Inequalities of Race and Ethnicity

Minority, Race, and Ethnicity• Minority: group of people with physical or cultural

traits different from those of the dominant group in society• Five Key Features

1. Has distinctive physical or cultural characteristics that can be used to separate it from the majority

2. Dominated by the majority3. Minority traits are often believed by the majority

to be inferior4. Members of the minority have a common sense

of identity with strong group loyalty5. Majority determines who belongs to the minority

group through ascribed status

Defining Race• Race: people sharing certain inherited physical characteristics

that are considered important within a society• Examples: skin color, hair color, hair texture, facial features,

head form, eye color, height• Is there a scientific basis for race?• No such thing as a “pure” race• Most consider racial classifications arbitrary and misleading• Sociologists see social attitudes and characteristics related

to race more important than physical differences• Are some physical characteristics superior?• Only when they provide advantages for living in particular

environments• No scientific evidence that connects any racial

characteristic with innate superiority or inferiority

Defining Ethnicity• Ethnicity: cultural and national identity• Ethnic minority: subculture identified by its

language, religion, values, beliefs, norms and customs• Physical characteristics define racial minorities;

Cultural differences define ethnic minorities• Part of the larger culture, but also separate from

the larger culture, either by choice or the majority’s doing

• Why are ethnic minorities seen as inferior?• Ethnocentrism• Majority loyalty leads to beliefs of superiority• Judgments often expressed as prejudice and

discrimination

Racial and Ethnic Relations• Minority groups are either accepted or rejected• Assimilation: blending of minority groups into the dominant

society• Anglo-conformity: immigrants are accepted as long as they

conform to accepted standards; give up or suppress own values• Melting pot: all ethnic and racial minorities blend together • Mixed salad: traditions and cultures exist side by side• Cultural pluralism: desire of a group to maintain some sense

of identity separate from the dominant group• Latinos: bilingual education, forms, church services, tv channels

• Accommodation: minority learns to deal with the dominant culture when necessary but remains independent in language and culture

• Amish in Pennsylvania

Prejudice and Discrimination• Prejudice: widely held negative attitudes toward a group and its

individual members• Based on strong emotions and difficult to change

• Racism: extreme form of prejudice that assumes superiority of one group over others• Discrimination is morally justified because of their superiority

• Discrimination: treating people differently based on ethnicity, race, religion, or culture• Avoidance, denial, attacking

• Hate Crime: criminal act motivated by prejudice• 2012 – 5,796 hate crimes reported

• Stereotype: a distorted, exaggerated, or oversimplified image applied to a category of people• Sometimes used to justify unethical behavior against a group

Institutional Discrimination

• Institutionalized Discrimination: unfair practices that grow out of common behaviors and attitudes that are a part of the structure of society• Grows out of traditional, accepted behaviors

Is institutional discrimination really an issue in the United States?

Yes!In 2003, two sociologists performed a study in which they sent 5,000 fake resumes to 1,300 employers. Half the resumes contained “stereotypically black names” and the other half contained “stereotypically white names”.

The results:For white names, callbacks averaged 1/10For black names, callbacks averaged 1/15A white name was equivalent to 8 years more work experience

Conclusion:Racial discrimination is still a major feature of the labor market

Residential Segregation• Physical separation of cultural groups based on

residence and housing • Sorts population groups into various neighborhoods

and shapes the living environment at the neighborhood level • Ensures that members of the different groups will

interact less over time, which makes members of those groups less likely to be sympathetic towards members of other groups. • Makes it easier for members of all groups to

stereotype other groups, and thus allows for the creation of a stronger distinction between the us and a them.

Chicago

Memphis

Washington D.C.

Portland

Los Angeles

Newark

Salt Lake City

New York City

Philadelphia

Detroit

Ft. Lauderdale

Buffalo

Patterns of Conflict• Genocide: systematic effort to destroy a population• Holocaust, Rape of Nanking, Serbia’s ethnic cleansing,

Rwanda• Population Transfer: minority is forced either to move to a

remote location or leave the territory entirely• Native Americans

• Subjugation: minority is denied equal access to the benefits of society; most common• De jure segregation: by law; racial segregation of schools• De facto segregation: everyday practice; neighborhoods

and jobs

Theoretical Perspectives• Functionalists• Focus on dysfunctions• Costs of racial inequality are extremely high• Can foster positive self-concepts for those who feel superior

• Conflict Theorists• Majority uses prejudice and discrimination as weapons• Increases control over property, goods, etc…• Different minorities see each other as competition

• Symbolic Interactionists• We learn to be prejudiced from our family, peers, media• Language can reflect prejudices• Self-fulfilling Prophecy: expectation that leads to behavior that causes

the expectation to become reality

How Does RS Happen?Redlining

• Redlining: the practice of discrimination in mortgage lending • Banks mark certain

neighborhoods red on appraisal maps• Thereby making it next to

impossible to get a mortgage for a home

How Does RS Happen?Steering, White Flight, Gentrification• Steering: agents do not show certain properties on the market

to qualified minority home seekers• steer them to neighborhoods that have a similar racial make-

up as the home seeker• Keep white neighborhoods white

• White Flight: white families move out of the neighborhood• a threshold is reached where a neighborhood becomes

approximately twenty-percent or more African-American, white flight takes place

• Gentrification: urban renewal; higher income newcomers displacing lower income residents from up-and-coming urban neighborhoods