"Racism" and colonialism: Meanings of difference and ruling practices in America's Pacific empire

Abstract

This article examines the meanings of "race" and difference in the first years of American colonialism in the Philippines, Guam, and Samoa. Moving beyond existing sociological studies of "race" and "colonial discourse," I demonstrate that the meanings of racial difference in the U.S. Pacific empire were contemporaneously polyvalent, constituting an overarching field of multiple rather than uniform classifications. The different meanings formed the basis for intra-imperial debate among colonizing agents. They also contributed to notable variations in forms of colonial governance and policy across the empire. The implication for future study is that "race" should best be apprehended as a "code" that takes on specific meanings and obtains its social force only in particular contexts of use and utterance.