Chapter 8

1. Chapter 8 Race and Ethnicity as Lived Experience

2. Race: Myth and Reality • Myth 1 - Idea That Any Race is Superior • All Races Have Geniuses and Idiots • Genocide Still Around • Myth 2 - Idea that Any Race is Pure • Human Characteristics Flow Endlessly Together

3. Race and Ethnicity • Race - a category of people with inherited physical features that distinguish it from another category. • Socially defined category based on real or perceived biological differences between groups of people • Both a myth and a reality • Ethnicity and ethnic – refer to cultural characteristics that distinguish people. • A socially defined category based on common language, religion, nationality, history, or another cultural factor

4. Defining Race and Ethnicity (cont’d.) • 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. • 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.

5. Definition of a Minority • A minority refers to a relatively small number of people. • Refined the definition to specify: • a social group that is systematically denied access to power and resources available to the dominant groups of a society. • a group of people who are physically or culturally singled out from others for unequal treatment & • who regard themselves as objects of collective discrimination. • Not necessarily a numerical minority or fewer in number than the dominant group

6. Racial and Ethnic Populations in the United States, 2013

7. U.S. Population by Race in 2060

8. Minority and Dominant Groups • Dominant Group - Group with Most… • Power • Privileges • Highest Social Status • Dominant Group Does the Discriminating • Minority Groups Occur Because of… • Expansion of Political Boundaries • Migration

9. Patterns of Racial and Ethnic Relations • When different racial and ethnic groups interact there are two major types of outcomes: • pattern of assimilation- groups become cultural and socially fused • assimilation, multiculturalism • pattern of conflict • genocide, population transfer, internal colonialism, segregation

10. Patterns of Racial and Ethnic Relations

11. Racism • Racism connects biological differences with judgment of innate superiority or inferiority. • a set of beliefs about the claimed superiority of one racial or ethnic group • Used to justify inequality • Often rooted in the assumption that differences between groups are genetic • Color-blind racism: an ideology that removes race as an explanation for any form of unequal treatment

12. Theories of Prejudice and Discrimination • Prejudice – is prejudging in some way, usually negative; an overgeneralization based on biased or insufficient information; applied to all members of group; unlikely to change regardless of evidence; attitude/belief. • Internalizing Dominant Norms • Lighter/Darker Skin • Ethnic Maps • Discrimination – unequal treatment of people based on their minority membership or social group. • Discrimination is action • Usually motivated by prejudice

13. Theories of Prejudice and Discrimination • Stereotype – a set of ideas based on distortion, exaggeration, and oversimplification that is applied to all members of a social category. • Hate Crime – a criminal act motivated by prejudice (related to race, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, or ancestry).

14. Institutionalized Discrimination • Institutionalized discrimination – negative treatment of a minority group that is built into society’s institutions. • the result of unfair practices that are part of the structure of society and have grown out of traditionally accepted behaviors. • American history reflects the open and legal practice of discrimination against members of various minorities (e.g., internment of Japanese Americans during WWII). • Individual discrimination is discrimination carried out by one person against another.

15. The Social Construction of Race • Racial passing, or living as if one is a member of a different racial category, has a long history in the United States. • Double-consciousness: W.E.B. DuBois’s term for the divided identity experienced by blacks in the United States • Race and ethnicity influence all aspects of our lives, including health, education, work, family, and interactions with the criminal justice system and health care

16. Institutional Discrimination • Health Care Race – Ethnicity and Mother/Child Deaths

17. Institutional Discrimination • Home Mortgages and Car Loans Buying a House: Institutional Discrimination in Mortgages

18. Functionalist Perspective • Functionalists – 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 • Focused on the functions and dysfunctions of prejudice and discrimination • Functions: in-group solidarity and out-group antagonism • Dysfunctions: negative; destroys human relationships; social, political, educational, and economic costs of the exploitation and oppression of minorities are extremely high.

19. Conflict Perspective • Conflict perspective- Focuses on the struggle for power and control over scarce resources • A majority uses its prejudice and discrimination as weapons of power in the domination of a minority. • Ruling class systematically pits group against group. • Solidarity among groups weakens = they benefit • Keep Workers Insecure • Exploit Racial-Ethnic Divisions • Ex. Black / Latino conflict

20. Symbolic Interactionist Perspective • Prejudice and discrimination are acquired through socialization. • The labels we learn color our perceptions – leading to selective perception (labels create prejudice) • We see certain things and are blind to others • We learn our prejudices in interaction with others. • Self-fulfilling prophecy – Stereotypical behavior in those who are stereotyped • Ex. Asians’ pressure to succeed

21. Theoretical Perspectives: Prejudice and Discrimination