Chapter 12
Race And Ethnic Relations
Key Terms

ethnic groups
A social category of people who share a
common culture.

ethnic
The definition the group has of itself as sharing
a common cultural bond.

race
A group treated as distinct in society on the
basis of certain characteristics that have been
assigned social importance in society.

racialization
A process whereby some social category such
as social class or nationality takes on what are
perceived in the society to be race
characteristics.

racial formation
The process by which groups come to be
defined as a race.

minority group
Any distinct group in society that shares
common group characteristics and is forced to
occupy low status because of prejudice and
discrimination.

dominant group or social majority
The group that assigns a racial or ethnic group
to subordinate status.

stereotypes
Oversimplified set of beliefs about members of
a social group or social stratum that is used to
categorize individuals of that group.

salience principle
States that we categorize people on the basis
of what appears initially prominent and obvious
about them.

stereotype interchangeability
Holds that racial, gender, cultural, and class
stereotypes, especially negative ones, are
often interchangeable among groups.

prejudice
The evaluation of a social group, and
individuals within that group, based on
conceptions about the social group that are
held despite facts that contradict it, and that
involve prejudgment and misjudgment.

ethnocentrism
The belief that one's group is superior to all
other groups.

racial-ethnic discrimination
The unequal treatment of a person based on
race or ethnicity takes many forms, may be
combined with other forms of discrimination,
producing the double jeopardy effect, and does
not necessarily go together with prejudice.

discrimination
Overt negative and unequal treatment of the
members of some social group or stratum
solely because of their membership in that
group or stratum.

residential segregation
Spatial separation of racial and ethnic groups
into different residential areas.

racism
The perception and treatment of a racial or
ethnic group or member of that group as
intellectually, socially and culturally inferior to
that group.

dominative racism
Obvious, overt racism.

aversive racism
Subtle, covert and nonobvious.

institutional racism
Negative treatment and oppression of one
racial or ethnic group by society’s existing
institutions based on the presumed inferiority of
the oppressed group.

assimilate
Process by which a minority becomes socially,
economically and culturally absorbed within the
dominant society.

gendered racism theory
Refers to the interactive or combined effects of
racism and sexism in the oppression of women
of color.

victimization perspective
Detracts attention from the positive actions
groups have taken in response to oppression,
and how oppression has contributed to the
development of group and cultural strengths.

cultural pluralism
Defined as different groups in society keeping
their distinctive cultures while coexisting
peacefully with the dominant group.

segregation
The spatial and social separation of racial and
ethnic groups.

affirmative action
Race specific policy for reducing job and
education inequality.