Transcript Chapter 9 Inequalities of Race and Ethnicity

Chapter 9 Inequalities of Race
and Ethnicity
Minorities
• Minorities – a group of people w/ physical or
cultural traits different from those of the dominant
group
• Numbers alone do not make you a minority
– Ex. Women in the U.S.
• Key factors
– Has distinctive physical or cultural characteristics which
can be used to separate if from the majority
– The minority is dominated by the majority
• Majority hold an unequal share of desired goods, services, and
privleges
– Minority traits are often believed by the dominant
majority to be inferior
– Members of the minority have a common sense of
identity with strong group loyalty
– The majority determines who belongs to the minority
through ascribed status
Race
• Race – people sharing certain
inherited physical
characteristics that are
considered important w/in a
society
• In sociology, social attitudes
and characteristics that relate
to race are more important than
physical differences
• No scientific evidence that
connects any racial
characteristic w/ innate
superiority or inferiority
Ethnicity
• Ethnicity – group identified by cultural,
religious, or national characteristics
• Ex. Language, religion, values, beliefs,
norms, and customs
• Ethnocentrism – main cause for negative
attitudes toward ethnic minorities
Racial and Ethnic Relations
• If minority groups are - accepted
leads to assimilation, if rejected
leads to conflict
• Assimilation – the blending or
fusing of minority groups into the
dominant society
• Anglo-conformity – the most
prevalent pattern of assimilation
in America
– Traditional American institutions are
maintained
– Immigrants are accepted as long as
they conform to the “accepted
standards” of the society
• Others must either give up or
suppress its own value
Racial and Ethnic Relations
• Melting Pot – all ethnic and
racial minorities voluntarily
blend together
• Tossed salad – traditions
and cultures exist side by
side – many Sociologist
prefer this idea
– Cultural Pluralism – desire of
a group to maintain some
sense of identity separate
from the dominant group
• Accommodation – an extreme
from of cultural pluralism.
Occurs when a minority
maintains its own culturally
unique way of life
Patterns of Conflict
• Genocide – the systematic effort to destroy an entire population
– Most extreme version
– Ex. – Holocaust, Hutu vs. Tutsis, Serbians’ “Ethnic Cleansing” of
Muslims in Bosnia and Kosovo
• Population transfer – a minority is forced either to move to a remote
location or to leave entirely
– Ex. - Native Americans
• Subjugation – process by which a minority group is denied equal
access to the benefits of society
– Most common pattern of conflict
– De jure segregation – denial of equal access based on the law
• Ex. – U.S. schools before Brown vs. Board of Ed.
– De facto segregation – denial of equal access based on everyday
practice
• Ex - Neighbors not selling homes to certain races, businesses not
promoting certain minorities