Transcript Defining Race and Racism

Defining Race and Racism
Declaration on Race and Racial
Prejudice (1978)
• “Any theory which involves the claim that
racial or ethnic groups are inherently
superior or inferior, thus simply implying
that some would be entitled to dominate or
eliminate others, presumed to be inferior, or
which bases value judgments on racial
differentiation, has no scientific foundation
and is contrary to the moral and ethical
principles of humanity”
Race
• Classification of
human beings based
on genetic
differences(skin color,
hair texture,
observable features)
• Race is a social
construct that reflects
the experience of
society at a given time
Ethnic Group
• People who possess a
distinctive, shared
culture(ancestry,
language, folklore,
traditions, food,
music, etc.. And a
sense of
identity(peoplehood)
• Does not necessarily
have to do with racial
characteristics
Majority Group
• Based on their possession
of certain valued physical
or cultural traits - and
more importantly on their
possession of effective
power - dominate
economic, political, and
educational institutions
and can structure societal
activities to their own
BEST advantage.
Minority Group
• Groups whose nonvalued physical or
cultural traits - and,
more importantly,
whose lack of
effective power block them from
control over important
societal institutions
Racial Discrimination
• Unfair or unequal
treatment of members of
some specific group
(usually members of a
minority group by
members of a majority
group)
• Power is a necessary
precondition, for it
depends on the ability to
give or withhold social
benefits, facilities,
services, and opportunities
to those of a diff. Race.
Institutional Racism
• A system of procedures or
patterns in all walks of
life: education, housing,
businesses, employment,
professional associations,
religion, media, etc.,
whose effect is to
perpetuate and maintain
the power, influence and
well-being of one group
over another.
Prejudice
• Way that certain people or
groups think about one
another in terms of fixed
and rigid mental issues.
• Most often based on
information and beliefs
that are irrational or
negative and may
predispose people to act
negatively toward the
object of their prejudice.
Stereotypes
• Oversimplified and
categorical beliefs in
which all members of
some particular group
are assumed to possess
specific traits that
distinguish them from
all members of other
groups.
Ethnocentrism
• The tendency to believe
that the norms and values
of one’s own culture are
superior to those of others,
and to use these norms as
a standard when
evaluating all other
cultures.
• Often referred to as
“culture centeredness”
Assimilation
• Refers to the process by
which minority ethnic and
racial groups are absorbed
into the mainstream
sociocultural system,
eventually losing their
distinctive cultural and
physical identities.
• Changes in beliefs, values,
behaviors, and attitudes.
Pluralism
• Refers to the retention of
minority group identities
and diversities, with
individual racial and
ethnic groups(majority
and minorities)
accomodating themselves
to one another’s individual
differences.