Chapter 3
Racial and Ethnic Inequality
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Sociological Definition of a Racial
Group


Group defined as inferior
or superior
Based on subjective
physical characteristics
(e.g., skin color, hair
texture, eye shape)

African American, Native
American, Asian American
Figure 3.3: Percent of the U.S. Population by
Race and Hispanic Origin: 2003, 2025, and
2050 (middle-series projections)
Source: U.S. Census Burrau, 2004a, 2004c.
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Figure 3.2: Race and Hispanic Origin
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2004a.
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Dominant and Subordinate Groups
Dominant or majority group




Is advantaged
Has superior rights and
resources
Is based on race or
ethnicity
Is also based on gender,
sexual orientation,
physical ability
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Subordinate or minority
group
 Is disadvantaged
 Is subject to unequal
treatment
 Is based on physical or
cultural characteristics
 See themselves as
objects of discrimination
Figure 3.1:
Median U.S. Family
Income, by Type of
Family and Race of
Householder, 2003
Source: U.S. Census Bureau,
2004b.
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007
Racism

Set of attitudes, beliefs, or practices

Justifies the superior or inferior treatment
of racial and ethnic groups
 White
racism denies rights and privileges to
people of color
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Prejudice

Negative attitudes about people

Based on racial or ethnic
characteristics

Rooted in ethnocentrism

Results in stereotypes
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Discrimination
Practices of dominant group that harm
subordinate groups:
 Individual discrimination is one-on-one acts.
 Taxi
driver who refuses to pick up African
American passengers

Institutional discrimination is day-to-day
practices of organizations and institutions.
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Social-Psychological Explanations

Frustration-aggression hypothesis
 Frustration
in achieving goal leads to
aggression towards others
 Scapegoats


Blaming others (illegal aliens) for someone else’s
failure
Authoritarian personality
 Type
of personality where one is intolerant,
insecure, rigid, submissive to authority and
thinks primarily in stereotypes
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Symbolic Interactionist
Perspectives
Racial socialization
 Is learned from parents, caregivers, and
media representations

Contains specifics concerning
 Personal
and group identity
 Intergroup and individual relationships
 One’s position in social stratification
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Functionalist Perspectives


Racial/ethnic discord and urban unrest are
dysfunctional for society
Processes for addressing racial problems
include:
 Assimilation:
absorbed into dominant culture
 Amalgamation: groups “melt” together to form new
society
 Ethnic pluralism: coexistence of diverse groups with
separate identities
 Segregation: separation of groups
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Conflict Perspectives

Role of capitalist class in racial exploitation
 Split-labor


Primary and Secondary sector
Racial inequality and gender oppression
 Capitalist

market theory
exploitation of minority women
Internal colonialism
 Minorities
forcibly placed under economic and political
control remain in subordinate positions much longer
than other groups

Theory of racial formation
 Government’s
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legislation and laws impact minorities
Inequality Among Racial & Ethnic
Groups

Native Americans
 15
million lived in US 1492
 White Europeans engaged in genocide

Deliberate killing of people
 Indian

Removal Act of 1830
Forced to move to accommodate white settlers

“Trail of Tears”
 Children
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were forced to Americanize
African Americans and Inequality

Contemporary stereotypical media images
 “Welfare
mother” and “menacing black male
criminals”


Forced into slavery to enrich US economics
After slavery
 De

 De

jure segregation: laws that enforced separation
Jim Crow Laws
facto segregation: separation by norms
Still exists today
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Hispanic Americans and Inequality

Contemporary stereotypical media images
 “Drug

lords” and “illegal aliens”
Internal colonization
 Mexican-American


War
Anglo-Americans took possession of their land
Exclusionary immigration
 Allowed
to migrate when the US needed agricultural
workers
 Detained or deported during economic depression
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Asian and Pacific Americans and
Inequality

Contemporary stereotypical media images
 “Exotic

beauties” or “model minority”
Exclusionary immigration
 Chinese



Exclusion Act of 1882
Chinese laborers seen as a threat to Americans
Act halted Chinese immigration to US
Internment camps
 Japanese Americans
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forced into camps during WWII
Common Experiences of
Subordinate Groups

Been the object of stereotyping and
discrimination

Resisted oppression and strived for a
better life

Been the object of governmental policies
to shape its place (or lack thereof)
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Reducing Racial and Ethnic
Inequalities
Functionalist Perspective: Restructuring
social institutions
 Conflict Perspective: Struggle and
political action
 Interactionist Perspective: Unlearning
prejudice and discrimination through social
interaction

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