Racial identity claims are policed more strictly than ethnic ones in America

Evidence

Although ethnicity and race are both social constructions deployed to distinguish groups from the dominant Anglo-Saxon American identity, ethnicity grants people agency in defining the attributes of their identity and their relationship with the dominant group. The relationship can be cooperative, competitive, or outright conflictual, depending in large part on the extent of the ethnic group’s willingness and ability to assimilate. Race in the United States, by contrast, is largely defined by physical characteristics and relatedness to African ancestry. Skin color, hair texture, lip size, and nose structure are evidence of how much African blood a person possesses, with even one drop making a person Black. — Sahar F. Aziz, The Racial Muslim, 391 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Racial identification is reified even when one denies it — David Theo Goldberg, The Racial State, 32; White Americans have many ethnic identity options while African-Americans have essentially one — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 941; Different racial groups have sharply unequal ranges of identity choice (+4 more)

Broader Connections

• Race fixes status by ancestry while ethnicity permits negotiated identity #corroborates (0.92) — Sahar F. Aziz, The Racial Muslim, 391