chapter 8 racial – ethnic relations
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Chapter 8 Racial – Ethnic Relations. The Problem in Sociological Perspective. Prejudice is an attitude. Discrimination is action, differential treatment. Minority group: People who are discriminated against because they belong to a particular group. Dominant group: those who discriminate. - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Chapter 8
Racial–Ethnic Relations
The Problem in Sociological PerspectivePrejudice is an attitude.Discrimination is action, differential
treatment.Minority group:
People who are discriminated against because they belong to a particular group.
Dominant group: those who discriminate
Characteristics of Minority GroupsMembership is not voluntary (achieved
status) but comes through birth (ascribed status).
Physical or cultural traits are held in low esteem by the dominant group (prejudice).
Members are treated unequally by the dominant group (discrimination).
Minorities feel group solidarity because of physical or cultural traits and disadvantages of these traits.
Policies of Dominant Groups: Patterns of Intergroup Relations
PluralismAssimilation: forced or permissibleSegregationInternal colonialismPopulation transfer: direct or indirectGenocide
Ideas of Racial SuperiorityRace
The inherited physical characteristics that identify a group of people
EugenicsAttempts to improve the human “race” through
selective breedingRace is an arbitrary social category.Sociologists use the term racial–ethnic group.Racial–ethnic group: people who identify
with one another on basis of ancestry and cultural heritage
Ethnicity – Culture
The Scope of the ProblemThe melting potAnglo-conformityStereotypes: unrealistic
generalizations of what people are likeEffects of discrimination reach beyond
statistics
Institutional DiscriminationIndividual DiscriminationInstitutional DiscriminationNational Association of Real Estate Boards
(NAR): organization that used to support racial discrimination as a moral act
Unintended Institutional Discrimination
Institutional Discrimination: can occur even when those doing the discriminating are unaware of it
The Achievement Predictor (TAP)Institutional discrimination is built into our social
system.Operates throughout society
High school exit exams, SATs, IQ tests
Symbolic InteractionismEthnophaulisms: derogatory labels that are
applied to racial–ethnic groupsSocialization into prejudiceLabels affect prejudice by causing selective
perceptionSelf-fulfilling Prophecy: labels so powerful
they justify prejudice and discriminationCompartmentalize: separate negative acts
from other aspects of their lives
FunctionalismFunctions and dysfunctions of discriminationRacial–ethnic stratification
Ensures that society’s dirty work gets doneSociety needs a division of labor
EthnocentrismHelps dominant group justify higher social position
and greater share of society’s resourcesDysfunctions
Interfere with people’s welfare and the functioning of society
Conflict TheorySurplus value of laborSplit-labor Market
Weakens the bargaining power of workers by splitting them along racial–ethnic lines
Reserve Labor ForceMinority workers are ideal for the reserve labor force
False class consciousnessConsequences of a split-labor market
Leads minorities and whites to view one another as enemies
Riots
Research FindingsNative Americans
2 million Native Americans representing more than 500 tribes
Exogamy: intermarriageTreaties: broken for land and resourcesStereotypes: justify inhumane actsEducation and culture conflict: Bureau of Indian
Affairs (BIA)Pan-Indianism: moving beyond identification with
a particular tribe and emphasizing common elements that run through all of their cultures
Latinos (Hispanics)Largest ethnic group in the U.S.Unauthorized immigrantsFactor that clearly distinguishes Latinos from other U.S.
minorities is the Spanish languageAfrican Americans
Civil Disobedience: deliberately but peacefully disobeying laws considered unjust
Rising ExpectationsMilitancy: after M.L. King’s death
Race or Social Class? A Sociological Debate
Social ClassAny group of people who have more or less similar
goods, services, or skills to offer for income in a given economic order and who therefore receive similar financial remuneration in the market-place
Life ChancesQuality of life and experiences
Asian AmericansDetention CampsDiscrimination against Chinese and JapaneseDevelopment stages of Chinatowns
Involuntary segregationDefensive insulationVoluntary segregationGradual assimilation
General economic success of Asian Americans seems to be rooted in three factors: family life, education, and assimilation
Social PolicyCenters on goals of encouraging cultural
pluralism and preventing discriminationAppreciating different backgrounds
Establish national, state, and local “cultural centers”
Teach history in ways that recognize the contributions of many groups
Teach foreign languages in public schools
Preventing DiscriminationUse the legal system
Civil Rights Act of 1964, which forbids discrimination by race, color, creed, national origin, and sex, must be enforced
Education vouchersParents could choose any school they wanted their
children to attend, private or public
The Dilemma of Affirmative ActionThe Bakke CaseProposition 209The University of Michigan Case
Absent constitutional amendments like those in Michigan and California; states that want to use race–ethnicity in college admissions must follow the Supreme Court’s decision
Principles for Improving Relations
People of different racial–ethnic backgrounds should have equal status.
People in interethnic contact should work together.
To achieve equality, groups must demonstrate cooperative dependence.
Authority, law, and custom should support interaction among groups.
The Future of the ProblemProgress
Inconsistent and backwards at timesAn ongoing struggleDisparities in education
Education is the key in improving racial–ethnic relations
Disturbing possibility is permanent underclassMilitants, from minority or dominant group, are an
unpredictable factor in future racial–ethnic relationsThe American Dilemma