Chapter 11 - Sociology

De Facto Segregation

Not necessarily supported by laws, but does in fact occur (ex. White and black segregation in housing, etc. now)

Racism

the belief that race determines human ability and as a result, certain races deserve to be treated as inferior while other races deserve to treated as superior. If people are socialized into a culture, which promotes racism, then in all likelihood they will be prejudiced and freely discriminate. • Racism refers to the belief that one racial category is innately superior or inferior to another • Institutionalized Racism: Systematic Discrimination of a racial or ethnic group that is built into social structures. • Institutional racism. This form of racism exists when racist practices often become an integral part of the social practices and institutions of a society. Institutional racism is so deeply entrenched in everyday life that people often fail to notice it

The conflict perspective

Conflict theorists believe that ethnic and racial inequality result from the endless competition among groups for power, wealth, status, and other valuable social resources. a. The group that wins the competition installs itself, as the dominant groups while the losers become the subordinate groups. b. Conflict theorists point out that different racial or ethnic groups clash with each other, a situation that benefits the dominant group.

De Jure Segregation

Created by laws (ex. Jews in Eastern Europe)

Authoritarian personality theory

views prejudice as a personality- level trait

Conflict theory

views prejudice as a product of social struggles

Scapegoat theory

argues that prejudice results from frustrations among the disadvantaged • A scapegoat is a person or category of people, typically with little power, whom people unfairly blame for their own troubles • Occurs when someone else is blamed for one's own misfortune (ex. Jews in Germany, or Immigrants taking jobs away here in the U.S.)

Discrimination

is a behavior, or and the unfair and harmful treatment of people based on their group membership. • It is an action that involves treating various categories of people unequally • It may be positive of negative • It focuses on the practice of treating people unequally.

The cultural theory of prejudice

notes that prejudice may be embedded in popular cultural values

Cultural assimilation

the assimilation along the various dimensions of culture, such as language and dress.

Miscegenation

the biological process of interbreeding among racial categories

Hypersegregation

the formation of socially isolated minority ghettoes

Race

A category composed of men and women who share biologically transmitted traits that members of a society deem socially significant a. Sociologists regard race as a social construction in the sense that biological traits are endowed with social meaning. • A race is a group of people who have been singled out on the basis of real or alleged physical characteristics b. There are no biologically pure races c. Race is a significant concept only because most people consider it to be

Race and Ethnicity: Looking Ahead

1. Relations a. Gunnar Myrdal suggested the principle of cumulation to ethnic relations: • discrimination by the majority keeps the minority in an inferior status, • the minority's inferior status then is cited as "proof" that the minority does not deserve better treatment • The principle of cumulation can work in the reverse direction: a reduction in discrimination will enable a racial or ethnic minority to gain better jobs, better housing, and better education and, thus will lead to a decrease in discrimination by the majority. 2. Immigration has generated striking cultural diversity 3. Many arrivals experience much the same prejudice and discrimination as those who came before them did

Ethnicity

A shared cultural heritage a. This concept refers to people who have common cultural characteristics and an ethnic identity. b. Races may also be analyzed as ethnic categories in many cases c. Because they share a common culture and a common identity, members of an ethnic group are drawn toward one another and feel a sense of "oneness," unity, and shared fate.

Melting Pot model of integration

Assumes that immigrants will lose their ethnic uniqueness through exposure to the dominant American culture.

Multiculturalism

Brings together people representing many traditions, religions, and racial types.

The functionalist perspective

Functionalists believe that undesirable jobs are assigned to racial and ethnic minorities because those groups lack the power to compete for more desirable positions. a. Functionalists argue that because many racial and ethnic minorities typically possess few job skills and little education, menial jobs are the best that they can realistically hope to find. b. As racial and ethnic minorities gain, however, they will secure better jobs and will rise in the social structure. c. The experiences of many white ethnic groups seems to support the functionalist view, but the history of Native, African, and Hispanic Americans suggest that there is more at work than functionalists recognize.

White Americans

In the United States, whites are both a numerical majority and the dominant group.

Segregation

Isolating a minority from contact with other members of the society. a. Refers to the physical and social separation of categories of people • It may be voluntary but it is usually imposed b. Hypersegregation id the formation of socially isolated minority ghettoes c. De Jure Segregation: Created by laws (ex. Jews in Eastern Europe) d. De Facto Segregation: Not necessarily supported by laws, but does in fact occur (ex. White and black segregation in housing, etc. now)

Internal Colonialism

Practice of treating native populations as if they were colonies (separate entities to be subjugated).

Expulsion and annihilation

Racial and ethnic prejudice can proceed along several lines. a. Expulsion can occur when one group possesses enough political and military power to force the other group to leave. b. Annihilation occurs when one group exterminates the other group. Although annihilation is an extreme reaction, it has been fairly common throughout history. • Genocide is the systematic annihilation of one category of people by another

The symbolic interactionist perspective

Symbolic interactionists point out that in order for an ethnic or racial group to exist, its members must develop a "consciousness of kind," or feelings of being like one another and different from outsiders. a. Consciousness of kind results from the interaction between racial and ethnic groups and the rest of society. b. People who are continually placed into a single group tend to develop a consciousness of kind and to identify as a particular group.

Institutionalized Racism

Systematic Discrimination of a racial or ethnic group that is built into social structures.

Institutional racism

This form of racism exists when racist practices often become an integral part of the social practices and institutions of a society. Institutional racism is so deeply entrenched in everyday life that people often fail to notice it

Symbolic Racism

This is a complex type of behavior that involves the belief in equal rights coupled with the belief that certain racial and ethnic groups have achieved an unfair advantage over whites (ex. affirmative action). • Thus you believe in core American values like equality of opportunity, individualism, and hard work, but opposing any means to making it a reality. • There is a two-tier process: • Values are endorsed at an abstract level, but opposed at a concrete level.

Stereotypes

This is a rigid and inaccurate image that summarizes a belief. Because stereotypes reflect beliefs rather than facts, they are illogical and self-serving. • A stereotype is a set of prejudices concerning some category of people • Stereotypes persist in the culture because: • stereotyping elevates the status of the group, which engages in it • stereotyping reduces the need to think and reduces guilt; and • ignorance.

White-Anglo-Saxon-Protestant (WASP's)

This is the most powerful group in the United States. Strictly speaking, WASP's are whites of English descent, but more loosely the category also includes whites of Canadian, Scottish, Australian, and Northern European descent. Sociologists usually use the term in this broader sense. • WASPs originally comprised the majority of free immigrants to the United States, and not until the nineteenth century did substantial numbers of non-WASPs begin arriving. • The arrival of immigrants from Eastern Europe and Asia led to the adoption of an immigration policy based the quotas. • These quotas were written into the 1924 act law and were a thinly disguised way to exclude African Americans, Hispanics, Asians, and Eastern Europeans. • The 1965 immigration law replaced racial-ethnic quotas with a system based on occupation and other qualifications.

Assimilation

This refers to the blending of the culture and structure of one racial or ethnic group with the culture and structure of another group. • It is the process by which minorities gradually adopt patterns of the larger culture • A related concept is miscegenation: the biological process of interbreeding among racial categories • Assimilation is not unilinear, instead, several outcomes are possible. a. One outcome is that the majority group remains the same while the minority changes and becomes like the majority group. • In the United States, this outcome is called Anglo conformity or Americanization. b. Both the minority and the majority might change and a new, blended grouping then emerge which combines some features of both groups, or melting pot assimilation. • Melting Pot model of integration: Assumes that immigrants will lose their ethnic uniqueness through exposure to the dominant American culture. c. Cultural assimilation refers to the assimilation along the various dimensions of culture, such as language and dress. d. Structural assimilation refers to assimilation along the various dimensions of social structure, such as marriage, and employment.

Pluralism

This situation prevails when separate racial and ethnic groups maintain their distinctiveness even though they might have approximately equal social standing. a. This is a state in which racial and ethnic minorities are distinct, but have social equivalence b. Pluralism implies that ethnic diversity is a desirable social goal and that group distinctiveness is voluntary rather than forced upon any group by another group. c. Pluralism is common worldwide and the United States, with at least 106 ethnic and racial groups, is especially pluralistic.

Dominant Group

When we speak of minority groups, which we will in just a moment, the concept is always in contrast to the society's dominant group. a. Those who control the central institutional spheres, including the power to define standards of beauty and social worth. • Keep in mind that the dominant group does not have to be a numerical majority (e.g. South Africa), but mainly deals with actual power and perception of power in society. • In the U.S. White Anglo-Saxon Protestants (WASPs) are the dominant group, but they comprise only a fraction of the population.

minority

a category of people, distinguished by physical or cultural traits, who are socially disadvantaged a group that has less power than the dominant group, and therefore is usually poorer than the majority, has less prestige, and suffers from discrimination. The sociological meaning of minority does not refer to the numerical size of a group. a. Minority Group Status involves four major elements: • A visible ascribed trait by which a person can be clearly recognized. • Differential (unequal) treatment on the basis of this trait. • Organization of one's own self-image around this identity. • Awareness of a shared identity with similar others. b. Minorities have two major characteristics: • They share a distinctive identity • They occupy a subordinate status c. Within the next century, a numerical majority of the US population is expected to be made up of people who are currently classified as minorities

Prejudice

an attitude, which predisposes an individual to prejudge entire categories of people unfairly. This attitude is rigid, emotionally loaded, and resistant to change. • It assumes that a certain group has a single set of favorable or unfavorable characteristics. • Prejudice is an attitude involving a rigid and irrational generalization about an entire category of people • It may be positive or negative

Structural assimilation

assimilation along the various dimensions of social structure, such as marriage, and employment.