Project Prepare

1. Ethnic Group

2. Racial Groupa. Social construction

3. Census 2000

Race & Ethnicity…Defining our Terms

Ethnicity?a group set apart from others because of its national origin or distinctive cultural patterns(D)

Examples of ethnic groups that are important to your identity?

Irish, Polish, Italian, Mexican, Puerto Rican, Chinese, Japanese, Kenyan, Nigerian…

Top 5 Nations of Origin for American Ethnic Groups

Top 5 Nations of Origin for American Ethnic Groups (Census 2000)

German 15.2%

Irish 10.8%

English 8.7%

Mexican 6.5%

Italian5.6%

Racial Group?a group set apart from others based primarily on inherited physical characteristics such as skin color, hair form, and facial form. (D)

Examples?

Racial Group?a group set apart from others based primarily on inherited physical characteristics such as skin color, hair form, and facial form. (D)

Races listed on 1990 US CensusWhiteBlackAsian & Pacific IslanderAmerican Indian and Alaskan NativeOther

Note that Hispanic is not considered a race …

Points to interesting questions of regarding how a society decides what is and is not a race …draws attention to how racial boundaries are fluid and fuzzy….

Irish were once considered an “Inferior” non-white race

“Inferior” Irish & Black Races… “smoked Irish” & “negroes turned inside out”

The Inferior “Jewish” Race

Race as a Social Construction

Irish, Jews, Mexicans, Filipinos and Hindus have all been regarded as races in America…but now they are not….what does this say about the idea of race?

It is a social construction…

Anyone know what this term means?

Race as a Social Construction

Race as a SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION

races are created, lived & transformed by social actors embedded in certain historical circumstances (D)

• We make them up…Society makes them up..

• They are not rooted in nature…but in our culture

• Red hair could just have easily become a racial marker…

One Race…the “Human Race”“Scientists Call Race Insignificant”

Race as a human category, has no biological significance at allToo much shared evolutionary biology

Mountains of evidence for this…

Within group variance swamps between group varianceSelect 2 random Blacks & compare genesSelect 2 random Whites & compare genesLikely to find more variation between 2 whites than between 1 black and 1 white

No genetic basis for race… So how have different societies and/or scientists tried to group people by race?Skin color- shade of pigmentation

What to do with dark skinned Italians, Iraqis, Indians?Color Gradient used in some countries (Brazil, Cuba)

Dental patterns- presence of shovel shaped incisorsCreates a race of that lumps Asians, Swedes & Native Americans together

Facial Features- measure contours of the skullIndians from Asia have Caucasian features, but dark skin

No genetic basis for race… So how have different societies and/or scientists tried to group people by race?Skin color- shade of pigmentation

What to do with dark skinned Italians, Iraqis, Indians?Color Gradient used in some countries (Brazil, Cuba)

Dental patterns- presence of shovel shaped incisorsCreates a race of that lumps Asians, Swedes & Native Americans together

Facial Features- measure contours of the skullIndians from Asia have Caucasian features, but dark skin

Add up ancestry & calculate: Common in US…We determined slaves this way…and currently determine Native American ancestry this way

Interesting results…note next slide

Bottom line: Each strategy gets different

What Race?

N a tiveA m e rican

W h ite B la ck B la ck

P a re n t

T h a ila nd(A s ia n )

T h a ila nd(A s ia n )

C h in e se(A s ia n )

C h in e se(A s ia n )

P a re n t

S O N

What Race? Asian by math…Black by skin color… Race is a social construction

N a tiveA m e rican

W h ite B la ck B la ck

P a re n t

T h a ila nd(A s ia n )

T h a ila nd(A s ia n )

C h in e se(A s ia n )

C h in e se(A s ia n )

P a re n t

S O N

Race as a social construction…

Race is a social construction

Racial Classifications are arbitrary & depend on criteria used by person grouping people together

Might as Well just have a vote…Putting to a Vote the Question ‘Who Is Cherokee?

No Biological Basis…So why not vote?

Who is a Cherokee???

Officially, the election will ask voters whether to amend the Cherokee Nation Constitution. Overriding the 1866 treaty, it would limit citizenship to those who can trace their heritage to “Cherokee by blood” rolls, part of a census known as the Dawes Rolls of 1906. The Freedmen would automatically be denied citizenship because the Dawes Rolls, a census commissioned by Congress to distribute land to tribal members, put the Freedmen on a separate roll that made no mention of Indian blood.

No Biological Basis…So why not vote?

Who is a Cherokee???

“When the Dawes Rolls were created, those with any African blood were put on the Freedmen roll, even if they were half Cherokee. Those with mixed-white and Cherokee ancestry, even if they were seven-eighths white and one-eighth Cherokee, were put on the Cherokee by blood roll. More than 75 percent of those enrolled in the Cherokee Nation have less than one-quarter Cherokee blood, the vast majority of them of European ancestry.”

Race as a social construction…

Race is a social construction

Racial Classifications are arbitrary & depend on criteria used by person grouping people together

Might as Well just have a vote…

Or maybe a draft…Video Clip: Chapelle Show

Race as a Social ConstructionRace as a SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION

races are created, lived & transformed by social actors embedded in certain historical circumstances (D)

• We make them up…Society makes them up..

• They are not rooted in nature… but in our culture

• Red hair could just have easily become a racial marker…

Government Recognized Races in the USBig debate has emerged…

Why try to record something we know doesn’t exist?

If society insists on recording…• Where do children of inter-racial

marriages fit? Latinos? Asian Indians? Middle Easterners? Anyone?

If don’t record race, how would we notice discrimination?

• Phily Inquirer: Approximately 50% of Philadelphia residents are minority, but “minorities today account for only“ 8 percent to 20 percent of construction workers on large-scale city projects.”

So…a BIG DEBATE…What were some of the proposed solutions??????

The Paradox of RaceRaces don’t exist, so stop asking the question

Don’t count them and perpetuate myth that races existCanada has done this

Don’t mess with it …races may not exist, but discrimination does…

Not counting eliminates ability to identify discrimination

• Philly Building Trades• DWB

Add Multi-Racial Box

Add new racesSome Hispanics wanted to become a race

Allow people to check multiple boxes

What should be done? Why?

Government Recognized Races in the US1990 Census

WhiteBlackAsian & Pacific IslanderAmerican Indian and Alaskan NativeOther

2000 CensusWhiteBlack or African AmericanAmerican Indian and Alaska NativeAsianNative Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander

Some other raceTwo or more races

Race/Ethnicity, 2000

75

12

0.9

3.6

0.1

5.5

2.4

12.5

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

White

Black

Nat. Amer

Asian

Nat. Haw

Other

2 or more

Hispanic

Projections for 2050

52.8

13.68.7

1.1

23.8

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

2050

WhiteBlackAsianNat. AmerHispanic

Next…Prejudice and Discrimination

Project Prepare

I. RacismII.PrejudiceIII. DiscriminationIV. Institutional/Structural Discrimination

• Assignment For Tuesday• Power Point slides will be posted to website

by early next week; http://www2.widener.edu/~spe0001/

Race as a Social Construction

Race as a SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION

races are created, lived & transformed by social actors embedded in certain historical circumstances (D)

• We make them up…Society makes them up..

• They are not rooted in nature…but in our culture

• Red hair could just have easily become a racial marker…

Races may not exist in nature …but society has acted as if they do…

Scientific Racism (D)…Core Belief in White Supremacy

1) racial and ethnic groups form a natural hierarchy of superiors and inferiors

2) White race is superior to the non-White races

White Supremacy in America

Alabama Constitutional Convention president John B. Knox of Anniston:

the foremost objective of the convention was "to establish white supremacy in this State."

White Supremacy“Were the Chinese to amalgamate at all with our people, it would be the lowest, most vile and degraded of our race, and the result of that amalgamation would be a hybrid of the most despicable , a mongrel of the most detestable that has ever afflicted the earth…”

• California Legislator, 1870s

White Supremacy

“These people must die out- there is no help for them. God has given this earth to those will subdue it, and it is vain to struggle against righteous decree.

Journalist Horace Greeley, 1859

White SupremacyThe marriage of a white person with a negro or mulatto or person who shall have one-eighth or more of negro blood, shall be unlawful and void. Mississippi

Education: The schools for white children and the schools for negro children shall be conducted separately. Florida

Circus Tickets All circuses, shows, and tent exhibitions, to which the attendance of...more than one race is invited or expected to attend shall provide for the convenience of its patrons not less than two ticket offices with individual ticket sellers, and not less than two entrances to the said performance, with individual ticket takers and receivers, and in the case of outside or tent performances, the said ticket offices shall not be less than twenty-five (25) feet apart. Louisiana

White Supremacy and Work…Legal until 1964…practiced through 1970s…

Dual Job Ladders

W h ite s H ire d o ff th e S tre e t

U n sk ille d M a n u fac tu ring$ 1 .4 5 h r

S k ille d T ra d es$ 2 .0 0 h r

M a na ge m e nt$ 3 .00

B la cks H ire d o f th e S tre e t

B la cks S an ita tio n , C a fe te ria.7 5 ce n ts h r

U n sk ille d M a n u fac tu ring< ------T e m p o ra ry F ill In s

$ 1 .1 0 h r

X X X X X X X X X X

X X X X X X X X X X

Races may not exist in nature …but society has acted as if they do…

Scientific Racism (D)…Core Beliefs:

1) racial and ethnic groups form a natural hierarchy of superiors and inferiors

2) White race is superior to the non-White races

3) within the White race the “Nordic” segment is superior to other segments

Note the next slide

The immigrants are ruining the country

“The American nation was founded by and developed by the Nordic race, but if a few more million members of the Alpine, Mediterranean and Semitic races (Italians, Jews etc.) are poured among us, the result will inevitably be a hybrid race of people as worthless and futile as the good for nothing mongrels of Central America and southeastern Europe.”

Kenneth Roberts, prominent Journalist.”p. 92 Feagin

Races may not exist in nature …but society has acted as if they do…

Scientific Racism (D)…Core Beliefs:

1) racial and ethnic groups form a natural hierarchy of superiors and inferiors

2) White race is superior to the non-White races

3) within the White race the “Nordic” segment is superior to other segments

A small minority still believe this despite lack of evidence…

RacismTo study, Sociologists Break into 3 parts

Part 1:

Prejudice (D)a negative attitude toward an entire category of people, such as a racial or ethnic minority

Prejudice often based on the following…Video Clip

Stereotypes (D)unreliable generalizations about all members of a group that do not take into account individual differences within the group.

Exaggerated over simplificationsDumb Blondes & Poles, Smart Germans & Asians, Cheap Jews, Drunken Irish, Nasty French, Criminal Italians & on and on and on…

Often acquired second hand…and just don’t holdBecome substitutes for facts

• Can lead to wrong headed actions…

Pre-judging using stereotypes undermines the very that people should be judged on individual merit

The NJ Turnpike…

Note Slide

US Illicit Drug Use by Race…pattern?

Rate of Illicit Drug Use…pattern?

The NJ Turnpike…

DWB…meaning?

NJ State Police Searches…trend

Found with contraband…

RacismNext Video Clip moves beyond prejudice…

From TV NationMichael Moore series that ran on Fox

RacismBlack people often have trouble getting cabs in NYC

Became big issue when Danny Glover experienced this…

Mayor Guiliani Got InvolvedPlaced Undercover police on streetsCabbies risked loss of medallion

Anyone know the term we use to refer to the cabbies refusal to pick up Black men…

Part 2. Discrimination

the denial of opportunities and equal rights to individuals and groups because of prejudice or for other arbitrary reason (D)

Not just an attitude, but an action

Cabbies won’t pick up Black men

Denny’s refuses to seat Black secret servicemen

Landlords refuse to rent to minority residents

Is this allowed?

If Archie Bunker wants to be prejudiced, we may judge him, but that’s his business…

Can Archie Bunker refuse to hire a Black,a woman, or a Puerto Rican?

Is this allowed?1964 Civil Rights Act (D)- banned discrimination in most areas of society.

EmploymentPublic accommodationsEducation

Discrimination in employment, housing and other spheres of society is illegal…

Does that mean it no longer occurs?

What does evidences suggest with regard to discrimination & work?

Hiring Audits (Social Audits)…Anyone remember what these are?

What does evidences suggest with regard to discrimination & work?

Urban Institute Study“entrenched and widespread” discrimination at every step in the process.Whites were 3 times more likely as blacks to advance in the hiring process to the point of being offered a job

U.S General Accounting Office“uncovered significant discrimination against black and Latino testers.” p. 1525% fewer interviews, 34% fewer offers

Discrimination TodayMIT and U of Chicago Professors

5,000 resumes sent in response to ads in Boston Globe and Chicago Tribune

Some with “White names”: Neil, Brett, Greg, EmilySome with “Black names”: Tamika, Eboney, Aisha, Kareem

White names elicited 50% more responsesClearly subverts idea of hiring based on merit…

Notion that we are all judged based on individual characteristics is undermined by the evidence

DiscriminationCollege Students Pose as Job Applicants

Identical credentials…but different color skin

Visit 350 employersWaiters, warehouse & other low skilled jobs

Criminal History…Mix it upSometimes admit to having done 18 months in jail for possession of cocaine with intent to sellSometimes have no criminal history

Who gets hired?

Remember the Work and Criminal Background experiment…

Evidence of Discrimination

Department of Housing and Urban Development: Housing Audits

Blacks discriminated against by Realtors & Others

56% of the time in rental market

59% of the time in home sales• 15% told nothing available

• Were shown 18% fewer units

• 21% steered to minority neighborhoods

Complicating matters…

Can anyone explain why a even a non-prejudiced cabbie might not pick up a Black man?

Hint: Where did Run DMC want to go…

Part 3: Institutional Discrimination (structural discrimination)

the denial of opportunities and equal rights to individuals and groups that results from the normal operation of society (D)

Referred to as “structural discrimination” in reading…

Legal segregation of past leads to segregated cities…in NYC, minorities live further from downtown, where most of the cab action is

Cabbies don’t want a fare to Harlem since it will be hard to get a return fare…it is about money, not race…

Normal operation of society leads to Blacks who can’t get cabs

Education and Institutional Disc.Children do not have access to equal education.Why?

By basing school funding on property taxes, towns with low property values can not meet the needs of their student body.

Minority children are disproportionately impacted because they are concentrated in inner cities with low property vaules

Race neutral policy…but discriminatory outcome

Institutional Discrimination and Building Trades Apprenticeships

To get into a building trades apprenticeship in Milwaukee you need to have taken certain math and science courses in high school.

Many Black children in Milwaukee attend sub-par schools and do not take these courses

When they graduate, they are not eligible for apprenticeship programs.

Unions remain disproportionately White

Today’s paperJudge Finds Racial Bias in Fire Dept. Recruiting By DIANE CARDWELL July 23, 2009

New York City used tests that discriminated against black and Hispanic applicants to the Fire Department and had little relation to firefighting, a federal judge in Brooklyn ruled on Wednesday, dealing a blow to the administration of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg.

“These examinations unfairly excluded hundreds of qualified people of color from the opportunity to serve as New York City firefighters,” wrote Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis of Federal District Court in Brooklyn, referring to two tests administered in 1999 and 2002.

Institutional Discrimination & Lending

Bias in mortgage lending.

Mortgage Loan Reject Rates, 1990

Lowest IncomeHighest

White 23.1% 8.5%Blacks 40.1% 21.4%

More than just ideas…

Racial and ethnic stratification is located in social systems, as well as the attitudes of and actions of individuals.

Problem is not just Archie Bunker types

Every day operations of society an issueInstitutional discrimination often hard to address

Discrimination Today

5,000 resumes sent in response to ads in Boston Globe and Chicago Tribune

Some with “White names”: Neil, Brett, Greg, EmilySome with “Black names”: Tamika, Eboney, Aisha, Kareem

White names elicited 50% more responsesClearly subverts idea of hiring based on merit…

What can be done???

Next…Gender