Third Generation Disadvantage among Mexican Americans

Among Mexican Americans, generational differences in education do not fit with assimilation theory’s predictions of significant improvement from the second to third generation; instead, education for third generation remains similar to the second generation and falls behind that of non-Hispanic whites. Scholars have not examined this educational gap for recent cohorts, nor have they considered a wide range of economic outcomes by generation. Using a nationally representative sample of young adults from the National Educational Longitudinal Survey, we examine various educational and economic outcomes among second- and third-generation Mexican Americans and compare it to whites and blacks. We find that third-generation Mexican Americans have similar outcomes to the second generation and lower education and economic levels than whites and blacks, even when controlling for key factors. Our findings reveal limitations to assimilation theory and suggest that the persistent low status of third-generation Mexican Americans may be largely due to their racialization. These findings coupled with prior research on Mexican Americans point to a consistent pattern of third generation disadvantage, which stands in contrast to second generation advantage

Multiracial versus Collective Black Categories

Current census debates in Brazil surrounding Brazilian race categories center on two contrasting proposals: the adoption of the multiracial moreno term vs. the use of the collective black classification negro. Those proposing the former base their argument on the right to self-classify according to one’s own sense of identity. Proponents of the negro category contend that it would be most efficient for redressing racial discrimination. We examine the meaning and saliency of these categories and explore the possible consequences of their adoption. Using national survey data, we demonstrate how education, age, color, sex and local racial composition structure the choices of moreno and negro over official census terms. Findings include a negative correlation between education and the choice of moreno, while the opposite is true for negro. In addition, an age effect on both categories suggests a popular shift in racial labeling away from official census terms. We note that similar issues structure current census debates in the USA

The changing relationship between racial identity and skin color in Brazil.

In recent years, Brazils non-White (Brown and Black) population became a numerical majority for the first time since the 19th century. Although we know this change was mostly due to racial reclassification, we do not know how such changes are related to skin color, the primary marker of race in Brazil. Using data from six Latin American Public Opinion Project (LAPOP), or Americas Barometer, surveys from 2010 to 2023, we examine how changes in racial self-identification (White, Brown, or Black) are related to respondent skin color (light, medium, or dark). We ask how the association between self-identified race and skin color changed over the 13-y period and to what extent these trends varied by educational level. We found a darkening of racial identification over time, especially among those with medium and dark skin, who increasingly identified as Black. Brazilians with light skin increasingly identified as Brown, but this was partly explained by changes in interviewer reporting of skin color in the same period. We found only minor evidence that education level was related to changing racial classification over time. Our findings further understanding of recent trends in racial reclassification, which may reflect growing Black consciousness and the extension of racial quotas to both Brown and Black Brazilians in federal universities and public sector jobs

A distributed computation of Interpro Pfam, PROSITE and ProDom for protein annotation

Interpro is a widely used tool for protein annotation in genome sequencing projects, demanding a large amount of computation and representing a huge time-consuming step. We present a strategy to execute programs using databases Pfam, PROSITE and ProDom of Interpro in a distributed environment using a Java-based messaging system. We developed a two-layer scheduling architecture of the distributed infrastructure. Then, we made experiments and analyzed the results. Our distributed system gave much better results than Interpro Pfam, PROSITE and ProDom running in a centralized platform. This approach seems to be appropriate and promising for highly demanding computational tools used for biological applications

The Significance of Skin Color Among African Americans and Mexican Americans

As W.E.B. Du Bois predicted in his July, 1900 speech before the Pan-African Conference in London, race continues to challenge our society. Du Bois asserted that: The problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the colour line, the question as to how far differences of race, which show themselves chiefly in the colour of the skin and the texture of the hair, are going to be made hereafter, the basis for denying to over half the world the right of sharing to their utmost ability the opportunities and privileges of modern civilisation (Lewis 1995:639). What Du Bois did not anticipate, and what for the most part social science has failed to address adequately, is how race in this country would be affected by immigration. Immigration has had profound consequences for how this country thinks about and responds to race. The dramatic demographic increase in cultural, racial and ethnic diversity over the past quarter century—linked with the politicization of race, ethnicity, and culture—has compelled an elaboration of the country’s racial construct beyond the historically simple (and never completely accurate) Black-White dichotomy (Almaguer 1994; Omi and Winant 1994). Previous research has shown that a skin color continuum is an important component of how race is conceived and how race determines life chances for two of the largest U.S. minority groups (Keith and Herring 1991; Telles and Murguia 1992). This study seeks to advance our understanding of the complexities of race by taking a comparative look at how skin color, ethnic identity and racial discrimination operate in the lives of African Americans and Mexican Americans

New OMB’s Race and Ethnicity Standards Will Affect How Americans Self-Identify

In March 2024, the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approved major changes to the ethnic and racial self-identification questions used by all federal agencies, including the U.S. Census Bureau. These modifications include merging the separate race and Hispanic ethnicity questions into a single combined question and adding a Middle Eastern and North African category. Government officials and researchers have requested evidence on how Americans might react to these changes. We conducted a survey experiment with a nationally representative sample of 7,350 adult Americans. Participants were randomly assigned to answer either the existing separate race and ethnicity questions or a combined question proposed by the OMB. We find that the combined question decreases the percentage of Americans identifying as white and as some other race. We identify the key mechanism driving these effects: Hispanics decrease their identification in other categories when a Hispanic category is available in the combined question format. This results in statistically significant decreases in key minority populations, including Afro-Latinos and indigenous Latinos

Racial Intermarriage in the Americas

We compare intermarriage in Brazil, Cuba, and the United States among the black, white, and mixed-race population using log-linear models with data from newly available anonymized and harmonized individual census microdata for the 2000 round of censuses. We find that black–white intermarriage is 105 times as likely in Brazil and 28 times as likely in Cuba compared to the United States; that Brazilian mulatos are four times as likely to marry whites than blacks, but Cuban mulatos are equally likely to marry whites and blacks; and negative educational gradients for black–white intermarriage for Cuba and Brazil but nonexistent or positive gradients in the United States. We propose a theory of intergenerational mixture and intermarriage and discuss implications for the role of preferences versus structure, universalism and education, and mulato escape-hatch theory