Racial hierarchy
Encyclopedia
Racial hierarchy is defined as a system of stratification that focuses on the belief that some racial groups are either superior or inferior to other racial groups. The groups with the most power and authority are at the top of the racial hierarchy, while the most inferior group is at the bottom. As it pertains to the United States of America, racial hierarchy refers to ranking of different races/ethnic groups, based on physical and perceived characteristics that have been perpetuated through legal and political policy, providing unfair advantages for some races and/or hindering the advancement of others.
” (as they were recognized in early censuses) peoples to assimilate once they have proven their worth but more importantly have the correct skin pigmentation. Early Italian immigrants were seen as colored
and looked at as a lower race upon arriving to the United States during the Industrial Revolution
.[4] Not until they were able to separate themselves from free Northern African-Americans and establish themselves in the community where they treated as white.[4] Herbert Gans suggests a transformation from the dual racial hierarchy seen today in the United States of European vs. non-European, to African vs. non-African.
Future Outlook
As the population of the United States continues to become less diverse with the blending of races, the European-American majority will likely begin looking for competent allies to recognize with and continue to sit on top of the hierarchy. People of European descent have allowed previously “coloredColored
Colored is a term once widely used in the United States to describe black people and Native Americans...
” (as they were recognized in early censuses) peoples to assimilate once they have proven their worth but more importantly have the correct skin pigmentation. Early Italian immigrants were seen as colored
Colored
Colored is a term once widely used in the United States to describe black people and Native Americans...
and looked at as a lower race upon arriving to the United States during the Industrial Revolution
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology had a profound effect on the social, economic and cultural conditions of the times...
.[4] Not until they were able to separate themselves from free Northern African-Americans and establish themselves in the community where they treated as white.[4] Herbert Gans suggests a transformation from the dual racial hierarchy seen today in the United States of European vs. non-European, to African vs. non-African.
Further reading
- (2009) Rethinking the Color Line: Readings in Race and Ethnicity, 4/e. Charles A. Gallagher ISBN 0073404276
- (2004) From Jim Crow to racial hegemony: Evolving explanations of racial hierarchy, by Steven J. Gold. Ethnic and Racial Studies Vol. 27 No. 6 November 2004 pp. 951–968.
- Discusses the nature of the racial hierarchy in the USA, contrasts the (black/white) bipolar model vs more complex ranking systems.