Race and Ethnicity

1. Race and Ethnicity Society, Seventh Edition

2. Definitions • Race – a socially constructed category composed of people who share biologically transmitted traits that members of a society consider important • Racial types • Caucasian: light skin, fine hair • Negroid: darker skin, coarse hair • Mongoloid: brown skin, distinctive eyes • Ethnicity – a shared cultural heritage • Common ancestors • Common language • Common religion Society, Seventh Edition

3. Minority Group Any category of people, distinguished by physical or cultural difference, that a society sets apart and subordinates • General characteristics • Distinct identity” • Race, sex, sexual orientation, the poor • Subordination • Often saddled with lower status • Stereotypes, stigma, and labeling • Group sizenot always a factor • Women in America outnumber men • Blacks in South Africa outnumber whites Society, Seventh Edition

4. National Map 11-1 (p. 275)Where the Minority-Majority Already Exists Society, Seventh Edition

5. Prejudice • Prejudice – rigid and irrational generalization about an entire category of people • Stereotyping – an exaggerated description of an entire category of people • Racism – the belief that one racial category is innately superior or inferior to another • Institutional prejudice & discrimination – bias inherent in the operation of society’s institutions Society, Seventh Edition

6. Theories Of Prejudice • Scapegoat theory • Disadvantaged people who unfairly blame minorities for their own problems • Authoritarian personality theory • Ridged moralists with little education who see things in “black & white” • Culture theory • Everyone has some prejudice because it is embedded in culture • Conflict theory • Self-justification for the rich and powerful in America • Minorities may cultivate climate of race consciousness in order to win greater power and privileges Society, Seventh Edition

7. Discrimination Treating various categories of people unequally Can occur with prejudice Robert K. Merton’s 4 combinations • Active Bigot – prejudiced, discriminator • Timid Bigot – prejudiced, non-discriminator • Fair-weather liberal – non-prejudiced, discriminator • All-weather liberal – non-prejudiced, non-discriminator Society, Seventh Edition

8. The Vicious Cycle • Prejudice and discrimination begin as ethnocentric attitudes • As a result, groups can be placed in a situation where they are socially disadvantaged and labeled • A group’s situation, over time, is thus explained as a result of innate inferiority rather than looking at the social structure of reasons; The cycle then repeats itself Society, Seventh Edition

9. Figure 11-1 (p. 280)Prejudice and Discrimination: The Vicious Circle Society, Seventh Edition

10. Patterns of Interaction • Pluralism – a state in which racial and ethnic minorities ate distinct but have social parity • Assimilation – the process by which minorities gradually adopt patterns of the dominant category • Miscegenation – biological reproduction by partners of different racial categories • Segregation – the physical and social separation of categories of people • De jure and de facto segregation • Genocide –the systematic killing of one category of people by another Society, Seventh Edition

11. Racial & Ethnicity in the U.S. • Native Americans • White Anglo-Saxon Protestants (WASP’s) • African Americans • Asian Americans • Chinese • Japanese • Korean • Filipinos • Hispanic Americans • Mexican • Puerto Ricans • Cuban Americans • White Ethnic Americans Society, Seventh Edition

12. How To Improve • Enhance educational process • Multicultural education • Learn to appreciate diversity • Increase meaningful social contact • Desire to change • Honest, self-critique of lifestyle • Plan for increasing social contact Society, Seventh Edition