Chapter 8

Racial–Ethnic Relations

The Problem in Sociological PerspectivePrejudice is an attitude.Discrimination is action, differential

treatment.Minority group:

People who are discriminated against because they belong to a particular group.

Dominant group: those who discriminate

Characteristics of Minority GroupsMembership is not voluntary (achieved

status) but comes through birth (ascribed status).

Physical or cultural traits are held in low esteem by the dominant group (prejudice).

Members are treated unequally by the dominant group (discrimination).

Minorities feel group solidarity because of physical or cultural traits and disadvantages of these traits.

Policies of Dominant Groups: Patterns of Intergroup Relations

PluralismAssimilation: forced or permissibleSegregationInternal colonialismPopulation transfer: direct or indirectGenocide

Ideas of Racial SuperiorityRace

The inherited physical characteristics that identify a group of people

EugenicsAttempts to improve the human “race” through

selective breedingRace is an arbitrary social category.Sociologists use the term racial–ethnic group.Racial–ethnic group: people who identify

with one another on basis of ancestry and cultural heritage

Ethnicity – Culture

The Scope of the ProblemThe melting potAnglo-conformityStereotypes: unrealistic

generalizations of what people are likeEffects of discrimination reach beyond

statistics

Institutional DiscriminationIndividual DiscriminationInstitutional DiscriminationNational Association of Real Estate Boards

(NAR): organization that used to support racial discrimination as a moral act

Unintended Institutional Discrimination

Institutional Discrimination: can occur even when those doing the discriminating are unaware of it

The Achievement Predictor (TAP)Institutional discrimination is built into our social

system.Operates throughout society

High school exit exams, SATs, IQ tests

Symbolic InteractionismEthnophaulisms: derogatory labels that are

applied to racial–ethnic groupsSocialization into prejudiceLabels affect prejudice by causing selective

perceptionSelf-fulfilling Prophecy: labels so powerful

they justify prejudice and discriminationCompartmentalize: separate negative acts

from other aspects of their lives

FunctionalismFunctions and dysfunctions of discriminationRacial–ethnic stratification

Ensures that society’s dirty work gets doneSociety needs a division of labor

EthnocentrismHelps dominant group justify higher social position

and greater share of society’s resourcesDysfunctions

Interfere with people’s welfare and the functioning of society

Conflict TheorySurplus value of laborSplit-labor Market

Weakens the bargaining power of workers by splitting them along racial–ethnic lines

Reserve Labor ForceMinority workers are ideal for the reserve labor force

False class consciousnessConsequences of a split-labor market

Leads minorities and whites to view one another as enemies

Riots

Research FindingsNative Americans

2 million Native Americans representing more than 500 tribes

Exogamy: intermarriageTreaties: broken for land and resourcesStereotypes: justify inhumane actsEducation and culture conflict: Bureau of Indian

Affairs (BIA)Pan-Indianism: moving beyond identification with

a particular tribe and emphasizing common elements that run through all of their cultures

Latinos (Hispanics)Largest ethnic group in the U.S.Unauthorized immigrantsFactor that clearly distinguishes Latinos from other U.S.

minorities is the Spanish languageAfrican Americans

Civil Disobedience: deliberately but peacefully disobeying laws considered unjust

Rising ExpectationsMilitancy: after M.L. King’s death

Race or Social Class? A Sociological Debate

Social ClassAny group of people who have more or less similar

goods, services, or skills to offer for income in a given economic order and who therefore receive similar financial remuneration in the market-place

Life ChancesQuality of life and experiences

Asian AmericansDetention CampsDiscrimination against Chinese and JapaneseDevelopment stages of Chinatowns

Involuntary segregationDefensive insulationVoluntary segregationGradual assimilation

General economic success of Asian Americans seems to be rooted in three factors: family life, education, and assimilation

Social PolicyCenters on goals of encouraging cultural

pluralism and preventing discriminationAppreciating different backgrounds

Establish national, state, and local “cultural centers”

Teach history in ways that recognize the contributions of many groups

Teach foreign languages in public schools

Preventing DiscriminationUse the legal system

Civil Rights Act of 1964, which forbids discrimination by race, color, creed, national origin, and sex, must be enforced

Education vouchersParents could choose any school they wanted their

children to attend, private or public

The Dilemma of Affirmative ActionThe Bakke CaseProposition 209The University of Michigan Case

Absent constitutional amendments like those in Michigan and California; states that want to use race–ethnicity in college admissions must follow the Supreme Court’s decision

Principles for Improving Relations

People of different racial–ethnic backgrounds should have equal status.

People in interethnic contact should work together.

To achieve equality, groups must demonstrate cooperative dependence.

Authority, law, and custom should support interaction among groups.

The Future of the ProblemProgress

Inconsistent and backwards at timesAn ongoing struggleDisparities in education

Education is the key in improving racial–ethnic relations

Disturbing possibility is permanent underclassMilitants, from minority or dominant group, are an

unpredictable factor in future racial–ethnic relationsThe American Dilemma