CHAPTER 10 Racial and Ethnic Relations

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CHAPTER 10Racial and Ethnic Relations

• Section 1 Race, Ethnicity, and the Social
  Structure
• Section 2 Patterns of Inter-group Relations
• Section 3 Minority Groups in the United States

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Objectives
Section 1 Race, Ethnicity, and the Social
Structure

• Summarize how sociologists define the terms race,
  ethnicity, and minority group.
• Identify the characteristics that distinguish
  minority groups from one another.

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Race, Ethnicity, and Minority Group
Section 1 Race, Ethnicity, and the Social
Structure

• Race and ethnicity are two of the most
  prominently ascribed statuses that societies use
  to distinguish one group of people from another.
• Race looked at from a social perspective, not
  biological (no biologically pure race), a
  category of people who share inherited physical
  characteristics and who others see as being a
  distinct group
• sociologists are concerned with how people react
  to physical characteristics and how these
  reactions affect individuals in society

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Race, Ethnicity, and Minority Group
Section 1 Race, Ethnicity, and the Social
Structure

• Ethnicity the set of cultural characteristics
  that distinguishes one group from another, based
  on national origin, religion, language, customs,
  values
• ethnic group people who share a common cultural
  background and a common sense of identity
• for ethnic groups to survive, beliefs and
  practices must be passed from generation to
  generation

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Race, Ethnicity, and Minority Group
Section 1 Race, Ethnicity, and the Social
Structure

• Minority Group a group of people who, because
  of their physical characteristics or cultural
  practices, are singled out and unequally treated
• By establishing the values and norms of society,
  dominant-group member consciously and
  unconsciously create a social structure that
  operates in their favor.
• Minority status exists because of the attitudes
  and actions of the dominant members of society

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Characteristics That Distinguish Minority Groups
Section 1 Race, Ethnicity, and the Social
Structure

• Identifiable physical or cultural characteristics
• Victims of unequal treatment
• Group membership is an ascribed status
• Members share strong bonds and a sense of loyalty
• Members tend to practice endogamy marriage
  within the group

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Objectives
Section 2 Patterns of Inter-group Relations

• Distinguish between discrimination and prejudice.
• Describe the most common patterns of
  minority-group treatment.

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Discrimination vs. Prejudice
Section 2 Patterns of Inter-group Relations

• Prejudice unsupported generalization about a
  category of people involves attitudes and can be
  positive serves as a justification for
  discrimination
• stereotype oversimplified, exaggerated, or
  unfavorable generalization about a group of
  people, apply an image to all members of a group
• self-fulfilling prophecy a prediction that
  results in behavior that makes the prediction
  come true
• racism the belief that ones own race or ethnic
  group is naturally superior to other races or
  ethnic groups prejudicial beliefs that serve as
  justification for open discrimination often take
  the form of racism

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Discrimination vs. Prejudice
Section 2 Patterns of Inter-group Relations

• Discrimination denial of equal treatment based
  on group membership involves behaviors
• individual or societal
• acts range from name-calling to violence
• legal discrimination upheld by law
• institutionalized discrimination an outgrowth of
  the structure of society, can occur even with
  society takes legal steps to end discrimination

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Discrimination vs. Prejudice
Section 2 Patterns of Inter-group Relations

• According to Merton, individuals can combine
  discrimination and prejudice in four possible
  ways
• active bigot prejudiced and openly
  discriminatory
• timid bigot prejudiced but is afraid to
  discriminate because of societal pressures
• fair-weather liberal not prejudiced but
  discriminates anyway because of societal
  pressures
• all-weather liberal not prejudiced and does not
  discriminate

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Sources of Discrimination and Prejudice
Section 2 Patterns of Inter-group Relations

• Sociological Explanations
• focus on social environment, norms of society,
  socialization
• Psychological Explanations
• focus on individual behavior and personality,
  product of frustration and anger
• scapegoat practice of placing blame for one's
  troubles on an innocent group, people gain a
  sense of superiority
• minority groups are easy scapegoats because they
  are easy to recognize, lack power in society,
  concentrated in one geographic area, targets in
  the past, represent something (idea, attitude,
  way of life) that the dominant group does not like

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Sources of Discrimination and Prejudice
Section 2 Patterns of Inter-group Relations

• Economic Explanations
• arise out of a competition for scarce resources
• conflict theorists suggest that the dominant
  group encourages completion for resources among
  minority groups to protect their positions
• competition creates a split labor market along
  racial and ethnic lines
• minority groups come to fear, distrust and hate
  one another

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Common Patterns of Minority-Group Treatment
Section 2 Patterns of Inter-group Relations

• Cultural Pluralism allows each group within
  society to keep its unique cultural identity
• Assimilation blending of culturally distinct
  groups into a single group with a common culture
  and identity, melting pot
• Legal Protection legal efforts to ensure the
  rights of minority groups, affirmative action
• Segregation practices that physically separate
  a minority group from the dominant group
• dejure segregation based on laws
• de facto segregation based on informal norms

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Common Patterns of Minority-Group Treatment
Section 2 Patterns of Inter-group Relations

• Subjugation the maintaining of control over a
  group through force
• slavery the ownership of one person by another,
  most extreme form of subjugation
• Population Transfer transferring a minority
  population to a new area
• indirect-dominant group makes life for minorities
  so miserable they simply leave
• direct-use of force
• Extermination intentional destruction of the
  entire targeted population known as genocide
• genocide intentional destruction of he entire
  targeted population
• ethnic cleansing removing a group from a
  particular area through terror, expulsion, and
  mass murder

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Objectives
Section 3 Minority Groups in the United States

• Describe the conditions under which minority
  groups in the United States live.
• Explain how government policies have affected the
  lives of minority groups in the United States.

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Living Conditions of Minorities
Section 3 Minority Groups in the United States

• African Americans make up approximately 12 of
  population, making gains toward equality, but
  statistics show members are lagging in education,
  employment, and income becoming more politically
  active
• Hispanics rapidly growing population lagging
  in income and education diverse population (page
  248) gaining political power

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Living Conditions of Minorities
Section 3 Minority Groups in the United States

• Asian Americans make up 4 of population
  contrast between first-generation immigrants, who
  are often poor, and second-generation, many of
  whom succeed educationally and financially
  viewed as a model minority, although this term
  is resented

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Living Conditions of Minorities
Section 3 Minority Groups in the United States

• American Indians often live on reservations
  high poverty and poor education encouraged to
  assimilate taking steps to establish sources of
  income and better schools
• White Ethnics Ireland, Italy, France, Poland
  includes some who assimilate quickly and others
  who remain victims of prejudice and
  discrimination making gains in religious
  tolerance good education level
• chart page 256

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Government Policies Towards Minorities
Section 3 Minority Groups in the United States

• Government policies have both helped and hindered
  minorities.
• For example In the past, de jure segregation
  hurt African Americans. The Civil Rights Act of
  1964 forbade racial discrimination