Inequalities of Race and Ethnicity

1. Inequalities of Race and Ethnicity

2. Minorities, Race, & Ethnicity • Minorities - a group of people with physical and cultural traits different from those of the dominant groups in the society. • 1. physical traits - skin color, facial features, disabilities • 2. cultural traits - accent, religion, language, parentage • 3. minority is dominated by the majority • 4. minority traits are often believed by the dominant majority to be inferior • 5. members of the minority have a common sense of identity, with strong group loyalty (“we” and “they”) • 6. majority determines who belongs to the minority through ascribed status

3. Minorities, Race, & Ethnicity • Race - people sharing certain inherited physical characteristics that are considered important within a society • 1. skin color, hair texture, facial features, head form, eye color, height to determine race. • 2. 3 major divisions - Negroid, Mongoloid, Caucasian • 3. no “pure” race • 4. for sociology, social attitudes and characteristics that relate to race are more important than physical differences • Ethnicity - group identified by cultural, religious or national characteristics • 1. a subculture

4. Racial and Ethnic Relations • Patterns of Assimilation • 1. the bending or fusing of minority groups into the dominant society • a. Anglo-conformity - immigrants are accepted if they conform to the “accepted standards” of the society. (their own beliefs must be suppressed or given up) • b. melting pot - all ethnic and racial minorities voluntarily blend together. • c. cultural pluralism (tossed salad) group maintains some sense of identity • d. accommodation - extreme form of cultural pluralism - minority learns • to deal with the dominant culture but remains independent in • language and culture

5. Racial and Ethnic Relations • Patterns of Conflict • 1. genocide - systematic effort to destroy an entire population (extreme) • 2. population transfer - minority is forced to move to a remote location • away from the majority • 3. subjugation - minority group is denied equal access to the benefits of a society • a. de jure segregation - denial of equal access based on the law ( Brown v. Board of Education) • b. de facto segregation - denial of access based on everyday practice (homeowners refuse to sell to certain minorities)

6. Theories of Prejudice and Discrimination • Prejudice, Racism, Discrimination • 1. prejudice - widely held negative attitudes toward a group (minority or majority) and its individual members • 2. racism - an extreme form of prejudice that assumes superiority of one group over others • 3. discrimination - treating people differently based on ethnicity, race, religion or culture

7. Theories of Prejudice and Discrimination • Hate crimes - criminal acts that are motivated by extreme prejudice • 1. bias related to race, religion, sexual orientation, national origin or ancestry • 2. African Americans, Jews, gay men, lesbian women, Latinos, Arabs, Asian Americans • Stereotypes - set of ideas based on distortion, exaggeration and over simplification that is applied to a category of people (ex.) all athletes are stupid - all politicians are corrupt - all Muslims are terrorists

8. Minority Groups in the U.S. • Institutionalized discrimination - unfair practices that grow out of common behavior and attitudes and that are a part of the structure of a society • 1. seniority systems • 2. public education • a. white flight to the suburbs • b. lack of funding in areas of minorities • c. outdated textbooks, parental support not strong, less technology teacher training, buildings in need of repair

9. African Americans • 1. racial minority in the US (12%) • 2. why lack of acceptance • a. physical characteristics • b. lower class status due to slavery • c. after 13th Amend., discrimination continued (especially in south) • d. practices and laws became institutionalized • e. practices became illegal in the 1960’s (civil rights legislation & Supreme Ct. decisions) • 3. average income for African Americans - 64% that of whites • 4. jobless rate are double that of whites

10. African Americans • 5. hidden unemployment - includes people not counted in the traditional unemployment categories • 6. education is the traditional path to economic gain • a. # of African Americans in professional & technical occupations (doctors, engineers, lawyers, teachers) has risen 128%) • b. some sociologists predict the emergence of 2 black Americas - a growing black middle class and a black underclass (people typically unemployed who come from families that have been poor for generations) • c. African Americans have seen their political power grow

11. Latinos • ethnic minorities from Latin America (Mex., Central Am., South Am., Caribbean Islands) • 1. one of the fastest growing minorities in the US • 2. America - largest minority group (12.5%) • 3. Latino peoples are diverse • 4. Cuban immigrants in the 50’s were successful middle and upper class people - later immigrants were uneducated members of the lower class

12. Latinos • 5. 1/2 adult Latinos have completed high school - 84% non-Latinos • 6. Average income is higher than that of African Americans but lower than whites • 7. politically Latinos are becoming a force in shaping American politics

13. Native American • 1. number just over 2 mil • 2. very diverse - (500 separate tribes) • 3. suffer more today than other minorities • 4. fewer graduate from high school than any other major minority group • 5. lowest annual income • 6. not much political power • 7. 1/4 live in reservations (50% on poverty level) • 8. casino type gaming used to promote services & economic development

14. Asian Americans • (4%) (China, Phil., Japan, India, Korea, Vietnam) • 1. Chinese immigrants came in 1850’s (Ca. gold rush) • 2. 1870 hard times - European Americans began to compete for jobs that Chinese had held • 3. race riots resulted - immigrants barred from attending schools in San. Fran. • 4. urban ghettos known as Chinatowns were formed • 5. 1882 - Chinese Exclusion Act - ended Chinas immigration to the US for 100 years • 6. Japanese Americans - arrived about same time Chinese Am. were being excluded • 7. became successful farmers

15. Asian Americans • 8. California Alien Land Bill 1913 - allowed land only to be leased for 3 yrs. (owned land could not be inherited) • 9. 1924 - Congress halted all immigration • 10. 1941 - FDR issued Executive Order 9066 - Japanese Am. were put in internment camps • 11. 1980 - Am. formally apologized and paid them 20,000 each. • 12. one of the most successful racial minorities in US • a. used education systems for upward mobility

16. White Ethnics • descendants of immigrants from Eastern and Southern • European nations (Italy, Poland, Greek, Irish, Slavs) • 1. 1960 - gained undeserved reputation of being conservative, racist, pro-war “hard hats”