990). Ethnic Options: Choosing Identities in America. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Waterston, Alisse (2006). Are Latinos Becoming “White” Folk? And What That Still Says about Race in America. Transforming Anthropology, 14(2): 133–150.Google Scholar
Wimmer, Andreas (2008). The Making and Unmaking of Ethnic Boundaries: A Multilevel Process Theory. American Journal of Sociology, 113(4): 970–1022.Google Scholar
Yancey, George (2003). Who Is White?: Latinos, Asians and the New Black/Non-Black Divide. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner Publishers.Google Scholar