Download - Introduction to Sociology SOC-101
Introduction to SociologySOC-101
Unit 9 – Race and Ethnicity
Laying the Sociological Foundation Race is a reality in the sense that humans do
come in different colors and shapes However, two of the myths regarding race are that
one race is superior to another and that a pure race exists
These myths make a difference in social life because people believe they are real and act on their beliefs
Race and ethnicity are often confused due to the cultural differences people see and the way they define race
Ethnicity refers to cultural characteristics that distinguish a people
Laying the Sociological Foundation Minority groups are people singled out for
unequal treatment They regard themselves as objects of collective
discrimination The shared characteristics of minorities
worldwide are: Physical or cultural traits that distinguish them are
held in low esteem by the dominant group, which treats them unequally
They tend to marry within their own group They tend to feel strong group solidarity
Laying the Sociological Foundation Minority groups are not necessarily in the
numerical minority Dominant Group
Those who do the discriminating They have greater power, more privileges, and higher
social status The dominant group attributes its privileged position to
its superiority, not to discrimination A group becomes a minority through the
expansion of political boundaries by another group Another way for a group to become a minority, either
voluntarily or involuntarily, is by migration into a territory
Laying the Sociological Foundation Individuals vary considerably in terms of how
they construct their racial-ethnic identity Some people feel an intense sense of ethnic
identity, while others feel very little Ethnic identity is influenced by the relative
size and power of the ethnic group, its appearance, and the level of discrimination aimed at the group If a group is relatively small, has little power, has a
distinctive appearance, and is an object of discrimination, its members will have a heightened sense of ethnic identity
Laying the Sociological Foundation Ethnic work
Refers to how people construct their ethnic identity and includes enhancing and maintaining a group’s distinctiveness or attempting to recover their ethnic heritage
The idea of the U.S. as a melting pot? Different groups quietly blending together into an
ethnic stew, is undermined by the fact that many people today are engaged in ethnic work
A better metaphor would be “tossed salad”
Laying the Sociological Foundation Prejudice and discrimination are common
throughout the world Discrimination
Unfair treatment directed toward someone When based on race, it is known as racism It can also be based on features such as age, sex,
sexual preference, religion, or politics Prejudice
Prejudging of some sort, usually in a negative way
Laying the Sociological Foundation Ethnocentrism
Using one’s own culture as a yardstick for judging the ways of other individuals or societies
Is so common that each racial/ethnic group views other groups as inferior in some way
Studies confirm that there is less prejudice among the more educated and among younger people
Laying the Sociological Foundation Sociologists distinguish between individual
and institutional discrimination: Individual discrimination is negative treatment of
one person by another Too limited a perspective because it focuses only on
individual treatment Institutional discrimination is negative treatment
of a minority group that is built into a society’s institutions Focuses on human behavior at the group level Examples include certain mortgage lending practices
and health care availability
Theories of Prejudice Psychological Perspectives:
According to John Dollard, prejudice results from frustration: people unable to strike out at the real source of their frustration find scapegoats to unfairly blame
According to Theodor Adorno, highly prejudiced people are characterized by excess conformity, intolerance, insecurity, heightened respect for authority, and submission to superiors He called this complex of personality traits the
authoritarian personality Subsequent studies have generally concluded that people
who are older, less educated, less intelligent, and from a lower social class are more likely to be authoritarian
Theories of Prejudice Functionalists
The social environment can be deliberately arranged to generate either positive or negative feelings about people
Prejudice can be a product of pitting groups against each other in an “I win/you lose” situation
It is functional in that it creates in-group solidarity and out-group antagonism
It is dysfunctional in that prejudice destroys social relationships and intensifies conflict
Theories of Prejudice Conflict Theorists
The ruling class benefits when it systematically pits group against group by: Creating a split labor market which divides workers
along racial-ethnic lines and weakens solidarity among the workers
Maintaining higher unemployment rates for minorities, creating a reserve labor force from which owners can draw when they need to temporarily expand production
Workers from different racial-ethnic groups learn to fear and distrust one another instead of recognizing common interests and working for their mutual benefit
Theories of Prejudice Symbolic Interactionists
The labels people learn color their perception and lead them to see certain things and be blind to others
Racial and ethnic labels are especially powerful because they are shorthand for emotionally laden stereotypes
The stereotypes that we learn not only justify prejudice and discrimination, but they also lead to a self-fulfilling prophecy about it
Global Patterns of Intergroup Relations Genocide
The actual, or attempted, systematic annihilation of a race or ethnic group who has been labeled as less than fully human by the dominant group
Dehumanizing labels are powerful forces that help people to compartmentalize—separate their acts from any feelings that would threaten their self-concept—thereby making it difficult for them to participate in the act
The Holocaust and the treatment of Native Americans are examples of genocide.
Global Patterns of Intergroup Relations Population transfer
The involuntary movement of a minority group Indirect transfer involves making life so
unbearable that the minority group members leave
Direct transfer involves forced expulsion A combination of genocide and population transfer
occurred in Bosnia (a part of the former Yugoslavia) when Serbs engaged in ethnic cleansing—the wholesale slaughter of Muslims and Croats, which forced survivors to flee the area
Global Patterns of Intergroup Relations Internal colonialism
A society’s policy of exploiting a minority by using social institutions to deny it access to full benefits
Slavery is an extreme example Segregation
The formal separation of groups Often accompanies internal colonialism The dominant group exploits the labor of the
minority while maintaining social distance
Global Patterns of Intergroup Relations Assimilation
The process by which a minority is absorbed into the mainstream
Forced assimilation occurs when the dominant group prohibits the minority from using its own religion, language, and customs
Permissive assimilation is when the minority adopts the dominant group’s patterns in its own way, at its own speed
Multiculturalism (pluralism) Permits or encourages racial and ethnic variation Switzerland provides an outstanding example of
this
Racial-Ethnic Relations in the U.S. The major racial-ethnic groups in the U.S. are
White European Americans, African Americans, Latinos, Asian Americans, and Native Americans
In the U.S., the dominant group is made up of whites whose ancestors emigrated here from European countries White Anglo-Saxon Protestants (WASPs) were
highly ethnocentric and viewed white ethnics—the Irish, Germans, Poles, Jews, and Italians—as inferior
Racial-Ethnic Relations in the U.S. Immigrants were expected to blend into the
mainstream, speak English, and adopt the dominant group’s way of life It was the grandchildren of the immigrants, the
third generation, who most easily adjusted As these white ethnics assimilated into Anglo
culture, the definition of WASP was expanded to include them
Because the English first settled the colonies, they established the institutions and culture to which later immigrants had to conform
Latinos The largest ethnic group in the U.S.
Includes Chicanos, Puerto Ricans, Cuban Americans, and people from Central or South America
Concentrated primarily in four states: California, Texas, New York, and Florida They are causing major demographic shifts
The Spanish language distinguishes them from other minorities Perhaps half are unable to speak English without
difficulty This is a major obstacle to getting well-paid jobs.
Latinos Divisions based on social class and country of
origin prevent political unity among these Latino groups
Compared with non-Hispanic whites and Asian Americans, Latinos are worse off on all indicators of well-being The country of origin is significant, with Cuban
Americans scoring the highest on indicators of well-being and Puerto-Rican Americans scoring the lowest
African Americans Face a legacy of racism
Following the end of the Civil War, southern states passed Jim Crow laws that separated blacks and whites
In 1955, African Americans in Montgomery, Alabama, using the nonviolent tactics advocated by Martin Luther King, Jr., protested laws they believed to be unjust This led to the civil rights movement that challenged
existing patterns of racial segregation throughout the south
The 1964 Civil Rights Act banned discrimination in public facilities
The 1965 Voting Rights Act banned literacy tests used to prevent African Americans from voting
African Americans Frustration over the slow pace of change led to
urban riots and passage of the 1968 Civil Rights Act
Since then, African Americans have made political and economic progress For example, African Americans have quadrupled
their membership in the U.S. House of Representatives in the past 25 years
As college enrollment continues to increase, the middle class has expanded so that now one of every four African American families makes more than $40,000 annually
African Americans such as Jesse Jackson, Douglas Wilder, Deval Patrick, Condoleezza Rice, and Barack Obama are politically prominent
African Americans Despite these gains, however, African
Americans continue to lag behind in politics, economics, and education They average 59% of whites’ incomes Only 17% graduate from college About one of every five African American families
makes less than $15,000 annually According to William J. Wilson, social class (not
race) is the major determinant of quality of life The African American community today is divided
into two groups
African Americans Middle-class African Americans
Seized opportunities created by civil rights legislation and advanced economically, moving out of the inner city
They have moved up the class ladder, live in good housing, have well-paid jobs, and send their children to good schools
Poorly educated and unskilled African Americans As opportunities for unskilled labor declined, they were left
behind They still live in poverty, face violent crime and dead-end
jobs, attend terrible schools, and live in hopelessness and despair
Willie challenges Wilson, arguing that discrimination based on race persists This is despite gains made by some African Americans
It is likely that both discrimination and social class contribute to the African American experience
Asian Americans They too have long faced discrimination in the
U.S. The history of Asian Americans is one of
discrimination and prejudice Chinese Americans were frequently the victims of
vigilante groups and anti-Chinese legislation After the attack on Pearl Harbor in World War II,
hostilities increased, with many Japanese Americans being imprisoned in “relocation camps”
When immigrants from Japan began to arrive in the United States they experienced “spillover bigotry” A stereotype that lumped all Asians together, depicting
them as sneaky, lazy, and untrustworthy
Asian Americans Asian Americans are a diverse group divided
by separate cultures Although there are variations in income
among Asian American groups, on the average Asian Americans have been extremely successful
This success can be traced to three factors: A close family life Educational achievement Assimilation into the mainstream
Asian Americans are becoming more prominent in politics, serving as governors of Hawaii, Louisiana, and Washington
Native Americans Due to the influence of old movie westerns, many
Americans tend to hold stereotypes of Native Americans as uncivilized savages and a single group of people subdivided into separate bands
In reality, Native Americans represent a diverse group of people with a variety of cultures and languages Although originally numbering between 5 and 10
million, their numbers were reduced to a low of 250,000 at the end of the nineteenth century due to a lack of immunity to European diseases and warfare
Today there are about 3 million Native Americans
Native Americans At first, relations between European settlers and
the Native Americans were peaceful However, as the number of settlers increased, tensions
grew Because they stood in the way of expansion, many
Native Americans were slaughtered Government policy shifted to population transfer, and
Native Americans were confined to reservations Today they are an invisible minority
Almost half live in rural areas, with one-third concentrated in Oklahoma, California, and Arizona
They have the highest rates of poverty, unemployment, suicide, and alcoholism of any U.S. minority
These negative conditions are the result of Anglo domination
Native Americans In the 1960s Native Americans won a series of
legal victories that restored their control over the land and their right to determine economic policy
Many Native American tribes have opened businesses, ranging from industrial parks to casinos
Today, many Native Americans are interested in recovering their own traditions Pan-Indianism emphasizes common elements that
run through Native American cultures in order to develop self-identification that goes beyond any one tribe
Looking Towards the Future As U.S. society is now in the 21st century, two
issues that will have to be resolved are immigration and affirmative action
Immigration The first great wave of immigrants arrived from
Europe at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries
The second wave, since 1980, has brought immigrants from around the world and is contributing to the changing U.S. racial/ethnic mix
In some states, such as California, all minorities combined represent the majority of the population
Many are concerned that this influx of immigrants will change the character of U.S. society, including the primacy of the English language
Looking Towards the Future Affirmative action is at the core of the national
debate about how to steer a course in race and ethnic relations Some see affirmative action as the more direct way
to level the playing field of economic opportunity, while others say that it results in reverse discrimination
There is still no consensus about the proper role of affirmative action in a multicultural society
In order to achieve a multicultural society will require that groups with different histories and cultures learn to accept one another We must begin to examine our history and question many
of its assumptions and symbols