Inequalities of Race and Ethnicity

Minorities, Race, & Ethnicity

• Minorities - a group of people with physical and cultural traits different from those of the dominant groups in the society.

• 1. physical traits - skin color, facial features, disabilities

• 2. cultural traits - accent, religion, language, parentage

• 3. minority is dominated by the majority

• 4. minority traits are often believed by the dominant majority to be inferior

• 5. members of the minority have a common sense of identity, with strong group loyalty (“we” and “they”)

• 6. majority determines who belongs to the minority through ascribed status

Minorities, Race, & Ethnicity

• Race - people sharing certain inherited physical characteristics that are considered important within a society

• 1. skin color, hair texture, facial features, head form, eye color, height to determine race.

• 2. 3 major divisions - Negroid, Mongoloid, Caucasian• 3. no “pure” race• 4. for sociology, social attitudes and characteristics that

relate to race are more important than physical differences

• Ethnicity - group identified by cultural, religious or national characteristics

• 1. a subculture

Racial and Ethnic Relations

• Patterns of Assimilation• 1. the bending or fusing of minority groups into the dominant society• a. Anglo-conformity - immigrants are accepted if they

conform to the “accepted standards” of the society. (their own beliefs must be suppressed or given up)

• b. melting pot - all ethnic and racial minorities voluntarily blend together.

• c. cultural pluralism (tossed salad) group maintains some sense of identity

• d. accommodation - extreme form of cultural pluralism - minority learns

• to deal with the dominant culture but remains independent in• language and culture

Racial and Ethnic Relations

• Patterns of Conflict

• 1. genocide - systematic effort to destroy an entire population (extreme)

• 2. population transfer - minority is forced to move to a remote location

• away from the majority

• 3. subjugation - minority group is denied equal access to the benefits of a society

• a. de jure segregation - denial of equal access based on the law ( Brown v. Board of Education)

• b. de facto segregation - denial of access based on everyday practice (homeowners refuse to sell

to certain minorities)

Theories of Prejudice and Discrimination

• Prejudice, Racism, Discrimination• 1. prejudice - widely held negative attitudes toward a

group (minority or majority) and its individual members

• 2. racism - an extreme form of prejudice that assumes superiority of one group over others

• 3. discrimination - treating people differently based on ethnicity, race, religion or culture

Theories of Prejudice and Discrimination

• Hate crimes - criminal acts that are motivated by extreme prejudice

• 1. bias related to race, religion, sexual orientation, national origin or ancestry

• 2. African Americans, Jews, gay men, lesbian women, Latinos, Arabs, Asian Americans

• Stereotypes - set of ideas based on distortion, exaggeration and over simplification that is applied to a category of people (ex.) all athletes are stupid - all

politicians are corrupt - all Muslims are terrorists

Minority Groups in the U.S.

• Institutionalized discrimination - unfair practices that grow out of common behavior and attitudes and that are a part of the structure of a society

• 1. seniority systems• 2. public education• a. white flight to the suburbs• b. lack of funding in areas of minorities• c. outdated textbooks, parental support

not strong, less technology teacher training, buildings in need of repair

African Americans

• 1. racial minority in the US (12%)• 2. why lack of acceptance• a. physical characteristics• b. lower class status due to slavery• c. after 13th Amend., discrimination continued

(especially in south)• d. practices and laws became institutionalized• e. practices became illegal in the 1960’s (civil rights

legislation & Supreme Ct. decisions)• 3. average income for African Americans - 64% that of whites• 4. jobless rate are double that of whites

African Americans

• 5. hidden unemployment - includes people not counted in the traditional unemployment categories

• 6. education is the traditional path to economic gain • a. # of African Americans in professional & technical

occupations (doctors, engineers, lawyers, teachers) has risen 128%)

• b. some sociologists predict the emergence of 2 black Americas - a growing black middle class and a

black underclass (people typically unemployed who come from families that have been poor for generations)

• c. African Americans have seen their political power grow

Latinos

• ethnic minorities from Latin America (Mex., Central Am., South Am., Caribbean Islands)

• 1. one of the fastest growing minorities in the US• 2. America - largest minority group (12.5%)• 3. Latino peoples are diverse• 4. Cuban immigrants in the 50’s were successful middle

and upper class people - later immigrants were uneducated members of the lower class

Latinos

• 5. 1/2 adult Latinos have completed high school - 84% non-Latinos

• 6. Average income is higher than that of African Americans but lower than whites

• 7. politically Latinos are becoming a force in shaping American politics

Native American

• 1. number just over 2 mil• 2. very diverse - (500 separate tribes)• 3. suffer more today than other minorities• 4. fewer graduate from high school than any other major

minority group• 5. lowest annual income• 6. not much political power• 7. 1/4 live in reservations (50% on poverty level)• 8. casino type gaming used to promote services & economic

development

Asian Americans

• (4%) (China, Phil., Japan, India, Korea, Vietnam)

• 1. Chinese immigrants came in 1850’s (Ca. gold rush)

• 2. 1870 hard times - European Americans began to compete for jobs that Chinese had held

• 3. race riots resulted - immigrants barred from attending schools in San. Fran.

• 4. urban ghettos known as Chinatowns were formed

• 5. 1882 - Chinese Exclusion Act - ended Chinas immigration to the US for 100 years

• 6. Japanese Americans - arrived about same time Chinese Am. were being excluded

• 7. became successful farmers

Asian Americans

• 8. California Alien Land Bill 1913 - allowed land only to be leased for 3 yrs. (owned land could not be inherited)

• 9. 1924 - Congress halted all immigration

• 10. 1941 - FDR issued Executive Order 9066 - Japanese Am. were put in internment camps

• 11. 1980 - Am. formally apologized and paid them 20,000 each.

• 12. one of the most successful racial minorities in US

• a. used education systems for upward mobility

White Ethnics

• descendants of immigrants from Eastern and Southern

• European nations (Italy, Poland, Greek, Irish, Slavs)

• 1. 1960 - gained undeserved reputation of being conservative, racist, pro-war

“hard hats”