ETHNICITY AND RELIGION

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ETHNICITY AND RELIGION

• CHAPTER 5

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Ethnic Diversity

• The United States is ethnically diverse
• Germans are the largest ancestral group
• 1/6th of Americans said they had at least some
  German ancestry
• Germany is one of twenty-one European nations
  from which at least 1 million people claim to
  have ancestry

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Why Dont We Study Whiteness?

• Two aspects of White as race are to be
  considered
• The historical creation of whiteness
• How contemporary White people reflect on their
  racial identity
• Established English immigrants, as the political
  founders of the US, came to define what it meant
  to be White

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• Other groups regarded as White today were not
  always considered White in the eyes of the
  English
• Irish, Germans, Norwegians, and Swedes
• Irish viewed by English as socially and
  culturally inferior
• As European immigrants and their descendants
  assimilated and distanced themselves from other
  oppressed groups such as American Indians and
  African Americans, they came to be viewed as White

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• Whites dont think of themselves as a race or
  have a conscious racial identity
• Transparent racial divide of the South during
  slavery allowed ignorance of how Whiteness was
  constructed
• Contemporary White Americans give little thought
  to being White
• Little interest in studying Whiteness or
  considering being White except that it is not
  being Black

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White Privilege

• The social identity of Whiteness exists if one
  enjoys the privilege of being White
• Peggy McIntosh study on the privilege of being
  white
• Considered financially reliable
• Taking a job and your race is not questioned
  (anonymity)
• Never having to speak for all or represent all of
  ones race
• Seeing ones race represented widely in the
  media
• Race does not work against you in court or
  medical care etc.

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The Rediscovery of Ethnicity

• Marcus Hansen (1952)
• Principle of third generation interest
• What the son wishes to forget the grandson wishes
  to remember
• The civil rights movement played a role in
  reinvigorating Whites about their ethnic heritage
  
• White ethnics, only a half step above Blacks in
  social status, viewed this emerging consciousness
  as working for them also

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Symbolic Ethnicity

• Expressions of ethnicity involving symbols of
  ones cultural heritage
• Much of ethnicity today is expressed
  symbolically
• Food
• Clothing
• Festivals and holidays
• Ethnic organizations
• Supporting specific political issues or issues
  confronting the old country

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• Ethnicity that does exist may more a result of
  living in the US than importing practices from
  the past or old country
• Ethnicity Paradox
• Maintaining ethnicity can be a critical step
  toward successful assimilation
• Facilitates full entry into the dominant culture
  through economic and psychological strength and
  positive self-esteem
• Ethnicity gives continuity with the past in the
  form of an affective or emotional tie

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Prejudice Toward White Ethnic Groups

• Respectable Bigotry
• Hostility towards White ethnics
• Socially proper to condemn White working class as
  racist but improper to question negative attitude
  of middle-class people toward White ethnics
• Ridicule in the media
• Perceived victimization of Roman Catholics
• Ethnophualisms or ethnic jokes and slurs

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The Prejudice of Ethnics

• White ethnics have often been portrayed as
  bigoted hard hats (The bastion of blue color
  racism)
• Ethnic neighborhoods and racial conflicts
• White Ethnics have distinguished themselves from
  both Blacks and White Anglo-Saxon Protestants
• White ethnics has been antagonistic to African
  Americans

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The Irish Americans

• Diversity based on
• Time of entry
• Settlement area
• Religion
• Fled not for a better life but from certain death
• Potato crop failure and famine
• Reawakened old religious hatreds in the dominant
  New English aristocracy

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• According to dominant Whites, Irish worse than
  Blacks, because unlike slaves or freed Blacks,
  who knew their place, the Irish did not suffer
  their maltreatment in silence
• Employers mixed immigrant groups to prevent
  unified action by the laborers
• Began to experience slow advancement as white
  identity overcame immigrant status
• Past issues with immigration led to Irish support
  of protests for procedures to allow to allow
  illegal immigrants to apply for citizenship

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The Italian Americans

• Concentrated not only in time but in geography
• Received their jobs through ethnic labor
  contractors Padrone
• Catholic church very important to their lives
• With assimilation began constructing a social
  identity as a national group and successfully
  became indistinguishable from other Whites
• Controversial aspect involved organized crime as
  typified by Al Capone (1899-1947)

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• Characterization as criminal, even in the mass
  media, is another example of respectable bigotry
• Immigration was slowed by the National Origins
  System
• Even becoming educated did not ward off prejudice
• Politically, Italian Americans have been more
  successful, at least at the local level, where
  family and community could translate to votes
• Geraldine Ferraro, 1st Italian to get a cabinet
  position

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Polish Americans

• Experience similar to Irish and Italians
• Primary reason for their exodus was changing
  political status of Poland
• Had to adjust to a new culture and urban way of
  life
• Predominant in coal-mining occupations, which
  paid little and were dangerous
• Polonia-meaning Polish American
• More common in Midwest cities

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• Religion played an important role among
  immigrants and their descendants
• Jewish-Catholic distinction was most
  distinguishing factor among Polish Americans
• Other divisions are Kashubes and Mazurians
• Made use of a rich structure of self-help
  voluntary associations
• Stigmatized as outsiders and stereotyped as
  simple and uncultured
• Many have retained little of their cultural
  tradition

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The Language Divide

• Learning English is not easy but immigrants are
  trying
• Language is both a barrier and means to
  accomplishing being a part of American society
• Language is a key to functioning in a society and
  critical in relation to how they see themselves
• 23 of Mexican Americans are English dominant,
  26 are bilingual, and 51 are Spanish dominant

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• Myth of Anglo superiority has rested in part on
  language differences
• Criteria for economic and social achievement
  includes proficiency in English
• Anglos believe that Spanish is not an asset
  occupationally
• Only recently has Spanish become useful and
  necessary for certain tasks
• Many in US are concerned and suspicious about the
  public use of any language other than English

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Bilingual Education

• Cisneros v. Corpus Christi Independent School
  District
• De jure segregation of Mexican Americans was
  unconstitutional
• Even in integrated schools, Latino children were
  given separate, unequal treatment
• Bilingualism
• The use of two or more languages in places of
  work or educational facilities, according each
  language equal legitimacy

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• Bilingual Education
• Instructing children in their native language
  while gradually introducing them to the language
  of the dominant society
• English Immersion
• Students are taught primarily in English, using
  their native languages only when they do not
  understand their lessons
• In practice, instruction usually becomes an
  English only crash program
• Though valuable, funding is sparse and students
  encouraged to enter regular classrooms

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Official Language Movement

• Attacks have taken several forms
• Appropriateness of using any language other than
  English has been questioned
• Federal policy has become more restrictive
• Repeated efforts to introduce constitutional
  amendment declaring English the nations official
  language
• Passions remain strong as policy makers debate
  how much support should be given to people who
  speak other languages

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Religious Pluralism

• Pluralism used in US to refer explicitly to
  religion
• The United States reflects a society based on
  religious pluralism
• Over 1,500 religious groupings
• Denominations
• Sects
• Cults

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• In 1900
• Ninety six percent of the nation was Christian
• One percent was non-religious
• Three percent was of other faiths
• In 2001
• Seventy-six percent of nation was Christian
• Fourteen percent was non-religious
• Four to six percent was of other religions
• Diversity of beliefs, rituals, and experiences
  reflects nations immigrant heritage and 1st
  Amendment prohibition against a state religion

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• The vast majority of religious belong to a
  denomination
• Denomination defined - large formally organized
  church or churches not officially linked to the
  State
• Four non-Christian religious groups in US whose
  numbers are comparable to any large denomination
• Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, and Hindus all number
  more than 1 million

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• One notable characteristic of religious practice
  in the US is its segregated nature at the local
  level
• Legacy of racism in religious expression leads to
  segregation in worship that allows churches to be
  identified as Black or White
• Even with broad representation, tendency is
  homogenous
• Religion in US is an ever-changing phenomenon

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Ethnicity, Religion, and Social Class

• Life Chances
• Peoples opportunities to provide themselves with
  material goods, positive living conditions, and
  favorable life experiences
• Affected by religion, ethnicity, or both
• Andrew Greeley and his study of the relationship
  between religion and ethnicity on behavior
• Religion seems to influence behavior on
  religious doctrinal issues
• Ethnicity is generally a better predictor of
  behavior

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• Ethclass
• interactive effect of ethnicity and social class.
• Ethnicity, religion and social class play a role
  in life chances and identity
• Difficult to separate the influences of religion
  and ethnicity on any one individual
• Greeleys research cautions against discounting
  the influence of ethnicity in favor of religion
• Religion, ethnicity, and social class combine to
  form ones social identity

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Religion in the United States

• Civil Religion
• The religious dimension in US life that merges
  the state with sacred beliefs
• Robert Bellah (1967)
• The emergence of civil religion - the
  interrelationship between the State (Secular) and
  sacred beliefs
• Functionalists view religion as reinforcing
  central American values that may be more
  patriotic than sacred

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Diversity Among Roman Catholics

• Social scientists tended to ignore diversity
  within the Roman Catholic Church in US
• Roman Catholic Church experienced growth through
  Latin America immigration
• Despite its ethnic diversity, has been a powerful
  force in reducing ethnic ties of its members,
  making it a significant force in assimilation

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Diversity Among Protestants

• Often portrayed as a monolithic entity
• Sharp differences in religious attitudes
• Four generic theological camps
• Liberals United Church of Christ
  (Congregationalists) and Episcopalians
• Moderates Disciples of Christ, Methodists, and
  Presbyterians
• Conservatives American Lutherans and American
  Baptists
• Fundamentalists Missouri Synod Lutherans,
  Southern Baptists, and Assembly of God

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Women and Religion

• Religious beliefs have often placed women in an
  exalted but protected position
• Exception in the United States
• Christian Science church
• Majority of practitioners and readers are women
• Largest denomination, Roman Catholicism, does not
  allow women to be priests
• Largest Protestant denomination, Southern Baptist
  Convention, voted against ordaining women

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• Women play a significant role as volunteers
• Notable rise in female clergy in last 20 years
• Women continue to face sexism after ordination

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Religion and the U.S. Supreme Court

• Religious pluralism owes its existence to 1st
  Amendment
• FOUR ISSUES
• 1. Issue over prayer in school
• 2. Secessionist minorities
• 3. Creationism and secular humanism
• 4. Public display of religious symbols

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• Secessionist Minorities
• In conflict with the rest of society in that they
  reject assimilation and coexistence in some form
  of cultural pluralism
• Amish
• Native Americans
• Creationists
• People who support the literal interpretation of
  the Bible and have formed various organizations
  to crusade for creationist treatment in schools
  and universities

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• Edwards v Aguillard (1987)
• Ruled that states may not require the teaching of
  creationism alongside evolution in public schools
  if the primary purpose of such legislation is to
  promote a religious viewpoint
• Intelligent Design
• The idea that life is so complex it could only
  have been created by a higher intelligence
• Supporters advocate a more accurate account than
  Darwinism
• Kitzmiller v. Dove Area School District
• Judge found intelligent design to be a religious
  belief

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Limits of Religious Freedom The Amish

• Practice self-segregation
• Yoder v. Wisconsin (1972)
• Allowed Wisconsin Amish to escape prosecution
  from laws that required parents to send their
  children to school to age 18
• Conflict theorists observe that as long as the
  Amish remained totally apart from dominant
  society in the US, they experienced little
  hostility

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• Rumspringe
• Running Around
• Young Amish test their subcultures boundaries
  during a period of discovery
• Attend barn dances where taboos like drinking,
  smoking, and driving cars are commonly broken
• Growing area of Amish-English clashes is over
  young Amish children working as laborers
• Old Order Amish developed a pluralistic position
  that has become increasingly difficult to
  maintain as their numbers grow and they enter the
  economy in competition with the English or
  non-Amish

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Questions
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• In what respect are the ethnic and the religious
  diversity of the United States related to each
  other?

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• Is assimilation automatic within any given ethnic
  group? Why or Why not?

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• Apply Whiteness to Irish, Italian, and Polish
  Americans.

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• To what extent has a non-Christian tradition been
  developing in the United States?

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• How have court rulings affected religious
  expression?

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• In the future, do you believe the Amish will be
  able to maintain their lifestyle in an America
  that is growing in need of land and more reliant
  on technology?

46

• Discuss the importance of Affirmative Action as
  it relates to White privilege.

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• Do ethnic minorities, such as Hispanics and
  Blacks, benefit from the ethnicity paradox? Why
  or why not?