Inequalities of Race and Ethnicity

1
Chapter 9

• Inequalities of Race and Ethnicity

2
Chapter Outline

• Racial and Ethnic Minorities
• Theories of Prejudice and Discrimination
• Institutionalized Discrimination
• Increasing Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the
  United States

3
Questions for Consideration

• What are stereotypes?
• How are prejudice and discrimination related?
• What is ethnicity?
• What are the functions of prejudice?

4
Definition of a Minority

• As defined by Louis Wirth
• Minority a group of people who, because of
  their physical or cultural characteristics, are
  singled out from others in society for
  differential and unequal treatment, and who
  therefore regard themselves as objects of
  collective discrimination.
• Customarily minority refers to a relatively small
  number of people.

5
Key Ideas of the Definition of a Minority

1. Distinctive physical or cultural characteristics.
2. Minority status is reflected in a societys
   stratification structure.
3. The distinctive traits of a minority can
   be judged by the majority to be inferior to their
   own and used to justify unequal treatment.

6
Key Ideas of the Definition of a Minority Cont.

• Because members of a minority regard themselves
  as objects of discrimination, they have a sense
  of common identity.
• Membership in a minority is ascribed. People do
  not make an effort to join a minority they
  become members by birth.

7
The Significance of Race

• Race - a category of people who allegedly share
  certain biologically inherited physical features
  that are considered socially important within a
  society.
• Racists use physical characteristics as an index
  of a races superiority or inferiority.
• Despite a lack of scientific support, prejudice
  and discrimination are often justified by alleged
  differences in intelligence and ability.

8
The Significance of Ethnicity

• Ethnic minority socially identified by its
  unique characteristics related to culture or
  nationality.
• Cultural differences define ethnic minorities.
• Because of their differences from the host
  culture, ethnic minorities are subcultures.
• They have a way of life that is based on their
  own language, religion, values, beliefs, norms,
  and customs.

9
Attitudes of Americans Toward Immigrant Minorities
10
Questions for Consideration

• Does any of the information shared in Figure 9.1
  surprise you?
• What observations do you make as you consider the
  correlations demonstrated in this figure?

11
Patterns of Racial and Ethnic Relations

• When people of various racial and ethnic
  backgrounds interact, there are two major types
  of outcomes
• Patterns of assimilation- minority groups are
  accepted
• Patterns of conflict - minority groups are
  rejected

12
Assimilation

• involves those processes whereby groups with
  distinctive identities become culturally and
  socially fused together.
• The integration of a racial or ethnic minority
  into a society where minority members are given
  full participation in all aspects of society.

13
Three Assimilation Patterns (identified by Milton
Gordon)

1. Anglo-conformity - Immigrants are accepted as
   long as they conform to the host society.
   Traditional American institutions are maintained.
2. Melting Pot - All ethnic and racial minorities
   blend together.
3. Cultural Pluralism Recognizes immigrants
   desire to maintain at least a remnant of
   their old ways while accommodating American
   values and norms.

14
Three Patterns of Conflict

• Patterns associated with the dominance of a
  majority over racial and ethnic minorities.
• Genocide - Mass murder of most or all of a
  targeted population.
• Population transfer - Minority is forced to leave
  the territory controlled by the majority.
• Subjugation - The majority enjoys greater access
  to culture and lifestyle of the larger society.
  The most common pattern of conflict. Inequities
  appear in such areas as power, economics, and
  education as well as in other important
  indicators of the quality of life, such as health
  and longevity.

15
Questions for Consideration

• As indicated through this story, what are the
  last effects of genocide? (on individuals and on
  society)
• How has this story provided new insights into the
  Holocaust? Into genocide?

16
Factors That Influence Racial and Ethnic Relations

1. The nature of the first contact.
2. The reasons for contact and interaction.
3. The visibility of minority groups.
4. Views held by respective members.
5. General social conditions.

17
Prejudice and Discrimination

• Prejudice refers widely to the preconception
  of a group and its individual members.
  Involves an either/or type of logic an
  overgeneralization based on biased or
  insufficient information. Biased
  attitudes.
• Discrimination unequal treatment of people
  based on their minority membership.
• Stereotype a set of ideas based on distortion,
  exaggeration, and oversimplification that is
  applied to all members of a social category.
• Hate Crime a criminal act motivated by
  prejudice (related to race, religion, sexual
  orientation, national origin, or ancestry)

18
Psychological Perspective of Prejudice and
Discrimination

• Focus on the prejudiced persons personality
• What was their relationship with parents or
  significant others?
• What are their values, attitudes, and beliefs?
• How high is their self-esteem?

19
Two Prominent Psychological Perspectives

1. Frustration-aggression explanation prejudice
   and discrimination are the products of
   deep-seated hostility and aggression that stem
   from frustration. A substitute object, scapegoat,
   is used as a target to place blame for ones own
   troubles, frustrations, failures, or sense of
   guilt.
2. Authoritarian personality characterized by
   excessive conformity submissiveness to authority
   figures inflexibility repression of impulses,
   desires, and ideas fearfulness and arrogance
   toward persons or groups thoughts to be inferior.

20
Functionalist Perspective

• Potential benefits of prejudice and
  discrimination
• Contributes to the cohesiveness of society
• Helps society channel the most qualified people
  into the most important positions and to ensure
  that people in these positions perform
  competently.
• Social solidarity of the majority.
• Strengthens boundaries of the majority.

21
Conflict Perspective

• A majority uses its prejudice and discrimination
  as weapons of power in the domination of a
  minority.
• Traces prejudice and discrimination to majority
  interests not personality needs.
• As long as the conflict is not too extreme,
  capitalists are the beneficiary of a divided
  working class.

22
Symbolic Interactionist Perspective

• Prejudice and discrimination are acquired through
  socialization.
• Allport describes two stages in the learning of
  prejudice
• Pregeneralized learning period children may
  have been exposed to prejudice, but have not
  learned to categorize people.
• Total rejection children are able to use
  physical clues to sort people into groups.

23
Symbolic Interactionist Perspective Cont.

• The labeling process also underscores symbolic
  interactionism.
• Self-fulfilling prophecy when an
  expectation leads to behavior that then causes
  the expectation to become a reality.

24
Institutionalized Discrimination

• Institutionalized discrimination the result of
  unfair practices that are part of the structure
  of society and have grown out of traditionally
  accepted behaviors.
• American history reflects the open and legal
  practice of discrimination against members of
  various minorities (e.g., internment of Japanese
  Americans during WWII).

25
Direct and Indirect Institutionalized
Discrimination

• Direct institutionalized discrimination refers
  to organizational or community actions intended
  to deprive a racial or ethnic minority of its
  rights (e.g., Jim Crow laws)
• Indirect institutionalized discrimination
  refers to unintentional behavior that negatively
  affects a minority (e.g., high school exit
  exams).

26
Questions for Consideration

• How many states have exit exams in place and how
  many do not?
• What do you think has been the impetus for
  requiring these exams?
• In what ways do you think this promotes
  discrimination?

27
African Americans

• African Americans make up 13.3 of the
  total population.
• There have been many barriers to assimilation for
  African Americans.
• Historical nature of slavery has continually
  impacted the manner in which African Americans
  are treated in the U.S.
• Practices of de jure segregation existed until
  the late 1960s.
• Gap between African Americans and whites in
  education, income, and employment represents the
  legacy of centuries of prejudice and
  discrimination.

28
Socioeconomic Characteristics of Minorities
Whites African Americans Latinos
Poverty 8.6 24.7 21.9
Median income 48,977 30,134 33,241
High school graduation 85.1 80 57
College 27.6 17.3 4.4
29
Socioeconomic Characteristics of Minorities
Native Americans Asian Americans
Poverty 24 9.8
Median income 33,132 57,518
High school graduation 76 87.6
College 14 49.8
30
Majority and Minority Median Household Incomes
31
Income and Work Relative to African Americans

• Median income for African Americans 30,134
  (about 18,000 below whites)
• Poverty rate 24.7 (about 3x that of whites)
• African American families earn about 61 for
  every 100 a white family earns.
• The average African American family holds less
  than one-quarter of the wealth of the average
  white family.
• Discrimination in the workplace is covert and
  sophisticated.
• Jobless rates for African Americans is more than
  double that of whites.

32
Gender Differences for African Americans

• African American females with college degrees
  earn substantially more than the median for all
  African American men.
• African American college-educated women earn as
  much as white women with college degrees.
• 1/3 of African American women enter college and
  1/4 of African American men enter college.

33
Educational Differences for African
Americans

• In 2004, 80 of African Americans and 85 of
  whites had finished high school.
• In 2004, only 17 of African Americans, yet 28
  of whites, had completed college.
• Income increases much less with educational level
  for African Americans.

34
African Americans and Voting

• Two reasons African Americans vote at a lower
  rate than whites
• Disproportionately represented in the
  socioeconomic categories less likely to vote
  working class, working poor, underclass.
• They have less confidence in the political system
  than whites and likely to believe their votes
  will count less.

35
Two Black Americas

• According to Richard Freeman, a black elite has
  been emerging in America, as opposed to a black
  underclass composed of the permanently poor
  trapped in inner-city ghettos.
• Some theorists, such as William Julius Wilson,
  discuss the declining significance of race for
  African Americans.
• The premise is that race is less important than
  resources in determining life chances or economic
  class.

36
Latinos

• Latinos make up 14.8 of the population.
• Composed of many groups Mexican Americans,
  Puerto Ricans, Cubans, Central and South
  Americans.
• By 2050 Latinos will reach nearly 24 of the
  population (100 million).
• Just under 2/3 of Latinos are of Mexican descent.
• About 1/10 are Puerto Ricans.
• Cubans are the third most populous category
  of Latinos.

37
Latino Population in theUnited States
38
Socioeconomic Educational Status of Latinos

• Median educational level of 12.7 years, or high
  school graduation.
• In 2005, 57 of Latinos age 25 had completed
  high school, yet 85 of non-Latino whites had.
• Mexican Americans have the lowest levels
  of educational achievement, and Cubans the
  highest.
• Average income is 34,241, higher than African
  Americans, but significantly lower than whites.
• Puerto Ricans are the poorest among Latino groups
  and Cubans are the most affluent.

39
Politics and Latinos

• Becoming a more visible force in politics.
• In 2008, Latinos held 22 seats in the U.S. House
  of Representatives (5) and had three members in
  the U.S. Senate.
• On the state and local level there were
  almost 6,000 elected Latino public
  officials.

40
Native Americans

• Divided into approximately 500 tribes and bands.
• Tribal groups are as different from one another
  as from the dominant culture.
• Navajo and Sioux are different nations with
  different cultures, social structures, and
  problems.
• Number around 4.5 million, 3/4 of whom do not
  live on reservations.

41
Native Americans

• Approximately 24 live below the poverty line.
• Median income is 33,132/year
• 14 of Native Americans 25 years or older had
  completed four years or more of college.
• Currently no Native American members of the U.S.
  Senate and two in the House of Representatives.

42
Native Americans and Reservation Life

• Living on reservations is worse than living off
  reservations for around ¼ of those who live on
  the reservation.
• ½ of those who live on the reservation live below
  the poverty line, double that of the entire
  Native American population.
• Rate of college education is ½ that of those off
  the reservation.

43
Questions for Consideration

• What are the major characteristics of a nation?
• What is dual citizenship as it relates to the
  Hummingbirds?
• How are voluntary and forced assimilation
  different?

44
Asian Americans

• Nearly 15 million Asians live in the United
  States, comprising 3.5 of the total population.
• Increased in population by 49 between 1990 and
  2000.
• Their population is predicted to double by 2025
  and more than triple by 2050.
• Largest groups are from China, the Philippines,
  Japan, India, Korea, and
  Vietnam.

45
Chinese Americans

• Many state laws were created to restrict Chinese
  from holding jobs that could deprive whites of
  employment.
• Chinese Exclusion Act passed in 1882 prohibited,
  for a 10 year period, the entry of any
  skilled or unskilled Chinese laborers or miners.
• Strict federal legislation against Chinese
  immigration continued to be passed until after
  1940.

46
Japanese Americans

• Earliest relations were positive between Japanese
  and Americans.
• When Japanese farmers began to compete with White
  farmers, anti-Japanese legislation was passed.
• 1924 - U.S. Congress halted all Japanese
  immigrants.
• 1942 led to President Roosevelts Executive Order
  9066 which interned Japanese in America (2/3 were
  American citizens).

47
Asian Americans

• SAT scores are 45 points higher than that of
  general high school population.
• Almost 50 of Asian Americans have completed 4
  years of college.
• There is vast socioeconomic differences among
  groups within Asian American communities.
• In 2002, there was a combined total of 5 Asian
  Americans holding seats in the U.S. House of
  Representatives and 2 in the Senate.

48
White Ethnics

• White ethnics are descendants of immigrants from
  eastern and southern European nations.
• Most are blue-collar workers living in small
  communities surrounding large cities in the
  eastern half of the U.S.
• 1960s surveys indicated that white ethnics were
  more against the Vietnam War than white
  Anglo-Saxon Protestants were.
• Catholic blue-collar workers are found to be more
  liberal than either Protestant blue-collar
  workers or the country as a whole.

49
White Ethnics

• White ethnics, when compared to WASPs,
  were more likely to be sympathetic to government
  help for the poor and were more in favor of
  integration.
• White ethnics are attempting to establish a
  public identity that enables them to take a seat
  at the multicultural table (Lillian Rubin, 1994).
• Ethnic identity cannot be maintained in the face
  of disappearing ethnic families, neighborhoods,
  and ethnics (Richard Alba, 1985, 1990 Mary
  Waters, 1990).

50
Jewish Americans

• U.S. has 5.3 million Jewish Americans, as many as
  are in Israel.
• It is estimated that about 10 of all Jewish
  Americans have been in the U.S. less than 10
  years.
• First Jewish immigrants landed in New Amsterdam
  in 1654.
• Anti-semitism reached its peak in the 1920s
  and 1930s.

51
Jewish Americans

• Jewish Americans were almost totally excluded
  from top positions in most major industries,
  denied membership in social and recreational
  organizations, and subjected to quotas in
  colleges and universities during the first half
  the 20th century.
• Jewish Americans represent an above-average
  proportion of college graduates. They make up 2
  of the population but 5 of college graduates.

52
Jewish Americans

• In 2008 there were 11 Jewish Americans in the
  U.S. Senate, 26 in the U.S. House of
  Representatives, and 2 on the U.S. Supreme Court.
• Now about 52 marry outside of their faith, yet
  in 1965 only about 10 did so.

53
Dual Labor Market Theory

• The existence of a split between core and
  peripheral segments of the economy and the
  division of the labor force into preferred and
  marginalized workers.
• Rewards for hard work, education, and
  training vary.
• Workers in the core sector enjoy high
  wages, opportunities for advancement, and job
  security.
• Those in the peripheral sector are employed
  in low-paying jobs with little hope for
  advancement.

54
The U.S. Population by Race and Ethnicity
55
Increasing Racial Ethnic Diversity in the U.S.

• Foreign born populations are rising in both
  industrialized and developing countries.
• The U.S. and Canada have long attracted
  immigrants.
• In 2006, the combined number of African
  Americans, Latinos, Asian Americans, and Native
  Americans exceeded 100 million, up from just
  under 10 million in 1900 and 21 million in 1960.

56
Global Ethnic Diversity
57
Questions for Consideration

• What comparisons can you make?
• What do you think can help explain why the
  countries that have over 50 ethnic diversity
  have that proportion as opposed to those that
  have less than that?
• Do you believe that the extent of ethnic
  diversity will increase or decrease during the
  21st century?