October 22 nd Sign in and deposit participation cards Lecture 5: Racial Stratification Homework:  Response paper #3  Readings: Savage Inequalities: Children in America’s Schools The Hispanic Dropout Mystery Racial Stratification and Education in the United States: Why Inequality Persists

Lecture 5 Racial Stratification

Why do we have racial inequality today?

Are we even at the same salad bar? According to the reading, we can’t be considered a “melting pot, but must be considered a “salad bowl” Pluralism: population is characterized by two or more cultural traditions Who is an American?

Racial Triangle: American Race Relations in History 1 st Class Citizens: Whites 2 nd Class Citizens: Blacks3 rd Class Citizens: Native Americans

Need to understand our ‘racial’ roots Racial and ethnic groups that were forced into American society have historically been disadvantaged in the opportunity structure and experience segregation today  Black, Latino, and Native American Racial and ethnic groups that have voluntarily come to the US have seen higher levels of integration  European, Asian

Racial Stratification: Cultural Differentiation Cultural differentiation  The greater and more visible the cultural distinctions, the more likely there is to be conflict Ethnocentrism & Individual Racism White Privilege: one’s culture and social advantage in society is seen as “normal” and objective  “Others” must assimilate  “As a white person, I realized I had been taught about racism as something that puts others at a disadvantage, but had been taught not to see one of its corollary aspects, white privilege, which puts me at an advantage.”

Understanding Privilege Structures of privilege are often invisible to us  “I was taught to see racism only in individual acts of meanness, not in invisible systems conferring dominance on my group” Individuals with privilege are not responsible for the circumstances that brought them privilege, but they are responsible for how they respond to it

Racial Stratification: Structural differentiation Institutional Racism: unchallenged and customary way of doing things in society that keep minority groups in subordinate or disadvantaged positions  Unequal Opportunity Structure Social structure can encourage or reduce inequality among racial and ethnic groups

Historical Race Relations: When Race Mattered 1. Race caste oppression in the Ante-bellum South (pre-1865)  Slavery economic system based on race 2. Class conflict and racial oppression ( )  Split-labor market – racial conflict over jobs  De Jure Segregation: separation of racial and ethnic groups in daily activities Civil service, housing, education, marriage

What is the Racial Legacy? 3. According to William J. Wilson, class position now matters more than race in defining life chances (Wilson)  Political changes broke down racial barriers, but economic inequalities exist De Facto Segregation: Formal segregation replaced with informal segregation today Underclass: segment of the population with limited social mobility due to economic subordination  Perpetuated by residential, occupation, and education segregation

Occupational Segregation Occupations in which at least 25% are African American  Taxi driver, postal clerk, correctional officer, security guard, nurse’s aid/health aid, barber Occupations in which at least 25% are Latino/a  Private house cleaner, maid/janitor, gardener, construction worker, farm worker, food service

An Invisible Class? Invisible class: those who are economically invisible  Minority status  Recent Immigrants  Undocumented

Residential Segregation New Deal Polices and GI Bill created a legacy of residential segregation  Between 1934 and 1962, the federal government backed $120 billion of home loans & more than 98% went to whites  Created segregated white suburbs Since 1970, residential segregation declined for Hispanics and Asians

Diversity in Bay Area Index of Diversity  Most Diverse - Alameda County  Least Diverse – Marin County Largest Percentage of:  Black Americans – Alameda and Solano (14%)  Latino/Latina – Santa Clara (11%)  Asian Americans – San Francisco (30%)

Do We Live Together? Residential segregation is highest for:  Blacks (32-57%)  Latinos (23-46%)  Asians (!5-28%) Santa Clara County:  Black – White: 59%  Latino- White: 52%  Asian – White: 34%

Changes in Education Access 1950’s – 1970’s saw gains in education  By 1976 Black and White high school graduation were nearly the same Late 1990’s seeing decline or stagnation in equal education  1998 non-white enrollment at UCB dropped 45% and at UCLA 36%

Disparities in Educational Attainment

Separate & unequal If schools act as sorting mechanisms, what happens when the schools are unequal?

Racial Stratification Today Three areas of informal segregation exist today that perpetuate racial/ethnic stratification  Residential  Educational  Occupational All of these are tied to wealth, which is the engine of social mobility