Critical Race Theories, Colorism, and the Decade's Research on Families of Color

Abstract

In the millennium's inaugural decade, 2 interrelated trends influenced research on America's families of color: the need for new knowledge about America's growing ethnic/racial minority and immigrant populations and conceptual advances in critical race theories and perspectives on colorism. Three substantive areas reflecting researchers' interests in these trends emerged as the most frequently studied topics about families of color: inequality and socioeconomic mobility within and across families, interracial romantic pairings, and the racial socialization of children. In this review, we synthesize and critique the decade's scholarly literature on these topics. We devote special attention to advances in knowledge made by family‐relevant research that incorporated ways of thinking from critical race theories and the conceptual discourse on colorism.

The Importance of Fatherhood to U.S. Married and Cohabiting Men

“…Existing research suggests that the importance of fatherhood will be higher for White men than for men of color, especially Black men, for several reasons (Burton et al, 2010). Because fatherhood is so strongly linked to stable employment, Black men, whose unemployment rates are typically double those of White men, will have a more difficult time meeting the provider expectation of fatherhood (Hamer, 1998) In addition, there is evidence that, on average, Black men view childlessness more positively than White men (Koropeckyj-Cox & Pendell, 2007).…”

The Sound of Silence: Ideology of National Identity and Racial Inequality in Contemporary Curaçao

“…This naturalness makes race appear static and essential, and renders its changeability and historicity relatively invisible, which-as Cornell and Hartman argue (2007)-allows it "to play such a powerful role in legitimizing and rationalizing social hierarchies and inequalities" (Cornell and Hartman 2007:39). Bonilla-Silva (2010) argues that in spite of its constructedness, race entails a social reality that "produces real effects on the actors racialized as 'black' or 'white'" (2010:9). This, he argues, makes it appear as if it were a constant and unchanging entity.…”

“…It is a colorist system (Banks 2000;Burton et al 2010;Harris 2008;Hunter 2007), or what Trinidadian sociologist Anthon Allahar refers to as a "pigmentocracy" (Allahar 2001), in which somatic features are ranked on a detailed hierarchical scale always characterized with dark-skinned blacks at the bottom and whites at the top. The persistence of this hierarchy is among others visible in everyday use of language.…”

“…On the second level the nuance of the actual skin tone exerts an important influence. "Although all blacks experience discrimination as blacks, the intensity of that discrimination, the frequency, and the outcomes of that discrimination will differ dramatically by skin tone" (Hunter 2007:238; see also Banks 2000; Burton et al 2010;Harris 2008). "Traditional" racism and colorism may manifest as "raceless" or "colorblind" racism.…”

“…However, the explanation of racial inequality through an alleged cultural inferiority is part of colorblind racism, Essed (1991) and Bonilla-Silva (2010) argue. Minority status is rationalized as "a product of their lack of effort, loose family organization, and inappropriate values"…”