Transcript African Americans

Social Demography, continued
• Important Themes from Pollard and
O’Hare
• Evidence of Persisting Inequality
• Reparations as a potential solution to
black/white inequality
Pollard and O’Hare
1. Minority groups have suffered and to
some extent continue to suffer
because of their racial and ethnic
identity.
***Will they follow the path of European
immigrant groups or never assimilate?
Interracial Marriages and
Multiracial Americans
2. Likely increase in the number of interracial
Americans in the next century
****Will interracial Americans be considered a
separate group for federal purposes (aff.
action)?
****Will the increase in the number of interracial
Americans mean that race will become less
important in our society?
Residential Segregation
3. Blacks experience the most residential
segregation from whites, followed by
Hispanics, with American Indians,
Asians, and Pacific Islanders being the
least segregated from whites.
***What are the relative roles of
discrimination and housing
preferences?
4. Persisting Inequality
• 31% of whites have college degrees relative
to 16% of African Americans and 46% of
Asians.
• 33% of whites have managerial and
professional jobs relative to 20% of African
Americans and 34% of Asians.
• 1997 Median Household Income for Asians:
$45T, whites: $41T, Blacks: $25T
• Disparities in wealth, business ownership,
and poverty
Potential Solutions
• Laissez faire: little government
intervention
• Existing government programs:
progressive tax system, compensatory
programs like Head Start, affirmative
action
• Reparations
What are reparations?
• Most advocates call for increased
spending on compensatory educational
programs, including, e.g. more funds for
college scholarships.
• Most advocates do not call for direct
cash payments.
What is the foundation for
calling for reparations?
• Most advocates do not argue that living
Americans should feel responsible for
slavery.
• However, they argue that America owes
a debt to its black citizens.
Are there precedents?
• Indian Claims Commission
• Payments to Japanese who were
interned during World War II
Pros and Cons
• African Americans were
unjustly treated in the
past.
• Compensatory efforts
are needed to
overcome past harms.
• We need a bold step to
move beyond the
current black/white
divide
• How do we identify
those who should be
compensated?
• We should allow our
economy to work this
out over time, or we
should help only the
needy.
• We need to quit
focusing on the
black/divide and
address real inequality.
Underlying Questions
• Should we expect the socioeconomic
gap between blacks and whites to
disappear completely? Why or why not?
• Can equality between African Americans
and White Americans be achieved within
our current political and economic
system?
• What explains persisting inequality?
Consensus: Functional
Theory of Inequality
• Functions and Positions
• Relative Importance to Society
• Ability, Training, Motivation
• Inequality is Inevitable: Racial?
Conflict: Internal Colonial
Model
• Racial and Ethnic Groups Have
Different Interests
• Europeans Imposed Their Views on
Internal Colonies
• Current Situation: Coercion and
Exclusion
Summary
• African Americans, Latinos, and
American Indians continue to lag behind
White and Asian Americans.
• Sociologists and other observers have
offered different and contradictory
explanations
• The solutions that one favors depends
on ones views of the underlying causes.