Presented By: Jarrett Hurms

Minorities, Race, & Ethnicity

 What is a minority?  The opposite of majority.  Group of people with physical and cultural traits different from those of the dominant group.  Minority is defined by more than number or size.

 Minorities have several key features.  Distinct physical and cultural differences which separate them from the majority. Skin color, disabilities, accent, religion, language.  The minority is dominated by the majority. Minority members have fewer opportunities. Lack of education/holds unequal share of goods.

 Key features of minorities  Minority traits are often believed as the dominant majority to be inferior.  Members of the minority have a common sense of identity, with a stronger group loyalty.  The majority determines who belongs in the minority through ascribed status.

 Race-people who share certain inherited physical characteristics that are considered important within a society.  What determines race?  Skin color, hair color, hair texture, facial features, head form, and eye color.

 3 major divisions of race.  Negroid-African  Mongoloid-Asian  Caucasian-White  Some physical characteristics are superior to others because they provide advantages for living in a particular environment.  There is no scientific evidence that connects racial characteristics with innate superiority or inferiority.

 Ethnicity comes from the Greek word “Ethnos” meaning people or nation.  19 major ethnicities in the world today.  Ethnic minority-group identified by cultural religious or natural characteristics.  Unique characteristics related to culture or nationality.  Defined by its own language, religion, values, beliefs, norms, and customs.

 Why are ethnic minorities seen as inferior?  Ethnocentrism-judging others in terms of one’s own culture.  View that everyone else’s culture is lower than your own.  Creates the “us” vs. “them” complex.

Racial and Ethnic Relations

 Assimilation-the belonging or fusing of minority groups into the dominant society.  When members of the minority are integrated into society through assimilation then they are allowed full participation in society.  Examples:  Anglo-Conformity  Melting Pot  Accommodations

 Anglo meaning American of English descent.  Traditional American institutions are maintained.  Immigrants are accepted as long as they conform to American society.

 Melting pot-all ethnic and racial minorities voluntarily blend together.  Tossed salad-traditional values and cultures exist side by side.

 Cultural pluralism-desire of a group to maintain a sense of identity separate from the dominant group.  Accommodations-extreme form of cultural pluralism.  When a minority maintain their own way of life.  Learns to deal with or accommodate the dominant culture but remains independent in language and culture.

 Sociologist examine historical records and analyze current events in order to find patterns of conflict.  3 basic patterns:  Genocide  Population transfer  Subjugation  What is the most extreme pattern of conflict?  Genocide

 Genocide-systematic effort to destroy an entire population.

 A minority is forced to move or relocate from territory controlled by the majority.

 Most common pattern of conflict.  Process by which a minority group is denied equal access to the benefits of a society.  De Jure Subjugation-based on laws  De Facto Subjugation:  De Fact-used in case law that means the actual, or real, situation regardless of what the law is.  Denial of equal access based on everyday practice.

 Prejudice-a negative prejudgment of a group and its individual members.  An attitude is a distinct combination of feelings. Inclinations to acts and beliefs.  3 aspects of attitude.  Affect-feelings  Behavior tendencies-inclinations to act.  Cognition-beliefs

 Negative evaluations that mark prejudice can stem from emotional associations, from the need to justify behavior, or from negative beliefs called stereotypes.  A problem with stereotypes arises when they are overgeneralized or just plain wrong.  A stereotype can be embedded in a single word or phrase.  Stereotypes can be either positive or negative.

 Prejudice-negative attitude  Discrimination-negative behavior.

 A criminal offense committed against a person or property which is motivated in whole or part by the offender’s bias against a race, religion, ethnic/national origin group, or sexual orientation group.

Minority Groups in the United States

 Unfair practices that grow out of common behaviors and attitudes that are part of the structure of society.  Seniority systems-promotion and pay increase with years of service.  Public education can also be discriminatory.

 What are the barriers to African American assimilation?  Skin color  Early African-American history.  Un-equal income levels for African Americans  Jobless rates of African Americans are two times that of whites.  Hidden employment-unemployment that includes people not counted in the traditional unemployment categories.

 Greatest unemployment problem exists in African American teenagers.  Underclass-people typically unemployed who come from families that have been poor for generations.

 Latino is the term that refers to ethnic minorities in Latin America.  One of the fastest growing minorities in the U.S.  Year 2000: more Latinos than African- Americans in the U.S.  60% of Latinos living in the U.S. are from Mexico.  Latinos are a very diverse group that came to America for different reasons.  50% or more complete high school.

 Largest group are from China, Philippines, Japan, India, Korea, and Vietnam.  Japanese and Chinese are the most successful.  Attracted by the California gold rush in the 1850’s.  Began work as railroad builders.

 What has been the history of Japanese in the United States?  Treated much like the Chinese in the early years.  1940’s during World War II Japanese were placed in internment camps (110,000 people).  One of the most successful minorities in the U.S.

 Descendants of immigrants from Eastern and Southern Europe (Italian, Polish, Irish, Slavic, and Greek).