1. Chapter 9
Race and Ethnicity

2. Laying the Sociological Foundation
Race is a reality in the sense that humans do come in different colors and shapes
However, two of the myths regarding race are that one race is superior to another and that a pure race exists
These myths make a difference in social life because people believe they are real and act on their beliefs
Race and ethnicity are often confused due to the cultural differences people see and the way they define race
Ethnicity refers to cultural characteristics that distinguish a people
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3. Laying the Sociological Foundation
Minority groups are people singled out for unequal treatment
They regard themselves as objects of collective discrimination
The shared characteristics of minorities worldwide are:
Physical or cultural traits that distinguish them are held in low esteem by the dominant group, which treats them unequally
They tend to marry within their own group
They tend to feel strong group solidarity
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4. Laying the Sociological Foundation
Minority groups are not necessarily in the numerical minority
Dominant Group
Those who do the discriminating
They have greater power, more privileges, and higher social status
The dominant group attributes its privileged position to its superiority, not to discrimination
A group becomes a minority through the expansion of political boundaries by another group
Another way for a group to become a minority, either voluntarily or involuntarily, is by migration into a territory
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5. Laying the Sociological Foundation
Individuals vary considerably in terms of how they construct their racial-ethnic identity
Some people feel an intense sense of ethnic identity, while others feel very little
Ethnic identity is influenced by the relative size and power of the ethnic group, its appearance, and the level of discrimination aimed at the group
If a group is relatively small, has little power, has a distinctive appearance, and is an object of discrimination, its members will have a heightened sense of ethnic identity
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6. Laying the Sociological Foundation
Ethnic work
Refers to how people construct their ethnic identity and includes enhancing and maintaining a group’s distinctiveness or attempting to recover their ethnic heritage
The idea of the U.S. as a melting pot?
Different groups quietly blending together into an ethnic stew, is undermined by the fact that many people today are engaged in ethnic work
A better metaphor would be “tossed salad”
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7. Figure 9.1: A Sense of Ethnicity

8. Laying the Sociological Foundation
Prejudice and discrimination are common throughout the world
Discrimination
Unfair treatment directed toward someone
When based on race, it is known as racism
It can also be based on features such as age, sex, sexual preference, religion, or politics
Prejudice
Prejudging of some sort, usually in a negative way
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9. Laying the Sociological Foundation
Ethnocentrism
Using one’s own culture as a yardstick for judging the ways of other individuals or societies
Is so common that each racial/ethnic group views other groups as inferior in some way
Studies confirm that there is less prejudice among the more educated and among younger people
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10. Laying the Sociological Foundation
Sociologists distinguish between individual and institutional discrimination:
Individual discrimination is negative treatment of one person by another
Too limited a perspective because it focuses only on individual treatment
Institutional discrimination is negative treatment of a minority group that is built into a society’s institutions
Focuses on human behavior at the group level
Examples include certain mortgage lending practices and health care availability
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11. Buying a House: Institutional Discrimination and Predatory Lending
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13. Theories of Prejudice Psychological Perspectives:
According to John Dollard, prejudice results from frustration: people unable to strike out at the real source of their frustration find scapegoats to unfairly blame
According to Theodor Adorno, highly prejudiced people are characterized by excess conformity, intolerance, insecurity, heightened respect for authority, and submission to superiors
He called this complex of personality traits the authoritarian personality
Subsequent studies have generally concluded that people who are older, less educated, less intelligent, and from a lower social class are more likely to be authoritarian
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14. Theories of Prejudice Functionalists
The social environment can be deliberately arranged to generate either positive or negative feelings about people
Prejudice can be a product of pitting groups against each other in an “I win/you lose” situation
It is functional in that it creates in-group solidarity and out- group antagonism
It is dysfunctional in that prejudice destroys social relationships and intensifies conflict
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15. Theories of Prejudice Conflict Theorists
The ruling class benefits when it systematically pits group against group by:
Creating a split labor market which divides workers along racial- ethnic lines and weakens solidarity among the workers
Maintaining higher unemployment rates for minorities, creating a reserve labor force from which owners can draw when they need to temporarily expand production
Workers from different racial-ethnic groups learn to fear and distrust one another instead of recognizing common interests and working for their mutual benefit
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16. Theories of Prejudice Symbolic Interactionists
The labels people learn color their perception and lead them to see certain things and be blind to others
Racial and ethnic labels are especially powerful because they are shorthand for emotionally laden stereotypes
The stereotypes that we learn not only justify prejudice and discrimination, but they also lead to a self-fulfilling prophecy about it
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17. Figure 9.3: Global Patterns of Intergroup Relationships: A Continuum
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18. Fig. 9.4: Race-Ethnicity of the U.S. Population
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19. Where U.S. Latinos Live
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20. The Distribution of Dominant and Minority Groups
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21. Racial-Ethnic Relations in the U.S.
The major racial-ethnic groups in the U.S. are White European Americans, African Americans, Latinos, Asian Americans, and Native Americans
In the U.S., the dominant group is made up of whites whose ancestors emigrated here from European countries
White Anglo-Saxon Protestants (WASPs) were highly ethnocentric and viewed white ethnics—the Irish, Germans, Poles, Jews, and Italians—as inferior
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22. Racial-Ethnic Relations in the U.S.
Immigrants were expected to blend into the mainstream, speak English, and adopt the dominant group’s way of life
(Anglo-Conformity)
It was the grandchildren of the immigrants, the third generation, who most easily adjusted
As these white ethnics assimilated into Anglo culture, the definition of WASP was expanded to include them
Because the English first settled the colonies, they established the institutions and culture to which later immigrants had to conform
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23. Looking Towards the Future
As U.S. society is now in the 21st century, two issues that will have to be resolved are immigration and affirmative action
Immigration
The first great wave of immigrants arrived from Europe at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries
The second wave, since 1980, has brought immigrants from around the world and is contributing to the changing U.S. racial/ethnic mix
In some states, such as California, all minorities combined represent the majority of the population
Many are concerned that this influx of immigrants will change the character of U.S. society, including the primacy of the English language
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25. Looking Towards the Future
Affirmative action is at the core of the national debate about how to steer a course in race and ethnic relations
Some see affirmative action as the more direct way to level the playing field of economic opportunity, while others say that it results in reverse discrimination
There is still no consensus about the proper role of affirmative action in a multicultural society
In order to achieve a multicultural society will require that groups with different histories and cultures learn to accept one another
We must begin to examine our history and question many of its assumptions and symbols
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26. Projections of the Racial-Ethnic Makeup of the U.S. Population
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27. Global Patterns of Intergroup Relations
Genocide
The actual, or attempted, systematic annihilation of a race or ethnic group who has been labeled as less than fully human by the dominant group
Dehumanizing labels are powerful forces that help people to compartmentalize—separate their acts from any feelings that would threaten their self-concept—thereby making it difficult for them to participate in the act
The Holocaust and the treatment of Native Americans are examples of genocide.

28. Global Patterns of Intergroup Relations
Population transfer
The involuntary movement of a minority group
Indirect transfer involves making life so unbearable that the minority group members leave
Direct transfer involves forced expulsion
A combination of genocide and population transfer occurred in Bosnia (a part of the former Yugoslavia) when Serbs engaged in ethnic cleansing—the wholesale slaughter of Muslims and Croats, which forced survivors to flee the area

29. Global Patterns of Intergroup Relations
Internal colonialism
A society’s policy of exploiting a minority by using social institutions to deny it access to full benefits
Slavery is an extreme example
Segregation
The formal separation of groups
Often accompanies internal colonialism
The dominant group exploits the labor of the minority while maintaining social distance

30. Global Patterns of Intergroup Relations
Assimilation
The process by which a minority is absorbed into the mainstream
Forced assimilation occurs when the dominant group prohibits the minority from using its own religion, language, and customs
Permissive assimilation is when the minority adopts the dominant group’s patterns in its own way, at its own speed
Multiculturalism (pluralism)
Permits or encourages racial and ethnic variation
Switzerland provides an outstanding example of this