Bolton SOC 411 Exam 2 Textbook terms

Urban Street Gangs

Many Americans associate drug trafficking with urban street gangs, the members of which are vital players in the underground economy. Because many gangs are racially segregated urban neighborhoods, they mobilize race as a principle for forming group boundaries and identities. Many join gangs because it is an institution by which they can ground their identity. There is economic opportunity

Fear of Crime

Many Americans have an irrational fear of crime despite the decreasing nature of Crime in America. Many factors play into the perception of crime and this perception has consequences

Urban unrest

Many poor black cities engaged in racial uprisings that stemmed from the violent enforcement of segregation at the time. The de-facto actions of white people degraded and relegated nonwhites to neighborhoods stripped of city services, bereft of jobs, ignored by politicians, and simmering with a sentiment of discontent. In these violent uprisings, buildings and businesses were looted and burned. Black neighborhoods went up in flames.

Labor Market

A labor market is the availability of employment and labor, in terms of supply and demand. In the context of the textbook, the labor markets is grossly skewed in favor of whites over non-whites. The unemployment statistics reflect a clear discrimination in race being that nonwhites experience twice the amount of unemployment in comparison to whites. This disparity is explained impersonally (education and job skills) and by institutional racism.

New Deal / Social Security Act

A programs implemented by Franklin D. Roosevelt dealing with welfare, work, and war designed to uplift Americans. This program birthed unemployment insurance, the minimum wage, workday limitations, and, with the Social Security Act of 1935, one of the country's most significant pieces of social legislation, old age insurance.

Violence Against Women

Americans have long pointed to female violence occurring in different countries, neglecting the fact that more than 6 million women are abused by their partners each year. Over 600 women are raped each day. Poor women, immigrants, and women of color are victimized at disproportionately high rates

War on Drugs

As mentioned previously, Ronald Reagan declared a war on drugs and subsequently introduced harder penalties for those found guilty of possessing and selling drugs. Laws such as three-strikes laws and Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 created new prisons and mandated life sentences for third time offenders. Specifically, between 1981 and 2001, the federal government warranted a $16 billion increase for national drug control. More and more police officers were dispatched to poor, nonwhite communities to arrest street-level dope slingers- despite the fact that drug use declined during the 1980's and nonwhites were not using drugs at drastically higher rates than whites. Law enforcement agencies targeted ghettos because dealings took place in public places. This was because of the supposed association between blacks and drug use.

'blackness'

Because Americans so often comprehend crime through blackness, and blackness through crime, blackness, as conceived by nonblack America, isin a sense itself a crime-not in the metaphorical sence but in very literal sense of something that offends strong and definite states of the collective conscience. This idea suggests society perceives black existence a crime against the state.

Great Depression

Beginning in fall of 1929, the Great Depression was the onset of severe economic deprivation. This economic calamity lasted from the stock market crash in 1929 all the way until the start up of world war 2 in 1941, when minority groups (mostly colored people and women) were allowed to attain jobs.

DWB

Driving while black is a satirical inuendo used to describe the blatant racial profiling techniques used by police officers. They use DWB to describe the likelihood of being criminalized because of race, and the likelihood of being discriminated against by the authorities because of your race.

Split-labor Market

For a labor market to be split, a labor market must contain at least two groups of workers whose price of labor differs for the same work, or would differ if they did the same work. A split labor market is steered by the struggles of three groups: the business elite, higher-paid labor, and cheap labor. The business elite keeps costs down by facilitating conflict between higher-paid and cheap labor. This takes attention away from the role of the business elite and acts as a catalyst for racial tension.

Mexican Repatriation Act

Forced thousands of legal and illegal mexican immigrants out of the country during the 1930's

Interracial Conflict

In the context of the book, the excerpt discussed the racial tension between blacks and Koreans. It all began when Koreans became the primary entrepreneurs in black ghettos. They owned businesses here because they did not have to compete with corporations and because they could afford to live there. Many poor blacks believed Koreans had taken their jobs, while others feel generally mistreated and disrespected by shopkeepers.

Wealth inequality

On average, whites have more wealth (income producing assets) than nonwhites. The book suggests that today's wealth inequality is a concrete result of yesterday's racism. Specifically, the government policies that uplifted poor whites while leaving poor nonwhite behind; and meager wages, bad schools, and sharecropping are to blame. This is important because most modern wealth is "old money" in that it is passed down generationally. Another explanation for this occurs on the institutional side of the economy. Banks are more likely to offer credit to whites than nonwhites. Second, nonwhites, on average, pay higher interest rates

'Law & Order' Politicians

Politicians began to run on the foundation of a tough-on-crime attitude that would declare war on crime and civil disobedience. For example, Ronald Reagan declared a war on drugs, and introduced harder penalties for those found guilty of possessing and selling drugs.

GI Bill

The GI Bill of Rights was massive in that the U.S spent more than 95 billion on the bill-almost 270 billion in today's dollars- making it the single most comprehensive set of social benefits ever issued by the federal government under a unified initiative. Using the GI bill, millions of veterans bough homes, went to college, got by on unemployment insurance, financed small businesses, and purchased farmland. The GI bill, more than any other program, forged the American Middle Class.

Immigration Problem

The idea that immigrants make the country less safe. Comparable to crime problem, politicians have fashioned an immigration problem, intensifying anti-immigrant sentiment that disproportionately targets those form Latin American, Asian, and Middle Eastern countries. Social rights and benefits have been withdrawn from undocumented immigrants. Many punitive policies stemmed from this outlook on immigration

Cancer Alley

The lower Mississippi River Industrial Corridor has 125 companies that manufacture a range of products including fertilizers, gasoline, paints and plastics, environmentalists and local residents have dubbed this corridor 'Cancer Alley', and tax breaks have granted these companies the right to do this

Blockbusting

This method was utilized by realtors in an attempt to acquire housing at below market prices in an effort to sell them above market value. They would "bust up the block" by adhering to white fear of black peopel

'hustling'

a form of economic activity created by the American Ghetto in which selling drugs and gang activity are only a small part. With few well-paying full-time jobs elsewhere in the city, residents may turn to hustling as a temporary means to keep food on the table, clothes on a child's back, and rent paid up. Hustling activities may include a barber having a prostitute in the back or a preacher receiving donations from a gang leader.

Slum lords

a slang term for a landlord, generally an absentee landlord with more than one property, who attempts to maximize profit by minimizing spending on property maintenance, often in deteriorating neighborhoods, and to tenants that they can intimidate.

Reservations

an Indian reservation is a legal designation for an area of land managed by a federally recognized Indian tribe. The median household income is roughly 66 percent of the U.S. average, and poverty rate is almost twice the national average. They are plagued by dire poverty, joblessness, and poor living conditions. Some reservations have experienced great success with the advent of casinos and other gaming ventures.

Stand your Ground

an amped up self-defense statute that takes the duty to retreat off the table. Traditionally, self-defense law mandates the obligation to flee to safety, if able, before using deadly force against an attacker. George Zimmerman used this for the foundation of his defense.

Environmental Racism

any environmental policy, practice, or directive that disproportionately disadvantages (intentionally or unintentionally) nonwhite communities. In the context of reservations, Native American lands have been targeted for radioactive dumpsites, incinerators, and erosive mining operations. Because they're not subject to state law regarding dumping, large corporations attempt to bribe corrupt officials in an attempt to pollute native American land.

White Collar Crime

are crimes that involve wealthy corporations. The ramifications of White collar crime are much greater than that of their street counterparts. Examples of white collar crime include technological crime such as computer hacking, fraud, identity theft, environmental law violations, tax evasion, bribery, counterfeiting, money laundering, and embezzling money. White collar crime is crime is crime committed by a person of respectability and high social status in the course of his occupation. Compared to their street crime counterparts, white collar criminals are three time more likely to have steady employment, five times more likely to own a home, and eight times more likely to have more than $10,000 in assets.

Public Housing

are government owned units provided at low rates to poor residents. Public housing arose after World War 2 as a response to the county's housing shortage. At first, public housing acted as temporary housing for white and black families alike. However, as urban renewal began to displace large amounts of nonwhite families, public housing was redefined as a collection for ghetto residents left homeless by the urban renewal bulldozers.

Financieras

are informal finance agencies that operate within an ethnic enclave. Their primary function is allocating loans and granting credit to members of the specified ethnic enclave who cannot secure them through mainstream banking channels. Financerias award loans, which usually are accompanied by low interest rates, based on a person's reputation in the community and her or his personal and familial connections. They are also called "character loans"

Reservations

are the places where a large proportion of America's indigenous population lives. They vary along economic, cultural, religious, linguistic, and political lines. Many divisions of a singular tribe differ in their customs, rituals, and everyday practices. Many native Americans live both in the past and the present, sporting modern homes with traditional rugs and decorations.

Age of Terror

as applied to modern times, the term "age of terror" is historically inaccurate, for terrorism in America is anything but a modern development. America's indigenous people were eradicated by western colonization. Mexican repatriation is comparable to mass kidnapping. Black America has been plagued by the most brutal and bloody terrorism, which has included the Middle Passage, slavery, and lynch mobs

Bracero Program

between 1942 and 1964, the United States government recruited Mexican nationals for agricultural work though Bracero programs, which granted them temporary residence in the U.S. over 4.5 million Mexican workers worked in the program, willing to sweat in the fields for substandard wages. They often lived in crowded and hot dwellings, with bunk beds stacked on top of one another. Called legalized slavery, the Bracero programs were outlawed with the ratification of the Civil Rights Act.

Roaring fifties

described the post-war economy following world war 2. This era was characterized by prosperity and racial inequality. More specifically, the economic gap between whites and nonwhites grew, and it grew in favor of whites.

Bordertowns

desolate towns that nest against the 2000-mile border separating the United States from Mexico. They are some of the poorest areas in the country. Many of the residents face limited economic opportunities and accept positions in America's growing low-wage market.

Welfare

government provisions intended to help disadvantaged people, including those who are poor, elderly, war veterans, unemployed, and disabled. In-kind welfare programs allocate resources for specific need, such as food, medial care, or housing. These include food stamps, Medicaid, and housing subsidies. Cash programs, by contrast provide recipients with regular income. These include Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Social Security, and general assistance.

Housing Subsidies

housing subsidies were introduced to replace public housing. Despite theoretical success, only one in four families who qualify for subsidized assistance actually received it, resulting in more renting families and subsequent rent burden. Because of the rent burden caused by lack of public assistance (in the form of housing or subsidies), eviction had become commonplace in poor, minority neighborhoods.

Death Penalty

in capital offenses, blacks are more likely to be sentence to death than whites. Moreover, people accused o killing whites are four times more likely to receive the death sentence than those accused of killing blacks. Figures also point out that innocent blacks are exonerated at a disproportionate level, suggesting a disproportionate amount of innocent blacks are being killed.

Foreclosure Crisis

in the beginning of economic recession starting in 2007, foreclosures began sweeping the nation. People of color were disproportionately affected, losing their homes at extremely high rates, their credit scores plummeting. The foreclosure crisis and ensuing recession resulted in a drastic loss of wealth for black and Hispanic families. On average, white families experience an 11 percent reduction in wealth; the average black family experienced a 31 percent reduction; and the average Hispanic family lost 44 percent of its wealth.

'Arabization' of terrorism

in the weeks following the 9/11 attacks, men and women of Arab descent-as well as those perceived to be Arabs were victims of workplace discrimination, racist threats, assaults, and even murder. In 2001, the FBI reported that crimes directed at Muslims increased seventeenfold.

3 Strikes Law

intensified the punishment for repeat offenses, with many such laws imposing a life sentence for the third, even for nonviolent crimes such as minor fraud and drug possession. This harsh policy was stemmed from the law and order politician.

Clear cutting

is a method of harvesting and regenerating trees in which all trees are cleared from a site and new, even age trees are grown. This method is controversial because it has been connected with soil and water degradation. Many reservations are threated by this type of environmental hazard.

Affirmative Action

is an umbrella term referring to a collection of policies and practices designed to address past wrongs, institutional racism, and sexism by offering people of color and women both employment and educational opportunities. Such policies and practices encourage employers seeking to create integrated institutions to consider race, ethnicity, and gender in their hiring, admittance, and other decisions. Affirmative action is also very hypocritical in that it makes application and hiring based on race, when in fact, it was created to promote equality regardless of race.

Re-racialization

is considered the process of being redefined as a different race, usually in the context of mixed individuals attending college. For example, a mixed individual raised in white suburbia might identify as white until they reach college. Then they undergo a reracialization orchestrated by their peers, professors, and guidance counselors

American Dream

is the belief that anyone regardless of where they were born or what class they were born into, can attain their own version of success in a society where upward mobility is possible for everyone. It is achieved through sacrifice, hard work and risk taking rather than by chance. This belief is considered a fallacy by the book because the book claims that the different races are oppressed, and white people systematically have the upper hand.

Strip-Mining

is the method by which a long strip of overlying rock is removed in order to mine a seam of mineral. It is most commonly used to mine coal. It is used to mine minerals relatively close to the surface and that take up a large surface area. This method drastically changes the landscape and often leaves terraces and mountainside. Many reservations are also subject to this type of environmental hazard

Advanced marginality

is the severe spatial and social segregation of the ghetto's residents, marked by their amputation from America's economic prosperity, national security, collective imagination and memory, and state services. It describes the essence of a ghetto in that it describes the social isolation and restrictive nature of it.

Dependency

is used in the context of welfare dependency. President Clinton pioneered this idea when he stated welfare leads to people becoming dependent on the government. This concept has played a leading role in structuring the welfare debate. While many argue that welfare depended upon as a sole income, welfare actually serves as a form of assistance that families rely on between jobs or when struggling through family emergency

Redlining

lenders refused to offer mortgages and home loans in nonwhite neighborhoods. The word derives its name from lenders' practice of taking a city map and drawing in red ink a border around non-white neighborhoods, marking them as too risky for loans or subsidies.

Code of the Street

many black youth associate great importance with following "the code of the street". This requires them to present themselves as aggressive, hard menaces who are not to be trifled with and who, at second's notice, will "act a fool" and resort to violence. Young people abiding by such code earn respect by conducting acts of courage and aggression

Rural

many rural areas are just as racially segregated as their urban counterparts; what is more, many rural nonwhites live in close proximity to the historical remnants of institutions explicitly created to conquer, oppress, and maintain their subordinate position in society.

Police State

nonwhite individuals are arrested at an unproportionate rate compared to their white counterparts. Since the racial uprisings of the 1960's, poor, nonwhite urban neighborhoods have been subjected to heightened surveillance and police repression. Police presences is directly correlational to the amount of black people and the level of white fear.

Lynch mob

one of the important institutions that arose to control and confine nonwhites, and African Americans in particular. Sometimes, the lynch mob operated in cahoots with local law enforcement, other times its rabid masses simply overpowered sheriff's deputies attempting to protect their captive long enough that they might receive a fair trial. Between 1880 and 1930, lynch mobs murdered 2300 black men, women and children. The white public justified the practice of lynching in a number of ways, one of which was by arguing that it kept white women safe from black male rapist. Most lynch victims were innocent, however.

Poverty

over 46 million Americans live in poverty. Roughly 15 percent of American citizens live below the poverty line. This means that their income is not enough to sustain a decent standard of living, what is called the poverty threshold. The poverty threshold in 2013 for a single person was $11,490 and $23,550 for a couple and their two children. Most poor are white, but a higher percentage of nonwhites live under the poverty threshold.

Fair Housing Act

provided federal enforcement to prohibit housing discrimination on the basis of gender, disability status, or family composition. This commenced mass desegregation and dissipation of the ghettos. Only the poorest of the poor were left behind

Reaganomics

referred to the economy during the era of Ronald Reagan. This economy reflected Regan's view on minimal government-economy interference. In it, liberal policies ushered in by the New Deal and welfare spending would drastically rolled back. The idea was that by decreasing taxes to the rich, they would in turn invest that money into a new era of production, indirectly expanding the economy. Tax cuts will leave the federal government worse off, decreasing its ability to carry out social programs; however, there will be less of a need for these programs because low- and moderate-income workers will profit along side the wealthy. Essentially, the new capital investments will allow the riches at the top level to "trickle down" to the less fortunate at the bottom. The outcome was greater income inequality

Multilingualism

refers to the ability of someone to speak three or more languages. The book discusses suburban cities such as San Gabriel Valley in which multiple languages, cultures, and ethnicities are incorporated into the curriculum to reflect the diversity of the population.

Structural Disadvantage

refers to the concentrated accumulation of overlapping and mutually reinforcing social problems in a single residential area. These problems include disproportionate number of jobless adults, poor schools, and single-parent households, as well as high degrees of social isolation, racial segregation, and chronic poverty. Structural disadvantage is often used in the context of explaining race specific crime or disparity.

Mass Incarceration

refers to the disproportionate prison population in the United States. Out of the industrialized nations, The U.S. has one of the highest incarceration rates, and nonwhites, specifically, are disproportionately incarcerated. Incarceration, as pointed out by sociologists, has lasting effects on the prison population both while in prison and when released. Those in prison experience mental health crises due the isolative nature of prison. Many are prone to violence, and very few are given any type of educational or vocational opportunity. Furthermore, ex-convicts are stigmatized and forbade the right to vote

Income Inequality

refers to the general disparity in race that exists purely on the basis of race. Generally, it refers to the higher income whites receive in comparison to nonwhites.

Tribal Sovereignty

refers to the power of Indian tribes to act as semiautonomous states, designing and running their own system of governance. Since the 1970's, the federal government has been recognizing native Americans' right to self governance. This has allowed many tribes to chart their own course on matters of economic development, political decision making, and the management of natural resources. As a result, several tribes exercising their sovereignty have developed new economic initiatives and have invested in reservation communities, ensuring that American Indian resources benefit American Indian people instead of outside investors.

Demographics

refers to the racial structure of a population. The demographics of the United States have become increasingly more diverse. however, many states/cities have become less and less welcoming of different ethnicities.

Racialized Strike Breaking

seeking lower labor costs, employers often replaced white workers with blacks who came to be known as "strike insurance" to some company owners. And when white workers went on strike, blacks often were used as strike breakers. For example, Tyson initiated wage cuts and withdrew benefits packages, and the workers subsequently went on strike. Tyson bussed in African Americans from the nearby town of Beloit to replace the striking workers.

Slums

slums are overpopulated, impoverished areas usually inhabited by nonwhites.

Colonias

small settlements that have sprung up around where migrant workers toil. Many colonias are made up of low-cost housing or, in some cases, lines of dilapidated shacks built of pieces of discarded sheet metal, old tires, and scrap wood. Their residents are isolated- culturally, linguistically, economically, and politically-from neighboring white communities, including the farmhouses of their employers. Many suffer from lack of social services and basic medicine. Large portions of Colonia residents are not even American citizens

Tribal Termination Policies

state governments were given legal jurisdiction over Indian reservations, and between 1953 and 1973, 109 tribes were terminated in the eyes of the federal government. Protection was lifted from over 1 million acres of land formerly entrusted to tribes, and thousands of Native Americans were stripped of their (legally recognized) tribal affiliations. Even though these policies were slowed during the Kennedy years and abandoned by the Nixon Administration, the effects of twenty year of wiping out political sovereignty and tribal ownership of economic resources still are felt today.

Suburbs

suburban development was fueled by white fear: fear of racial integration, of plummeting property values, and -most of all-of violent crime. Characterized by cul-de-sacs and dead-end roads, stringent zoning laws, and their lack of public transportation, the suburbs are purposefully constructed to promote isolation from city dwellers and their "vices".

Ghetto

the idea that businesses are prevalent in poor communities, but are nowhere to be found in poor communities of color. Specifically, a black ghetto is a racial institution marked by social isolation and economic vulnerability. Poverty is more concentrated and everyday establishments are scarce. Ghettos are created and maintained by a concentric zone theory as well as residential segregation. Another explanation is that any middle class blacks have already left the ghetto, leaving it utterly without hope.

Meritocracy

the idea that people are positioned in society based on their merit, or what they have to offer society. People are selected on the basis of their ability. In the context of the textbook, affirmative action threatens meritocracy.

Imprisonment rate

the imprisonment rate has unjustifiably increased sevenfold over the course of seven years. The imprisonment rate of the United States is much higher in comparison to that of other industrialized nations

White Flight

the mass migration of white people who fled their city homes to escape the increasing number of nonwhites moving in. These whites moved into suburbs and surrounding small towns. The migration was not spurred by job loss, but it was spurred by racial fear that white people had for nonwhites. The result was former bustling cities becoming hollowed out with little tax base and civil unrest

Deindustrialization

the transformation of an economy in which manufacturing and production are outsourced, and the economy becomes more like an hourglass, with opportunities at the very top (in professional posts) and at the very bottom (in the low-wage service sector)

Convict Lease Labor / Vagabond laws

these laws outlawed the begging and loitering. In short, they transformed the poor into the criminal, who, for simply panhandling-or even looking for work- could be sent to jail or a hard labor camp. Under many vagabond laws, a panhandler could be imprisoned for six months and was not offered the right to a jury trial. Furthermore, southern prisons introduced "convict leasing" programs, which forced prisoners to work for no pay. Researchers found that these workers were treated as inhumanely as slaves. Many died from the cruel working conditions.

1947 Taft Hartley Act

this act diminished union power. This act was passed in an effort to revamp the racial hierarchies of the old Confederacy

Black Protectionism

this idea suggests members of an ethnic-specific community will gather around and defend someone in the name of "black protectionism". For example, when boxer Mike Tyson was accused of raping Desiree Washington, a young black woman, many prominent African Americans, eager to quash the "black male rapist" trope, rushed to Tyson's side. The idea of black people closing ranks against hostile white Americans reinforces black male power exercised over black women in order to preserve the black social order under circumstances of quite literal attack and symbolic assault

Criminalization

used in the context of racially profiling, criminalization of dark skin, Mexicans, and Puerto Ricans are singled out as potential criminals at a much higher rate than Asians and whites. Nonwhites are criminalized because of their race only, when in reality, white people commit just as many or more crimes

Chain Gang

was a group of prisoners chained together to perform menial, brutish work all in the name of punishment and justice.

1919 'Red Summer'

was a summer characterized by many tension-sparked uprisings. Specifically, on a hot July day, a 17 year old black teenager swam to the white side of the bathing beach. In an altercation that ensued, Eugene was pelted with rocks and he subsequently drowned. This incident sparked a week long uprising that left 38 people dead, 500 injured, and 1000 homeless

Urban Renewal

was a unique, enormous venture in which the government was given the right to seize an individual's property not for its own use but for reassignment to another individual for his use and profit. Proponents of urban renewal programs were motivated by a desire to breathe new life into the ailing inner city and to better the living conditions of slum dwellers, but they also were attracted to large profits to be made by the erection of luxury apartments, art museums, and toll roads.

Great Migration

was massive move of blacks from the south to the north. As the decreasing price of cotton destroyed jobs in the south, restriction on European immigration opened up jobs in the north. Furthermore, Jim Crow segregation and racial terrorism were major influencers in the context of migration. Many blacks sought better lives for themselves and their children, so they moved to cities like Chicago, New York, Cleveland, Detroit etc.

Internment camps

were camps designed to house Japanese citizens during the scare of the second world war. These camps were made of tar paper covered barracks of simple frame construction without plumbing or cooking facilities of any kind. Internment was later abolished and insufficient reparations were handed out