Race and Ethnicity
What is Race?
• The inherited physical
characteristics that distinguish
one group from another.
• This is a reality, humans
are different
• Sociologists, think of race more
as a social construct,
determined by cultural factors
rather than skin color.
What are ethnic groups?
• People who identify with
one another on the basis
of common ancestry and
cultural heritage.
– Having distinctive
cultural characteristics
•Language
•Beliefs
•Values
•Traditions
•Religion
• Ethnic group of
Thailand
Race: Reality and Myth
• Reality: Humans have physical distinctions
• Myth: fabrications of the human mind.
1. Idea that any race is superior to another.
– Hitler, Rwanda Genocide, and Imperialists
2. Idea that any race is “Pure”
• Social Reality: People act on beliefs, not facts (act on
stereotypes)
History of Race in America
Firm “color line’ existed between racial-ethnic
groups (marriage and dating)
The U.S. census classified people by their race
Restrictive: Caucasian, Negro, Indian, and
Oriental
• Clip 3: Race an "idea constructed by society to
further certain political economic goals,"
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UZS8Wb4S
5k&feature=related
2000 census was changed to include several races:
(multiracial)
(7 million Americans classified as multiracial 9
million 2012)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLnO1-sRow
2010 Census
• http://2010.census.gov/2010census/about/inte
ractive-form.php
• http://2010.census.gov/2010census/data/
• http://www.thesociologicalcinema.com/1/post
/2012/03/being-garifuna-how-do-we-measurerace.html
US Census
• “Definition of Race Categories
Used in the 2010 Census.”
Starting in 1997, OMB required
federal agencies to use a minimum
of five race categories: White,
Black or African American,
American Indian or Alaska
Native, Asian, and Native
Hawaiian or Other Pacific
Islander. For respondents unable
to identify with any of these five
race categories, OMB approved
the Census Bureau’s inclusion of a
sixth category—Some Other
Race—on the Census 2000 and
2010 Census questionnaires.
• “Definition of Hispanic or
Latino Origin Used in the 2010
Census.” OMB requires federal
agencies to use a minimum of
two ethnicities: Hispanic or
Latino and Not Hispanic or
Latino. Hispanic origin can be
viewed as the heritage,
nationality group, lineage, or
country of birth of the person or
the person’s parents or ancestors
before their arrival in the United
States. People who identify their
origin as Hispanic, Latino, or
Spanish may be any race.
Discussion Questions: Everyother
• How do the women in the film feel in regards to the
census?
• After viewing the 2010 census how do you feel?
• Do you believe, you can be more than one race?
• Should the way you personally identify yourself be a
political issue?
• How is the meaning of race changing in the U.S?
• Do you have the same racial attitudes as their
parents/grandparents?
• How do you imagine your own kids might view the concept
of race?
• Do you see any trends developing in racial attitudes?
Minority and Dominant Groups
• Minority Groups: people who are singled out for
unequal treatment and who regard themselves as
objects of collective discrimination.
– Minority Group Can Be Racial or Ethnic
– Not necessarily the numerical minority
• Dominant Groups: those who do the
discriminating….for they have the greater power,
privileges, and social class.
Shared Characteristics of Minorities
• Membership into minority group at birth
• The physical and cultural traits are looked down
on by dominant group
• Treated unequally by dominant group
• Tend to marry within their own group
• Have strong group solidarity
Racial–Ethnic Identity
• Some people are more aware of
their race or ethnicity.
• Some Americans are not aware of
their ethnicity because of
assimilation into mainstream
America
– Some may say “I am Heinz 57 –
German and Irish, with a little
Italian and French thrown in…and I
think someone once said that I was
1/16 Amerian Indian, too.”
Awareness of Ethnicity
• Why do some people feel an intense sense of ethnic identity, while
others feel hardly any?
• Low Sense of ethnicity
– Those who are part of dominant group in America are less aware of
ethnicity
– Tend to be the group with the greatest power
– Are not subject to discrimination
– Have a sense of “belonging”
• Heightened Sense
–
–
–
–
–
Minorities are very aware of their ethnicity
Have less power
Different from the national identity
Discriminated against
Have a sense of not belonging
Figure 12.1 A Sense of Ethnicity
Source: By the author. Based on Doane 1997.
Melting Pot Idea vs. Tossed Salad
• Assimilation: blending or fusing of minority
groups into the dominant society.
– Members given full participation into
society.
– Either you conform or are suppressed.
• Melting Pot the view that Americans of
various backgrounds would blend into a sort
of ethnic stew.
• Tossed Salad the view visualizes American
culture as being a bowl full of lots of
different kinds of things, each contributing its
own flavor and identity to the whole.
– cultures and traditions exist side by side