Politics and Perceptions of Race and Ethnicity
Politics has a significant impact when it comes to perceptions of race and ethnicity in the United States. One important factor about politics is that it has the potential to change a population's perceptions regarding their social construct. Notably, it changes the interpretations of social constructs as the population seeks to develop a particular framework of mind. For instance, with the emergence of civil rights movements, there was a significant struggle to increase the representation of minority groups as it was very important to ensure equal representation in the government. Additionally, politics brought about federalism. Hence, with the allocation of resources to state and local governments from the federal government, the population is forced to develop strategies to ensure equal dissemination of resources. However, given the vast differences in race and ethnicity, this allocation may become subject to bias and discrimination of minorities.
Ideally, Before 1950 Census
Ideally, before 1950, censuses carried out contained a category or term called color which sought to define races by virtue of their physical attributes. This led to a significant amount of undercounting which was quite detrimental to the whole census process. Hence, after removing the term and allowing for self-identification, there was a significant improvement in the census process. Hence, individuals were able to identify themselves within a population due to their cultural affiliations and other personal considerations beyond normal conventional demographic inquiries. As such, during this period, there was an increased number of individuals identifying themselves as American Indians increasing the figure significantly. This was part of the group of people who had been undercounted previously.
Impact of Directive No. 15 on Social Science Research
Directive No. 15 had a significant impact on social science research; negative and positive. Positively, it can be said that the directive was quite significant in establishing the known racial landscape of the United States. Essentially, the directive has established an official racial cosmology that has been implemented in various levels in governments and large corporations. Additionally, it allowed researchers to develop significant areas of study with regard to ethnicity as researchers and scholars have relied on the data to form theories and understanding about such. Additionally, the directive is convenient for social sciences given that it coincides with the interests of researchers concerned with ethnicity and race. Negatively, the directive has complicated social science research given that it has masked some considerable ethnic diversity that existed within the American population. Typically, the directive tends to reify racial categories in a manner that makes them impermeable and immutable which would later be seriously problematic for a wide range of groups concerned with how the data showcased racial composition of the United States population.
Race and Ethnicity as Social Constructs
Ideally, this reading is able to provide the idea that race and ethnicity are a social construct given the very foundation of determining the race of a person that was taking place during past censuses in the United States. As one is drawn to the directive no. 15, it is clear that society defines race according to the social and political elements which bring about the segmentation of social groups. Notably, as it can be seen, things that are socially constructed have real-world consequences. Given the development of race and ethnicity over the years, American society has witnessed significant events such as the civil rights movements which were brought about by the social construct of race and ethnicity. Notably, social constructs are propagated by powerful government individuals who form policies and ideologies that govern the society. As such, with power, the government is usually able to categorize its population, allocating resources distinctively, bringing about the development of social categories. These categories become a basis for control for the population.
