Black Heterogeneity: The Impact of Cultural Attribution on the Categorization and Racialization of Black Ethnic Groups

Abstract

The complicated relationship between race and ethnicity leads to an exploration of why racial and ethnic categories are conflated in different areas of life and society including daily experiences, data, and scholarship. The focus on the racialization and categorization of Black ethnic groups allows for a deeper analysis of which factors lead into the inclusion and exclusion of certain ethnic groups into a Black racial identity. Drawing from existing scholarship, this research has four key finding: 1) African-Americans are more frequently categorized as Black even in questions relating to ethnic identity, 2) Caribbeans, Africans, and Hispanics are more frequently categorized as their respective ethnic identities even in questions relating to race, 3) People are more likely to describe a closer alignment to African-Americans and Black people, and 4) People are less likely to describe a closer alignment to Caribbean, African, and Hispanic people.