Chapter 8: Race and Ethnicity as Lived Experience

Intergroup Relations: Pluralism

"A cultural pattern of intergroup relations that encourages racial and ethnic variation and acceptance within a society" (234). - "Salad Bowl" instead of "Melting Pot"

Intergroup Relations: Assimilation

"A pattern of relations between ethnic or racial groups in which the minority group is absorbed into the mainstream or dominant group, making society more homogeneous" (232). - "Process is the central idea behind America's "melting pot"" (232). - "During much of the twentieth century, immigrants to the United States were eager to adopt an American way of life, become citizens, learn English, and lose any trace of their "foreign-ness" (232). - "For some, assimilation results in the tragic loss of a distinctive racial or ethnic identity" (234).

Racism

"A set of beliefs about the claimed superiority of one racial or ethnic group; used to justify inequality and often rooted in the assumption that differences among groups are genetic" (214).

Minority Group

"A social group that is systematically denied the same access to power and resources available to society's dominant groups though its members are not necessarily fewer in number than the dominant group" (213). - "It is possible to be in the numerical majority and still have this status with regard to power and opportunity" (213). - "Unequal and unfair treatment, as well as lack of access to power and resources, typically generates a strong sense of common identity and solidarity among members of these groups" (213).

Ethnicity

"A socially defined category based on a common language, religion, nationality, history, or some other cultural factor" (210). - aka: "Social category that is applied to a group with a shared ancestry or cultural heritage" (210).

Race

"A socially defined category based on real or perceived biological differences between groups of people" (210). - "is more meaningful to us on a social level than it is on a biological level" (210).

Situational Ethnicity

"An ethnic identity that can be either displayed or concealed depending on its usefulness in a given situation" (211). - "Involves a kind of cost-benefit analysis... we need to appraise each situation to determine whether or not it favors our ethnicity" (211).

Symbolic Ethnicity

"An ethnic identity that is relevant only on specific occasions and does not significantly affect everyday life" (211). - Example: Irish Americans celebrating their heritage on St. Patrick's Day

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" (214). - inflexible attitude - rooted in generalizations or stereotypes

Race Consciousness

"An ideology that acknowledges race as a powerful social construct that shapes our individual and social experiences" (217). - "Recognizes that despite the civil rights gains of the last hundred years, race is still a powerful factor in shaping our everyday lives and the world we live in" (217).

Color-Blind Racism

"An ideology that removes race as an explanation for any form of unequal treatment" (217) - "Problematic because it implies that race should be both invisible and inconsequential. And that just isn't true" (217).

Angela Y. Davis

"Argue that African American teenage girls in particular see fewer opportunities for education and work and choose motherhood instead" (226).

Implicit Bias

"Attitudes or stereotypes that are embedded at an unconscious level and may influence our perceptions, decisions, and actions" (214).

Public Sociology

"Bridging legal and scholarly works with frontline involvement in solutions to the real-world problems of racial and gender oppression.

How was race defined by biologists in the nineteenth century?

"Came up with a schema that grouped humans into three races: Negroid, Mongoloid, and Caucasoid" (209). - "It was believed that each race was characterized by its own biological makeup, separate and distinct from the others" (209).

Individual (Interpersonal) Discrimination

"Discrimination carried out by one person against another" (215).

Institutional (Systemic) Discrimination

"Discrimination carried out systematically by institutions (political, economic, educational, and others) that affects all members of a group who come into contact with it" (215).

Jeffrey McCune

"Ethnographic study of a Chicago nightclub catering to gay black men reveals the ways in which race shapes the performance of both gender and sexuality for men on the DL (Down-Low)" (223).

Microagressions

"Everyday uses of subtle verbal and nonverbal communication that convey denigrating or dismissive messages to members of certain social groups" (217). - "typically subtle, casual, and often unintentional, they still deliver a powerful message that serves to denigrate or marginalize others because of their group membership" (217-218).

Example of the social construction of race and ethnicity

"In the early 1900s, Irish, Italian, and Jewish immigrants were not considered "whites." Because of residential segregation, new immigrants poured into densely populated neighborhoods... where they had little choice but to live in squalid tenements and work in sweatshops" (210).

Split Labor Market

"One group of workers (usually defined by race, ethnicity, or gender) is routinely paid less than those in other groups, keeping wages low for racial and ethnic minorities, compounding the effects of races with those of poverty" (220-221).

Race, Ethnicity, and Life Changes: Education

"One of America's cultural myths is that everyone has equal access to education, the key to a secure, well-paying job. However, by looking at those who actually receive degrees, we can see that the playing field is not that level" (226). - "Asian Americans and whites enjoy more success overall in the U.S. educational system than African Americans and Hispanics do" (227).

Affirmative Action

"Policies, programs, and practices were established to help create opportunities for underrepresented minorities in housing, education, and employment" (219). - "Promote diversity and inclusion, provide equal access, and reduce the effects of historical discrimination" (219).

Racial Profiling

"Practice of suspecting that someone has committed a crime based on his or her race" (206).

Passing

"Presenting yourself as a member of a different group than the stigmatized group to which you belong" (222). - "Involves manufacturing or maintaining a new identity that is more beneficial than one's real identity" (223).

Symbolic Interactionism Approach to Understanding Race

"Race and ethnicity are part of our identity as displayed through our presentation of self" (223). - "Some individuals (white ethnics and light-skinned nonwhites in particular) have the option to conceal their race or ethnicity in situations where it might be advantageous to do so. This may allow them as individuals to escape the effects of racial inequality but does not erase it from society at large" (223). - "Focus on how we perceive and interpret race in everyday life, looking at the meanings and ideas we hold and how this helps to produce and perpetuate real-world consequences. Meanings can and do change over time, and so has our understanding of race" (222).

Structural Functionalism Approach to Understanding Race

"Racial and ethnic differences are a necessary part of society. Even racial inequality has functions that help maintain social order" (223). - "The functions of racial inequality and conflict for society could include the creation of social cohesion within both the dominant and minority groups" (223). - "Sees any kind of persistent social phenomenon through the lens of its contributions to social stability: If it exists/persists, it must be necessary and functional for social order, and that goes for racial inequality as well" (220). - "Contend that positive feelings about one's group are strong ties that bind people together. At the same time, this cohesiveness can lead members to see others, especially those of other races or ethnicities, in an unfavorable light" (220). - "These cultural differences and the lack of integration into the larger society on the part of minorities tend to feed fear and hostility" (220).

Conflict Theory Approach to Understanding Race

"Racial and ethnic differences create intergroup conflict; minority and majority groups have different interests and may find themselves at odds as they attempt to secure and protect their interests" (223). - "Some members of majority group (whites and men in particular) object to affirmative action programs that assist underrepresented groups. This can create conflict among racial groups in society" (223).

Robin DiAngelo

"Racism requires the ongoing use of institutional power and authority to perpetuate prejudice and discriminatory actions in systemic ways with far-reaching effects. People of color may hold prejudices and discriminate against some whites, but they don't have the collective power to transform our society into one that is systemically biased against whites" (219).

The Social Construction of Race

"Sociologists understand race as a social rather than a biological category" (222). - "There is no physical trait that will always accurately identify what race someone belongs to" (222). - "The definition of race is not stable but rather changes over time as racial categories are contested and developed" (222). - "Race is not a preexisting biological category; it is a social one that is framed in terms of biological features" (222).

Victor Rios

"Spent five years in schools and community centers documenting what happens to Latino youth in what has been called the school-to-prison pipeline" (226).

Adam Love and Matthew Hughey

"Studied conversations on online men's college basketball forums, arguing that these conversations were implicitly racialized in conventional ways despite the fact that they took place in a disembodied setting" (223).

France Winddance Twine

"Study of white women who have families with black men. As the intimate partners of black men, these women effectively lose some of their whiteness... this loss of whiteness is a form of punishment exacted by their ethnicity--and class-based communities, but it is not meted out equally to white men who marry black women" (229). - In her work, "race, class, gender, and parenthood combine to shape the lived experiences of individuals and families" (230).

Claude Steele

"Suggests that stereotype threat may help explain some of the achievement gap between racial groups" (227).

Cultural Appropriation

"The adoption of cultural elements belonging to an oppressed group by members of the dominant group, without permission and often for the dominant group's gain" (218). - Can include art, music, dance, dress, language, religious rituals, etc. - Often seen on Halloween or College theme parties

Reverse Racism

"The claim by whites that they suffer discrimination based upon their race, and therefore, experience social disadvantages" (219). - "While whites may confront some forms of temporary, occasional, or situational discrimination, they don't suffer from the widespread cumulative disadvantages in almost every sphere of social life that are perpetuated within a historically and pervasively racist society" (219).

Intergroup Relations: Genocide

"The deliberate and systematic extermination of a racial, ethnic, national, or cultural group" (231).

Intergroup Relations: Internal Colonialism

"The economic and political subjugation of the minority group by the dominant group within a nation" (232). - Often in the form of economic exploitation

Intergroup Relations: Population Transfer

"The forcible removal of a group of people from the territory they have occupied" (232). - Ex: Native Americans in the U.S, Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, Mormon Pioner Trail

Intergroup Relations: Segregation

"The physical and legal separation of groups by race or ethnicity" (232). - "If members of the minority group live close by yet in their own part of tow (for instance, on the "other side of the tracks"), they are separate and hence unequal but still near enough to serve as workers for the dominant group" (232).

Racial Assimilation

"The process by which racial minority groups are absorbed into the dominant group through intermarriage" (234). - "Having children with the dominant group until the different races are completely mixed" (234).

Cultural Assimilation

"The process by which racial or ethnic groups are absorbed into the dominant group by adopting the dominant group's culture" (234).

Mary Waters

"The social and political consequences of being Asian or Hispanic or black are not, for the most part, symbolic, nor are they voluntary. They are real, unavoidable, and sometimes hurtful" (211).

Critical Race Theory

"The study of the relationships among race, racism, and power" (222). - Outgrowth of conflict theory - "Racism permeates our social institutions, especially our judicial system, and must be recognized and addressed as such" (222). - Focus on intersectionality (how race is also modified by class, gender, sexuality, etc.) - "Commitment to challenge racist laws and policies and promoting social justice" (222).

Weathering

"The ways that exposure to racism erodes one's health: High levels of racially differentiated stressors affect black individuals more intensely than whites and lead to higher levels of chronic disease and lower life expectancies. Racial and ethnic minorities are also often disproportionately exposed to other factors that affect life span, such as dangers in the workplace, toxins in the environment, and violence" (226).

Embodied Identity

"Those elements of identity that are generated through others' perceptions of our physical traits" (223). - "Are not necessarily available to those interacting online" (223).

Timid Bigot (Merton)

"Though unlikely, that a person can be prejudiced and still not discriminate against others" (214).

Multiculturalism

"Tolerance of racial and ethnic differences" (234).

Privilege

"Unearned advantage accorded to members of dominant social groups (males, whites, heterosexuals, the physically able, etc.)" (216).

Discrimination

"Unequal treatment of individuals based on their membership in a social group; usually motivated by prejudice" (214).

Double-Consciousness

"W.E.B. DuBois's term for the divided identity experienced by blacks in the United States" (223).

Antiracist Allies

"Whites and others working toward the goal of ending racial injustice" (219). - "It starts with getting educated about matters of race and racism and by listening to, rather than speaking for, people of color" (219).

Race, Ethnicity, and Life Changes: Family

- "African Americans are more likely than whites and Hispanics to never marry" (225) - "Black and Hispanic children are significantly more likely to live in single-parent homes" (226). - "Birth rates for American teenage mothers (ages fifteen to nineteen) varied significantly by race" (226).

Race, Ethnicity, and Life Changes: Criminal Justice

- "Data on pedestrian and motor vehicle stops demonstrate that blacks and Hispanics are 127 percent more likely than whites to be stopped and 43 percent more likely to be frisked. Despite this unequal policing, blacks and Hispanics are 42 and 32 percent less likely to be in possession of a weapon or drugs than are whites" (229). - "Other factors to consider are higher unemployment rates among minority groups, as well as higher dropout rates; in other words, a lack of both education and job opportunities may contribute to higher incarceration rates" (229). - "African Americans are also more likely to be victims of homicide" (229).

Race, Ethnicity, and Life Changes: Work and Income

- "Persons of color carry the burden of some of society's most difficult jobs (nurses, psychiatric and home health aides, postal clerks, etc.) (227). - "In part due to the segregation of people of color in low-wage occupations, we see enduring income gaps between white workers and black and Hispanic workers" (227). - "The median incomes of whites and Asian Americans thus place them firmly in the middle and upper-middle class, respectively, while those of blacks and Hispanics place them in the lower-middle class" (227). - "Blacks and Hispanics are also more likely to live in poverty" (227). - In a study done, "Resumes with white-sounding names garnered a 50 percent higher callback rate than identical resumes with black-sounding names" (227).

White Nationalism

- "The belief that the nation should be built around a white identity that is reflected in religion, politics, economics, and culture" (216). - A racist ideology that demonizes nonwhites (and Jews) - KKK, Aryan Brotherhood, Neo-Nazis

What have modern scientists discovered about race?

- "There are no "pure" races-that the lines among races are blurry rather than fixed" (209). - "There is also no such thing as a "superior" race, as race itself is not the reason that different groups might display positive or negative characteristics" (209). - "We have attributed great significance to quite superficial differences. Such conclusions overlook the fact that all humans, whatever racial categories they seem to inhabit, are 99.9 percent genetically identical" (210).

Tomas Almaguer

- Conflict Theorist - Book: Racial Fault Lines: The Historical Origins of White Supremacy in California - "Rather than focusing exclusively on class, he examines how white supremacist ideology became institutionalized. Racist beliefs became a part of political and economic life during that period" (221).

Patricia Hill Collins, bell hooks, and Gloria Anzaldua

- Conflict Theorists - "Argue that race must be explained in the terms in which it is experienced, not as overarching general theories" (221-222).

Edna Bonacich

- Conflict Theory - "Racism is partly driven by economic competition and the struggle over scare resources" (220).

Race, Ethnicity, and Life Changes: Health

- Life expectancy and mortality rates vary by race. - Infant and maternal mortality are also important indicators of disparities in health. - "Another ongoing issue for Americans is access to healthcare insurance and medical services" (226).

Jennifer Lee and Min Zhou

- Stereotype Promise - "Because there are positive stereotypes associated with the academic performance of Asian Americans, those students may reap benefits in similarly stressful situations when they might confirm such stereotypes" (227).

Ways we display our racial and ethnic group membership

- dress - language - food - religious practices - music, art, literature preferences - topics we pursue in school Note: "Sometimes these practices make our group membership obvious to others; sometimes they don't" (211).

Crack Epidemic

-1980s & 1990s - "Black communities suffered disproportionately" (229). - "In 2010, 79 percent of the federally sentenced crack offenders were black, despite research indicating that two-thirds of crack users were white or Hispanic" (229).

Michael Brown

18-year old Black teenager who was shot by a white police officer in Ferguson, MO, outside of St. Louis. His death resulted in widespread protests and riots in St. Louis and Ferguson in 2014. - Brought attention to the larger issue of Institutional Discrimination

What was the first census in which people could identify with more than one race? How many possible racial combinations did this create?

2000 Census - 57 combinations

What do Low-Income Single Mothers Say about Marriage?

According to Kathryn Edin, "low-income women of all ethnicities see marriage as having few benefits. They feel that the men they are likely to encounter as possible husbands will not offer the advantages (financial stability, respectability, trust) that make the rewards of marriage worth the risks" (226).

What is a country that is committed to the ideals of multiculturalism?

Canada

White Washing

Casting white actors to play nonwhite characters or rewriting characters who were originally people of color to be white.

Affirmative Action in higher education

Has been challenged as "reverse discrimination" in many cases, some making it to the Supreme Court.

When is situational or symbolic ethnicity not available?

Is not "available to those who are visibly nonmainstream, whatever that may look like in a given society. In the United States, this generally means that nonwhites do not have a choice about whether to display their group membership" (211).

Driving While Black

Phrase used to describe the pattern of black drivers getting pulled over at a higher frequency than whites while on the roadways - This became even more prevalent during the war on drugs (1980s) when "despite overwhelming evidence that rates of illegal drug use are similar across racial lines, police and highway patrol officers have often disproportionately targeted nonwhite motorists when searching for drug couriers" (208).

Fair Sentencing Act

Reduced crack cocaine v. powder cocaine sentencing disparity from 100:1 to 18:1

Richard Rothstein

Studied housing policies and discovered that "The Federal Housing Authority systematically and explicitly enacted policies that excluded African Americans while benefiting whites" (215). - Book: The Color of Law

Internalized Racism

The internalization by people of racist attitudes towards members of their own ethnic group, including themselves

Majority-Minority States

The process by which a majority of the population is from the minority. - California, Hawaii, Texas, New Mexico

Pretext Stops

When an officer stops a vehicle due to an equipment violation but really wants to investigate other, more serious criminal activity.

Will the U.S become a Majority-Minority country?

Yes, demographers predict that "by 2045, whites will make up just 49.7 percent of the U.S. population. This means that no single racial or ethnic group will represent the majority of the U.S population" (213).