chapter 8 4th ed

What Is Race?

The term race has been used to describe things like;

• Skin color: the Caucasian “race”,

• Religion: the Jewish “race”

• Nationality: the British “race”

• Entire human species: the human “race”

Race and Biology

• A race is a socially defined category, based on real or perceived biological differences between groups of people.

• Often, these people are 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.

• From a biological standpoint, your blood type (“A” or “O”) is much more significant than skin color.

Race and Society

Race is a socially constructed reality. Think about current racial categories. African American White, Not-Hispanic Hispanic Asian/Pacific Islander

Race Historically – The idea of different races as belonging to distinguishable categories has existed for hundreds of years. 19th Century: biologists grouped humans into 3

groups, Negroid, Mongoloid, and Caucasoid. (Or…black, Asian, and white)

Race and History

• Racial classifications have changed throughout history.• Greece and Rome; Middle Ages; Nineteenth

Century• U.S. Census show that these classifications

continue to change.• Racial classifications and social realities are

linked in 3 ways• Skin Color• Racial purity is assumed to exist• Categories of official racial classifications

Characteristics of Ethnic Groups

• An ethnic group is a collection of people distinguished, by others or by themselves, primarily on the basis of cultural or nationality characteristics. (Everyone does not necessarily identify with a particular ethnic group)• Unique cultural traits.• A sense of community.• A feeling of ethnocentrism.• Ascribed membership from birth.• Tendency to occupy a geographic area.

© 2012 W. W. Norton Co., Inc.

The Real World3rd Edition

AN INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY

Kerry Ferrisand

Jill Stein

8

Defining Race and Ethnicity (cont’d)

• Examples: The Jewish or Amish• Symbolic ethnicity is an ethnic identity that

is only relevant on specific occasions and does not significantly impact everyday life. • Example: Irish Americans and celebrating St. Patrick’s Day

• Situational ethnicity is an ethnic identity that can be either displayed or concealed depending on its usefulness in a given situation.• Example: Native Americans and college tuition

What Is a Minority?

• A minority group is made up of members of a social group that is systematically denied the same access to power and resources available to the dominant groups of a society, but who are not necessarily fewer in number than the dominant group. • Example: Black population in South Africa…

they outnumber whites 7 to 1• California – only 49% of the population is white.

10The Real WorldCopyright © 2008 W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.

Dominant and Subordinate Groups

• Because the term minority group can be confusing, some resources use the following terms:

• 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.

Racism

• 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.

• Racism is used to justify inequality, and is often rooted in the assumption that differences between groups are genetic.

Prejudice

• Prejudice is 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.

• Prejudice often results from: • Ethnocentrism refers to the tendency to

regard one’s own culture and group as the standard.

• Stereotypes are overgeneralizations about the appearance, behavior, or other characteristics of members of particular categories.

Can we measure prejudice?

• Some sociologists use the concept of social distance to measure prejudice.

• This is the extent to which people are willing to interact and establish relationships with members of racial and ethnic groups other than their own.

Discrimination

• Discrimination is unequal treatment of individuals based on their membership in a social group; usually motivated by prejudice.

Racism, Prejudice, and Discrimination

• Individual discrimination is discrimination carried out by one person against another.

• Institutional discrimination is discrimination carried out systematically by social institutions (political, economic, educational, and others) that affect all members of a group who come into contact with it.


Four Major Types of Discrimination

1. Isolate discrimination• Example: A prejudiced judge giving

harsher sentences to African American defendants.

2. Small-group discrimination• Example: Small group of white students

defacing a professor’s office with racist epithets.

Four Major Types of Discrimination

3. Direct institutionalized discrimination

• Example: Intentional exclusion of people of color from public accommodations.

4. Indirect institutionalized discrimination

• Example: Special education classes may have contributed to racial stereotyping.

Theoretical Perspectives on Race

• Functionalism, Conflict Theory, and Symbolic Interactionalism

• Merton’s Typology of Prejudice and Discrimination

• Frustration Aggression Hypothesis

• Authoritarian Personality Hypothesis

• Contact Hypothesis

• Critical Race Theory


Theoretical Approaches to Understanding Race in America

• Functionalist theorists focus on the ways that race creates social ties and strengthens group bonds, though they also acknowledge that such ties can lead to violence and social conflict.


Theoretical Approaches to Understanding Race in America

(cont’d)

• Conflict theory focuses on the struggle for power and control over scarce resources. Early conflict theorists tried to explain race as a result of economic oppression.


Race as an Interactional Accomplishment

• Symbolic Interactionists focus on the ways that race, class, and gender intersect to produce an individual’s identity. They see race as an aspect of identity established through interaction. There are several different ways that we project and receive our racial and ethnic identities.


Merton’s Typology ofPrejudice and Discrimination

PrejudicedPrejudicedAttitude?Attitude?

DiscriminatoryDiscriminatorybehavior?behavior?

UnprejudicedUnprejudicednondiscriminatornondiscriminator NoNo NoNo

UnprejudicedUnprejudiceddiscriminatordiscriminator

NoNo YesYes

PrejudicedPrejudicednondiscriminatornondiscriminator YesYes NoNo

PrejudicedPrejudicedDiscriminatorDiscriminator YesYes YesYes

Theories of Prejudice: Frustration–aggression

Hypothesis

• People who are frustrated in their efforts to achieve a highly desired goal will respond with a pattern of aggression toward others.• Scapegoat— a person or group that is

incapable of offering resistance to the hostility or aggression of others

Theories of Prejudice: Authoritarian Personality

Hypothesis

• The Authoritarian personality is characterized by excessive conformity, submissiveness to authority, intolerance, insecurity, a high level of superstition, and rigid, stereotypic thinking.

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.

Critical Race Theory

• Derives its foundation from the U.S. civil rights tradition.

• 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.

Race, Ethnicity, and Life Chances

• Race and ethnicity influence all aspects of our lives, including health, education, work, family, and interactions with the criminal justice system.


Healthcare

• Health care is an area in which we find widespread disparity between racial and ethnic groups. Disparities in access to health care may help explain the life expectancy rates for men and women of different races.


Americans without Health Insurance by Race, 2009

31

Education

• In U.S. education, the highest high school dropout rates are associated with those from economically disadvantaged and non-English-speaking backgrounds.


U.S. Bachelor’s Degree Holders by Race, 2009

33

Work and Income

• Inequality can also be seen in the workplace and in income distribution. People of color, who are less likely to achieve high levels of education, are more likely to have lower-paying jobs.


Work and Income

• In 2004, the median income for whites was $34,164, for Asian Americans $36,816, for African Americans $27,300, and for Hispanics $23,712.


Family

• Marriage differs by race in the United States

• See pages 241 - 242


The Criminal Justice System

• Finally, non-whites are more likely to interact with law enforcement. African Americans and Hispanics are much more likely to go to prison than whites. African Americans are also far more likely to be murdered than whites. Also, more than two-thirds of racially motivated hate crimes in 2003 targeted blacks.


38

The Criminal Justice System

• Also, nonwhites are more likely to interact with law enforcement.

Race Relations: Conflict or Cooperation

• Interactions between dominant and subordinate groups can take many different forms.

• Genocide is the deliberate and systematic extermination of a racial, ethnic, national, or cultural group.

• The treatment of Native Americans is an example of population transfer, the forcible removal of a group of people from the territory they have occupied.


Race Relations: Conflict or Cooperation (cont’d)

• Internal colonialism is the economic and political domination and subjugation of the minority group by the controlling group within a nation.

• Segregation is the formal and legal separation of groups by race or ethnicity.



• Assimilation is 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.

• Racial assimilation is the process by which racial minority groups are absorbed into the dominant group through intermarriage.



• Cultural assimilation is the process by which racial or ethnic groups are absorbed into the dominant group by adopting the dominant group’s culture.

• Finally, pluralism (or multiculturalism) is a pattern of inter-group relations that encourage racial and ethnic variation within a society.


Growing 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 Arabia—not white Europe.

Odds of Being a Pro Athlete by Race/Ethnicity and Sport

WhiteAfrican

American Latino/a

Football1 in

62,5001 in 47,600 1 in 2,500,000

Baseball1 in

83,3001 in

333,3001 in 500,000

Basketball 1 in

357,1001 in

153,8001 in

33,300,000

ORIGINAL SLIDES

Chapter 8 – Race and Ethnicity

46

47

What Is Race?

• Race is a socially defined category, based on real or perceived biological differences between groups of people.

48

What Is Ethnicity?

• Ethnicity is a socially defined category based on common language, religion, nationality, history, or another cultural factor.

49

Defining Race and Ethnicity

• Sociologists see race and ethnicity as social constructions because:• Race isn’t based on biology (for instance,

we don’t test DNA to determine race).• Racial categories change over time.• Racial categories never have firm

boundaries.

50

Race and Ethnicity

• The distinction between race and ethnicity is important because ethnicity can be displayed or hidden, depending on individual preferences, while racial identities are always on display.

51

Ethnicity

• Symbolic ethnicity is an ethnic identity that is only relevant on specific occasions and does not significantly impact everyday life.

• Situational ethnicity is an ethnic identity that can be either displayed or concealed, depending on its usefulness in a given situation.

54

What Is a Minority?

• A minority group is a social group that is systematically denied access to power and resources available to the dominant groups of a society.

• It is not necessarily fewer in number than the dominant group.

55

Racism

• Racism: a set of beliefs about the superiority of one racial or ethnic group• Used to justify inequality

• Often rooted in the assumption that differences between groups are genetic

56

Prejudice and Discrimination

• Prejudice (a thought process):• An idea about the characteristics of a group• Applied to all members of that group • Unlikely to change regardless of the

evidence against it

• Discrimination (an action):• Unequal treatment of individuals because of

their social group• Usually motivated by prejudice

57

Types of Discrimination

• Individual discrimination is discrimination carried out by one person against another.

• Institutional discrimination is systematic discrimination carried out by social institutions (political, economic, educational, and others) that affects all members of a group who come into contact with it.

58

Race in America: Theoretical Approaches

• Functionalist theorists • Focus on the ways that race creates social

ties and strengthens group bonds • Acknowledge that such ties can lead to

violence and social conflict between groups

59


(con’t.)• Conflict theory

• Focuses on the struggle for power and control over scarce resources

60


(con’t.)• Symbolic Interactionists

• Focus on the ways that race, class, and gender intersect to produce an individual’s identity

• See race as an aspect of identity established through interaction

61


(con’t.)• Racial passing, or living as if one is a

member of a different racial category, has a long history in the United States.

62

Race, Ethnicity, and Life Chances

• Race and ethnicity influence all aspects of our lives, including health, education, work, family, and interactions with the criminal justice system and health care.

Americans without Health Insurance by Race, 2009

63

64

Race, Ethnicity, and Life Chances (cont’d.)

• In U.S. education, the highest high school dropout rates are associated with those from economically disadvantaged and non-English-speaking backgrounds.

U.S. Bachelor’s Degree Holders by Race, 2009

65

66


• Inequality can also be seen in the workplace and in income distribution.

• People of color, who are less likely to achieve high levels of education, are more likely to have lower-paying jobs.

67


• Also, nonwhites are more likely to interact with law enforcement.

68

Race Relations: Conflict or Cooperation

• Genocide is the deliberate and systematic extermination of a racial, ethnic, national, or cultural group.

• Population transfer is the forcible removal of a group of people from the territory they have occupied.

copy editor

Correct that there is no question mark at the end of this heading?

69

Race Relations: Conflict or Cooperation (cont’d.)

• Internal colonialism is the economic and political domination and subjugation of the minority group by the controlling group within a nation.

• Segregation is the formal and legal separation of groups by race or ethnicity.

70


• Assimilation: the minority group is absorbed into the mainstream or dominant group, making society more homogeneous. • Racial assimilation: racial minority groups

are absorbed into the dominant group through intermarriage.

• Cultural assimilation: racial or ethnic groups are absorbed into the dominant group by adopting the dominant group’s culture.

71


• Pluralism (or multiculturalism) is a pattern of intergroup relations that encourage racial and ethnic variation within a society.

72

A socially defined category based on common language, religion, nationality, history, or another cultural factor is called:

a. ethnicity.

b. symbolic ethnicity.

c. symbolic race.

d. race.

Race and Ethnicity—Concept Quiz

73

The unequal treatment of individuals because of their social group is called:

a. racism.

b. discrimination.

c. prejudice.

d. institutional racism.


74

Light-skinned African Americans who attempt to live as white in order to avoid the consequences of being black in a racist society are practicing:

a. racial passing.

b. social fraud.

c. ethnic cleansing.

d. symbolic racism.


75

__________ is an idea about the characteristics of a group.

a. Prejudice

b. Assimilation

c. Discrimination

d. Stereotyping


76

The pattern of intergroup relations that encourages racial and ethnic variation within a society is called:

a. pluralism.

b. segregation.

c. population transfer.

d. assimilation.


Additional Art for Chapter 8

© 2012 W. W. Norton Co., Inc.

The Real World3rd Edition

AN INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY

Kerry Ferrisand

Jill Stein

96

This concludes the Lecture PowerPoint presentation for

Chapter 8

Visit the StudySpace at:http://wwnorton.com/studyspace

For more learning resources, please visit the StudySpace site for

The Real World, 3e.

chapter 8 4th ed

Education

human race

society race

term race

caucasian race

jewish race nationality

social group

dominant groups

term minority group