Paradigm lost: race, ethnicity, and the search for a new population taxonomy.
The Institute of Medicine (IOM) recently recommended that the National Institutes of Health (NIH) reevaluate its employment of "race," a concept lacking scientific or anthropological justification, in cancer surveillance and other population research. The IOM advised the NIH to use a different population classification, that of "ethnic group," instead of "race." A relatively new term, according to the IOM, "ethnic group" would turn research attention away from biological determinism and toward a focus on culture and behavior. This article examines the historically central role of racial categorization and its relationship to racism in the United States and questions whether dropping "race" from population taxonomies is either possible or, at least in the short run, preferable. In addition, a historical examination of "ethnicity" and "ethnic group" finds that these concepts, as used in the United States, derive in part from race and immigration and are not neutral terms; instead, they carry their own burden of political, social, and ideological meaning.
Oppenheimer
G M
GM
Department of Health and Nutrition Sciences, Brooklyn College (CUNY), 2900 Bedford Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11210, USA. geraldo@brooklyn.cuny.edu
D001741:Black or African American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D001213:Asian / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015982:Bias; D019352:Censuses; D003466:Cultural Characteristics; D004641:Emigration and Immigration; D005006:Ethnicity / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015438:Health Behavior / Q000208:ethnology; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D015969:National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine, U.S., Health and Medicine Division; D011057:Politics; D011159:Population Surveillance / Q000379:methods*; D011287:Prejudice; D044469:Racial Groups; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012923:Social Class; D009626:Terminology as Topic; D014481:United States; D044465:White People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data