Tag: Lisa Wade

  • The truth is that African Americans are essentially all mixed race. From the beginning, enslaved and other Africans had close relationships with poor and indentured servant whites, that’s one reason why so many black people have Irish last names. During slavery, sexual relationships between enslavers and the enslaved, occurring on a range of coercive levels,…

  • Why It Was Easy for Rachel Dolezal to Pass as Black Pacific Standard 2015-06-15 Lisa Wade, Associate Professor of Sociology Occidental College, Los Angeles, California Race is more social than biological. Source: (1)ne Drop Project Earlier this year a CBS commentator in a panel with Jay Smooth embarrassingly revealed that she thought he was white…

  • Race and Censuses From Around the World Sociological Images: Inspiring Sociological Imaginations Everywhere 2009-03-29 Lisa Wade, Assistant Professor of Sociology Occidental College Different countries formalize different racial categories.  Below are examples of the ”race” questions on the Censuses of 9 different countries.   They illustrate just how diverse ideas about race are and challenge the notion…

  • What Does “Black” And “White” Look Like Anyway? Sociological Images: Inspiring Sociological Imaginations Everywhere 2008-10-24 Lisa Wade, Assistant Professor of Sociology Occidental College Gwen Sharp, Assistant Professor of Sociology Nevada State College These two photos—one of Barack Obama as an adult and one of a young Obama and his Grandfather, Stanley Dunham—are a great opportunity…

  • The Census and the Social Construction of Race Sociological Images: Inspiring Sociological Imaginations Everywhere 2010-03-29 Lisa Wade, Assistant Professor of Sociology Occidental College Social and biological scientists agree that race and ethicity are social constructions, not biological categories.  The U.S. government, nonetheless, has an official position on what categories are “real.”  You can find them…