Skip to main content
Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Am J Public Health. 2001 July; 91(7): 1049–1055.
doi: 10.2105/ajph.91.7.1049
PMCID: PMC1446716
PMID: 11441730

Paradigm lost: race, ethnicity, and the search for a new population taxonomy.

G M Oppenheimer
Author information Copyright and License information PMC Disclaimer

Abstract

The Institute of Medicine (IOM) recently recommended that the National Institutes of Health (NIH) reevaluate its employment of "race," a concept lacking scientific or anthropological justification, in cancer surveillance and other population research. The IOM advised the NIH to use a different population classification, that of "ethnic group," instead of "race." A relatively new term, according to the IOM, "ethnic group" would turn research attention away from biological determinism and toward a focus on culture and behavior. This article examines the historically central role of racial categorization and its relationship to racism in the United States and questions whether dropping "race" from population taxonomies is either possible or, at least in the short run, preferable. In addition, a historical examination of "ethnicity" and "ethnic group" finds that these concepts, as used in the United States, derive in part from race and immigration and are not neutral terms; instead, they carry their own burden of political, social, and ideological meaning.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (102K).

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  • La Veist TA. Why we should continue to study race...but do a better job: an essay on race, racism and health. Ethn Dis. 1996 Winter-Spring;6(1-2):21–29. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • Williams DR. Race and health: basic questions, emerging directions. Ann Epidemiol. 1997 Jul;7(5):322–333. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • Herman AA. Toward a conceptualization of race in epidemiologic research. Ethn Dis. 1996 Winter-Spring;6(1-2):7–20. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • Senior PA, Bhopal R. Ethnicity as a variable in epidemiological research. BMJ. 1994 Jul 30;309(6950):327–330. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • Crews DE, Bindon JR. Ethnicity as a taxonomic tool in biomedical and biosocial research. Ethn Dis. 1991 Winter;1(1):42–49. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • Krieger N. Inequality, diversity, and health: thoughts on "race/ethnicity" and "gender". J Am Med Womens Assoc. 1996 Aug-Oct;51(4):133–136. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • Fullilove MT. Comment: abandoning "race" as a variable in public health research--an idea whose time has come. Am J Public Health. 1998 Sep;88(9):1297–1298. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • Krieger N, Williams D, Zierler S. "Whiting out" white privilege will not advance the study of how racism harms health. Am J Public Health. 1999 May;89(5):782–785. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • Rabin R. The use of race as a variable in public health research. Am J Public Health. 1999 May;89(5):783–784. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • Buehler JW. Abandoning race as a variable in public health research. Am J Public Health. 1999 May;89(5):783–784. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • Fullilove Mindy Thompson. Fullilove Responds. Am J Public Health. 1999 May;89(5):c783–784. [PMC free article] [Google Scholar]
  • Bhopal R, Donaldson L. White, European, Western, Caucasian, or what? Inappropriate labeling in research on race, ethnicity, and health. Am J Public Health. 1998 Sep;88(9):1303–1307. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • Allen LC. THE NEGRO HEALTH PROBLEM. Am J Public Health (N Y) 1915 Mar;5(3):194–203. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • Bousfield MO. Reaching the Negro Community. Am J Public Health Nations Health. 1934 Mar;24(3):209–215. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • Alba R, Nee V. Rethinking assimilation theory for a new era of immigration. Int Migr Rev. 1997 Winter;31(4):826–874. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • Krieger N, Rowley DL, Herman AA, Avery B, Phillips MT. Racism, sexism, and social class: implications for studies of health, disease, and well-being. Am J Prev Med. 1993 Nov-Dec;9(6 Suppl):82–122. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • Canto JG, Allison JJ, Kiefe CI, Fincher C, Farmer R, Sekar P, Person S, Weissman NW. Relation of race and sex to the use of reperfusion therapy in Medicare beneficiaries with acute myocardial infarction. N Engl J Med. 2000 Apr 13;342(15):1094–1100. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • Mitchell JB, Ballard DJ, Matchar DB, Whisnant JP, Samsa GP. Racial variation in treatment for transient ischemic attacks: impact of participation by neurologists. Health Serv Res. 2000 Mar;34(7):1413–1428. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • Northridge ME, Yankura J, Kinney PL, Santella RM, Shepard P, Riojas Y, Aggarwal M, Strickland P. Diesel exhaust exposure among adolescents in Harlem: a community-driven study. Am J Public Health. 1999 Jul;89(7):998–1002. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • Muntaner C. Invited commentary: social mechanisms, race, and social epidemiology. Am J Epidemiol. 1999 Jul 15;150(2):121–128. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • Reitz NN, Callender CO. Organ donation in the African-American population: a fresh perspective with a simple solution. J Natl Med Assoc. 1993 May;85(5):353–358. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • Bhopal RS, Phillimore P, Kohli HS. Inappropriate use of the term 'Asian': an obstacle to ethnicity and health research. J Public Health Med. 1991 Nov;13(4):244–246. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • Hahn RA, Truman BI, Barker ND. Identifying ancestry: The reliability of ancestral identification in the United States by self, proxy, interviewer, and funeral director. Epidemiology. 1996 Jan;7(1):75–80. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • Hahn RA. The state of federal health statistics on racial and ethnic groups. JAMA. 1992 Jan 8;267(2):268–271. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • Krieger N, Sidney S, Coakley E. Racial discrimination and skin color in the CARDIA study: implications for public health research. Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults. Am J Public Health. 1998 Sep;88(9):1308–1313. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • Krieger N. Refiguring "race": epidemiology, racialized biology, and biological expressions of race relations. Int J Health Serv. 2000;30(1):211–216. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • Hahn RA, Stroup DF. Race and ethnicity in public health surveillance: criteria for the scientific use of social categories. Public Health Rep. 1994 Jan-Feb;109(1):7–15. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • Fang J, Madhavan S, Alderman MH. The association between birthplace and mortality from cardiovascular causes among black and white residents of New York City. N Engl J Med. 1996 Nov 21;335(21):1545–1551. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • David RJ, Collins JW., Jr Differing birth weight among infants of U.S.-born blacks, African-born blacks, and U.S.-born whites. N Engl J Med. 1997 Oct 23;337(17):1209–1214. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • Taylor KL, Kerner JF, Gold KF, Mandelblatt JS. Ever vs never smoking among an urban, multiethnic sample of Haitian-, Caribbean-, and U.S.-born blacks. Prev Med. 1997 Nov-Dec;26(6):855–865. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
Articles from American Journal of Public Health are provided here courtesy of American Public Health Association
-