Contemporary Sociology: Race and Racial Inequality Agenda Objective 1.To understand contemporary theories of race and racial inequality. 2.To understand

Contemporary Sociology: Race and Racial Inequality

AgendaObjective1. To understand contemporary

theories of race and racial inequality.

2. To understand contemporary race relations and the effects of racial inequality in the United States.

Schedule: 1. Part One: The Biology of Race2. Part Two: The “Reality of Race:”

Race as a Social Construction3. Part Three: Social Consequences

of the Black-White Dichotomy4. Part Four: Whiteness5. Part Five: Racism

Homework:1. Race

Critical Thinking Paper Due: Tuesday 3/27

2. Midterm Exam Friday 3/30

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The Biology of Race

Race and Racial Inequality• How do you

define race?



How Much Do You Know About Race?

• Can you tell someone’s race just by looking at them?

• “Sorting” Activity:– Google: Race the Power of an Illusion– Go to: “Sorting People”

• Discussion:– How did you do?– What does this exercise reveal?



How much do you know about race?

Humans have approximately 30,000 genes. On average, how many genes separate all members of a race from all members of another race?A.NoneB.1C.23D.142E.1008F.We don’t know



The Genetics of Race• Not one gene distinguishes members of

one race from members of another• There is more genetic variation within races

than between them– 2 random Koreans are likely to be as genetically

different as a Korean and an Italian

• Most traits are inherited independently of each other- Genes for skin color have nothing to do with hair type, musical talent, blood type, or athletic ability

The Genetics of Race• Beginning in the 1940s, scholars began to dispel

the idea that race was a biological and fixed category.

• Developments in DNA research, added further support for this…

• Wayne Joseph’s Story– Born and raised black– Genetic test revealed:

• 57% Indo-European• 39% Native American• 4% East Asian• 0% African

– Who is Wayne Joseph?



The Genetics of Race• Nonetheless, most people still believe in the

biology of race and in innate differences between individuals on the basis of skin color.

• In the 2004 General Social Survey– 49.97% of respondents said that the reasons African

Americans have on average worse jobs, income and housing than whites is because they “just don’t have the motivation of will power to pull themselves up out of poverty.”

– 9% of respondents said it is because they have “less in-born ability to learn.”



The “Reality” of Race: Race as a Social Construct

What is Race?

• Race = a group of people who share a set of characteristics--typically, but not always, physical ones--and are said to share a common bloodline.



Is Race Real?• Race is a social category, it is not an objective

biological category.– Race is not an actual biological distinction between individuals– Race is used to draw social distinctions between individuals

• In particular, sociologists argue that race is constructed in the interests of groups that wish to maintain power and social exclusion.

• Video Clip: Dave Chappelle, “Racial Lottery”



Race is A Social Construct

• The fact that race is a social construct has two implications:– Implication One: Reveals that the decision to

draw distinctions on the basis of race is arbitrary, rather than biologically “real”

• We could organize our social distinctions in different ways

– Foot Size?– Left or Right Handedness?

– Implication Two: Reveals that the definition of race (who is white, who is black) can be subject to change based on changing social circumstances

Implication One: How We Define Race is Arbitrary

Case-Study: The Burakumin Race• Approx 3% of Japan’s population is classified as the Burakumin race.• Originated as a group of displaced people during the 14th century feudal wars.• Not in any way physically distinguishable from other Japanese, the only thing that

set them apart was that they were homeless.• The Burakumin formed a distinct social category

– Reproduced among themselves, lived in segregation, worked unique jobs.

• Today it is commonly believed in Japan that the Burakumin are in fact a biologically distinct race.• In Japan, the Burakumin live in ghettos and score lower on health, educational achievement, and income compared with their fellow Japanese citizens. • Yet when Japanese and Burakumin immigrate to America, where their racial distinction is meaningless, the gap shrinks.

• Even if race isn’t real, the social consequences are.



Implication Two: Race Is Subject to Change

Case-Study: Who Am I?• Consider the following excerpt from an 1851 issue of

Harper’s Weekly Magazine. Which race is the author describing?– “[They are] distinctly marked--the small and somewhat upturned

nose, the black tint of the skin…[They] are ignorant, and as a consequence thereof, are idle, thriftless, poor, intemperate, and barbarian…Of course they will violate our laws, these wild bisons leaping over the fences which easily restrain the civilized domestic cattle, will commit great crimes of violence, even capital offences, which

certainly have increased as of late.”





The Irish!• In the mid to late 1800s, at a time

of heightened Irish immigration and “Native”-Irish job competition, it was believed that the Irish were a distinct race of people who carried innate differences in their blood, differences that made them inferior to whites.







Shifting Definitions of Race• Circa 1900, Americans categorized

themselves into anywhere from 36 to 75 different races.

• How Americans have defined race has always shifted…



Shifting Definition of Race• While definitions of race have shifted over time,

one thing has remained constant: racism towards a group increases as that group experiences economic opportunities.– In other words, the likelihood of being labeled “non-

white” and targeted for racism increases as that group is put into direct economic competition with whites.

• Explains the increase in Anti-Hispanic racism seen today

• Race is constructed in the interests of groups that wish to maintain power (usually economic) and social exclusion.



Defining Race as “Black and White”• The black-white racial dichotomy that defines

American race relations today, emerged around the time of World War One– European immigration slowed and “intra-European” racism in America began to fade.– Following the Great Migration blacks began to experience an increase in economic opportunities



Defining Race as Black and White• To draw boundaries between blacks

and whites, the notion of a “one drop rule” began to emerge.

• One drop rule– Belief that “one drop” of black blood

makes a person black– Largely evolved from laws forbidding

interracial marriage• The rule, lead to the emergence of a

dual race society in the United States: black and white

• The effect of the rule was to erase stratification within both black and white communities, and draw the line of stratification between the two communities.



The Racial Make Up of America Today

Social Consequences of the Black-White Race

Dichotomy

Race, Ethnicity, and Life Chances

• Just like social class, race influences all aspects of our lives– Health– Education– Income/Wealth

Chance of…Highest Chance

Lowest Chance

Living a long life (life expectancy)

Asian Female86.7 years

Black Male69.8 years

Dropping out of high school

Black 44%

White22%

Going to prisonBlack Male32.5%

White Female1%

Earning a High Weekly Salary (median salary for full-time worker)

Asian Male$825/wk

Black Female$499/week

Dying before reaching one year of age (per 100,000)

Black Male1,410/100,000

Asian Female427/100,000

Living in PovertyNative American24.5%

White8.7%

Having no Health Insurance

Native American35%

White11.9%

Americans without Health Insurance by Race, 2007

U.S. Infant Mortality Rate, 2005

U.S. Life Expectancy by Race, 2007

Educational Attainment Based on

Race, 2007

30000 38000 42000 46000 50000 54000 58000

Native Americans

African Americans

Asian Americans

Hispanic Americans

Entire U.S(11.3% live in poverty)

Median Family Income

Social StandingsBased on Median Income

U.S. Bureau of the Census, 2001

(27.1% live in poverty)




Median Net Worth of Households

Whiteness

Being White

• Intro, by Louis CK…



Being White

• Most white people have little awareness of the meaning of whiteness as a category.

• “The foundation of white identify is that there isn’t any. You’re just an individual.” --Neill Irvin Painter, The History of White People



White Privilege• Peggy McIntosh, “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible

Knapsack” (1988)• Whiteness is an “invisible knapsack of privileges” that puts what

people at an advantage over non-whites.• White Privilege (a few of more than 50 listed in the article):

– I can go into a hairdresser’s shop and find someone who can cut my hair.– I can buy band-aids in my skin color– I can go shopping alone most the time, pretty well assured that I will not be followed or harassed.– I am never asked to speak for all the people of my racial group.



White Privilege• Whiteness is about not feeling the

weight of representing an entire population with one’s successes or failures.

• It is about not having to think about race much at all.

• If you are white, where do you feel white privilege? QuickTime™ and a

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White Studies• In recent years, more and more

scholarship has focused on whiteness.

• The goal of this research is to call attention to the privileges associated with being white and to the unique cultural behaviors of whites. (It is not white supremacy!)

• White Culture?– Check out:

www.stuffwhitepeoplelike.com– Is there a “White Culture”?



http://www.stuffwhitepeoplelike.com/

Racism

Racism• The belief that members of separate races possess

different and unequal traits.• Racist thinking is characterized by three key

beliefs:– That humans are divided into distinct bloodlines and/or

physical types– That these bloodlines or physical traits are linked to

distinct cultures, behaviors, personalities, and intellectual abilities– That because of these traits, certain groups are superior to others.



Sociological Theories of Racial Inequality and Racism

• Sociologists recognize racial inequality as being produced through three channels of “racism”

• 1. Personally Mediated “Racism”– Prejudice and discrimination (Hatred of “Other”)

• Certain individuals are explicitly denied access to goods, services, and opportunities because the group in power looks disparagingly on their race.

• What we think of when we hear the word racism• Examples include: Not hiring someone because you don’t like their skin color, crossing

the street when someone of a different color approaches you, or refusing to serve someone in a restaurant because of their skin color.

– Unconscious Preference for Those Like Us (Birds of a Feather)

• Here certain individuals are denied access to goods, services, and opportunities, not because another group explicitly hates them, but because that group has an unconscious preference towards their own race.• Examples include: Unintentionally hiring someone of your own skin color over an individual of another skin color. QuickTime™ and a

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What’s In A Name?Name Name

on Resumeon Resume Callback Rate (%)Callback Rate (%)

Brad 15.0

Kristen 13.6

Meredith 10.6

Matthew 9.0

Emily 8.3

Tanisha 6.3

Darnell 4.8

Keisha 3.8

Rasheed 3.0

Aisha 2.2Source: Bertand and Mullainathan 2003: Krueger 2002

Sociological Theories of Racial Inequality/Racism

• 2. Institutionalized Racism– Races experience differential access to the

goods services, and opportunities of a society because of the structure of social institutions.

– Examples include differential access to: education, housing, employment, and medical facilities.

– The criminal justice system is a prime example…



Imbalance in ArrestsMarijuana possession arrest rates in some of California’s

largest cities 2006-08

Source: “Smoke and Horrors”, op-ed by Charles M. Blow in New York Times, October 22,

2010Based on research by Harry Levine and Jon Gettman, “Targeting Blacks for Marijuana: possession arrests of African Americans in California, 2004-08”, (Drug

Policy Alliance, LA: June, 2010)

Federal Cocaine Offenses

Number of Executions and Race of Prisoners Executed,

1976–2009

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

45%

Whites withno prison

record

Whites withprisonrecord

Blackswithoutprisonrecord

Blacks withprisonrecord

Rates of “call backs” in Employment discrimination audit studyRates of “call backs” in Employment discrimination audit study

Data from Devah Pager Sociology dissertation, 2002

Sociological Theories of Racial Inequality/Racism

• 3. Internalized Racism– Acceptance by members of the

stigmatized races of negative messages about their own abilities and intrinsic worth.

– It manifests as the embracing of “whiteness” as the standard and in so doing, devaluing one’s self.

– Examples include: use of hair straighteners and bleaching creams, believing lighter skin blacks are more attractive than darker skin blacks, use of the N word among African Americans.

– Video: Tyra Clip!



Closing Discussion

• What do you see as the role of race in society today?

• Why is it important to study race?• What do you see as the future of

race relations?

Documents

Contemporary Sociology: Race and Racial Inequality Agenda Objective 1.To understand contemporary theories of race and racial inequality. 2.To understand