Chapter Preview 4

Chapter Preview · Section 4Minority Groups in the United States (pages 290–301)

Discrimination has caused some ethnic and racial groups to lag behind the white majority in jobs, income, and education. Progress is being made, but the gains made by all minorities remain fragile. African American, Latino, Asian American, Native American, and white ethnics are the largest minorities in this country.

Section 4-Key Terms

• institutionalized discrimination

• hidden unemployment

• underclass

A. A

B. B

C. C

Section 4-Polling Question

A B C

0% 0%0%

Can you think of some ways that discrimination effects minorities?

A. Very much

B. A little

C. Not at all

Section 4

Institutionalized Discrimination

• Institutionalized discrimination results from unfair practices that are part of the structure of society and that have grown out of traditional, accepted behaviors.

• Examples:

– Seniority systems

– Public school systems

U.S. Resident Minority Populations, 2000 and 2003

A. A

B. B

C. C

Section 4

A B C

0% 0%0%

Do you think that a solution is possible to both of these examples of discrimination?

A. Yes

B. No

C. Not sure

Section 4

African Americans

• African Americans are the largest racial minority in the United States.

• Reasons for their minority status:

– Skin color and physical features

– History as slaves

Section 4

African Americans (cont.)

• Hidden unemployment—discouraged workers who have stopped looking or part-time workers who would prefer to have full-time jobs.

Majority and Minority Median Household Incomes

Section 4

African Americans (cont.)

• Inequalities:

– African American income is 62% of what whites earn.

– A lower percentage of African Americans are employed in higher paying professional positions.

– The jobless rate of African Americans was slightly more than double that of whites in 2005.

Section 4

African Americans (cont.)

– Hidden unemployment rates are high.

– Differences in unemployment rates between whites and African American workers exist even for college-educated people.

– African American teenagers have a high unemployment rate.

Section 4

African Americans (cont.)

• Despite these inequalities, gains have been made:

– More than 25% of African Americans work in professional and managerial positions.

– Increase of 128%

– Business ownership has been increasing dramatically.

– African Americans have also increased their political presence.

Section 4

African Americans (cont.)

• Some scholars see an emergence of two black Americas—a growing black middle class and a black underclass.

A. A

B. B

C. C

D. D

Section 4

A B C D

0% 0%0%0%

How strongly do you feel about the following statement: “In a very real sense, then, African Americans have experienced barely forty years of constitutional equality.”

A. Very strongly

B. Somewhat strongly

C. Not very strongly

D. Not strongly at all

Section 4

Latinos

• Latino is a term that refers to ethnic minorities from Latin America, a region that includes Mexico, Central America, South America, and the islands of the Caribbean.

• Latinos:

– are the largest minority group in America.

– fall behind white Americans in formal education.

Section 4

Latinos (cont.)

– make an average income that is higher than that of African Americans but significantly lower than that of non-Latino whites.

– are becoming a force in shaping American politics.

U.S. Population by Race and Ethnicity, 2000 and 2050

A. A

B. B

C. C

D. D

Section 4

A B C D

0% 0%0%0%

What are the largest Latino groups in the United States?

A. Mexican descent

B. Puerto Ricans

C. Cubans

D. All of the above

Section 4

Native Americans

• Native Americans, more than any other minority, are suffering today from the effects of hundreds of years of discrimination.

• Native Americans are running casino-type gaming establishments, which is helping the quality of life for many families.

• Many challenges, such as better health care and education, still need to be met.

A. A

B. B

C. C

D. D

Section 4

A B C D

0% 0%0%0%

The following are areas of hardship for the Native Americans EXCEPT

A. Abject poverty

B. Low annual income

C. High school graduationrates

D. Protecting their reservations

Section 4

Asian Americans

• The road for Chinese Americans has not been easy since they began immigrating in the 1850s; however, today they are recognized as successful.

• Japanese Americans also had a rocky beginning, but are now one of the most successful racial minorities in the U.S.

Socioeconomic Characteristics of Minorities

Section 4

Asian Americans (cont.)

• Why are they so successful?

– They have not had to deal with centuries of prejudice and discrimination like the African and Native Americans.

– They have used the educational system for upward mobility.

A. A

B. B

C. C

D. D

Section 4

A B C D

0% 0%0%0%

Which Asian American minority group do you think is the most successful today?

A. Chinese

B. Japanese

C. Filipinos

D. Both A & B

Section 4

White Ethnics

• White ethnics are the descendents of immigrants from Eastern and Southern European nations, particularly Italy and Poland.

• White ethnics also include Greek, Irish and Slavic people.

• During the 1960s, white ethnics were labeled as being conservative, racist, pro-war “hardhats,” but this was not true.

Section 4

White Ethnics (cont.)

• White ethnics have not traditionally been victims of discrimination, but still feel the need to display their cultural and national origins.

A. A

B. B

C. C

D. D

Section 4

A B C D

0% 0%0%0%

What reasons are the white ethnics wanting to take a seat at the “multicultural table”?

A. White ethnic “roots”movement

B. Establish a publicidentity

C. To show white ethnicity as being beautiful

D. All of the above

Section 4-End

Figure 9.4

U.S. Resident Minority Populations, 2000 and 2003

Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census, Statistical Abstract of the United States, 2004–2005.

Figure 9.5

Majority and Minority Median Household Incomes

Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census, 2005.

Figure 9.6

The U.S. Population by Race and Ethnicity, 2000 and 2050

Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census, 2004.

Figure 9.7

Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census, 2005.

Snapshot

Source: Adapted from Southern Poverty Law Center Intelligence Project, “Active U.S. Hate Groups in 2004.”

Hate Groups in the United States

Transparency Menu

Hate Crimes in the United States

Projected Changes in U.S. Racial/Ethnic Composition

Who’s on the Net—By Income Level

Who’s on the Net—Race and Education

Sociology Chapter Transparencies

Transparency 1

Transparency 2

Transparency 3

Transparency 4

Vocab 16

institutionalized discrimination

unfair practices that grow out of common behaviors and attitudes and that are a part of the structure of a society

Vocab 17

hidden unemployment

unemployment that includes people not counted in the traditional unemployment categories

Vocab 18

underclass

people typically unemployed who come from families that have been poor for generations