Chapter 1

1. Chapter 1 Exploring Race and Ethnicity

2. Sociology of Intergroup Relations • Theoretical Perspectives • Functionalism; Conflict Theory; Labeling Theory • Subordinate groups created by processes of: • Immigration; Annexation; Colonialism © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

3. Sociology of Intergroup Relations • Process of expulsion may remove the presence of a subordinate group • Assimilation • Demands subordinate-group conformity © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

4. Sociology of Intergroup Relations • Pluralism • Implies mutual respect between diverse groups • Assimilation & pluralism are significant for racial & ethnic oppression in the US today © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

5. What is a Subordinate group? • What does and does not determine minority group status? • Minority status is not based on the size of a group • Minority/Majority group membership is not necessarily mutually exclusive © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

6. What is a Subordinate group? • Minority status may vary according to geopolitical boundaries • Minority/Majority is related to the distribution of power © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

7. What is a Subordinate group? • What are the five characteristics that defines a minority/subordinate group? • 1. Unequal treatment and less power over one’s life • 2. Distinguishing physical or cultural traits that the dominant group holds in low regard © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

8. What is a Subordinate group? • 3. Involuntary membership or ascribed status • 4. Group solidarity awareness of subordinate status and oppression • 5. Marital endogamy - patterns of in-group marriage © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

9. Types of Subordinate Groups • Racial groups • Groups that are set apart on the basis of obvious physical differences within a society • What’s obvious is relative to the group/society • Ethnic groups • Groups that are set apart on the basis of cultural traits and nationality © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

10. Types of Subordinate Groups • Religious groups • Consists of religious associations that are set apart from the dominant religion • Gender groups - such as women who are set apart on the basis of sex • Other subordinate groups • Set apart by age, disability, sexual orientation © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

11. Does Race Matter? • Biological school of thought and meaning of race • Absence of Pure Races • Intelligence Tests • Racial groups as genetically discrete population groups © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

12. Does Race Matter? • Based on the following: • There are subpopulations within the human race • Sub-groups may be distinguished biologically from another based on genetic traits © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

13. Criticisms of the Biological View • Idea of Biological Race is based on notion of a genetically isolated human group • Within a group, variations are greater than differences between groups • Human species contain no subgroups © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

14. Criticisms of the Biological View • Genetic traits are continuous so it is impossible to state: • Where one group begins and ends and another starts • Each trait is independent from the other © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

15. Social Construction of Race • Race is important because of the social meaning people have attached to it • Race is a social construct based on how: • People define themselves and others on physical and social characteristics © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

16. Social Construction of Race • Racial classifications as a function of how: • People define, label and categorize themselves and others into groups • Racism • The feeling that certain groups or races are inherently superior to others © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

17. Racial Formation • A socio-historical process by which racial categories are: • Created, inhibited, transformed, & destroyed • Powerful define groups of people in a way that depends on a racist social structure • Dominant group has the power to impose its racial definitions onto others © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

18. Who Am I? • Ethnic Identity • Non-ethnics • Panethnicity • Ethnicity as a political and bureaucratic administrative process • Marginality • The status of being between two cultures © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

19. Stratification by Class and Gender • Stratification • Structured ranking of groups that perpetuates unequal rewards & power in a society • Class or Social Ranking • People who share similar wealth, according to Weber’s definition • Mobility may be difficult © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

20. Sociology and the Study of Race and Ethnicity • Ethnic and racial stratification • The structure and process by which race and ethnicity determines life chances and access: • To socially desirable resources such as housing, justice, education, wealth, power, etc. • Stratification is interconnected by • Race, Ethnicity, Religion, Age, Gender © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

21. Theoretical Perspectives • Functionalist Perspective • Society is like a living organism; each part contributes to the whole and emphasizes how: • Parts of society are structured to maintain stability • The five functions of racial inequality • Racist ideologies provides justification for unequal treatment © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

22. Theoretical Perspectives • Discourages subordinate people from attempting to question their low status • Justify existing practices but also serves as a rallying point for social movements • Racists beliefs provide support for the existing social order © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

23. Theoretical Perspectives • Economic & educational problems of subordinate groups • Dysfunctions of racial inequality • Fail to utilize human potential & limits search for talent & leadership to dominant group • Aggravates social problems; financial burden of alleviating problems on dominant group © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

24. Theoretical Perspectives • Investment of time and money to defend barriers that prevent full participation of all • Undermines diplomatic ties between nations and affect efforts to increase global trade • Inhibits social change • Promotes disrespect for law enforcement and the peaceful settlements of disputes © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

25. Conflict Perspective • Assumes social structure is understood in terms of conflict/tension between groups • Subordinate group criticized for low status & dominant’s group responsibility ignored • Ryan (1976) • “Blaming the Victim” –portraying problems of racial and ethnic minorities as their fault © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

26. Labeling Approach • Concern over blaming the victim is titled labeling theory • Attempt to explain why certain people are viewed as deviant • And others engaging in the same behavior are not • Stereotypes • Generalizations about members of a group © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

27. The Creation of Subordinate-Group Status • Migration • Emigration or leaving an area to move elsewhere such as the Irish leaving Ireland • Immigration or coming into an area such as the Irish coming to the United States • May be voluntary or it may be involuntary • Due to a combination of push and pull factors © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

28. The Creation of Subordinate-Group Status • Annexation • An indigenous group is incorporated into another society • Colonialism • Political, socio-cultural, economic domination of indigenous population by a foreign power • Relations between the colonizer and colony © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

29. The Consequences of Subordinate-Group Status • Extermination • The forcing of a specific subordinate group to leave certain areas or even vacate a country • Genocide • Systematic extermination of subordinate group at the hands of the dominant group © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

30. The Consequences of Subordinate-Group Status • Expulsion • Forcing a specific subordinate group to leave certain areas or even vacate a country • Secession • A group is not a subordinate group when it secedes to a new nation or moves to an: • Established nation, where it becomes dominant © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

31. The Consequences of Subordinate-Group Status • Segregation • Physical separation of 2 groups in residence, workplace, & social functions • Fusion • Occurs when a minority and majority group combine to form a new group © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

32. The Consequences of Subordinate-Group Status • Amalgamation • The process by which a dominant group and a subordinate group combine through intermarriage • Melting Pot • Diverse racial or ethnic groups form a new creation, a new cultural identity © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

33. The Consequences of Subordinate-Group Status • Assimilation • Subordinate individual or group takes on the characteristics of the dominant group • And is eventually accepted as part of that group • Reasons assimilation would take longer: • Majority is not receptive or minority retains its culture © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

34. The Consequences of Subordinate-Group Status • Large differences between minority & majority • Minority group arrives over a short period of time • Minority group residents are concentrated rather than dispersed • Arrival is recent and the homeland is accessible © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

35. Resistance and Change • Dominant group define the terms by which all members of society operate • Resistance is seen in efforts by racial and ethnic groups to maintain their identity • Newspapers, organizations, modern technology © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

36. Resistance and Change • Theme in dominant-subordinate relations: • Minority group’s challenge to subordination • Resistance may begin through small actions that lead to a broader investigation • It’s easy to forget how much change has taken place © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

37. Resistance and Change • Change is occurring • Hate-crime legislation • Afrocentric Perspective • Emphasizes customs of African Cultures and how they pervaded the history, culture, and behavior: • Of Blacks in the U.S. and around the world © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.