Transcript Occupational Segregation in the U.S.

Caublinasian
Italian
Russian
German
African American
White
Black(Not Hispanic)
Irish
Polish
English
Mexican
African American
Hispanic
Asian
Defining Race
• Almost every state with racially discriminatory
legislation also established legal definitions of
race. It is no accident that the first legal ban
on interracial marriage, a 1705 Virginia act,
also constituted the first statutory effort to
define who was Black. Regulating or
criminalizing behavior in racial terms required
legal definitions of race…
Legal Definitions of Race
• Alabama and Arkansas defined anyone with
one drop of "Negro" blood as Black;
• Georgia referred to "ascertainable" non-White
blood;
• Indiana used a one-eighth rule;
• Kentucky relied on a combination of an
"appreciable admixture" of Black ancestry and
a one-sixteenth rule…
So How Do We Define Race?
• Race is a social construction.
• Racial distinctions are typically made based on
visible physical characteristics such as skin
color, hair type, and shape of eyes.
Minority (Subordinate) group:
A group that occupies an inferior or
subordinate position of power, prestige,
and privilege, is excluded from full
participation in the life of a society; and
is the object of discrimination by the
majority group
Majority (Dominant) group:
A group that occupies a position of
superior power, prestige, and privilege
and is able to realize its goals and
interests even in the face of resistance; a
dominant group.
Five Characteristics of a minority group:
• Minorities are treated unequally by the dominant
group.
• The physical or cultural traits that distinguish
minorities are held in low esteem by the dominant
group.
• Minorities tend to feel strong group solidarity
because of their physical or cultural traits—and the
disabilities these traits entail.
• Membership in a minority group is not voluntary.
• By choice or necessity, members of a minority group
tend to marry within their group.
Prejudice vs. Discrimination
• Prejudice involves attitudes, beliefs and
feelings about members of a different group.
• Discrimination involves actual behavior—
unfair treatment of members of a group
based on their group membership
• Racism involves the belief that some racial
categories are superior/inferior to others.
• Can you be prejudice without
discriminating?
• Can you discriminate without being
prejudice?
Personal vs. Institutional
Discrimination
• Personal discrimination involves individual actions
such as avoidance, rejection, harassment, or
physical attacks.
• Institutional discrimination is built into the system
by law or by custom often unintentionally
Examples of Institutional
Discrimination
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Jim Crow
Indian Boarding Schools
English only laws
Standardized tests
School funding
Landfill locations
Real estate practices
“Girl’s Basketball”
•Cannot cross center line
•Limited to 2 dribbles
•Guards are purely defensive
•Forwards are purely offensive
F1
F2 G2
G1
G1
F1
G1 F1
F2
G2
F2
G2
Inequality based on Sex
Sexism System of beliefs that asserts the
inferiority of one sex and that justifies
gender-based inequality.
Patriarchies – Male-dominated society in
which cultural beliefs and values give higher
prestige and value to men than to women
Matriarchies – female-dominated societies
 Rare in contemporary world
©Pine Forge Press, an imprint of Sage Publications,
2008.
Sexual Violence
• Rape is the most frequently committed, least
reported crime (US Dept of Justice, 2001)
• Rape has been used historically in a variety of ways
to control women’s behavior
– Examples?
• Image of rapist
– “Psychologically defective stranger”
• Reality = about 2/3 of rapists are friends,
acquaintance, or relatives
©Pine Forge Press, an imprint of Sage Publications,
2008.
Sexual Violence, cont.
• Takes accountability off of cultural ideology, and
focuses on “abnormal” individuals
• When asked how to stop rape, most people
focus on how women should change their
behavior
• Rape is the only crime that requires the victim
to provide evidence that they are unwilling
• Focus remains more on women’s sexuality than
men’s coercion.
©Pine Forge Press, an imprint of Sage Publications,
2008.
Biology
 The assumption of “biology as destiny” overlooks
the fact that the distribution of men and women on
most physical and behavioral characteristics
generally overlap.
 Qualities considered naturally feminine are usually
seen as less socially valuable than those considered
masculine
 In different cultures, the roles that men and women
fill can be distinctly different than those in the U.S.
©Pine Forge Press, an imprint of Sage Publications,
2008.