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HOW EXTERNAL RACIAL CLASSIFICATIONS SHAPE LATINO DATING CHOICES1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 December 2014

Cynthia Feliciano*
Affiliation:
Department of Sociology and Department of Chicano/Latino Studies, University of California, Irvine
Belinda Robnett
Affiliation:
Department of Sociology, University of California, Irvine
*
*Corresponding author : Cynthia Feliciano, University of California, Irvine, Department of Sociology, 3151 Social Science Plaza, Irvine, CA 92697–5100. E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract

Understanding how different dimensions of race relate to the lived experiences of Latinos may shed light on the assimilation trajectories of different segments of the Latino population. Existing research suggests that racial appearance influences Latinos’ socioeconomic outcomes due to discrimination. However, researchers have not examined how Latinos’ perceived race relates to their acceptance of other racial/ethnic groups, thus revealing their agency in the assimilation process and how it is shaped by existing racial structures. Using a sample of over 6000 profiles collected from an internet dating website, this study finds that considering others’ classifications of race in addition to self-identifications changes our understanding of Latinos’ acceptance of other racial/ethnic groups as dates. Latinos who appear White are most likely to exclude Blacks and include Whites as possible dates while the opposite is true for those classified as Black. Latinos perceived as Latino fall somewhere in between those with a White versus Black racial phenotype in their acceptance of Blacks and Whites. These findings suggest that neither external classifications nor self-identifications of race alone can adequately assess the assimilation prospects of self-identified Latinos: those perceived as White may be assuming the position of Whites in the racial hierarchy, those perceived as Black may be assimilating into the bottom of the racial hierarchy along with African Americans, while those perceived as Latino may be maintaining an in-between status.

Type
State of the Art
Copyright
Copyright © Hutchins Center for African and African American Research 2014 

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