Sociology, 12 th Edition by John Macionis Copyright  2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved. Race and Ethnicity

Sociology, 12 th Edition by John Macionis Copyright  2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved. Definitions Race–A socially constructed category composed of people who share biologically transmitted traits that members of a society consider important Sociologists consider racial terms misleading at best and harmful at worst. –No society contains biologically “pure” people.

Sociology, 12 th Edition by John Macionis Copyright  2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved. Definitions Ethnicity–a shared cultural heritage –The United States is a multiethnic society –Like race, ethnicity is socially constructed Remember: Race is constructed from biological traits and ethnicity is constructed from cultural traits. For most people, ethnicity is more complex than race.

Sociology, 12 th Edition by John Macionis Copyright  2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved. Minority General characteristics –Distinct identity: Race, sex, sexual orientation, the poor –Subordination: Often saddled with lower status Stereotypes, stigma, and labeling Group size not always a factor –Women in US outnumber men. –Blacks in South Africa outnumber whites. Any category of people distinguished by physical or cultural difference that a society sets apart and subordinates

Sociology, 12 th Edition by John Macionis Copyright  2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved. Prejudice Prejudice–A rigid and unfair generalization about an entire category of people. Stereotype–An exaggerated description applied to every person in some category

Sociology, 12 th Edition by John Macionis Copyright  2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved. Measuring Prejudice The Social Distance Scale 1.Student opinion shows a trend toward greater social acceptance. 2.People see less difference between various minorities. 3.The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, might have reduced social acceptance of Arabs and Muslims.

Sociology, 12 th Edition by John Macionis Copyright  2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved. Racism The belief that one racial category is innately superior or inferior to another Racism has been widespread throughout US history where ideas about racial inferiority supported slavery. Overt racism in the US has decreased, but remains a serious social problem.

Sociology, 12 th Edition by John Macionis Copyright  2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved. Theories of Prejudice Scapegoat theory –Disadvantaged people who unfairly blame minorities for their own problems Authoritarian personality theory –Rigid moralists who see things in “black & white” Culture theory –Everyone has some prejudice because it’s embedded in culture.

Sociology, 12 th Edition by John Macionis Copyright  2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved. Theories of Prejudice Conflict theory –Self-justification for the rich and powerful in the United States –Minorities might cultivate climate of race consciousness in order to win greater power and privileges.

Sociology, 12 th Edition by John Macionis Copyright  2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved. Discrimination Institutional prejudice and discrimination– Bias built into the operation of society’s institutions Carmichael and Hamilton: People are slow to condemn or even recognize institutional prejudice and discrimination because it often involves respected public officials and long-established practices. Unequal treatment of various categories of people

Sociology, 12 th Edition by John Macionis Copyright  2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved. The Vicious Circle 1.Prejudice and discrimination begin as ethnocentric attitudes. 2.As a result, groups can be placed in a situation where they are socially disadvantaged and labeled. 3.A group’s situation, over time, is thus explained as a result of innate inferiority rather than looking at the social structure. of reasons. The cycle then repeats itself.

Sociology, 12 th Edition by John Macionis Copyright  2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved. Patterns of Interaction Pluralism–A state in which people of all races and ethnicities are distinct but have equal social standing Assimilation–The process by which minorities gradually adopt patterns of the dominant culture Miscegenation–Biological reproduction by partners of different racial categories

Sociology, 12 th Edition by John Macionis Copyright  2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved. Patterns of Interaction Segregation–The physical and social separation of categories of people Genocide–The systematic killing of one category of people by another

Sociology, 12 th Edition by John Macionis Copyright  2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved. Race and Ethnicity in the US Native Americans White Anglo-Saxon Protestants African Americans Asian Americans –Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Filipinos Hispanic Americans –Mexican, Puerto Ricans, Cuban Americans Arab Americans White Ethnic Americans

Sociology, 12 th Edition by John Macionis Copyright  2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved. Race and Ethnicity: Looking Ahead The US will remain a land of immigrants. Most immigrants arrived in a wave that peaked about Another wave of immigration began after World War II and swelled as the government relaxed immigration laws in the 1960s. Today, about 1.5 million people come to the US each year.