A person's race, based on physical characteristics and influenced by social and historical contexts.
A person’s race is responded to differently based on context. A person’s race can shape their identity, both inwardly and outwardly. Race “defines” a person who exists in some locations more than it does in others. A person’s race is more or less of a defining feature historically—a person who was Japanese living in the United States during World War Two had different “freedoms” and was perceived differently by others than they are today.
Race does not define a complete person, but it does affect how they are perceived by others. For many, race is a source of pride—facilitating a sense of belonging. For many, race is tied to oppression, slavery, and conquest. (European Union and Stanford University, 2011). Race and ethnicity are intertwined; no universally accepted relationship definition has been established.
Researching Race
A person’s race is not always an essential factor to study when researching for design. Race is often not a clear and helpful way to understand peoples’ uniqueness. Research race carefully and combine it with other factors to develop a clearer picture of a person or people group. When designers consider a person’s race when conducting research, they gain insights into how a person’s race could be a factor in how they identify themselves and how society defines them based on prevailing and past attitudes.
Questions to Ask
- How significant is race regarding the issue I am studying?
- In what ways is a person’s race a source of pride?
- How have others regarded race in ways that may have created hardships for this person/people?
Look For
- Ways a person talks about their race as a source of pride, concern, embarrassment, etc.
- Ways people talk about other races and their race in different contexts.
- Ways people of different races are represented in media.
Keywords
Sources
Education
Burnham, J. J., Mills, J. D., & Youn-Jeng, C. (2019). The Influence of Race, Gender, Age, and Geographic Location on Children’s Fears. Educational Research Quarterly, 43(2), 3-23.
Humanities
Morning, A. (2018). Kaleidoscope: contested identities and new forms of race membership. Ethnic & Racial Studies, 41(6), 1055-1073.
Oliver, P. (2017). Race Names. Retrieved October 10, 2019 from https://www.ssc.wisc.edu/soc/racepoliticsjustice/2017/09/16/race-names/
Ramirez, R. (2007). Race, tribal nation and gender: a Native feminist approach to belonging. Meridians, 7(2), 22-40.
Organizations
The Human Rights Campaign. (n.d.). Glossary of Terms. Retrieved October 27, 2019 from https://www.hrc.org/resources/glossary-of-terms
United States Census Bureau. (2018). Race: About. Retrieved October 27, 2019 from https://www.census.gov/topics/population/race/about.html
Social Science
American Psychological Association. (n.d.). Race, APA dictionary of psychology. Retrieved October 27, 2019 from https://dictionary.apa.org/race
Betancourt, H., & Lopez, S. R. (1993). The study of culture, ethnicity, and race in American psychology. American Psychologist, 48(6), 629.
Collins, P. H. (2000). Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness, and the Politics of Empowerment. New York: Routledge.
Helms, J. E., & Talleyrand, R. M. (1997). Race is not ethnicity. American Psychologist, 52(11), 1246.
Peterson, L. J., Hyer, K., Meng, H., Dobbs, D., Gamaldo, A., & O’Neil, K. (2019). Discussing End-of-Life Care Preferences With Family: Role of Race and Ethnicity. Research on Aging, 41(9), 823-844. doi:10.1177/0164027519858716
European Union, & Stanford University. (2011). Race & Ethnicity. Retrieved October 28, 2019 from https://genderedinnovations.stanford.edu/terms/race.html