No abstract

Although at first relatively disinterested in race, modern genomic research has increasingly turned attention to racial variations. We examine a prominent example of this focus—direct-to-consumer racial admixture tests—and ask how information about the methods and results of these tests in news media may affect beliefs in racial differences. The reification hypothesis proposes that by emphasizing a genetic basis for race, thereby reifying race as a biological reality, the tests increase beliefs that whites and blacks are essentially different. The challenge hypothesis suggests that by describing differences between racial groups as continua rather than sharp demarcations, the results produced by admixture tests break down racial categories and reduce beliefs in racial differences. A nationally representative survey experiment (N = 526) provided clear support for the reification hypothesis. The results suggest that an unintended consequence of the genomic revolution may be to reinvigorate age-old beliefs in essential racial differences.

How is neighborhood reputation performed and reproduced? Drawing on ethnographic observation in a Philadelphia neighborhood known for stable racial integration, I show how residents engage in Goffmanian interactional teamwork, particularly deference‐demeanor rituals, that perpetuate the neighborhood's reputation. My observations demonstrate how the ideology of racial integration is collectively performed and maintained through these deference rituals. I show that these deference rituals can also have the unintended and undesirable consequence of maintaining, rather than challenging, preexisting racial hierarchies. This work highlights the tenuous nature of reputations for inclusivity in the face of persistent social inequality.