Transcript Ch 9 Inequalities

Inequalities of Race and
Ethnicity
Minorities, Race, & Ethnicity
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Minorities - a group of people with physical and cultural traits different
from those of the dominant groups in the society.
1. physical traits - skin color, facial features, disabilities
2. cultural traits - accent, religion, language, parentage
3. minority is dominated by the majority
4. minority traits are often believed by the dominant
majority to be inferior
5. members of the minority have a common sense of
identity, with strong group loyalty (“we” and “they”)
6. majority determines who belongs to the minority
through ascribed status
Minorities, Race, & Ethnicity
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Race - people sharing certain inherited physical characteristics
that are considered important within a society
1. skin color, hair texture, facial features, head form, eye
color, height to determine race.
2. 3 major divisions - Negroid, Mongoloid, Caucasian
3. no “pure” race
4. for sociology, social attitudes and characteristics that
relate to race are more important than physical differences
Ethnicity - group identified by cultural, religious or national
characteristics
1. a subculture
Racial and Ethnic Relations
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Patterns of Assimilation
1. the bending or fusing of minority groups into the dominant society
a. Anglo-conformity - immigrants are accepted if they
conform to the “accepted standards” of the society. (their own
beliefs must be suppressed or given up)
b. melting pot - all ethnic and racial minorities voluntarily blend
together.
c. cultural pluralism (tossed salad) group maintains some sense of
identity
d. accommodation - extreme form of cultural pluralism - minority
learns
to deal with the dominant culture but remains independent in
language and culture
Racial and Ethnic Relations
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Patterns of Conflict
1. genocide - systematic effort to destroy an entire population
(extreme)
2. population transfer - minority is forced to move to a remote
location
away from the majority
3. subjugation - minority group is denied equal access to the benefits
of a society
a. de jure segregation - denial of equal access based on
the law ( Brown v. Board of Education)
b. de facto segregation - denial of access based on
everyday practice (homeowners refuse to sell to certain
minorities)
Theories of Prejudice and
Discrimination
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Prejudice, Racism, Discrimination
1. prejudice - widely held negative attitudes toward a
group (minority or majority) and its individual members
2. racism - an extreme form of prejudice that assumes
superiority of one group over others
3. discrimination - treating people differently based on
ethnicity, race, religion or culture
Theories of Prejudice and
Discrimination
• Hate crimes - criminal acts that are motivated by extreme
prejudice
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1. bias related to race, religion, sexual orientation, national
origin or ancestry
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2. African Americans, Jews, gay men, lesbian women,
Latinos, Arabs, Asian Americans
• Stereotypes - set of ideas based on distortion,
exaggeration and over simplification that is applied to a
category of people (ex.) all athletes are stupid - all
politicians are corrupt - all Muslims are terrorists
Minority Groups in the U.S.
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Institutionalized discrimination - unfair practices that grow out of
common behavior and attitudes and that are a part of the
structure of a society
1. seniority systems
2. public education
a. white flight to the suburbs
b. lack of funding in areas of minorities
c. outdated textbooks, parental support
not strong, less technology teacher
training, buildings in need of repair
African Americans
• 1. racial minority in the US (12%)
• 2. why lack of acceptance
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a. physical characteristics
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b. lower class status due to slavery
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c. after 13th Amend., discrimination continued (especially
in south)
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d. practices and laws became institutionalized
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e. practices became illegal in the 1960’s (civil rights
legislation & Supreme Ct. decisions)
• 3. average income for African Americans - 64% that of whites
• 4. jobless rate are double that of whites
African Americans
• 5. hidden unemployment - includes people not counted in the
traditional unemployment categories
• 6. education is the traditional path to economic gain
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a. # of African Americans in professional & technical
occupations (doctors, engineers, lawyers, teachers) has
risen 128%)
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b. some sociologists predict the emergence of 2 black
Americas - a growing black middle class and a black
underclass (people typically unemployed who come from
families that have been poor for generations)
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c. African Americans have seen their political power grow
Latinos
• ethnic minorities from Latin America (Mex., Central Am., South
Am., Caribbean Islands)
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1. one of the fastest growing minorities in the US
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2. America - largest minority group (12.5%)
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3. Latino peoples are diverse
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4. Cuban immigrants in the 50’s were successful middle
and upper class people - later immigrants were
uneducated members of the lower class
Latinos
• 5. 1/2 adult Latinos have completed high school - 84% nonLatinos
• 6. Average income is higher than that of African Americans but
lower than whites
• 7. politically Latinos are becoming a force in shaping American
politics
Native American
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1. number just over 2 mil
2. very diverse - (500 separate tribes)
3. suffer more today than other minorities
4. fewer graduate from high school than any other major
minority group
5. lowest annual income
6. not much political power
7. 1/4 live in reservations (50% on poverty level)
8. casino type gaming used to promote services & economic
development
Asian Americans
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(4%) (China, Phil., Japan, India, Korea, Vietnam)
1. Chinese immigrants came in 1850’s (Ca. gold rush)
2. 1870 hard times - European Americans began to compete for jobs
that Chinese had held
3. race riots resulted - immigrants barred from attending schools in
San. Fran.
4. urban ghettos known as Chinatowns were formed
5. 1882 - Chinese Exclusion Act - ended Chinas immigration to the US
for 100 years
6. Japanese Americans - arrived about same time Chinese Am. were
being excluded
7. became successful farmers
Asian Americans
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8. California Alien Land Bill 1913 - allowed land only to be leased for 3
yrs. (owned land could not be inherited)
9. 1924 - Congress halted all immigration
10. 1941 - FDR issued Executive Order 9066 - Japanese Am. were put
in internment camps
11. 1980 - Am. formally apologized and paid them 20,000 each.
12. one of the most successful racial minorities in US
a. used education systems for upward mobility
White Ethnics
• descendants of immigrants from Eastern and Southern
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European nations (Italy, Poland, Greek, Irish, Slavs)
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1. 1960 - gained undeserved reputation of
being conservative, racist, pro-war “hard hats”