Ethnicity

AP HUG 12

What is Ethnicity?

• Ethnicity is identity with a group of people who share a cultural tradition of a particular homeland

• Race is identity with a group of people who share biological characteristics

• Ethnic identity is tied to a geographic location – the conditions and characteristics of that place influence the culture

Where are ethnicities distributed?• US

– African Americans (13%)

– Hispanic/Latino (13%)– Asian American (4%)– American Indian (1%)

• Regional clusters of ethnicities in the US– African Americans - SE– Hispanic/Latino - SW– Asian American - W– American Indian – SW

& Plains States

African American Hispanic

Asian

NativeAmerican

http://www.valpo.edu/geomet/geo/courses/geo200/usa_maps.html

Where are ethnicities distributed?

• Clustering of ethnicities in US cities– >50% African-

Americans are urbanised (Detroit, Chicago, Los Angeles, New Orleans)

– NYC is >25% Hispanic; NY state 1/16th

Where are ethnicities distributed?

Where are ethnicities distributed?

African American Migration

• 3 main migration flows of African Americans have shaped their current distribution patterns– Forced migration from Africa to American

colonies (slavery on southern plantations)– Migration from the South to the North 1st half

of the 20th Century – sharecropping fails & wartime needs in industries

– Migration from inner city ghettoes to other urban neighbourhoods in 2nd half of 20th Century

Race in the USA

• Spatial interaction between races discouraged by legal means in the past and through cultural preferences or discrimination today

• Separate but equal– Southern states Jim Crow Laws – blacks had

to sit in the back of buses; hotels and restaurants had the right not to serve blacks

– Separate schools and restrictive covenants on house deeds against blacks, RC and Jews

www.loc.gov

White Flight

• 1950s and 60s, US segregation laws were eliminated

• Rather than integrate, whites fled• White flight was encouraged by unscrupulous

real estate practices• Blockbusting – fear of blacks moving in would

result in whites selling properties for low prices; blacks, eager to escape overcrowding in ghettoes, would buy properties at much higher prices

Case Study - Apartheid (apart-hate)

• 1940s-1990s – system in South Africa whereby people were segregated into different geographic areas based on race

• Apartheid laws determined where races could live, go to school, shop and own land

• Blacks could not vote nor hold political office

www.rug.nl

http://encyclopedia.laborlawtalk.com

http://en.wikipedia.org

www.mrdowling.com

www.un.orghttp://en.wikipedia.org/

www.realinkbedfordview.com

Separate but not Equal – South Africa

• Brief history– Dutch settle the Cape in 1652– Became known as Afrikaners or Boers– British seize the Cape in 1795– To escape British administration & the freeing of

slaves in 1833, 12,000 Boers trek northwards to Transvaal & Orange Free State

– British annex the Transvaal after gold & diamonds are discovered (1860s)

– Anglo-Boer War culminates in a British victory (1902) – South Africa forms part of the British Empire

– 1948 Afrikaans Nationalist Party wins elections – apartheid introduced to maintain white dominance

Separate but not Equal – South Africa (cont.)

• International opposition to apartheid results in growing economic & political sanctions except for landlocked neighbours dependent on ports & MDCs dependent on resources

• Introduction of the black homelands, further segregates races

• 1991 apartheid repealed; ANC legalized• 1994 Nelson Mandela comes to power; SA

accepted by international community• Legacy of apartheid remains

http://nobelprize.org

Why Have Ethnicities Been Transformed into Nationalities?

• Nationality is identity with a group of people who share legal attachment and personal allegiance to a particular country

• Those of the same nationality have the same citizenship, carry the same passport, vote in the same elections and carry out civic duties in the same country

• Is Canada a multi-national country – are the Quebecois a distinct ethnicity (part of the cultural mosaic) or a distinct nationality (justifies separation)?

Rise of Nationalities

• The US forged a nation in the late C18th out of a collection of ethnic groups gathered from Europe & Africa who shared the values expressed in the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights – “unalienable rights … life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

Self-determination

• Ethnic groups have transformed into nationalities because they desire self-rule– Preserve and enhance distinct cultural traits– Self-governance without interference

• A nation-state is a state (country) whose territory corresponds to that occupied by a particular ethnicity transformed into a nationality – rare e.g.: Japan

Nation-States in Europe

• Throughout the C19th, ethnicities were transformed into nationalities

• E.g.: France under Napoleon Bonaparte consolidated French cultural traditions, the French language, the RC religion and the principles of “liberté, égalité and fraternité” – a unified nation

• Western Europe consisted on many nation-states; however Eastern Europe consisted of Empires and States which were not ethnically defined

Case StudyDenmark: A Nation-state?

Mainland & major islands Faroe Islands Greenland

•Nearly all Danes speak Danish•Nearly all Danish speakers live in Denmark•However, Southern boundary does not divide Danish & German nationalities exactly•Schleswig-Holstein vacillated between Denmark & Germany

•Danish territory•Home-rule•Islanders speak Faroese

•Danish territory•Home-rule•Known as Kalaallit Nunaat•87% are of Inuit ethnicity

Nationalism

• Governments instill loyalty through nationalism

• Achieved through mass media & promotion of the symbols of state

• Nationalism is a centripetal force – unites people & enhances support for the state The Pledge of Allegiance

I Pledge Allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands,one Nation under God,

indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Multi-national States

• A state containing more than 1 ethnicity is multi-ethnic e.g.: Belgium

• A state containing two ethnicities with traditions of self-determination that agree to peacefully co-exist e.g.: United Kingdom – England, Scotland, Wales & N. Ireland

www.cia.gov

Case Study – Former USSR

www.danfoss.com

http://users.erols.com

Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS)

Case Study – Former USSR (cont.)

• Baltic States– Lithuania

• 81% Lithuanian• RC• Balto-Slavic language

– Estonia• 65% Estonian• Protestant• Uralic language

– Latvia• 57% Latvians• Protestant• Balto-Slavic language

http://iew3.technion.ac.il/

Case Study – Former USSR (cont.)

• European States– Belarus (78%) &

Ukraine (73%)• East Slavic languages• Eastern Orthodox• Crimean Peninsula of

Ukraine is 2/3 Russian

– Moldova (65%)• Moldovans are ethnically

related to Romanianswww.lib.utexas.edu

Case Study – Former USSR (cont.)

• Central Asian States– Turkmenistan (77%) &

Uzbekistan (80%)• Muslim• Altaic language

– Kyrgyzstan• 52 Kyrgyz (Muslim, Altaic), 18%

Russian, 13% Uzbek– Kazakhstan

• Kazakhs (46%) – Muslim; Altaic• Russians (34%) – Eastern

Orthodox; Indo-European– Tajikistan

• Tajik (65%); Uzbek (25%); Russian (3%)

• Civil conflict

www.lib.utexas.edu

Case Study – Former USSR (cont.)

• Caucasus– Azerbaijan

• Azeris (90%)• 6 million Azeris live in Iran

– Armenia• Armenians (90+%)• Dispute with Azeris over

boundary

– Georgia• Diverse population• Dispute with Ossetians who

want to be reunited with N. Ossetia in Russia

Ethnicity & Communism• 1945 – 1990s communist attitudes and

economic cooperation over shadowed the nation-state ideal

• Centripetal devices were used to unite diverse ethnicities e.g.:– Socialist realism – economic & political values of

Communism– Use of the Russian language– Suppression of religion– However, administrative structures for local

government coincided with ethnic territory (see map of Former USSR)

• Fall of Communism, ethnicities sought self-determination e.g.: Slovenia (former Yugoslavia)

Why do Ethnicities Clash?

• Sometimes ethnicities compete in civil wars to dominate national identity– E.g.: Eritrea & Ethiopia; Sudan, Somalia,

Lebanon

• Sometimes one ethnicity is divided into more than one state– E.g.: Partition in India; Kashmir

Case StudyEthiopia & Eritrea

• Eritrea became an Italian colony in 1890

• Ethiopia, independent for 2,000 years, captured by Italy in 1930

• After WWII, Ethiopia gained independence & UN awarded Eritrea to Ethiopia

• UN expected Ethiopia to allow Eritrea to run its own affairs – however Ethiopia dissolved Eritrean Parliament and banned use of Tigrinya language

• The Eritreans rebelled – 30 year conflict ensued (1961-1991) www.cnn.com

Case StudyEthiopia & Eritrea (cont.)

• 1991 Eritrean rebels defeated the Ethiopian army

• 1993 Eritrea became independentwww.africaphotos.com

www.sudantribune.com

•1998 conflict flared up again because of a border dispute•Both countries claimed the disputed area based on treaties with Italy•2000 Ethiopia defeated Eritrea to take control of the disputed area•Ethiopia is a complex multi-ethnic state – Amharahs (Christian), Oromo (Muslim), Tigre (Orthodox)•Eritrea ½ Christian, ½ Muslim

Case Study - Sudan• Civil war since 1980s between black

Christians & animist rebels in the South and the Arab-Muslim government forces in the North

• Black southerners have resisted government attempts to convert this multi-ethnic society into one nationality devoted to Muslim traditions

• The government has imposed very strict Muslim laws e.g.: segregation of the sexes, full body clothing

• 2003 the government cracked down on black Christian rebels in the Darfur region who accused the government of suppression using the Janjaweed militia – humanitarian crisis prevails

www.cia.gov

http://europa.eu.int

Case Study - Somalia• Somalis are mostly Sunni Muslims

speaking Somali• 8 million, 6 major ethnic groups

(clans)• During 1990s the Isaak clan

declared the north a separate state called Somaliland with its own flag and currency

• After the collapse of the national govt , various clans and sub-clans seized control of food, property, weapons and portions of the country

• Lead by warlords, fighting between clans for control of territory resulted in refugees fleeing – US & Canada sent troops – withdrew in 1994 after peace talks collapsed

www.cia.gov

www.worldpress.org

Ethnic Competition in Lebanon

• 4 million inhabitants, Lebanon was renown as the financial and recreational centre of the Middle East

• Fighting between religious factions since the 1970s has severely damaged Lebanon

• Estimates that 60% Muslim, 30% Christian & 10% other

• 2/3 Lebanese Muslims are Shiite• 2/3 Christians are Maronites; 1/6

Greek Orthodox• Druze (7% population) practice

blend of Christianity and Islam

www.cia.gov

http://news.bbc.co.uk

Ethnic Competition in Lebanon (cont.)

• Lebanese Independence (1943), constitution required proportional representation in Chamber of Deputies

• President was a Maronite Christian• Premier was a Sunni Muslim• Speaker of the Chamber was a Shiite Muslim• Foreign Minister was a Greek Orthodox• When Christians were in the majority, they

controlled business but as Muslims became the majority they demanded economic and political equality

• Civil war broke out in 1975 & each religious group formed a militia to guard their territory

• Syria, Israel & US sent troops to try to restore peace

• Most of Lebanon is controlled by Syria, but recently there has been a move to withdraw Syrian troops from Lebanon

http://news.bbc.co.uk

Dividing Ethnicities Among More Than One State – Case Study – Indian Partition

• Sometimes a new country is created to separate two ethnicities

• When the British ended colonial rule in India in 1947, they divided the country into 2 countries, India and Pakistan

• Pakistan was not contiguous – West Pakistan & East Pakistan (later Bangladesh) were separated by India

www.helicon.co.uk

Dividing Ethnicities Among More Than One State – Case Study – Indian Partition

• Pakistan became a Muslim homeland and India a Hindu homeland because of tension between the 2 ethnicities

• The partition of India into 2 states resulted in massive forced migration

• 6 million Muslims emigrated from India to W. Pakistan & 1 million to E. Pakistan

• 6 million Hindus came from W. Pakistan & 3.5 million from E. Pakistan

• Refugees were killed during the migration as rivalries exploded between the 2 groups

Mass Migration Following Partition of India

www.kamat.com

Photographer Margaret Bourke-White captures the endless sufferings of a nation divided and the subsequent mass migration

Kashmir

• Pakistan & India never agreed on the location of the boundary in the northern region of Kashmir

• Since 1972, the countries have maintained a line of control, with Pakistan administering the northwestern region of Kashmir, and India administering the southeastern portion

http://news.bbc.co.uk

Kashmir (cont.)

• Muslims who are in the majority in both portions of Kashmir, have fought a guerilla war to reunify Kashmir as part of Pakistan or an independent country

• India blames Pakistan for the unrest

• Both nuclear states has vowed to obtain Kashmir

• Sikh extremists in the Punjab desiring a state of their own have added to India’s woes in the NW region of India

www.indien.nu/

Sikhs

Punjab

www.global.ucsb.edu

What is Ethnic Cleansing?

• Territorial changes after WWII forced ethnicities to migrate

• Poles were forced to migrate from Soviet occupied territory; Germans were forced to move form Russia and Poland; Russians were repatriated to the USSR

Case Study: Ethnic Cleansing in Yugoslavia

Ethnic Cleansing in Yugoslavia (cont.)

• Northern portions of the Balkan Peninsula were ruled by the Austro-Hungarian Empire

• Southern portions of the Balkan Peninsula were ruled by the Ottoman Empire

• After WWI, Yugoslavia was created to unite Balkan ethnicities speaking Slavic languages

• 1953-1980, Yugoslavia governed by Tito who brought stability to ethnic groups through communism and a national identity as Yugoslavs

Ethnic Cleansing in Yugoslavia (cont.)

• Rivalries between ethnicities surfaced after Tito’s death

• Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia and Slovenia formed independent countries; only Montenegro and Serbia remained in Yugoslavia

• When Yugoslavia’s republics were transformed into countries, ethnicities fought to redefine the boundaries

Ethnic Cleansing in Yugoslavia (cont.)

• Bosnia– Muslims comprised 40% of B-H– Remainder of B-H was 32% Serbs, 18%

Croats– Rather than live in a multi-ethnic state with a

Muslim plurality, Serbs & Croats fought to unite B-H with Croatia and Serbia through ethnic cleansing (forced expulsion & some slaughter)

– Dayton Accord (1996) divided B-H into 3 regions; one Croatian, one Muslim and one Serbian

Balkanization

• Balkanization is the breakdown of a state into smaller areas as a result of conflicts amongst its ethnicities e.g.: Yugoslavia

• Will ethnic-homogeneity as a result of ethnic cleansing result in peace in the Balkans?

Ethnic Cleansing in Rwanda

• 2 ethnicities– Hutus (farmers)– Tutsi (cattle herders)– Tutsis took control of the

kingdom of Rwanda and made the Hutus their serfs

• 1899 Rwanda & Burundi became German colonies

• After WWI, Rwanda became a colony of Belgium

www.cia.gov

Ethnic Cleansing in Rwanda (cont.)

• During colonial rule, Tutsis were favoured – allowed to attend university & hold government positions; Hutus excluded

• Before Independence in 1962, Hutus killed Tutsis for fear that they would seize control

• 1994, Tutsi president killed when his plane was shot down by a Hutu

• Tutsis, many of whom were exiled in Uganda poured back home, massacring ½ million Hutus

• Tutsi casualties also numbered ½ million• 3 million Hutus fled into neighbouring states

www.sisapress.com

www.exileimages.co.uk

www.lnsart.com