Race and Ethnicity

1
Chapter 9

• Race and Ethnicity

2
Questions for you

• How is race socially constructed in society?
• What is the difference between prejudice and
  discrimination?
• What evidence is there that race relations are
  improving in the society?

3
Chapter Outline

• Race and Ethnicity
• Prejudice
• Discrimination
• Sociological Perspectives on Race and Ethnic
  Relations
• Racial and Ethnic Groups in the United States
• Global Racial and Ethnic Inequality in the Future

4
What Is Race?

• Some people view race as
• Skin color the Caucasian race,
• Religion the Jewish race
• Nationality the British race
• Entire human species the human race

5
Race and Biology

• A race is a category of people who have been
  singled out as inferior or superior, on the basis
  of real or alleged physical characteristics such
  as skin color, hair texture, eye shape, or other
  attributes.
• Race has little meaning biologically due to
  interbreeding in the human population.

6
Science and Race

• The American Anthropological Association adopted
  a position on race in May 1998. Although not all
  members of the association agreed with the
  position taken, it does reflect the majority
  opinion of this group of scholars.
• http//www.learner.org/channel/workshops/primaryso
  urces/census/docs/aaas.html

7
Polling Question

• Think about Whites in the U.S. compared to ethnic
  and racial minority groups. To what extent do
  you agree with the following statement Whites
  as a group are very distinct from ethnic and
  racial minority groups.
• Strongly agree
• Agree somewhat
• Unsure
• Disagree somewhat
• Strongly disagree

8
Characteristics of Ethnic Groups

• Unique cultural traits.
• A sense of community.
• A feeling of ethnocentrism.
• Ascribed membership from birth.
• Tendency to occupy a geographic area.

9
Race more similarities than differences

• It is generally agreed among sociologists that
  race is socially constructed based on the social
  realities, norms and group experiences within
  society at a particular time.
• Thus, as times change so do many preconceived
  notions regarding race. In fact, many scholars
  have asked are we so different?
• http//www.understandingrace.org/home.html

10
How Much Do You Know About Race, Ethnicity, and
Sports?

• True or False?
• African Americans who competed in boxing matches
  in the late 1800s often had to agree to lose
  before they could obtain a match.

11
How Much Do You Know About Race, Ethnicity, and
Sports?

• True.
• Promoters, who often set up boxing matches that
  pitted fighters by race, assumed that white fans
  were more likely to buy tickets if the white
  fighters frequently won.

12
How Much Do You Know About Race, Ethnicity, and
Sports?

• True or False?
• Until recently, the positions of quarterback and
  kicker in the National Football League have been
  held almost exclusively by white players.

13
How Much Do You Know About Race, Ethnicity, and
Sports?

• True.
• As late as the 1990s, whites accounted for about
  90 percent of the quarterbacks and kickers on NFL
  teams. However, this changed early in the
  twenty-first century, and today there are some
  African Americans playing virtually every
  position on all professional football teams.

14
Dominant and Subordinate Groups

• A dominant group is one that is advantaged and
  has superior resources and rights in a society.
• A subordinate group is one whose members are
  disadvantaged and subjected to unequal treatment
  by the dominant group and who regard themselves
  as objects of collective discrimination.

15
Prejudice

• A negative attitude based on generalizations
  about members of selected racial, ethnic, or
  other groups.
• Ethnocentrism refers to the tendency to regard
  ones own culture and group as the standard.
• Stereotypes are overgeneralizations about the
  appearance, behavior, or other characteristics of
  members of particular categories.

16
Racism

• A set of attitudes, beliefs, and practices used
  to justify the superior treatment of one racial
  or ethnic group and the inferior treatment of
  another racial or ethnic group.
• Recent studies have shown that the underlying
  reasoning behind racism differs according to
  factors such as gender, age, class, and
  geography.

17
Mertons Typology of Prejudice and Discrimination
18
Theories of Prejudice

• Frustrationaggression hypothesis
• People who are frustrated in their efforts to
  achieve a highly desired goal will respond with a
  pattern of aggression toward others.
• Authoritarian Personality
• Characterized by excessive conformity,
  submissiveness to authority, intolerance,
  insecurity, a high level of superstition, and
  rigid, stereotypic thinking.

19
Four Major Types of Discrimination

1. Isolate discrimination - A prejudiced judge
   giving harsher sentences to African American
   defendants.
2. Small-group discrimination - Small group of white
   students defacing a professors office with
   racist epithets.

20
Four Major Types of Discrimination

1. Direct institutionalized discrimination -
   Intentional exclusion of people of color from
   public accommodations.
2. Indirect institutionalized discrimination -
   Special education classes may have contributed to
   racial stereotyping.

21
Contact Hypothesis

• Contact between divergent groups should be
  positive as long as group members
• Have equal status.
• Pursue the same goals.
• Cooperate with one another to achieve goals.
• Receive positive feedback while interacting.

22
Functionalist Perspectives on Race and Ethnic
Relations

• Assimilation A process by which members of
  subordinate racial and ethnic groups become
  absorbed into the dominant culture.
• Ethnic PluralismThe coexistence of a variety of
  distinct racial and ethnic groups within one
  society.

23
Conflict Perspectives on Race and Ethnic Relations

• The Caste Perspective views racial and ethnic
  inequality as a permanent feature of U.S.
  society.
• Class perspectives emphasize the role of the
  capitalist class in racial exploitation.

24
Conflict Perspectives on Race and Ethnic Relations

• Internal Colonialism occurs when members of a
  racial or ethnic group are forcibly placed under
  the control of the dominant group.
• Split Labor Market - The division of the economy
  into a primary sector composed of higher paid
  workers in more secure jobs, and a secondary
  sector of lower-paid workers in jobs with little
  security.

25
Critical Race Theory

• Premises
• The belief that racism is such an ingrained
  feature of U.S. society that it appears to be
  ordinary and natural to many people.
• The belief that interest convergence is a crucial
  factor in bringing about social change.

26
Perspectives on Race and Ethnic Relations
Focus Theory
Symbolic Interactionist Microlevel contacts between individuals Contact hypothesis
Functionalist Macrolevel intergroup processes Assimilation Ethnic Pluralism
27
Perspectives on Race and Ethnic Relations
Focus Theory
Conflict Power/economic differentials between dominant and subordinate groups. Caste perspective Class perspective Internal colonialism Split labor market Gendered racism Racial formation
Critical RaceTheory Racism as a feature of society that affects everyone. Law may remedy overt discrimination but have little effect on subtle racism.
28
Racial and Ethnic Groups in the United States

• Native Americans
• White Anglo-Saxon Protestants
• African Americans
• White Ethnic Americans
• Asian Americans
• Latinos/as
• Middle Eastern Americans

29
Polling Question

• I would like to marry someone of a different
  racial or ethnic group.
• Strongly agree
• Agree somewhat
• Unsure
• Disagree somewhat
• Strongly disagree

30
(No Transcript)
31
Native Americans

• Most disadvantaged group in the U.S. in terms of
  income, employment, housing, and nutrition.
• As a group they have experienced
• Genocide
• Forced Migration
• Forced Assimilation

32
African Americans

• Slavery was rationalized by stereotyping African
  Americans as inferior and childlike.
• Civil Rights Acts of 1964 and 1965 sought to
  eliminate discrimination in education, housing,
  employment and health care.

33
Polling Question

• Descendents of slavery in the U.S. should be
  given economic restitution by the U.S. government
  for the consequences of slavery.
• Strongly agree
• Agree somewhat
• Unsure
• Disagree somewhat
• Strongly disagree

34
Asian Americans

• Fastest growing racial minority in the U.S.
• Includes Japanese, Korean, Filipino and
  Indochinese Americans.

35
Latino or Hispanic-Americans

• Includes Mexican Americans, Puerto Ricans and
  Cuban Americans.
• Many Mexican American families have lived in the
  U.S. for 4 or 5 generations and have made
  significant contributions.
• In 1917, Puerto Ricans acquired U.S. citizenship
  and the right to move freely to and from the
  mainland.

36
Middle Eastern Americans

• Includes immigrants from Egypt, Syria, Lebanon,
  Iran, and Jordan.
• The Lebanese, Syrians, and Iranians primarily
  come from middle class backgrounds.
• Most Iranian immigrants initially hoped to return
  to Iran however, many have become U.S. citizens.

37
Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the U.S.

• In 1980 white Americans made up 80 of the
  population.
• In 2000, white Americans made up 70 of the
  population.
• By 2056, the roots of the average U.S. resident
  will be in Africa, Asia, Hispanic countries, the
  Pacific Islands, or Arabianot white Europe.

38
Odds of Being a Pro Athlete by Race/Ethnicity and
Sport
White African American Latino/a
Football 1 in 62,500 1 in 47,600 1 in 2,500,000
Baseball 1 in 83,300 1 in 333,300 1 in 500,000
Basketball 1 in 357,100 1 in 153,800 1 in 33,300,000
39
Quick Quiz
40

• 1. A category of people who have been singled
  out as inferior or superior, often on the basis
  of real or alleged physical characteristics such
  as skin color, hair texture, eye shape, or other
  subjectively selected attributes.
• ethnic group
• age group
• gender
• race

41
Answer D

• A category of people who have been singled out as
  inferior or superior, often on the basis of real
  or alleged physical characteristics such as skin
  color, hair texture, eye shape, or other
  subjectively selected attributes is a race.

42

• 2. A collection of people distinguished by
  others or by themselves, primarily on the basis
  of cultural or nationality characteristics.
• ethnic group
• race
• age group
• gender

43
Answer A

• A collection of people distinguished by others or
  by themselves, primarily on the basis of cultural
  or nationality characteristics is an ethnic group.

44

• 3. Overgeneralizations about the appearance,
  behavior, or other characteristics of members of
  particular categories.
• stereotyping
• redlining
• scapegoating
• steering

45
Answer A

• Overgeneralizations about the appearance,
  behavior, or other characteristics of members of
  particular categories is stereotyping.

46

• 4. The deliberate, systematic killing of an
  entire people or nation is called
• genocide
• discrimination
• ethnic cleansing
• parricide

47
Answer A

• The deliberate, systematic killing of an entire
  people or nation is called genocide.

48

• 5. Excessive conformity, submissiveness to
  authority, intolerance, insecurity, a high level
  of superstition, and rigid, stereotypic thinking
  is called
• group think
• psychological assimilation
• authoritarian personality
• social distancing

49
Answer C

• Excessive conformity, submissiveness to
  authority, intolerance, insecurity, a high level
  of superstition, and rigid, stereotypic thinking
  is called authoritarian personality.

50

• 6. Blacks are considered to be an ethnic group.
• True.
• False.

51
Answer B

• Blacks are not considered to be an ethnic group.