Mixed Race Studies

Scholarly perspectives on the mixed race experience.

A number of serious problems with using race/ethnicity as a variable in genetics research have emerged in our analysis of our interviews with this group of genetic scientists. At the most basic level, the common racial/ethnic classifications they routinely use are of questionable value for delineating genetically related groups. The ubiquitous OMB categories in fact were designed for political and administrative purposes; they were not designed for use as scientific variables (Kertzer & Arel, 2002; Shields et al., 2005). These are notably ambiguous and arbitrary categories, based on strikingly diverse criteria such as skin color, language, or geographic location. They do not compose clear classifications, but instead are overlapping and not mutually exclusive. In the absence of clear principles for applying the labels, in practice, different aspects of an individual’s identity are arbitrarily prioritized, in order to fit individual cases into the schema.

A serious conceptual problem that reinforces the use of these questionable categories is that many of the researchers presume racial admixture is relatively rare and recent, and that specific geographically defined groups, such as Finnish or Japanese, can unproblematically be equated with broad socially designated racial/ethnic groups, such as white or Asian. However, this logic relies on several unsubstantiated assumptions: that historically there were pure racial types associated with particular geographic locations; that migrations were sporadic and relatively rare; and that racial/ethnic groups are primarily endogamous. (A recent study of the views of genetics journals editors reports similar findings: Outram & Ellison, 2006.) These assumptions are contrary to much of what is known about human population history. Genetic isolation among humans is in fact quite rare: human populations have always exchanged mates across broad geographic areas throughout time, producing clinal variation (gradual variation between places), rather than clearly distinct genetic stocks. Furthermore, racial admixture is not an exceptional event; indeed, there has been significant intermarriage between socially designated groups throughout history (Weiss, 1998; Harry & Marks, 1999; Race Ethnicity and Genetics Working Group, 2005). Compounding these conceptual problems is the practical fact that assigning these labels to individuals is often done in the absence of any specific knowledge of their actual familial migration histories.

Linda M. Hunt and Mary S. Megyesi, “The Ambiguous Meanings of the Racial/Ethnic Categories Routinely used in Human Genetics Research,” Social Science & Medicine, Volume 66, Number 2 (2008): 349-361. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2213883.

Approaches to Teaching the Novels of Nella Larsen

Posted in Anthologies, Books, Gay & Lesbian, Literary/Artistic Criticism, Media Archive, Passing, United States, Women on 2022-09-07 22:37Z by Steven

Approaches to Teaching the Novels of Nella Larsen

Modern Language Association
2016-09-01
2010 pages
6 x 0.7 x 9.1 inches
Hardcover ISBN: 9781603292191
Paperback ISBN: 9781603292207

Edited by:

Jacquelyn Y. McLendon, Professor Emerita of English & Africana Studies; Director Emerita of Black Studies
College of William & Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia

Nella Larsen’s novels Quicksand and Passing, published at the height of the Harlem Renaissance, fell out of print and were thus little known for many years. Now widely available and taught, Quicksand and Passing challenge conventional “tragic mulatta” and “passing” narratives. In part 1, “Materials,” of Approaches to Teaching the Novels of Nella Larsen, the editor surveys the canon of Larsen’s writing, evaluates editions of her works, recommends secondary readings, and compiles a list of useful multimedia resources for teaching.

The essays in part 2, “Approaches,” aim to help students better understand attitudes toward women and race during the Harlem Renaissance, the novels’ relations to other artistic movements, and legal debates over racial identities in the early twentieth century. In so doing, contributors demonstrate how new and seasoned instructors alike might use Larsen’s novels to explore a wide range of topics—including Larsen’s short stories and letters, the relation between her writings and her biography, and the novels’ discussion of gender and sexuality.

Contents

Acknowledgments
PART ONE: MATERIALS / Jacquelyn Y. McLendon
PART TWO: APPROACHES
- Introduction / Jacquelyn Y. McLendon
- Historical and Cultural Contexts
  - Nella Larsen’s Passing and the Literary and Legal Context of the Passing Narrative / Martha J. Cutter
  - Nella Larsen’s Modernism / Caresse John
  - Helga Crane in West Egg: Reading Quicksand and The Great Gatsby as a Case Study in Canonicity / Shealeen Meaney
  - “A Whole World of Experience and Struggle”: Teaching Literature as Cultural and Intellectual Women’s History / Lyde Sizer
  - Nightlife and Racial Learning in Quicksand / Clark Barwick
- Fiction and the Arts
  - Sounding and Being: A Resource for Teaching Musical References and Symbolism in Nella Larsen’s Quicksand / Gayle Murchison
  - Nella Larsen and the Racial Mountain: Teaching Black Musical Aesthetics in Passing and Quicksand / Lori Harrison-Kahan
  - Nella Larsen and the Civilization of Images: Teaching Primitivism and Expressionism in Quicksand / Cristina Giorcelli
- Identity
  - “Anything Might Happen”: Freedom and American Identity in Nella Larsen’s Passing / Beryl Satter
  - Teaching Passing as a Lesbian Text / Suzanne Raitt
  - Approaching Gender in Quicksand / Beth Widmaier Capo
  - From “My Old Man” to Race Men in Quicksand / Riché Richardson
- In the Classroom: Methods, Courses, Settings
  - The Matter of Beginnings: Teaching the Opening Paragraphs in Quicksand and Passing / Steven B. Shively
  - Versions of Passing / John K. Young
  - The Uses of Biography / George B. Hutchinson
  - “In Some . . . Determined Way a Little Flaunting”: Teaching with Nella Larsen’s Letters / M. Giulia Fabi and Jacquelyn Y. McLendon
  - Teaching Quicksand in Denmark / Martyn Bone
  - Teaching Nella Larsen’s Passing at an Urban Community College / Zivah Perel Katz
Notes on Contributors
Survey Participants
Works Cited
Index

Tags: Beryl Satter, Beth Widmaier Capo, Caresse John, Clark Barwick, Cristina Giorcelli, Gayle M. Murchison, George B. Hutchinson, Jacquelyn McLendon, Jacquelyn Y. McLendon, John K. Young, Lori Harrison-Kahan, Lyde Sizer, M. Giulia Fabi, Martha J. Cutter, Martyn Bone, Modern Language Association, Nella Larsen, Riché Richardson, Shealeen Meaney, Steven Shively, Suzanne Raitt, Zivah Perel Katz

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OMB Launches New Public Listening Sessions on Federal Race and Ethnicity Standards Revision

Posted in Articles, Census/Demographics, Media Archive, Politics/Public Policy, United States on 2022-09-07 14:27Z by Steven

OMB Launches New Public Listening Sessions on Federal Race and Ethnicity Standards Revision

The White House
Washington, D.C.
2022-08-30

Dr. Karin Orvis, Chief Statistician of the United States

The first step in the formal review process for OMB’s statistical standards for collecting race and ethnicity data is well underway – and the public can now share their perspectives and input.

What we are reviewing: In June, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) announced that my office would begin formal review to revise OMB’s Statistical Policy Directive No. 15 (Directive No. 15): Standards for Maintaining, Collecting, and Presenting Federal Data on Race and Ethnicity. This Directive provides minimum standards that ensure the Federal Government’s ability to compare race and ethnicity information and data across Federal agencies, and also helps us to understand how well Federal programs serve a diverse America…

Read the entire press release here.

Tags: Directive No. 15, Karin Orvis, Office of Management and Budget, OMB, Statistical Policy Directive No. 15, The White House

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Mixed Race Studies

Approaches to Teaching the Novels of Nella Larsen

OMB Launches New Public Listening Sessions on Federal Race and Ethnicity Standards Revision

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