Ch 9: Race and Ethnicity as Lived Experience

pluralism or multiculturalism

a pattern of inter-group relations that encourages racial and ethnic variation within a society

assimilation

a pattern of relations between ethnic or racial groups in which the minority groups is absorbed into the mainstream or dominant group, making society more homogeneous

racism

a set of beliefs about the superiority of one racial or ethnic group; used to justify inequality, and often rooted in the assumption that differences between groups are genetic

ethnicity

a socially defined category based on common language, religion, nationality, history, or another cultural factor

race

a socially defined category, based on real or perceived biological differences between groups of people

situational ethnicity

an ethnic identity that can be either displayed or concealed depending on its usefulness in a given situation

symbolic ethnicity

an ethnic identity that is only relevant on specific occasions and does not significantly impact on everyday life

prejudice

an idea about the characteristics of a group that is applied to all members of that group, and is unlikely to change regardless of the evidence against it

individual discrimination

discrimination carried out by one person against another

institutional discrimination

discrimination carried out systematically by institutions (political, economic, educational, and others) that affect all members of a group who came into contact with it

minority group

members of social group that is systematically denied the same access to power and resources available to the dominant groups of a society, but who are not necessarily fewer in number than the dominant groups

passing

presenting yourself as a member of a different racial or ethnic group than the one you were born into

genocide

the deliberate and systematic extermination of a racial, ethnic, national, or cultural group

internal colonialism

the economic and political domination and subjugation of the minority group by the controlling group within a nation

population transfer

the forcible removal of a group of people from the territory they have occupied

segregation

the formal and legal separation of groups by race or ethnicity

racial assimilation

the process by which racial minority groups are absorbed into the dominant group through intermarriage

cultural assimilation

the process by which racial or ethnic groups are absorbed into the dominant group by adopting group's culture

embodied identity

those elements od identity that are generated through others' perceptions of our physical traits

discrimination

unequal treatment of individuals based on their membership in a social group; usually motivated by prejudice