On Being a White Person of Color: Using Autoethnography to Understand Puerto Ricans' Racialization
Author: Vidal-Ortiz S.1
Source: Qualitative Sociology, Volume 27, Number 2, 2004 , pp. 179-203(25)
Publisher: Springer
Key:
- Free Content
- New Content
- Subscribed Content
- Free Trial Content
- Free Content
- New Content
- Subscribed Content
- Free Trial Content
Abstract:
This article uses autoethnography to make larger conceptual/theoretical points about racial/ethnic identity categories for Puerto Ricans in the United States. I utilize Puerto Rican-ness to illustrate the limitations of U.S. “race” and ethnic constructs by furthering racialization analyses with seemingly contradictory categories such as “white” and “people of color.” I contrast personal experiences to those of racial/ethnic classificatory systems, the American imagery of Puerto Ricans, and simplistic, political identifications. Travel, colonial relations, intra-ethnic coalitional possibilities, and second-class citizenship are all aspects that expand on the notion of racialization as classically utilized in sociology and the social sciences. Although this is not a comparative study, I present differences between racial formation systems in Puerto Rico and the U.S. in order to make these points.Keywords: autoethnography; racialization; race/ethnicity; Puerto Ricans; people of color
Document Type: Research article
DOI: 10.1023/B:QUAS.0000020692.05355.6e
Affiliations: 1: Sociology Department, Graduate School and University Center, City University of New York, 365 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10016;, Email: svidal-ortiz@gc.cuny.edu
Key:
- Free Content
- New Content
- Subscribed Content
- Free Trial Content
- Free Content
- New Content
- Subscribed Content
- Free Trial Content
Click here for Page Help