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INEQUALITY

INEQUALITY. How do you make sense of our differences?. How unequal are we?. What group has the highest family income?. White Black Hispanic Asian Native American. What group has the lowest family income?. White Black Hispanic Asian Native American. Median Family Income-2007.

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INEQUALITY

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  1. INEQUALITY How do you make sense of our differences?

  2. How unequal are we?

  3. What group has the highest family income? • White • Black • Hispanic • Asian • Native American

  4. What group has the lowest family income? • White • Black • Hispanic • Asian • Native American

  5. Median Family Income-2007 U.S. Census

  6. Individuals Living in Poverty - 2007 Whites – 8.2% Blacks – 24.5% Hispanics – 21.5% Asians – 10.2% Native Americans – 25.7% U.S. Population – 12.1% Poverty Rate: $21,203 per year for 4 people

  7. Poor Americans are more likely to live ____ than in other areas. • in cities • in suburbs • in rural areas • There is no difference in poverty rates between the three areas.

  8. Wealth in the U.S. - 2006(per capita) • Whites: with home = $79,400 without home = $22,566 • Blacks: with home = $7,500 without home = $1,166 • Latino/as: with home = $9,750 without home = $1,850 • All Households: with home = $55,000 without home = $13,473

  9. The early 1980s rocked the house!

  10. Home Ownership and Race • White – 75.8% • Black – 48.2 • Asian/PI – 60.1 • Hispanic – 49.5 • American Indian – 58.2 • Other – 59.2 SOURCE: U.S. Census Bureau (2005)

  11. What percentage of white and Hispanic Americans graduate high school? • 96 & 75 • 92 & 52 • 85 & 52 • 85 & 75 • 72 & 75

  12. Education (% graduating from High School) - 2008 Whites – 85.5% Blacks – 72.3% Latino/as – 52.4% Asians – 80.4% Native Americans – 70.9%

  13. 2005 Gap in Graduation Rates Between Urban-Suburban Districts Average High School Graduation Rate of fifty largest cities: 53 percent Average High School Graduation Rate of the suburban districts of those fifty cities: 71 percent

  14. Members of which group are most likely to graduate from college? • White • Black • Hispanic • Asian • Native American

  15. Education (% graduating from College) - 2008 Whites – 27.0% Blacks – 14.3% Latino/as – 10.4% Asians – 44.1% Native Americans – 11.5% U.S. Population – 24.4%

  16. I think that some of the “causes” of inequality between ethno-racial groups stems from biological differences between members of those groups. • Strongly Agree • Agree • Disagree • Strongly Disagree

  17. Explain the root cause(s) of these differences

  18. Can biology explain the inequalityof ancestral groups?

  19. BIOLOGICAL: cause of inequality is related to people’s genetic differences SOCIO-PSYCHO COGNITIVE: cause of inequality is related to people’s choices SOCIO-STRUCTURAL: cause of inequality is related to people’s socioeconomic differences

  20. BIOLOGICAL EXPLANATIONSome (ancestry) groups “dominate” other groups because they are biologicallymatched for particular social conditions.

  21. 1. PHYSICAL FEATURES: size, strength, etc.2. GENETIC PSYCHO-COGNITIVE FEATURES: emotional temperament, tenacity, I.Q., etc.

  22. GENETICS AND RACE • 99.99% of human genome is the same in everyone • .01% of our genes are reflected in our external appearance • 88-90% of genetic differences between people occur within the local populations • 10-12% of genetic variations are a result of different populations living in different parts of the world

  23. We’re all just monkeys

  24. What genetic-based inequality would look like:All members of particular ancestry groups are disposed to some advantage that leads them to have more sociological power (e.g., income, wealth).

  25. Problems: 1. What constitutes a “racial group”? 2. What is the direct link between social or economic “advantage” and genetics? - size? - intellect? 3. Perhaps this can occur to small degrees…

  26. AFRICAN SPEED: 16 of the 16 runners the men's and women's 100 meter sprint finals traced their ancestry to West Africa.

  27. Example of a more tangible measure: We can measure this: we can easily time a sprint and measure legs and torsos. HOWEVER, there are still sociological variables to account for.

  28. Baseball and Race Black Hispanic Mestizo Hispanic

  29. Example of a less tangible measure • Major League Baseball is increasingly dominated by players from Latin America and the Caribbean • Hockey is dominated by people of European Ancestry • Basketball in the U.S. is dominated by African Americans? • Rugby is dominated by mentally ill people.

  30. WHAT ABOUT OTHER INTANGIBLE CHARACTERISTICS OF PEOPLE?Genetic Psycho-Cognitive Factors • I.Q. • Moral Character • Ambition or Personal Drive • Contentment • Education • Income and Wealth

  31. Critique Magazine needs writers now! The first Penn State Business Magazine (writers don’t have to have any business knowledge) Please send two samples of your writing to the email address nxw154@psu.edu Mention what year you are and when you are available during the week.

  32. How can evolutionary theory explain the inequalityof ancestral groups?

  33. Two ways to conceptualize evolutionary theory:1. Linear2. Branching Bush

  34. What do you notice about these images?

  35. Where do these guys fit into the evolutionary map?

  36. This discussion of the “linear” vs. “branching bush” models helped me envision evolution more clearly. • Strongly Agree • Agree • Disagree • Strongly Disagree

  37. Sam: • is conservative. • leans toward conservatism • is right in the middle. • leans toward liberalism • is liberal.

  38. How does sociology explain the inequality of ancestral groups?

  39. BIOLOGICAL: cause of inequality is related to people’s genetic differences SOCIO-PSYCHO COGNITIVE: cause of inequality is related to people’s choices SOCIO-STRUCTURAL: cause of inequality is related to people’s socioeconomic differences

  40. Given the explanatory power of the two perspectives, which BEST explains race and ethnic inequality? • Definitely “free-will” • I lean toward “free-will” • It’s a balance between the two and neither weighs more heavily • I lean toward “determinism” • Definitely “determinism”

  41. Psycho-Cognitive Explanation Based on the Free Will-Libertarian Position • People are always free to think/act other than the way they do • Our economic and political circumstances are PRIMARILY shaped by our individual choices

  42. ACHIEVEMENT IDEOLOGY • Every American has an equal chance of “making it” • Every American can succeed if they work hard enough

  43. BIOLOGICAL: cause of inequality is related to people’s genetic differences SOCIO-PSYCHO COGNITIVE: cause of inequality is related to people’s choices SOCIO-STRUCTURAL: cause of inequality is related to people’s socioeconomic differences

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