1. Race and Ethnic Relations Sociology Chapter 10

2. 10.1 Race, Ethnicity and Social Structure Questions to think about: How do sociologists determine the terms race, ethnicity, and minority group? What characteristics distinguish minority groups from one another?

3. Race as a Myth –Many people think that humankind can be sorted into biologically distinct groups (share inherited physical characteristics) called races. This idea suggests that there are “pure” examples of different races and that any person can belong to only one race. –Biologists, geneticists, and social scientists reject this view of race. –All people belong to the human species. –There are greater differences within racial groups than between racial groups. Race as Myth and Reality

4. Race Historically scholars have placed people into three groups: 1. Caucasoids-fair skin and straight or wavy hair (whites) 2. Mongoloids-yellowish or brownish skin with distinctive folds on the eyelids (Asians) 3. Negroids-dark skin and tightly curled hair (blacks) However, this well known classification system has difficulty describing the complexity of race.

5. It is difficult to classify people into clear-cut categories because people often possess the traits of more than one race. Examples: Southern India-Caucasoid facial features and dark skin, and straight hair. Australia-Aborigines-dark skin and blond tightly curled hair. There are no biologically “pure” races.

6. Ethnicity Ethnicity-set of cultural characteristics that distinguishes one group from another. Ethnic Group-people who share a common cultural background and a common sense of identity. Ethnicity is generally based on cultural characteristics such as national origin, religion, language, custom, and values.

7. Ethnic Group Survival If an ethnic group is to survive over time, its cultural beliefs and practices must be passed down from generation to generation. Examples: Asian and Hispanic Americans tend to have strong ethnic roots. Unlike German Americans who are raised in the US who no longer feel deep ties to their homeland.

8. What’s the difference between race and ethnicity? Ethnicity is based on cultural considerations Race is based on physical considerations Many African American share a common ethnic heritage that includes particular foods, types of music, forms of speech, and other cultural traits.

9. Minority Groups No particular skin color, physical feature, or ethnic background is superior or inferior by nature. Those who hold power in society may place an arbitrary value on specific characteristics. (speaking the language most common in a society is one position of power held by the dominate group) By establishing values and norms of society, dominant-group members consciously and unconsciously create a social structure that acts in their favor.

10. Minority Groups – Conflict Theory Many sociologists have concluded that a dominant group’s position of power allows them to enjoy privileges, such as better housing, better schools, and higher incomes. The privileged position of the dominant group is often gained at the expense of the minority groups within society.

11. Minority Group defined: Minority group is identified as a group of people who –because of their physical characteristics or cultural practices-are singled out and unequally treated. Does not have to do with group SIZE. Ex: South Africa whites (15%) dominated the lives of the other racial groups in the country.

12. Characteristics that distinguish minority groups from other groups in society: Identifiable physical or cultural characteristics that differ from the dominant group. Group members are victims of unequal treatment at the hands of the dominant group. Membership in the group is ascribed. Members share strong sense of group loyalty. Members practice endogamy-marriage within the group.

13. Patterns of Intergroup Relations (Ch 10.2) 1. How do prejudice and discrimination differ? 2. What are patterns of minority group treatment?

14. Discrimination and Prejudice Words are commonly used mistakenly interchangeably. Discrimination-the denial of equal treatment to individuals based on group membership. Refers to BEHAVIORS Prejudice-an unsupported generalization about a group of people. Refers to ATTITUDES

16. Discrimination Found at the individual or societal level Range from name-calling and rudeness to acts of violence. Most extreme form can lead to physical harm or even death. Between 1882 and 1970 more than 1,170 African Americans were lynched by white mobs.

17. Societal Discrimination: Legal and Institutionalized Legal discrimination-upheld by the law. Apartheid system in South Africa-system of elaborate laws that defined the rights of whites and non-whites. Voting rights women in US Jim Crow laws in the US Plessy v. Ferguson Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka

18. Institutionalized discrimination-is an outgrowth of the structure of society. Over time, unequal access to resources pushes some minority groups into less powerful positions. Can occur even after legal steps have been taken to end discrimination http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YyL5EcAwB9c http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOS3BBmUxvs&feature=rela ted

19. Example-Institutionalized Discrimination 1. Minority group denied access to jobs and housing. 2. Over time group members become concentrated in one area. 3. Community schools are poorly funded, members do not acquire the skills to compete in the labor market. 4. Without being able to qualify for higher paying jobs, their children will have few opportunities for advancement, and the cycle of inequality is maintained.

20. Prejudice Often includes stereotypes- Stereotypes-oversimplified, exaggerated, or unfavorable generalization about a group of people. EX-All Irish are hot tempered. If people are told often and long enough that other people are socially, mentally or physically inferior, they come to believe it.

21. Prejudice cont. Self-fulfilling prophecy (Merton) a prediction that results in behavior that makes the prediction come true. If members of a minority group are considered incapable of understanding technical information, they will not be given technical training.

22. Racism Prejudice often serves as justification for discriminatory actions. Individuals come to believe negative claims against a minority group, which makes it easier for them to discriminate. Racism-the belief that one’s race or ethnic group is naturally superior to other races or ethnic groups.

23. In 1968 third-grade teacher Jane Elliot divided her students into groups of brown-eyed and blue-eyed children. She told the class that the brown-eyed children were superior to the blue-eyed children, and that they would receive special treatment. The two groups of children internalized these rules, and the blue-eyed children appeared to be miserable and defeated. This experiment was one way to help children understand the effects of discrimination. Case Study: A Class Divided

25. Jane Elliot’s Experiment “A Class Divided” CLIP on Jane Elliot’s class: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hqp6GnYqIjQ Clip 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9QyqxkM_Z94&featu re=related Clip 2 Wednesday http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7JneNPZltU&featur e=related Clip 3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=no1F- AMTnGg&feature=related

26. 3 Sources of Discrimination and Prejudice Sociological Explanations Focus on the social environment Socialization-process by which norms are internalized (learned) Prejudices are embedded in social norms (describe ways in which members are “expected” to behave towards certain out- groups) People become prejudice to maintain group membership-through identification with a reference group who support the behavior.

27. 3 Sources of Discrimination and Prejudice Psychological Explanations Focus the behavior of individuals People are prejudice because of particular personality Theodore Adorno found that prejudice people shared an authoritarian personality trait Exhibit anger and likely to blame others for their problems. Scapegoating-placing the blame for one’s trouble on an innocent individual (or minority group)

28. Why do minority groups become scapegoats? 1. Easy to recognize because of their physical features, language, style of dress, or religious practices. 2. Lack of power in society and may be unlikely to fight back. 3. Concentrated in one geographic area – easily accessible. 4. Been the target of scapegoating in the past. 5. Often represent something – idea, attitude, or way of life that the scapegoater does not like.

29. Sources of Discrimination and Prejudice Economic Explanations Discrimination and prejudice arise out of competition for scarce resources. EX-Chinese in the 1800 were welcomed for cheap labor building railroads, but were later viewed as competition to whites for jobs. Violence erupted Laws restricted immigration of Chinese (Exclusion Act) The dominant group, in order to protect their position, puts minorities against one another in competition for resources, which causes minority groups to fear, distrust and hate one another.

30. Patterns of Minority Group Treatment Cultural Pluralism Allows each group within society to keep its unique identity. Practiced in Switzerland Three official languages: French, German and Italian (3 major ethnic groups) None of the groups has taken a dominant role in Swiss society.

31. Patterns of Minority Group Treatment Assimilation The blending of culturally distinct features into a single group with a common culture and identity. Was practiced in U.S. for many years – “melting pot.” Racial and ethnic minorities attempt to hold onto their cultural features. Some assimilation occurs naturally overtime through daily interaction. Forcing assimilation often leads to conflict. Forbidding people to practice their religion, language, and culture.

32. Patterns of Minority Group Treatment Legal Protection Countries take legal steps (make laws) to ensure that the rights of minority groups are protected. Civil Rights Act 1964 and Voting Rights Act 1965 in the US. Affirmative action programs in the US- designed to correct past imbalances in the educational and employment opportunities given to minority groups.

33. Patterns of Minority Group Treatment Segregation Policies that physically separate the minority group from the dominant group. Jews in Europe during the Middle Ages were forced to live in walled-off communities called ghettos. Practiced in the US until the 1960s

34. Patterns of Minority Group Treatment Subjugation Maintaining of control over a group by force. Slavery-the ownership of one person by another (most extreme form) EX=South Africa’s apartheid system: Apartheid literally means “apartness” Called for segregation of all groups in society Political and economic power rested solely in the hands of the white few and rigidly maintained by force.

35. Patterns of Minority Group Treatment Population transfer Dominant group separates itself from the minority group by transferring the minority population to a new territory. Indirect transfer-the dominant group makes life so miserable for the minority that they leave. Direct transfer-involves the use of force. Resettlement of Native Americans on reservations during the 1800s

36. Patterns of Minority Group Treatment Extermination Genocide-the intentional destruction of an entire targeted population Attempted (and sometimes achieved) many times throughout history Jews in Russia in the 1800s Jews in Europe during WW II-the Holocaust 1.5 Armenians by Turks and the mutual slaughter of Muslims and Hindus in the first half of the 1900s Genocides also in Rwanda and Cambodia http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__kf7TljgGs

37. Ethnic Cleansing Combined population transfer and extermination. Involves removing group from a protected area through terror, expulsion, and mass murder. 1998 the Serbian government began a campaign that sought to drive out or kill about 1.7 ethnic Albanians. In one year 1.5 million had been expelled from their homes and 10,000 killed. NATO stopped the Serbs of achieving their goal using armed intervention.

38. Minority Groups in the United States Institutionalized Discrimination – unfair practices that grow out of common behaviors and attitudes that are a part of the structure of society. Discrimination in the United States has caused some ethnic and racial groups to lag behind the white majority in jobs, income, and education. Progress is being made, but gains remain fragile.

39. 13 Percent of Population Experiences historically shaped by slavery, discrimination, and segregation. Civil Rights Movement brought significant gains towards equality. Statics still show members are behind in education, employment, income and becoming politically active. African Americans

40. African American Statistics High School graduation rates Whites 85 % to African Americans 68% Of those earning a college degree White 66% to African American 13% Average Incomes Whites - $57,009 African American - $33,321

43. Largest minority group (17%) Trace their heritage to Spain or Spanish-speaking Latin American countries. Hispanics in the United States are mostly from Mexico, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Central and South America. Came to the United States to seek political freedom and economic opportunity. Estimate in 2012 of more than 11.2 million illegal immigrants in the United States; vast majority are Hispanic. Poverty rate is double that of white Americans. Hispanic Americans

45. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ru1F29vuV KI&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ru1F29vuV KI&feature=related ABC What would you do? Latino Hate Crime Episode

46. 5.2 Million Individuals (2%) Original inhabitants of the United States. Disease, warfare, and destruction of traditional ways of life reduced numbers dramatically. U.S. government took traditional lands and forced Native Americans onto reservations. Policies encouraged assimilation into white culture. Today 55 percent on reservations. Pan-Indianism: a social and political movement that united culturally distinct Native American nations to work together on issues that affect all Native Americans. Native Americans

48. 5 Percent of Population Immigrants from Asian countries including the Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Pakistan, Chinese, and Japanese. Have used education to move up economic ladder. Median income is higher for Asian Americans than for other groups ($66,000) Some call Asian Americans “the model minority” because of their quick assimilation. Asian Americans face higher rates of stress, depression, mental illness, and suicide attempts Asian Americans

50. Jewish Americans Faced anti-Semitism, discrimination and prejudice against Jews Arab Americans (1%) 3.5 million Arab Americans Arab Americans have faced new discrimination after the Arab-led terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 Other Minorities

51. Being Arab American after the 9-11 Attacks Within hours of the terrorist attacks on September 11, Arab American communities and individuals were faced with violent attacks and other discrimination. These acts revealed that non-Arab Americans knew very little about Arab Americans. Current Research in Sociology Researchers completed face-to-face interviews with 1,016 Arab Americans and Iraqi Christians and 508 members of the general population. Fifteen percent had experienced discrimination, verbal insults being most common. Three percent reported acts of violence against them or their family.