Ethnic Geography vs. Racial Geography and Racialization.

1. Explain why race is a social construct.

2. Name and discuss two institutional mechanisms that segregated non-Whites nationwide.

3. Explain the difference between ethnic and racial geography.

1. Explain why race is a social construct.

Race is not a good proxy for biological and genetic differences between human groups. What is socially understood as "race" does not correspond to biological or genetic differences.

2. Name and discuss two institutional mechanisms that segregated non-Whites nationwide.

The Jim Crow Laws segregated whites and non-whites in public facilities in the South for almost a century: from shortly after the end of the civil war until they were struck down by the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Redlining is another social institution that has been used to segregate non-whites. Redlining consists in the denial of certain services (housing, commerce, industry) in specific areas of a city, to a specific group of people, often a "race".

3. Explain the difference between ethnic and racial geography.

Ethnic geography studies ethnic groups and their territorial distribution. An ethnic group or ethnicity is an anthropological concept that refers to a group of people that share a common culture.

Racial geography studies the so-called "human races" and their territorial distribution. Race is primarily a biological concept but it does not hold validity for human populations as explained previosly.