Chapter 11- Race and Ethnicity

Intergroup Relations

(relationships between different groups of people) range along a spectrum between tolerance and intolerance. The most tolerant form of intergroup relations is pluralism, in which no distinction is made between minority and majority groups, but instead there's equal standing.

ethnicity

- refers to a shared cultural heritage, nationality, or lineage is also socially constructed in part. - can be distinguished on the basis of language, forms of family structures and roles of family members, religious beliefs and practices, cuisine, forms of artistic expression such as music and dance, as well as national origin or origin of one's parents. -So race can be seen (it is based on how you look within U.S. culture), where ethnicity cannot always be seen.

Minority Group

-A category of people with unequal access to positions of power, prestige and wealth in a society, who tend to be targets of prejudice and discrimination. -Minority and majority status is not based on numerical representation in society but rather on social status---privilege and power of the group. -Dominant/subordinate group is similar/interchangeable terms for majority and minority

Conflict Theory

-Could examine the numerous past and current struggles between the white ruling class and racial and ethnic minorities, noting specific conflicts that have arisen when the dominant group perceived a threat from the minority group.

Functionalist Theory

-In the view of functionalism, racial and ethnic inequalities must have served an important function in order to exist as long as they have. They would also look at dysfunctions in the system. -Might suggest that racism's function was to justify oppression

Social construction of race

-Race is not biologically identifiable. -Racial categories were arbitrarily assigned, based on pseudoscience, and used to justify racist practices

Color Blindness in race

-Saying you don't "see" race is called "colorblind racism"--not acknowledging the differential treatment of people of different races is hurtful and doesn't get society anywhere in a discussion of race. Ultimately, we have sociological, objective facts that races are not treated the same and have not been treated the same for centuries. -Even though race is a biological myth, it is a historical and social reality for people every day

discrimination

-consists of actions against a group of people -- Sociologist Émile Durkheim calls racism a social fact, meaning that it does not require the action of individuals to continue. The reasons for this are complex and relate to the educational, criminal, economic, media and political systems that exist in our society

Individual racism

-consists of overt acts that cause death, injury, destruction of property, or denial of services or opportunity. - happens when one individual attacks another-including verbal attacks. It is often boosted up by systemic racism but these racist interactions happen at the micro level.

Institutional racism

-involves policies, practices, and procedures of institutions that have a disproportionately negative effect on racial minorities' access to and quality of goods, services, and opportunities and can be seen through analysis at the macro level. -Some examples in the U.S.- slavery, segregation, real estate practices like redlining and steering, voting laws, war on drugs, public school policies

Segregation

-is physical separation of two groups in residence, workplace, and social functions. --de jure (sanctioned by law) --de facto (not sanctioned by law, but real in fact

Systemic racism

-is the basis of individual and institutional racism; it is the value system that is embedded in a society that supports and allows discrimination. -It is policies, laws, enforcement of laws, patterns of behavior (particular from authority), that affect a particular group. It doesn't (usually) come from some devilish white-clad KKK dude- it can be from everyday people (sometimes who are not malicious). -overreaching system

Amalgamation

-is the process by which a minority group and a majority group combine to form a new group. --creates the classic "melting pot" analogy; unlike the "salad bowl," or "mosaic" in which each culture retains its individuality, the "melting pot" ideal sees the combination of cultures that results in a new culture entirely.

Symbolic Interactionism

-race and ethnicity provide strong symbols as sources of identity. In fact, some interactionists propose that the symbols of race, not race itself, are what lead to racism. -Herbert Blumer (1958) suggested that racial prejudice is formed through interactions between members of the dominant group: Without these interactions, individuals in the dominant group would not hold racist views. These interactions contribute to an abstract picture of the subordinate group that allows the dominant group to support its view of the subordinate group

miscegenation

-racial intermarriage -was extremely rare, and in many places, illegal

Expulsion

-refers to a subordinate group being forced, by a dominant group, to leave a certain area or country. -President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066 in 1942, after the Japanese government's attack on Pearl Harbor. The Order authorized the establishment of internment camps for anyone with as little as one-eighth Japanese ancestry (i.e., one great-grandparent who was Japanese). Over 120,000 legal Japanese residents and Japanese U.S. citizens, many of them children, were held in these camps for up to four years, despite the fact that there was never any evidence of collusion or espionage.

Thomas Theorem

-whatever society sees as real is real in its consequences". In other words, if society thinks race is a real thing, then the consequences are real in society, especially for people who are seen as minority races --Racial categories change with time, and they are different based on where you are on the globe.

Genocide

Annihilation of an entire nation or people. In the 20th century Hitler led the Nazi extermination of 12 million people in the Holocaust

intersection theory

Feminist sociologist Patricia Hill Collins (1990) developed this which suggests we cannot separate the effects of race, class, gender, sexual orientation, and other attributes.

All of the following statements apply to systemic racism but one, choose the one that doesn't apply.

It is not a reality that affects people

According to the social construction of race school of thought, race is:

Not biologically identifiable

The term prejudice is described by each of the following statements but one. Choose the one that does not describe prejudice

Prejudice is used to make wise decisions about people

The term discrimination is defined in the text as:

Prejudiced action against a group of people

Which of the following is an example of racial steering?

Real estate agents directing white clients to look for housing in certain neighborhoods, and non-white clients to others

Does not apply to stereotypes

Stereotypes do not matter

Speedy Gonzalez is a popular cartoon character but is widely considered an inappropriate stereotype. Many children are raised watching Speedy Gonzalez cartoons, unaware that such stereotypes are negative. This is a product of:

The culture of prejudice

Adolf Hitler blaming Germany's pre-war problems on the Jewish population is an example of:

The scapegoat theory

When Alexander, who is white, drives his car over the speed limit, a police officer lets him off with a warning. When Christopher, who is Hispanic, drives his car at the same speed as Alexander on the same road, the officer gives him a ticket, even though his record is clean. Alexander's experience compared to Christoper's is an example of:

White privilege

Colorism

another kind of prejudice, in which someone believes one type of skin tone is superior or inferior to another within a racial group

Stereotypes

are oversimplified generalizations about groups of people. Stereotypes can be based on race, ethnicity, age, gender, sexual orientation—almost any characteristic.

Assimilation

describes the process by which a minority individual or group gives up its own identity by taking on the characteristics of the dominant culture.

Scapegoat Theory

developed initially from Dollard's (1939) Frustration-Aggression theory, suggests that the dominant group will displace its unfocused aggression onto a subordinate group. History has shown us many examples of the scapegoating of a subordinate group.

racial steering

in which real estate agents direct prospective homeowners toward or away from certain neighborhoods based on their race. Back in the day they used to do redlining, which is now illegal (but still happens).

Racism

is a stronger type of prejudice used to justify the belief that one racial category is somehow superior or inferior to others; it is also a set of practices used by a racial majority to disadvantage a racial minority.

Prejudice

refers to the beliefs, thoughts, feelings, and attitudes someone holds about a group.

Culture of prejudice

refers to the theory that prejudice is embedded in our culture.

Institutional Racism

refers to the way in which racism is embedded in the fabric of society. For example, the disproportionate number of black men arrested, charged, and convicted of crimes may reflect racial profiling, a form of institutional racism.

de facto segregation

segregation that isn't legally enforced but is happening

Max believes that most people's racial beliefs are based on images conveyed in popular media since many people never meet members of certain races for themselves. Max's perspective is:

symbolic interactionist

white privilege

which is the benefits people receive simply by being part of the dominant group. While most white people are willing to admit that nonwhite people live with a set of disadvantages due to the color of their skin, very few are willing to acknowledge the benefits they receive.