Transcript race - Cengage

Chapter 9
Race and Ethnicity
Chapter Outline
•
•
•
•
•
•
Defining Race and Ethnicity
Race and Ethnic Relations
Theories of Race and Ethnic Relations
Some Advantages of Ethnicity
The Future of Race and Ethnicity
A Vertical Mosaic
Race, Biology and Society
• Race refers to socially significant
physical differences, such as skin color,
rather than biological differences that
determine behavioral traits.
• Racial distinctions are social constructs,
not biological “givens.”
The Social Construction of
Race
• Many scholars believe we belong to one
human race which originated in Africa.
• Migration, geographical separation, and
inbreeding led to the formation of more
or less distinct races.
The Social Construction of
Race
• Humanity has experienced so much
intermixing that race as a biological category
has lost meaning.
• Sociologists use the term “race” because
perceptions of race affect the lives of most
people profoundly.
Ethnicity, Culture, and
Social Structure
• Race is to biology as ethnicity is to culture.
• A race is a category of people whose
perceived physical markers are deemed
socially significant.
• An ethnic group is composed of people
whose perceived cultural markers are
deemed socially significant.
Polling Question
•
Think about Whites in the U.S. compared to ethnic
and racial minority groups. To what extent do you
agree with the following: Whites as a group are
very distinct and different from ethnic and racial
minority groups.
A. Strongly agree
B. Agree somewhat
C. Unsure
D. Disagree somewhat
E. Strongly disagree
Ethnic Groups
• Differ in:
– Language
– Religion
– Customs
– Values
The Vicious Cycle of
Racism
Hispanic Americans
• According to the U.S. Census Bureau,
nearly 39 million Hispanic Americans
lived in the United States in 2003.
• The Bureau predicts they will number
more than 96 million in 2050.
Racial and Ethnic
Composition
Population by Hispanic Origin and
Region, 2002
Mexican
Puerto
Rican
Cuban
Other
Northeast
2.4
58.0
13.3
30.2
Midwest
8.7
8.5
3.0
4.8
South
34.3
27.0
75.1
32.6
West
54.6
6.4
8.5
32.4
Institutional Racism
• Institutional racism is bias inherent in social
institutions and often not noticed by members
of the majority group.
– Examples:
• When police single out African
Americans for car searches.
• When department stores tell
floorwalkers to watch for African
American shoplifters.
Polling Question
•
Descendents of slavery in the U.S. should
be given economic restitution by the U.S.
government for the consequences of
slavery.
A. Strongly agree
B. Agree somewhat
C. Unsure
D. Disagree somewhat
E. Strongly disagree
Ecological theory
• Distinguishes five stages in the process
by which conflict between ethnic and
racial groups emerges and is resolved.
Stages of Ecological Theory
1. Invasion.
– One group tries to move into the territory of
another.
2. Resistance.
– The established group tries to defend its
territory and institutions.
3. Competition.
– The groups compete for scarce resources.
Stages of Ecological Theory
4. Accommodation and Cooperation.
– The groups work out an understanding of
what to segregate, divide, and share.
5. Assimilation.
– The minority blends into the majority
population and eventually disappears as
a distinct group.
Split labor markets
• A situation in which low-wage workers of one
race and high wage workers of another race
compete for the same jobs.
• High-wage workers are likely to resent the
presence of low-wage competitors, and
conflict often results.
• Consequently, racist attitudes develop or are
reinforced.
Native Americans
• Expulsion and genocide best describe the
treatment of Native Americans by European
settlers in the 19th century.
– Expulsion is the forcible removal of a
population from a territory claimed by
another population.
– Genocide is the intentional extermination
of an entire population defined as a race or
a people.
Native Americans
• 1830 Indian Removal Act - Called for
relocation of all Native Americans to land
west of the Mississippi.
• In the “Trail of Tears,” the U.S. Army
rounded up all 16,000 Cherokees and
marched them to Oklahoma.
– 4,000 Cherokees died.
Native Americans
• Late 19th century - government adopted a
policy of forced assimilation.
• 1930’s and 40s - Roosevelt adopted a more
liberal policy:
– Prohibited further breakup of Native lands.
– Encouraged Native self-rule and cultural
preservation.
Native Americans
• 1950s - government proposed to
– end the reservation system
– deny sovereign status of the tribes
– cut off government services
– stop protecting Indian lands held in trust for
the tribes.
• The proposal was not implemented due to
strong resistance by the Native-American
community.
Median Family Income Ratios, Black/White and
Hispanic/White, U.S., 1947–2001
Representation of Minority Groups in
Television
White Prejudice and Discrimination
against Blacks
Asian Americans, 2000
Group
Chinese
Filipino
Indian
Number
2.7 million
2.4 million
1.8 million
% of Total
22.7
20.1
16.0
Vietnamese
Korean
Japanese
1.1 million
1.1 million
0.8 million
9.4
9.0
6.7
Six Degrees of Separation:
Ethnic and Racial Group
Relations
Polling Question
•
The problems of racial prejudice and
discrimination in U.S. society are over
stated.
A. Strongly agree
B. Agree somewhat
C. Unsure
D. Disagree somewhat
E. Strongly disagree
Race and Ethnicity in the U.S.
• Reforms that would promote equality:
– Affirmative action programs
– Job training
– Improvements in public education
– Subsidized health care and child care
Quick Quiz
1. Race is:
a. an attitude that judges a person on his or
her group's real or imagined
characteristics
b. a category of people whose perceived
cultural markers are deemed socially
significant
c. a social construct used to distinguish
people in terms of one or more physical
markers
d. the tendency to blame other racial or
ethnic groups for one's own problems
Answer: c
•
Race is a social construct used to
distinguish people in terms of one
or more physical markers.
2. Most sociologists believe race matters
because it allows social inequality to
be created and maintained.
a. True
b. False
Answer: a
• Most sociologists believe race
matters because it allows social
inequality to be created and
maintained.
3. An ethnic group is:
a. an attitude that judges a person on his or
her group's real or imagined
characteristics
b. a category of people whose perceived
cultural markers are deemed socially
significant
c. a social construct used to distinguish
people in terms of one or more physical
markers
d. the tendency to blame other racial or
ethnic groups for one's own problems
Answer: b
•
An ethnic group is a category of
people whose perceived cultural
markers are deemed socially
significant.
4. We see institutional racism in practice when:
a. police single out African Americans for
car searches
b. department stores tell their floorwalkers
to keep a sharp eye out for AfricanAmerican shoplifters
c. banks reject African-American mortgage
applications more than applications from
white Americans of the same economic
standing
d. all of these choices
Answer: d
•
We see institutional racism in practice when
police single out African Americans for
car searches, department stores tell their
floorwalkers to keep a sharp eye out for
African-American shoplifters, and banks
reject African-American mortgage
applications more than applications from
white Americans of the same economic
standing.
5. The words that best describe the
treatment of Native Americans by
European settlers in the 19th century
are:
a. race and ethnicity
b. prejudice and discrimination
c. scapegoat and minority group
d. symbolic ethnicity and institutional
racism
e. expulsion and genocide
Answer: e
• The words that best describe the
treatment of Native Americans by
European settlers in the 19th century
are expulsion and genocide.
6. _________________ is a policy that
gives preference to minority groups if
equally qualified people are available for
a position.
Answer: affirmative action
• Affirmative action is a policy that gives
preference to minority groups if equally
qualified people are available for a
position.