Discrimination in American Society

1. Discrimination in American Society Chapter 4 Karger & Stoesz

2. Introduction Discrimination and poverty are inextricably linked to the fabric of American social welfare Economic, social, and political discrimination often leads to poverty, which in turn, results in the need for income maintenance and other social programs

3. Discrimination Psychological Explanation � the frustration-aggression hypothesis Normative-cultural explanation � suggests individuals hold prejudicial attitudes because of their socialization Economic theory explanation � contends that dominate groups discriminate to maintain their economic political advantages

4. Racism The term racism refers to discrimination against and prejudicial treatment of a racially different minority group. A pattern of racial discrimination that is strongly entrenched in a society is called institutional racism.

5. The Minority A Middle Class Who is middle class? $40.000-$140.000? $25,000-$75,000? $50,000? Wealth disparity between whites and African Americans ($121,000 vs $19,000) regardless of income, education or occupation is a powerful indicator of social injustice

6. African Americans AA population estimated at 36.7 million or 13% of the US population. Younger � 33% under age 18, 8% of AA 65 years old or older compared with 14% of whites Over 52% of AA live in the central city of metro areas

7. African Americans Poverty - 8.9 million or 23.9% live below the poverty rate (compared to 8% of whites) Family Structure � 48% married couples, 43% single female-headed households, 9% men only. 36% of children reside with both parents African American Businesses � grew by 46% in the late 80s and early 90s. Only 1% of total business receipts were to black-owned businesses.

8. African Americans Labor Force and Income �Urban Institute Study � black applicants subject to unfavorable treatment 20% of time compared to 7% for while applicants (p.65) Unemployment rate for blacks is almost twice that of whites Income The more education people attain, the greater the income gap (see Table 4.1)

9. African Americans Crime � IN 1999, 603,000 black men enrolled in higher education and 757,000 were incarcerated A black male in the US has a one in three chance of going to prison (for Hispanic males 1 in 6 for white males 1 in 17) 21.4 % of black males will be incarcerated before age 30 (compared to 1.4% of white males AA overrepresented on death row by more than three times (compared to AA % of population)

10. African Americans Housing- 48% of AA are home owners (70 % of whites are home owners) 19% of poor black families live in physically deficient housing 54% of poor black families paid more than 50% of their income for housing

11. African Americans Health � AA Infant mortality rate 13.6 per 1000 live births (compared to 5.7 for whites) AA account for more than � of all new HIV diagnosis Life expectancy- black males 68.6 years (compared to 75 years for white males) Life expectancy- black women 75.5 years compared to 80.2 years for white women

12. African Americans Education � The same % of black and white students graduate from high school 18% of blacks over 25 years old are college graduates (compared to 34% of whites) Fewer minority college graduates go on to obtain advanced degrees In 2001, only 1,604 AA earned a doctoral degree

13. African Americans Welfare Dependency � 7.7 % of AA received more than 50% of their total annual family income from means-tested public assistance programs compared to 1.9 percent of whites

14. Hispanic Americans Hispanics are the largest minor group By 2050, 25% of US population will be Hispanic Hispanic masks diversity with the group. The term is use to describe families with histories from 22 different nations 65% of Hispanics live in three states: Texas, California and New York

15. Hispanic Americans This Hispanic poverty rate surpasses the black poverty rate (22%) Net worth for Latino households fell by 24% (from $12,170 to $9,200) Possibly from continuing immigration of poor and unskilled workers Hispanic children represent 18% of all US children but make up 30% of all children living in poverty

16. Hispanic Americans More than 2 in 5 Hispanics aged 25 and older have not graduated from high school Hispanics aged 25 and older were less likely to have graduated from high school than whites (57% to 89%) More than � of Hispanics have less than a 9th grade education (4% whites) 11% have college degrees (compared to 29% whites)

17. Women and Society Violence & Sexism � see pag76 Violence against Women Act (VAWA) Comprehensive approach to domestic violence and sexual assault Designed to improve response of police, prosecutors and judges Force sex offenders to pay restitution to victims Grants for graining in domestic abuse, battered women�s shelters, hotlines etc.

18. Women and Society The Feminization of Poverty � Diana Peirce (1978) coined the term. She argued that poverty was rapidly becoming a female phenomenon The poverty rate for women is 13.7% & for single mother families is 35.5% 2 of 3 poor adults are women 4 of 10 families headed by women live in poverty

19. Women and Society Myths abound in attempting to explain why women consistently earn less than men See page 78 � examine each myth

20. Women and Society Income & Job Disparity � About � of all working women are in occupations in which 80 % of coworkers are women 98.6% of secretaries are women 92.7% of bookkeepers 93% of nurses Women�s wages lag behind men�s even in female dominated professions

21. Social Workers Social Work appears to be even more female-dominated than in past years. For example, almost 80 percent of NASW membership was female in 1999, compared with about 75 percent in 1991. The NASW survey found that men earned significantly more than women, with a median income for men reported at $54,290, compared with $43,510 for women.