Date of Award
Summer 8-1-2014
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
Earth & Environmental Systems
Abstract
Nationalist discourse concerning race in Puerto Rico generally states that residents are of the same racially mixed heritage—a combination of Spanish, West African, and indigenous ancestry of various degrees. However, literature and casual observations suggest that the population is characterized by greater variation in physical appearances than what is posited by “admixture” discourse. Moreover, and further complicating the understanding of race, 2010 U.S. Census data show that over 75 percent of Puerto Ricans self-identified as “White, alone”, and that only 3.3 percent of respondents indicated “Two or More Races.” Researchers, employers, and governmental agencies attempting to address or further analyze issues of inequality, discrimination, and residential segregation have had to rely on existing U.S. Census data to identify possible links between race and socioeconomic attainment. Thus, the need for an alternative data collection process that can be used for various forms of socioeconomic and spatial analysis has become evident. In this study, I administered alternative datasets that emphasized a locally suited, culturally grounded, and standardizable conceptual foundation for the purpose of establishing more representative racial statistics for the Puerto Rican population. The socioeconomic and spatial implications of resulting data were analyzed to determine if members of certain racial classifications are more privileged than others, and to determine if racial identity is characterized by spatial autocorrelation. Results showed that “Whites”, defined by different enumerators through various instruments, have attained slightly higher levels of socioeconomic attainment than nonwhites. However, there were no indications of spatial clustering or segregation based on race. Lastly, I interviewed a subsample of participants to vii garner feedback concerning their assessments of the survey instruments, their general understanding of race and historical admixture, their perceptions of racial inequality, their opinions of affirmative action, and finally, their observations of racialized spaces.
Recommended Citation
Allen, Reuben, "Alternative Ways to Enumerate Data on Race in Puerto Rico: Are Racial Segregation and Spatial Clustering more Evident when Using a Culturally Grounded Methodology?" (2014). All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 144.
https://scholars.indianastate.edu/etds/144
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