Transcript Slide 1

UNIT III
CHAPTER’S 7, 8 &
10
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CHAPTER 7
DEVIANCE & CRIME
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DEFINING DEVIANCE
Deviance is behavior that violates expected rules
and norms.
According to sociologists, there are four main
identifying characteristics of deviant behavior:
1. It occurs in a social content and is not just
individual behavior.
2. It is culturally relative.
3. The social rules are created or constructed; not
just morally decided upon or enforced.
4. The audience decides what is defined as
deviant.
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STUDYING DEVIANCE
Sociologists distinguish between formal and
informal deviance.
Formal Deviance is behavior that breaks laws or
official rules, e.g. crime.
Informal Deviance is behavior that violates
customary norms.
When studying deviance, we examine:
why people violate laws or norms
the study of how society reacts
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SANCTIONS
Sociologists use the term sanctions to refer to the
punishment associated with breaking norms,
rules, and laws.
Sanctions can be either formal or informal.
Informal sanctions such as verbal and nonreprimands are associated with deviant behavior.
Formal sanctions such as being sent to prison or
put to death are administered by formal agents
(police, courts, etc.) for violating laws.
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SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF DEVIANCE
The medicalization of deviance, such as
alcoholism and mental illness, is an excellent
example of how society classifies different types
of behavior and how definitions change over
time.
Alcoholism is still borderline between illness and
criminal; a judge can send an offender to a
rehabilitation center, and later to prison.
Is the excessive consumption of alcohol a treatable
illness, or is it criminal behavior?
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WOMEN BEING EXECUTED BY THE
TALIBAN GOVERNMENT
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ROBERT MERTON’S
STRAIN THEORY
Robert Merton, functionalist, (1910–2003)
developed the strain theory of deviance.
 This theory elaborated on how tensions caused by
the gap between cultural goals, and the means
people have available to achieve those goals, leads
to deviant behavior.
Merton proposed that people conform to the
social expectation when the goals and the
means of reaching them are in balance.
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MERTON’S STRAIN THEORY
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SOCIAL CONTROL THEORY
Based on the work of Travis Hirschi, social control
theory examines the culture’s value systems and
people’s attachment—or lack thereof—to the
culture’s values.
This theory suggests that most people probably
feel some impulse toward deviance at times, but
that the attachment to social norms prevents
them from actually participating in deviant
behavior.
Example: juveniles who learned violence from
aggressive peers
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CONFLICT PERSPECTIVE
The conflict perspective argues that the
economic structure of capitalism produces
deviance and crime.
 Examples of economic crimes are theft, robbery, and
prostitution, which conflict theorists contend is often
the only way for poor and deprived people to get
what they want or need.
Conflict theorists demonstrate that the upper
class has the means available to hide their
criminal behavior.
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CONFLICT THEORY
(CONTINUED)
Corporate crime, also known as white collar crime
or elite crime, is based on the fact that owners
and higher-positioned people will always exploit
the poor and working class;
This is inherent in the structure of a capitalist society.
Business elite, with easy access to money, take
advantage of its availability and convert it to
their private use.
Examples: embezzlement, illegal political campaigns,
and tax evasion
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LABELING THEORY
A label is the assignment or attachment of a
deviant identity to a person by others, including
by agents of social institutions.
Therefore, people’s reactions, not the action itself,
produce deviance as a result of the labeling
process.
Once applied, the deviant label is difficult to shed.
The kid in school who misbehaves to get attention is
labeled a troublemaker by the teacher, the kids do
likewise, and eventually the principal does, too.
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DEVIANT IDENTITY
Labeling theory suggests that deviance refers
not just to something one does, but to
something one becomes.
Deviant identity is the definition a person has
of himself or herself as a deviant.
This identities emerge over time.
This identity involves a process of social
transformation in which a new self-image and
new public definition of a person emerges.
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STIGMA
Society devalues and discredits people with
obvious physical differences such as those who
have/are: stutter, ugly facial scars, deaf, blind,
and even wounded veterans.
Society stereotypes these individuals and thus
they are discriminated against.
Erving Goffman spoke of stigmatization, spoiled
identities, and managing spoiled identities.
Able-bodied minority members may also be
stigmatized due to their skin color.
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USE OF SELECTED SUBSTANCES BY
HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS
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CRIME, CRIMINAL JUSTICE & CRIME
STATISTICS
Crime is a form of deviant behavior defined as
such because the behavior violates law or laws.
Criminology is the scientific study of crime and
criminal behavior.
Nightly media reports may give the audience the
view that crimes are on the rise in the U.S.
 Surveys show that violent crime, including rape,
assault, robbery, and murder declined by 15 percent
during the 1990s.
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SOURCES OF CRIME & DEVIANCE
STATISTICS
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
The data is then reported in both:
Uniform Crime Reports
National Crime Victimization Survey
The Uniform Crime Reports are based on actual
national incident reports made by the police.
These are called violent crimes or index crimes.
Index crimes are crimes of murder, manslaughter,
rape, robbery, and aggravated assault, plus property
crimes of burglary, larceny-theft, and motor vehicle
theft.
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ORGANIZED CRIME
Organized crime is crime committed by structured
groups typically involving the provision of illegal
goods and services to others.
Refers to a group that exercises control over large
illegal enterprises, such as the drug trade, illegal
gambling, prostitution, weapons smuggling.
Based on racial, ethnic, or family ties.
Historically, groups are continually replaced or die
out.
These syndicates are usually closed to outsiders like
sociologists.
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“SOPRANOS”: ORGANIZED CRIME
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CORPORATE CRIME
Corporate crime is crime that takes place and is
endorsed within the bureaucracy.
Sociologists estimate the costs of corporate crime
may be as high as $200 billion every year.
Taken as a whole, the cost of corporate crime is
almost 6000 times the amount taken in bank
robberies in a given year, and 11 times the total
amount for all theft in a year.
These corporations consider themselves as “doing
normal business,” the same but slightly different.
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RACE AND SENTENCING
Bail is set higher for African Americans and
Latinos than for Whites, and minorities have
less success with plea bargains.
Minority defendants are found guilty more often
than White defendants.
Blacks and Hispanics are likely to get longer
sentences than Whites.
Young Black and Latino men are sentenced more
harshly than any other group.
 They are less likely to be released on probation.
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TERRORISM: AN INTERNATIONAL CRIME
Terrorism is a violent action to achieve political
ends.
Violates both international and domestic laws.
Crosses national borders.
To understand it, a global perspective is required
as it is globally linked to other forms of
international crime.
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BIOTERRORISM AND CYBERTERRORISM
As societies become more technologically
sophisticated, new and more dangerous forms
of global destruction emerge.
We are now faced with both bioterrorism and
cyberterrorism.
Entire communities can be wiped off the globe in
seconds, if not minutes.
Viruses can be developed and fed to poultry, cows,
and poured into lakes and streams.
The devastation could be worse than the Black
Plague of the 18th century.
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CHAPTER 8
SOCIAL CLASS
&
SOCIAL
STRATIFICATION
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SOCIAL DIFFERENTIATION
& SOCIAL STRATIFICATION
1. Look around the room at your fellow
classmates and notice what they are wearing.
2. Now look at yourself and what you are wearing.
3. Are their clothes the latest fashion, expensive,
and in obvious good taste?
4. Are yours?
5. What about their shoes and your shoes: what
are the brands?
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SOCIAL DIFFERENTIATION
Social differentiation is the process by which
different statuses develop in any group,
organization, or society.
It is marked by social differentiation.
It is organized into a hierarchical social system.
Social stratification is a relatively fixed,
hierarchical arrangement in society by which
groups have different access to resources,
power, and perceived social worth.
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SOCIAL STRATIFICATION
• Social stratification is a system of structured
social inequality.
– All societies have a system of social
stratification, some very complex, some very
simple.
– Complex societies often stratify according to
social class.
• This is influenced by occupation, income,
and education, race, gender, and even age,
region of residence, ethnicity, and national
origin.
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ESTATE, CASTE
& CLASS SYSTEMS
Stratification systems are usually categorized into
one of these three types:
1. Estate is a system in which a small elite group
(owners of property and power) have total
control over society’s resources.
2. Caste is a system where status is assigned
based on one’s ascribed status.
3. Class is a system based primarily on achieved
status; however one’s ascribed status can
matter.
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SOCIAL CLASS DIFFERENCES
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LIFE CHANCES
Max Weber spoke of life chances which are
the common/shared opportunities people
have because they belong to a particular
class.
These include the opportunity to possess goods,
make money, and get desired jobs.
One’s life choices are restricted and influenced
by one’s life chances.
In the U.S., class placement heavily depends
on one’s social background, life chances,
and inherited wealth.
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SOCIAL MOBILITY: THE LADDER
•
You may be able to climb up the ladder if others allow you to, or if you work hard
enough at it (achieved status), or others may push you down a rung or two.
• This is called social mobility.
•
•
Sometimes major social forces such as: hurricanes, depressions or recessions, or
even widespread globalization, may cause you to fall down a rung or two;
sometimes, but less likely, it may restructure the whole ladder.
People usually stay on, or close to, the rung they started on.
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SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS (SES)
Socioeconomic status is a common term for
social class position as class is primarily
measured in economic terms, especially
when social classes are compared
internationally.
Median income (midpoint of all household
income) is a common indicator, but not the only
one.
Wealth is what one owns minus debts; this is not
the same as income.
Another indicator is occupational prestige.
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OCCUPATIONAL PRESTIGE
Occupational prestige is the perceived, subjective
rank assigned to an occupation; this is
associated with years of education and degrees.
Occupations cluster in ranks such as:
High: professionals, such as physicians, professors,
judges, and lawyers
Middle: electrician, insurance agent, and police
officers
Low: maids, garbage collectors, and shoe-shiners
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CURRENT TRENDS
Within the U.S., the class system is becoming
increasingly polarized with growing social and
economic inequality.
Debt among the middle class is rising.
Many middle class families have a fragile hold on
their status.
Income and wealth is increasing for the elite and
upper classes and decreasing for middle and
lower classes.
Immigration and globalization is intensifying these
trends.
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WEALTH INEQUALITY
An increase in the concentration of wealth has
occurred in the U.S since the 1980s.
The United States is one of the most
“unequal” nations in the world using wealth
as the criteria.
 The wealthiest 1% own 33% of all net worth.
The bottom 80% control only 16%.
The top 10% also own 88% of all stock.
The bottom 40% own less than 1% of total
stock holdings.
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WEALTH AND RACE IN THE U.S.
Blacks have only 26 cents compared to every
dollar of wealth held by Whites.
White households have 10 times the wealth of
Black households.
Blacks, at all income and education levels, have
lower levels of wealth than similarly situated
White families.
Government policies of the past have prevented
Blacks from being able to accumulate wealth.
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LABOR UNIONS:
WHITE COLLAR WORKERS
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ECONOMIC RESTRUCTURING
IN THE U.S.
Economic restructuring is a structural
phenomena associated with the decline of
manufacturing jobs in the United States, the
transformation of the economy by
technological change, and the process of
globalization.
This has had a profound effect on our
lifestyle, income and wealth; even the
potential transfer of wealth at death.
Many working class people are losing their
stable manufacturing jobs with decent
wages and good benefits.
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THE ECONOMIC DOWNTURN
• If people have a job, they accept lower-wage jobs
with fewer benefits.
• Houses are being foreclosed.
– More Blacks than Whites have lost their homes.
– Minorities are more likely to hold subprime
mortgages.
– Many corporations and banks (GE and MGM)
are going bankrupt.
– Bank loans are hard to secure and interest rates
are high.
– Individual federal and state taxes increased,
corporate taxes decreased.
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GENDER & AGE
In the past, class status was assigned to a woman
based on her husband’s or father’s social
position.
Even with comparable educations to men, women
are employed in lower wage jobs and lower
prestige occupations than men.
18% of U.S. children live in poverty.
10% of those over 65 years old are poor.
Most elderly live comfortably due to pensions and
Social Security.
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SOCIAL MOBILITY:
MYTH OR REALITY
Rags to Riches, an American dream!
Truth or Fiction?
When speaking of moving up and down the social
class ladder we are referring to mobility.
Mobility can be intergenerational or
intragenerational.
Intergenerational is movement between
generations.
Intragenerational is movement within the same
generation.
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KARL MARX ON SOCIAL CLASS
• Marx classified people in capitalistic
societies into two distinct social classes
according to their relationship to the means
of production.
– Bourgeoisie are the owners of the means of production.
– Proletariat are the workers, those who sold their labor; also referred to as the
exploited masses.
– He also classified the petty bourgeoisie (small business owners) and the
lumpenproleteriat (jobless).
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POVERTY
• Poverty line is the amount of money needed to
support the basic needs of a household.
– Below this line, one is considered officially poor.
– Established by the Social Security Administration, it is based on a low cost food budget x3.
• Poverty afflicts millions of people even in the
U.S., a nation with a relatively high standard of
living.
– In 2007, the official poverty line for a family of four was $21,203.
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POVERTY (CONTINUED)
37 million people are poor in the United States,
representing 12.5 percent of the population.
Since 2000, poverty has been on the rise.
A disproportionate percentage of minorities fall below
the poverty line. In 2008, the figures were:
33% of Native Americans
25% of Blacks
22% of Hispanics
10% of Asians and Pacific Islanders
8% of non-Hispanic Whites
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POVERTY & GENDER
The vast majority of the poor have always
been women and children, referred to as the
feminization of poverty.
This figure has increased in recent years.
1/3 of all families headed by women are poor.
Poverty rates are generally higher in the South
and Southwest.
They are a racially diverse population.
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CHILDREN IN POVERTY
By 2007, 18 percent of all children (those
under age 18) in the United States were
poor.
10% non-Hispanic White children
35% Black children
29% Hispanic children
12% Asian American children
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HOMELESS IN AMERICA
48
WELFARE & SOCIAL POLICIES
Though homelessness is a serious problem in
the U.S., the government has programs to
support the poor.
TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy
Families) is a block grant program; the federal
governments provides states with money to help
the poor.
Individual states can impose requirements
above those set by the federal government.
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CHAPTER 10
RACE & ETHNICITY
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ETHNICITY
An ethnic group is a social category of people who
share a common culture, e.g., a common
language or dialect; nationality; religion; norms,
practices, customs, and history.
Ethnic groups are conscious of their common cultural
bond; they share an ethnic identity.
Ethnic groups develop because of their unique
historical and social experiences; their ancestry and
nationality.
Prejudice and discrimination against them often
increases their bonds.
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ST. PATRICK’S DAY
52
RACE
Race is people treated as a distinct group based
upon certain biological characteristics which
have been assigned a social importance.
Skin color and texture of hair are two
distinguishing racial characteristics; e.g. black,
yellow, or red skin.
 People with these biological markers are perceived
as if they are inferior people.
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RACE (CONTINUED)
Race is culturally relative.
Whether one belongs in the inferior or superior
group depends on the culture.
Race is a social construct.
 i.e., society assigns people to racial categories.
The fact that an individual has a certain skin color
and hair texture does not make him better than,
or inferior to, another person.
 This does not stop people from judging.
54
PRESIDENT OBAMA
AMERICA’S 1ST AFRICAN AMERICAN
PRESIDENT
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RACE (CONTINUED)
There are more differences among people
within a given racial group than between
different racial groups.
Native American tribes determine who is and
who is not a tribal member.
Proof of one’s Native American ancestry; i.e.
blood quantum, is the deciding factor.
How much is enough varies from tribe to tribe.
Some tribes accept 16%, others require 75%.
56
RACIAL STEREOTYPES
Racial and ethnic inequality in society produces
racial stereotypes.
 When the stereotype deals with race or ethnicity, it is
known as a racial stereotype.
A stereotype is an oversimplified set of beliefs
about members of a social group or social
stratum.
It is based on what we see first (salient principle)
about a person or group of people.
Stereotypes are presumed, usually incorrectly, to
describe the “typical” member of some social
group.
57
GENDER & CLASS STEREOTYPES
In our society, a person’s race, gender or social
class is commonly noticed first when we look at
them.
Gender stereotypes are those based on a person’s
gender.
Stereotypes about women are more likely to be
negative.
The “typical” woman has been traditionally
stereotyped as subservient, overly emotional,
talkative, and inept at math and the sciences.
58
SOCIAL CLASS STEREOTYPES
Social class stereotypes are those based on
assumptions about social class status.
Upper-class people are stereotyped as snooty, aloof,
condescending, and phony.
Middle-class people are seen as overly ambitious,
striving, and obsessed with “keeping up with the
neighbors.”
Lower-class people are perceived as dirty, lazy,
unmotivated, and violent.
59
PREJUDICE
Prejudice is the evaluation of a group and an
individual in it based on conceptions about the
group.
They are usually negative predispositions or as
evaluations that are rarely positive.
They are believed even though they are known not to
be true or correct.
Most people will contend that they are not
prejudiced, yet everyone is prejudiced about
some thing or some group of people.
60
DISCRIMINATION
Discrimination is overt negative and unequal
treatment of the members of some social
group or stratum solely because of their
membership in that group or stratum.
 prejudice is an attitude
discrimination is overt behavior
Racial–ethnic discrimination is unequal
treatment of a person on the basis of race
or ethnicity.
61
FORMS OF DISCRIMINATION
Discrimination manifests itself in the areas of:
housing, employment, income, health care,
education, even leisure.
Housing Discrimination is illegal in the U.S., yet
banks and mortgage companies refuse loans to Black
families more often than to White families.
Income Discrimination shows a wide gap between
what a White male earns and what a Black or
Hispanic earns.
62
THE INCOME GAP
63
RACISM
Racism is the perception and treatment of a
racial or ethnic group, or member of that
group, as intellectually, socially, and
culturally inferior to one’s own group.
It is more than an attitude; it is institutionalized
in society.
Schools, churches, workplaces, hospitals, and
the media practice racism.
Racism involves negative attitudes that are
sometimes linked with negative behavior.
64
INSTITUTIONAL RACISM
Institutional racism is a form of racism involving
the negative treatment and oppression of one
racial or ethnic group by society’s existing
institutions.
It exists at the level of social structure and is in
Durkheim’s sense external to the individual.
Sociologically, one must recognize that the
dominant groups have the economic and
political power to subjugate the minority group
(and they use it).
65
RACIAL PROFILING DISCUSSION
66
NATIVE AMERICANS
The size of the Native American population is
estimated to be between 1 million and 10 million
people when Christopher Columbus arrived on
this continent in 1492.
By 1800, their population diminished to 600,000.
Indigenous natives were a politically, religious, and
socially homogeneous population before
Europeans came to this country.
They did not practice land ownership and they
were nomadic, moving with the seasons.
67
LAKOTA SIOUX INDIANS
68
NATIVE AMERICANS IN
THE 21ST CENTURY
Some tribes are financially wealthy, especially
those that forfeited their traditional values
and adopted a capitalistic economic
system.
These tribes opened casinos, banks, and large
business complexes.
55% of all Native Americans live on or near a
reservation.
45% live in or near urban areas.
69
AMERICAN INDIANS
TODAY
Reservations are land masses owned and run by
the federal government’s Bureau of Indian
Affairs (BIA).
The BIA provides health care and education to tribal
members both on and off reservations.
Income support is provided in conjunction with state
governments.
The reservation system has served the Indians
very poorly.
70
AMERICAN INDIANS
TODAY
(CONTINUED)
Many Native Americans live in abject poverty,
deprivation, and have major untreated
health problems.
Alcoholism is an epidemic among those living
on reservations, Pueblos, and in Indian
Nations.
50% of all tribal members are unemployed.
They are on the lowest rung of the
socioeconomic ladder and have the highest
poverty rate nationwide.
71
PHOTOS OF TRIBAL SITES
ACOMA
PUEBLO
NEW
MEXICO - 1904
N AVA J O R E S E RVAT I O N
ARIZONA USA
72
AFRICAN AMERICANS
An estimated 6 million Africans were captured and
transported to America to provide labor for
sugar and tobacco production and to enhance
the profits of capitalist slaveholders.
Slaves lived in a caste system.
They were owned as property (chattel).
Patriarchy and White supremacy social stratification
was common.
White males dominated White females, Black males,
and Black females.
Black males dominated black females.
73
THE 19TH CENTURY
Black ghettos sprung up most everywhere in the
19th century.
Black Americans lived in grim urban settlements,
ghettos.
They developed volunteer organizations,
settlement houses, social movements, political
action groups.
Many artistic and cultural achievements are owed
to the efforts and accomplishments of this
ethnic group.
74
LATINOS
The Latino population has grown considerably
over the past few decades, with the largest
increase among Mexican Americans.
The terms Hispanic and Latino or Latina mask the
great structural and cultural diversity among the
various Hispanic groups.
This group is comprised of: Chicanos and
Chicanas (Mexican Americans), Puerto Ricans,
Cubans, and other Latin American immigrants.
Many were captured and brought involuntarily to
the U.S.
75
ASIAN AMERICANS
Asian Americans are from many different countries
and diverse cultural backgrounds
though inappropriate, they are grouped under one
cultural rubric, i..e. Asians, which includes people
from:
• China
• Japan
• Philippines
• Korea
• Vietnam
• Cambodia and Laos
76
CHINESE
Attracted by job opportunities, the Chinese began
migrating to the U.S in the mid-19th century.
They were tolerated as they were quiet, worked
hard and cheap, and performed dangerous work.
Thousands helped build the Central Pacific
Railroad from 1865 to 1868.
Between 1890–1900, railroad construction ended
and they settled in rural areas in the Western
states.
After their move West, they were negatively
stereotyped as a threat, competing for scarce jobs.
77
WHITE ETHNIC GROUPS
Beginning in the early 1600s, many White
Europeans migrated to America from England,
Wales, and Scotland.
They settled in the northeast, in what is now
referred to as New England.
They became known as WASPs (White AngloSaxon Protestants).
They became the colonists and were largely
responsible for the demise of the Native
American tribal populations.
78
INTENSE PREJUDICE
& DISCRIMINATION
All groups have been brutally treated by the
dominant early Europeans.
Examples of such treatment include:
In Boston signs were posted in saloons
proclaiming “No dogs or Irish allowed.”
The Irish were beaten and ridiculed.
Jews from both parts of Europe underwent
lengthy periods of anti-Jewish prejudice, antiSemitism.
79
IMPORTANCE OF CLASS AND RACE
Race—along with class, gender, age, and even
sexual orientation—places one in a system
of social advantage and disadvantage.
The influence of class is increasing, even
though race still remains extremely
important.
Studies find that race, in and of itself,
influences income, wealth, occupational
prestige, place of residence, educational
attainment, and other socioeconomic
factors.
80
FIGHTING FOR CIVIL RIGHTS
In 1955, Rosa Parks refused to relinquish her seat
on a bus to a White man in Montgomery,
Alabama.
This led to a boycott by the young activist Martin
Luther King, Jr.
In 1957, President Eisenhower ordered the
National Guard to escort nine Black students
into Little Rock Central High School.
Malcolm X advocated pluralism; he wanted
separate banks, churches, and schools for
Blacks.
81
AFFIRMATIVE ACTION
Affirmative action is a race-specific policy for
reducing job and educational inequality.
Affirmative action policies are designed to recruit
minorities into jobs and to ensure that minorities
gain entry into schools, colleges, and
universities.
It has had limited success.
These policy efforts received little support during
82