Agent of Socialisation Race

Race vs Ethnicity Is the child of a biracial couple (black and white) black or white? Mixed? Is Judaism a religion or an ethnicity? Both? Race and ethnicity are terms used every day but rarely explored.

Ethnicity Ethnicity refers to the distinct cultural norms and values of a social group. Characteristics of ethnic groups include (to varying degrees): Shared history Religion and culture Kin or ancestry Sense of shared destiny Language

Past Emphasis In Western Culture, ethnicity was very important. Protestant vs Catholic Anti – Irish Today, for many, ethnicity is largely opted out of altogether. For non-whites, opting out of ethnicity is not a choice.

Race Race refers to an externally imposed system of social categorization and stratification. No true biological races exist; rather, human groups must be placed on a continuum. Typically, race refers to some set of physical characteristics granted importance by a society. Race is socially constructed.

Most of us can see differences in humans: skin color, eye color, hair. We tend to use these traits to categorize people. Most people in society understand that the use of these categories can harm others. But we need to understand the difference between what is essentially a sociological view of race rather than a biological view.

Biological view of race The anatomy of a given racial group is used in comparison with that of other racial groups to investigate how people adapt to environments. is essentially "value free."

Sociological view of race Race is used as a means of determining how a person should be related to or treated, either on a personal level or under some aspect of the law. Race is a modern idea; ancient societies did not divide people of physical features, but by language, wealth, status, religion, or class.

Origins of Racism The ancients were racist, they believed in cultural superiority – “Barbarians” But they did not see much beyond this. Starting in the 1700s during the Enlightenment, scientists classify their world

Johann Friedrich Blumenbach, Father of Physical Anthropology Advocated Monogenism – all humans descended from one (Adam and Eve) Using a skull from the Caucasus mountains as the perfect European form, he claimed his four other races degenerated from this group Caucasoid (Europeans), Mongoloid (Asians), American (Native Americans), Ethiopian (Africans) Malayan (Southeast Asians)

It’s in the Genes In the mid 1990s, Prof. J. Rushton published his work; Race, Evolution and Behavior (1995) He argued that intelligence, sexual behaviours, personality are genetically based. “Rushton said that Islam was not just a cultural, but also a genetic problem. He thought the religion and issues associated with it were not just a condition of the belief system. His theory was that Arabs have an aggressive personality with relatively closed, simple minds, and were less amenable to reason.”

Video Links Human zoos yRI yRI Education in Nazi Germany 05k 05k