Transcript Sociology and race

Sociology and race
Inequality and identity
Overview of today’s
lecture
 Popular theories of racial
inequality
 Types of racism
 Racial identity formation
 How structure impacts identity
Popular theories of
racial identity
 One popular, but not
sociological way of thinking
about racial inequality is the
argument that inequalities
reflect biological differences
between racial groups. This
theory is known as biological
deficiency.
Biological deficiency
 This theory draws on studies of
human genetics or studies
claiming to show a link between
race and intelligence, as well
as hierarchically classifying
races, hence asserting the
superiority or inferiority of
specific ones. The Nazis invoked
theories of biological
deficiency to argue that Jews,
Gypsies and others were
Biological deficiency
 In the US, this theory drove the eugenics
movement, which attempted to encourage and
discourage the reproduction of particular groups of
people in order to engineer the betterment of the
human race.
 Here is a short video clip about the eugenics
movement:
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I
aH0Ws8RtSc
Biological deficiency
 A more recent example is a book called
the Bell Curve. This book argues
intelligence, as measured through a
standardized test, is between 40 and
80% inherited, and it is a good predictor
of school performance, jobs, eventual
income and participation in crime.
Biological deficiency
 The Bell Curve argued that racial
inequalities were due to differing levels
of intelligence. It was reviewed in the
NY Times and its authors appeared on
numerous talk shows--a reception rarely
given to a 1000 page scholarly book
with numerous statistical charts.
Cultural deficiency
 A related popular theory is
cultural deficiency. This theory
argued that racially inequality
exists not because people of
color are biologically inferior,
but that some cultures lack the
morals and motivations to
succeed.
Cultural deficiency
 Cultural deficiency theories see the cultural
problems of minority groups as residuals of
slavery and discrimination. However, now
that these problems are over, the effects are
the causes of future problems.
Cultural deficiency
 An example of this approach is the popular
claim that youth of color don’t work hard in
school because they and their families don’t
value academic success.
Bias theories
 Bias theories blame prejudiced
members some members of the
majority. Individual racist
attitudes are responsible
inequalities.
Types of racism
 Sociologists discount theories
of biological and cultural
deficiency.
 Instead, they elaborate three
types of racism.
Individual racism
 Individual racism is similar to
popular bias theories.
 It includes using ethnic slurs, refusing to hire
people of a particular race for jobs, refusing
to rent apartments to people of a particular
race, assuming people from particular racial
groups have committed crimes (and thus
catching them more often), etc.
Individual racism
 This is the kind of treatment that most people
think of when they hear the word racism, and
it is synonymous with discrimination or
bigotry. The solution to this kind of racism is
generally referred to as color-blindness.
Judging people, to quote MLK, not by the
color of their skin but by the content of their
character.
Institutional Racism
 Popular theories often overlook
what sociologists call institutional
racism.
 Institutional racism is distinguished from the
above by the existence of systematic policies
and practices within institutions, that have the
effect of disadvantaging certain racial or
ethnic groups.
 This means that an individually racist bad
actor is not necessary for racism to occur.
Eg: redlining
 One example of institutional racism is redlining. Redlining is the
practice of not lending or insuring in certain neighborhoods
based upon the racial composition. This practice was encoded
in our system of finance, real estate and insurance by the Home
Owners Loan Corporation, an agency within the Federal Home
Loan Bank Board system created by Congress. The HOLC had
a method of property evaluation to determine the suitability of
neighborhoods for investment that became the standard used
by lending institutions and other real estate professionals. HOLC
surveyed 239 cities using 4 color codes to indicate the level of
risk a particular area would present. Based upon information
gathered from bankers, appraisers, real estate agents and
governmental officials, HOLC developed Residential Security
Maps with four classifications: First (A), Second (B), Third (C)
and Fourth (D) that corresponded to color grades: A-Green, BBlue, C-Yellow and D-Red.
Eg: redlining
 This picture is the redlined map of
Philadelphia:
QuickTime™ and a
decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
Eg: redlining
 A or green neighborhoods were considered the most
sound investments, as these neighborhoods were
entirely white and in high demand. D or red
neighborhoods, at the other end of the spectrum, had
lower homeownership rates, poor housing conditions,
and predominantly black residents. The HOLC
refused to make loans in these redlined areas. Urban
planning historians theorize that the maps were used
by private and public entities for years afterwards to
deny loans to people in black communities. This led
to the deterioration of Black neighborhoods. While
redlining is illegal today, we can see the effects of
decades of enforced neglect on the structures
themselves.
Eg: redlining
 Moreover, this article from the NY times is
one of many that suggest a link between
redlining and today’s sub-prime mortgage
crisis:
 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/07/us/
07baltimore.html
Biased standardized
testing
 Another example of institutional racism is the
continued use of culturally biased
standardized tests to measure intelligence
and determine college admission.
 Why would that be an example of institutional
racism?
Biased standardized
testing
 Another example of institutional racism is the
continued use of culturally biased standardized tests
to measure intelligence and determine college
admission.
 Why would that be an example of institutional
racism?
Biased standardized
testing
 Studies have compared students from a
variety of racial backgrounds that have similar
levels of high school and college
performance, so they’re getting roughly the
same grades in school, and determined that
the Asian and White students tend to have
higher SAT scores than the Latino and Black
students. These results indicate that using
the SAT to determine who gets into college
will ensure that you get more white and Asian
students, while similarly qualified black and
Latino students are turned down.
Biased standardized
testing
 This is an example of institutional racism
because you don’t need to have individually
racist admissions officers to end up with
admissions criteria that privilege whites and
Asians. The racism is not the result of bad
individual actors, but is built into the rules of
the educational system.
Institutional racism
 Further examples of institutional racism can
include the under- and mis-representation of
certain racial groups in the media,
 This, of course, can inform individual racism.
 Institutional racism also explains why courses
in European philosophy and Western
Civilization are mandatory, and are always
housed in departments called history and
philosophy, while courses in the histories and
cultures of communities of color tend to be
ethnic studies electives.
Institutional racism
 Further examples of institutional racism can include
the under- and mis-representation of certain racial
groups in the media,
 This, of course, can inform individual racism.
 Institutional racism also explains why courses in
European philosophy and Western Civilization are
mandatory, and are always housed in departments
called history and philosophy, while courses in the
histories and cultures of communities of color tend to
be ethnic studies electives.
Institutional racism
 Institutional racism also includes
differential access to the goods,
services, and opportunities of society.
So for example, white communities are
much more likely than black and Latino
communities of similar incomes to have
grocery stores in their neighborhoods.
Institutional racism
 The solutions to institutional racism usually come in
the form of policy. Sometimes what is needed is
state policy, that could, for example, target redlined
neighborhoods for low-interest loans. Other times,
its institutional policy, such as not counting the SATs
so much in admissions processes. One response to
institutional racism currently happening at Pacific are
efforts taken by many of the race-based student
organizations, such as Mecha or the BSU, to create
an ethnic studies requirement that all students must
take as a part of general education.
 A third kind of racism is color-blind
racism. Now this sounds a little
confusing because color blindness is
the opposite of institutional racism.
Color-blind racism
 But color-blind racism happens because
the manifestations of institutional racism
are widespread, pernicious and
sometimes slippery and hard to see.
Color-blind racism
 By failing to acknowledge the power and
pervasiveness of institutional racism, many wellintended people fail to see how racial oppression and
privilege have shaped a situation.
 And yet racial disparities are everywhere. African
Americans with a college diploma find themselves
unemployed almost twice as often as whites with the
same education. Hispanics must get by on only about
half of the individual income that Asian Americans and
whites divvy up among the bills.
Color-blind racism
 And when blacks and Latinos are hospitalized with a
heart problem, they are less likely than European
Americans to receive catheterization, be sent home
with beta blockers, or even be advised to take aspirin
to protect their health.
 Whites are paid more than other races for similar
work, even with similar qualifications. As of 2006, for
every dollar that white men earn, white women earn
77 cents, black women earn 64 cents and Latina
women earn 52 cents.
Color-blind racism
 What’s so dangerous about color-blind
racism is that when these disparities are
combined with the belief that race doesn’t
matter, it looks as if racial inequality is the
result of varying abilities or efforts on the
parts of different racial groups. In other
words, if you refuse to see race, it becomes
hard to see the effects of racism. And those
who can’t explain inequality as the result of
racism tend to see it as the fault of those it
disadvantages.
Color-blind racism
 For an example of color-blind racism, check
out this blog:
 http://www.facebook.com/ext/share.php?sid=
90653665771&h=pimm9&u=_Iqxr&ref=nf
Racial identity
formation
 Sociologists have also taken
issue with another assumption
that underlies popular thinking
about race and racism: the
notion that racial identity is
biological and fixed.
Racial identity
formation
 There is no biological or
genetic foundation for race.
Geneticists cannot look at an
individual’s DNA and determine
what race they are. And while
physical features (particularly
skin color but also hair and
facial features) often works as
a stand-in for race, it is often
incorrect.
Racial identity
formation
 In other words, blacks are not
always dark and whites are not
always light. Below is Black
Panther Founder Huey Newton,
who was lighter skinned than
many non-blacks.
QuickTime™ and a
decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
Racial identity
formation
 Another way we know that race
is not about biology is that
categories such as Asian or
Latino/a encompass people
from a variety of backgrounds
with a variety of skin colors.
Racial identity
formation
 But just because racism is not
biological doesn’t mean its not
real. The ways we identify
racially, and the perceptions
others hold of our race, can
have dramatic effects on our
lives.
Racial identity
formation
 The government is the arbitrator of
which racial categories count, and
often has the power to classify
people into one or another. For
example, think of people from the
Middle East, who are often unsure
of whether they are white. There is
no racial category on the census
that this group generally feels fits
them, but the discriminatory
treatment they face makes many
Racial identity
formation
 And of course there is the historic
example of the 1 drop rule, in which
the government decided the racial
identity of many people (please note
that there is no such thing as black
or white blood).
Racial identity
formation
 Sociologists use the term racial
formation to refer to the process by
which social, economic and political
forces determine the content and
importance of racial categories, and
by which they are in turn shaped by
racial meanings.
 In other words, racial classification
is a continuingly evolving process,
but that process nonetheless
shapes individual and collective
Racial identity
formation
 For example, In the United States, the
racial category of "black" evolved
with the consolidation of racial
slavery. By the end of the
seventeenth century, Africans
whose specific identity was Ibo,
Yoruba, Fulani, etc., were rendered
"black" by an ideology of
exploitation based on racial logic.
Yet, blackness remains a powerful
feature with which many people
Racial identity
formation
 In another example, in the 19th
century, people from Southern
and Eastern Europe--eg. Irish,
Polish, Jewish--were not
considered white. We know that
race is a social, rather than
biological concept because it
changes over time.
Racial identity
formation for whites
 Most people of color are aware that
their race plays an important role in
their social life. But many whites
feel race is not important for them.
This link takes you to a list made by a
white female professor of all the
ways being white affects her life:
 http://74.125.155.132/search?q=ca
che:WsRQNV9U0sAJ:www.case.edu/
president/aaction/UnpackingTheKn
apsack.pdf+white+privilege+unpacki
ng&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&c
Racial identity
formation for whites
 This article suggests that we are
not always aware of all of the ways
our racial identity is formed, and the
ways it affects us.
 What are some ways your racial
identity has affected you?
 How does this relate to Waters’
assertion that white ethnicities are
symbolic?