Skip to main content
PMC home page
American Journal of Public Health logoLink to American Journal of Public Health
. 2001 Jul;91(7):1049–1055. doi: 10.2105/ajph.91.7.1049

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

G M Oppenheimer 1
PMCID: PMC1446716  PMID: 11441730

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 (101.6 KB).

Selected References

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

  1. 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]
  2. Allen L. C. THE NEGRO HEALTH PROBLEM. Am J Public Health (N Y) 1915 Mar;5(3):194–203. doi: 10.2105/ajph.5.3.194. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Bhopal R. S., Phillimore P., Kohli H. S. 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]
  4. 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. doi: 10.2105/ajph.88.9.1303. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Bousfield M. O. Reaching the Negro Community. Am J Public Health Nations Health. 1934 Mar;24(3):209–215. doi: 10.2105/ajph.24.3.209. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Buehler J. W. Abandoning race as a variable in public health research. Am J Public Health. 1999 May;89(5):783–784. doi: 10.2105/ajph.89.5.783. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Canto J. G., Allison J. J., Kiefe C. I., Fincher C., Farmer R., Sekar P., Person S., Weissman N. W. 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. doi: 10.1056/NEJM200004133421505. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Crews D. E., Bindon J. R. Ethnicity as a taxonomic tool in biomedical and biosocial research. Ethn Dis. 1991 Winter;1(1):42–49. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. David R. J., Collins J. W., 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. doi: 10.1056/NEJM199710233371706. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Fang J., Madhavan S., Alderman M. H. 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. doi: 10.1056/NEJM199611213352101. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Fullilove M. T. 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. doi: 10.2105/ajph.88.9.1297. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Hahn R. A., Stroup D. F. 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]
  13. Hahn R. A. The state of federal health statistics on racial and ethnic groups. JAMA. 1992 Jan 8;267(2):268–271. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Hahn R. A., Truman B. I., Barker N. D. 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. doi: 10.1097/00001648-199601000-00013. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Herman A. A. Toward a conceptualization of race in epidemiologic research. Ethn Dis. 1996 Winter-Spring;6(1-2):7–20. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. 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]
  17. Krieger N. Refiguring "race": epidemiology, racialized biology, and biological expressions of race relations. Int J Health Serv. 2000;30(1):211–216. doi: 10.2190/672J-1PPF-K6QT-9N7U. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Krieger N., Rowley D. L., Herman A. A., Avery B., Phillips M. T. 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]
  19. 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. doi: 10.2105/ajph.88.9.1308. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. 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. doi: 10.2105/ajph.89.5.782. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. La Veist T. A. 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]
  22. Mitchell J. B., Ballard D. J., Matchar D. B., Whisnant J. P., Samsa G. P. 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]
  23. Muntaner C. Invited commentary: social mechanisms, race, and social epidemiology. Am J Epidemiol. 1999 Jul 15;150(2):121–128. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a009970. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Northridge M. E., Yankura J., Kinney P. L., Santella R. M., 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. doi: 10.2105/ajph.89.7.998. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  26. Rabin R. The use of race as a variable in public health research. Am J Public Health. 1999 May;89(5):783–784. doi: 10.2105/ajph.89.5.783-a. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  27. Reitz N. N., Callender C. O. 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]
  28. Senior P. A., Bhopal R. Ethnicity as a variable in epidemiological research. BMJ. 1994 Jul 30;309(6950):327–330. doi: 10.1136/bmj.309.6950.327. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  29. Taylor K. L., Kerner J. F., Gold K. F., Mandelblatt J. S. 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. doi: 10.1006/pmed.1997.0225. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  30. Williams D. R. Race and health: basic questions, emerging directions. Ann Epidemiol. 1997 Jul;7(5):322–333. doi: 10.1016/s1047-2797(97)00051-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from American Journal of Public Health are provided here courtesy of American Public Health Association

RESOURCES