Race and ethnicity

1. Race and ethnicity Sociology

2. Goals: • Describe what minority, race, and ehtnicity are. • What is the difference between prejudice and discrimination? Give an example of each. • Explain how one of the following perspectives explains racial inequliaties: functionalist, conflict, or symbolic interactionists. • How can the internet spread prejudic? • Explain how minority groups are discriminated against. Choose one group (African Americans, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans) and explain the history of their discrimination and what challenges they still face in America today as a result of prejudice. • What can you do to reduce your own prejudices?

3. minority • minority is NOT about size or #- a group of people with physical or cultural traits different from those of the dominant group in the society

4. Key features of a minority • 1. Distinctive physical or cultural characteristics that can be used to separate them from the majority2. Dominated by majority: fewer opportunities for good education, goods and services3. Minority traits are often believed my majority to be inferior.  Used to justify mistreatment.  ex: job discrimination because all Latinos are lazy.   Stereotype!4. Members of the minority have a common sense of identity w/strong group loyalty.  “we” and “they” mentality5. The majority determines who belongs to the minority through ascribed statues.  At birth when race is involved.

5. race • people sharing certain inherited physical characteristics that are considered important w/in a society.   • No scientific basis for racial classifications: most scientists consider them arbitrary and misleading.  More dif genetically because tall and short people of the same race than b/w people of dif race and the same height. • NO scientific evidence that connects any racial characteristics with innate superiority or inferiority.  No innate dif in athleticism or intelligence among various races.

6. Ethnic minority • group identified by cultural, religious, or national characteristicsCULTURAL differences not physicalwhy are minorities seen as inferior?  ethnocentrism: judging others in terms of one’s own cultural standards.

7. Racial and ethnic relations • assimilation: when groups are accepted or rejected-conflict • Most common assimilation: Anglo-conformity • tossed salad v. melting pot analogycultural pluralism: desire of a group to maintain some sense of identity separate from the dominant group.

8. 3 basic patterns of conflict • genocide, population transfer, and subjugation • population transfer: minority forced to move “trail of tears”Most often: subjugation: when a minority is denied equal access to the culture and lifestyle segregation (separate but “equal” facilities)defacto segregation: denial of equal access based on everyday practice.  Ex: homeowners don’t want to sell to blacks

9. Theories of prejudice and discrimination • prejudice: widely held negative attitudes towards a group and its individual membersracism: extreme form of prejudice that assumes superiority of one group over othersHow is discrimination dif from prejudice?  Discrimination is an action, prejudice is a thoughthate crime: crime motivated by prejudiceStereotypes: distorted, exaggerated or oversimplified image applied to a category of people

10. functionalist • functionalist: dysfunctions caused by these practices: when minorities are exploited or oppressed, the social, political, educational and economic costs to society are high BUT majority culture feels good about themselves.

11. Conflict perspective • Majority uses prejudice and discrimination as weapons of power to control minority

12. Symbolic interactionist perspective • Members of society learn to be prejudice from parents-language itself can be negative.  Ex “black” has neg connotations.self-fulfilling prophecy: an expectation that leads to behavior that causes the expectation to become reality

13. Minority groups in the us • institutionalized discrimination: unfair practices that grow out of common behavrios and attitudes and that are a part of the structure of society.  Ex: seniority structure in getting jobs: minorities used to be shut out of those types of jobs and can’t catch upMinorities in urban, low budget schools have lower quality teachers and education because unable to afford training, tech etc...African Americans USED to be largest minority, now Latinos.  about 14%

14. Plight of African americans • Barriers to African American Assimilation: easy to see dif, origins from slave labor mentally hard to overcomeIncome inequality: abt 62% of avg white incomejob market: almost 2X as likely to work low elevel service jobshidden unemployment: unemployment that includes people not counted in the traditional unemployment categoriesTo what degree are African Americans making advances?  education is trad path to economic gain.  At each level of schooling, black men tend o gain less than their white peers BUT more thatn 25% of blacks now work in professional and managerial positions.  Lawyaers, accountants, teachers etcbusiness ownership up 45% from 1997-2002 inc in political presence in U.S. gov’t

15. Latinos • fastest growing minority grouponly 57% have completed high school 85% of non-latinos complete high school.  Many work in low paying jobs.  Home ownership inc but still behind national average.growing presence in politics

16. Native Americans • Tribal groups as dif as dif nationalitiesSuffering from over 100yrs of discriminationfewer grad hs than any other major minority grouponly 1 in congressGaming on Reservations: inc revenues but what about culture?

17. Asian americans • 4 % of popmany dif nationalities and ethnicitiesChinese and Japanese esp have made huge progress because of emphasis on education

18. Review • Describe what minority, race, and ehtnicity are. • What is the difference between prejudice and discrimination? Give an example of each. • Explain how one of the following perspectives explains racial inequliaties: functionalist, conflict, or symbolic interactionists. • How can the internet spread prejudice? • Explain how minority groups are discriminated against. Choose one group (African Americans, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans) and explain the history of their discrimination and what challenges they still face in America today as a result of prejudice. • What can you do to reduce your own prejudices?