Racism, Prejudice and Discrimination Sociology 102 1 INGROUP AND OUTGROUP The circle that includes “us” (the in-group) excludes “them” (the out-group). In-group bias When we’re part of a small group surrounded by a larger group, we are also more conscious of our group membership not just our personal identity (our sense of our personal attributes and attitudes) but our social identity. 2 Historically, race is a cultural invention that has been used in a wide variety of ways In sociological terms, a race is a socially defined category of people who are thought to share biologically distinctive traits. People show so great a mixture of physical characteristics - in skin color, hair texture, nose shape, head shape, height, eye color, and so on 3 The world’s gene pools are mixed to the point where only general groupings can be distinguished Racism is behavior, in word or deed, that is motivated by the belief that human races have distinctive characteristics that determine abilities and cultures 4 The Meaning of Minority • • 4. Involuntary status; one is born into it 5. Subordinate and dominant group patterns of interaction lead to patterns of endogamy 5 Prejudice is a negative attitude toward an entire category of people, often an ethnic or racial minority Discrimination is “the differential treatment of individuals considered to belong to a particular group” Prejudiced attitudes should not be equated with discriminatory behavior Stereotypes - beliefs about attributes that are thought to be characteristic of members of particular groups 6 Defining Racism, Prejudice, and Discrimination The relationship between prejudice and discrimination is complex Robert Merton’s study and typology of the relationship between prejudice and discrimination Four patterns 1. Unprejudiced nondiscriminatory – integration 2. Unprejudiced and discriminatory – institutional discrimination 7 Defining Racism, Prejudice, and Discrimination Four patterns 3. Prejudiced and nondiscriminatory – latent bigotry 4. Prejudiced and discriminatory – outright bigotry 8 Origins of Prejudice and Discrimination Prejudice and Bigotry in Social Structures Exploitation theory - prejudice is rationally and economically motivated on the basis of self interest The dominant group benefits from prejudice in that it is rooted within the subordination and exploitation of a group 9 Frustration, Conflict, Competition, Aggression Frustration-Aggression – when one feels or experiences frustration due to blocked needs, it is common to displace that frustration onto a scapegoat - scapegoat a person or group that is incapable of offering resistance to the hostility or aggression of others - Anger and frustration is often taken out on subordinate groups 10 When two groups compete for jobs, housing, or social prestige, one’s group fulfillment can become the other group’s frustration Projection- the tendency to project one’s own undesirable traits onto a subordinate group 11 Psychological Theories Authoritarian Personality Rigid, thinking adherence to conventional values Strong feelings about ideas of right and wrong and have a low tolerance for uncertainty. intolerant of any divergence from what they consider to be the normal (which is usually conceptualized in terms of their religion, race, history, nationality, culture, language, etc.) displaced aggression, directing their hostility against a powerless group to compensate for their feelings of insecurity and fear 12 Need for Status and Belonging To perceive ourselves as having status, we need people below us.’ People tend to be more hostile toward others when their security is threatened. Prejudice is often greater among those slipping on the socioeconomic ladder 13 Cultural Factors: Norms and Stereotypes Most prejudice is learned early in the socialization process. Normative approach - prejudice is patterned into the cultural norms and values of a group or society Prejudice is learned and is a function of conforming to the norms of a group Children often adopt their parents’ prejudices as naturally as anything else. Common prejudices are taken from ethnic stereotypes Stereotyping-generalizing a trait to a group is another source of prejudice 14 Some Consequences of Prejudice and Discrimination 1. Prejudice and discrimination have harmful effects on the personality of its victims 2. Prejudice and discrimination are sources of strife and conflict between groups 3. Prejudice and discrimination and subtle racism are directed toward upper-class minorities 4. Hate crimes 15 Institutional Discrimination Discrimination that is normative and routine part of the economy, educational system or some other social institutions • Institutional discrimination is different from other types of discrimination since it is not always a conscious intent to discriminate Housing Restrictive Covenants – attachment terms to property deeds Racial Steering – practice in which real estate brokers refuse to show house outside of specific areas to minority buyers 16 Institutional Discrimination • • Racial Profiling refers to the practice by which law enforcement officers select people for investigation on the basis of race Racial profiling is a form of institutional discrimination in that law enforcement agencies use race as policy for selecting someone out for further scrutiny 17 Institutional Discrimination Education Minority educational achievement lags behind the dominant group In 2003, almost 15 percent of Whites aged twenty five and over had not completed high school Forty three percent of Hispanics aged twenty five and over had not completed high school Twenty percent of African-Americans aged twenty five and over had not completed high school 18 Institutional Discrimination Unequal Access to High-Quality Schooling Minority segregation in poor schools Brown v. Board of Education and patterns of de jure segregation Segregation by law or policy was ruled unconstitutional 19 Institutional Discrimination Unequal Access to High-Quality Schooling De facto patterns of segregation of today Housing patterns Economic inequalities Gerrymandered school districts Middle-class flight from communities Busing has been the primary policy over the years to achieve desegregation Primarily of minority students 20 Institutional Discrimination Harvard Project on School Desegregation has found a pattern of resegregation of schools Harvard Project Findings: 1. Enrollment of Hispanic students have increased by 218 percent with 75 percent attending predominantly minority schools 2. Majority of White students are attending schools that are 80 percent White 21 Institutional Discrimination Harvard Project Findings: 3. Enrollment for African-American students has increased but they are likely to attend predominantly minority schools 4. Schools with large minority populations are concentrated in poor areas 5. Poverty compounds school segregation 22 Institutional Discrimination Housing Housing segregation is related Poverty Prejudice Racial steering by real estate brokers Ways to reduce housing segregation Conduct audit research on practices that cause segregation More enforcement of anti-bias legislation 23 Institutional Discrimination Employment and Income Employment discrimination in part is related to past educational discrimination Statistics show that whites are more than twice as likely as African Americans or Latinos to work as managers or professionals 24 Institutional Discrimination Employment and Income Income gap has been narrowing Asset gap has been widening William J. Wilson - the growing gap between the middle-class and poor is widening Decline in manufacturing jobs for inner city residents Inadequate schools Racist employers 25 Table 7-2 (p. 238) Mean Earnings by Highest Degree Earned 26 Politics and Social Policy Job Training Government budget concerns, corporate downsizing will make job training programs a issue Affirmative Action Originated out of the 1964 civil rights legislation prohibiting discrimination on the basis of religion, national origin, race and sex 27 Politics and Social Policy Affirmative Action Affirmative action requires educational and economic organizations to have programs to increase the hiring of minority applicants and promotion policies California (1996) and Proposition 209 it eliminated Affirmative action in higher education and government jobs Decline in minority enrollment in higher education 28
