Chapter Ten:
Race and Ethnicity
Chapter
Overview

Laying the

Race and Ethnic
Sociological
Relations in the
Foundation
United States

Theories of Prejudice

Global Patterns of

Looking Toward the
Future
Intergroup Relations
2
Inequalities of Race and Ethnicity
Understanding Race
 Race
A category created by
society to classify
people on perceived
similar physical
characteristics
Is Race a Myth or Fact?
Inequalities of Race and Ethnicity
Race and
Ethnicity
Race - Group with Biological
Characteristics
Myth 1 - Idea That Any Race is Superior
 All Races Have Geniuses and Idiots
Myth 2 - Idea that Any Race is Pure
 Human Characteristics Flow Endlessly Together
4
Inequalities of Race and Ethnicity
Relevance of Race as Scientific Concept
1. Current scientific thinking: “race” as a biological
reality does not exist...
2. No set number of “races” in nature...
3. Rather, “races” are social constructs, reflecting
divisions based on arbitrary physical traits.
Inequalities of Race and Ethnicity
Understanding Ethnicity
•
Ethnicity
Statuses based on cultural heritage
and shared “feelings of
peoplehood”
• Key factors that heightened or
reduce our sense of ethnic identity
• Relative size, power, appearance, and
discrimination
•
Ethnic group
A category of people set apart
from others because of distinctive
customs and lifestyles
•
Ethnic work
The way people construct their
ethnicity
Inequalities of Race and Ethnicity
Minority and
Dominant Groups
 Minority Group - People Singled Out for
Unequal Treatment by the Dominant Group
 Dominant Group – Group with wealth, power,
and privileges
Minority groups are not necessarily small in
number
7
Inequalities of Race and Ethnicity
Characteristics of a
Minority Group
 Membership is an Ascribed
Status
 Physical or Cultural Traits Held
in Low Esteem by Dominant
Group
 Unequal Treatment
 High ingroup marriage: marry
within own group
 An awareness of inequalities
and feel strong group solidarity
8
Inequalities of Race and Ethnicity
Attitudinal Tools
of Domination



Racism
 Belief that one race is
inherently superior or
inferior to another
Prejudice
 Preconceived
judgments about a
category of people
Stereotype
 Static, oversimplified
ideas about a category
of people
Inequalities of Race and Ethnicity
 An irrationally based negative, or sometimes
positive, attitude toward a certain group of
people.
 An attitude or subjective feelings
 Sets group boundaries
 Promotes social solidarity and identity (weness and sense of superiority).
Inequalities of Race and Ethnicity
Approaches to Prejudice
Psychological Perspectives

Frustration and Scapegoats –
people who are unable to strike out at
the real source of their frustration
look for someone to blame

The Authoritarian Personality
– Theodor Adorno created a survey
which measured: ethnocentrism, AntiSemitism, and support for strong,
Authoritarian leaders and found that
these criteria were connected
11
Inequalities of Race and Ethnicity
Approaches to Prejudice
Stereotyping





One common reaction to
strangers is to categorize them
broadly.
An oversimplified
generalization by which we
attribute certain traits or
characteristics to a group without
regard to individual differences
Positive stereotypes
Distort reality, but are
nevertheless socially approved
images held by one group about
another.
Easily becomes ingrained
within everyday thinking.
Inequalities of Race and Ethnicity
Approaches to Prejudice
Internalization of Dominant Norms


People can learn to be prejudice against own group
Members of groups held in low esteem by society may,
as a result, have low self-esteem themselves.
 Banaji & Greenwald, “Implicit Association Test”
Inequalities of Race and Ethnicity
Approaches to Prejudice
Socialization

Individuals acquire the values, attitudes, beliefs,
and perceptions of their culture or subculture,
including religion, nationality, and social class.
The child conforms to the parents’ expectations in acquiring an
understanding of the world and its people

We learn the prejudices of our parents and others
which than becomes a part of our values and beliefs.
 Criticism
Does not explain the origin of prejudice or why prejudice
intensifies or diminishes over the years.
Inequalities of Race and Ethnicity
Discrimination

Discrimination
Unequal treatment of people because of their group
membership
Types of Discrimination
Personal (Individual) discrimination
Legal discrimination
Institutional discrimination
Inequalities of Race and Ethnicity

The complex societal
arrangements that restrict
the life chances and choices
of minority groups in
comparison with those in the
dominant group.
 Embedded into the social
institutions.
 Benefits are given to one
group are withheld from
another.
 Maintains the disadvantage
position of minority groups.
 Examples: sentencing
inequalities, hiring practices,
segregated housing, education,
health care, etc.
Inequalities of Race and Ethnicity
Health Care Inequality

Discrimination is does not have to be deliberate
 People unconsciously discriminate and those who are being
discriminated against are unaware of it.

Inferior Health Care
 African American mother is more than three times likely to die in
childbirth than a white mother.
 African American babies has more than twice the chance of dying in
infancy than does a white baby

Race is a factor in Medical decisions
 The researchers examined hospital records of about 40,000 Medicare
beneficiaries
 Whites are more likely than blacks to be given cardiac catheterization (a test to
detect blockage of blood vessels)
Inequalities of Race and Ethnicity
Contemporary Discrimination in the
United States
Racial Profiling
 Refers to the action taken by law
enforcement officials on the presumption
that individuals of one race or ethnicity
are more likely to engage in criminal
activity.
 Leads law enforcement to routinely
stop vehicles driven by Blacks and
Latinos in the expectation of finding
drugs in their possession.
 2003 U.S. Department of Justice issued
guidelines rejecting racial profiling
 In the statement it included a broad and largely
undefined exception when “national security”
concerns come into play.
Inequalities of Race and Ethnicity

Minorities are suspected and arrested for more crimes
than whites.
 Minorities face more serious charges and are given
more serious penalties and longer sentences than whites
for the same crimes.
 Prison and Capital Punishment (1998)
Black defendants were 38% more likely to be sentenced to die
than others who committed similar crimes.
African Americans constitute slightly more than 12% of the
American population
 They account for more than 50% of all federal and state prisoners
Inequalities of Race and Ethnicity

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 dramatically altered
historic patterns of discrimination
 Mandated that the government take affirmative action to
ensure “equality of employment opportunity”
 For several decades, affirmative action accomplished a
great deal
 1960 10% of African American households were in the middle
class
 1990 30% of African American households were in middle-class
 1990 their number in high-paying professional and technical
occupations had increased by over 100%
Inequalities of Race and Ethnicity

Even with such gains there still remains a sizeable
economic gap between whites and most other minorities.
Inequalities of Race and Ethnicity
Functionalist – Sherif Study
 Prejudice is functional as it brings people together
 Can create negative stereotypes (dsyfunction)
Conflict – Prejudice is beneficial to the dominant group
as it keeps minority groups oppressed
 Power Split Labor Force
Symbolic Interactionist – Labels lead to selective
perception – we see what we want to see

Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2009
22
Inequalities of Race and Ethnicity
Dominant-Minority Group Relations

Cultural Pluralism
When groups cooperate while still retaining their distinctive
identities and lifestyles

Assimilation
Process where minority groups lose their identities & conform to
the dominant group

Segregation
Physical or social exclusion of minority groups from dominant
group activities

Genocide
Deliberate and systematic elimination of minority group
members
Inequalities of Race and Ethnicity
Race & Ethnic Diversity in U.S.
White Anglo-Saxon Protestants
Native Americans
Latinos
African-Americans
Euro-American Ethnics
Inequalities of Race and Ethnicity
Inequalities of Race and Ethnicity