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Race, Ethnicity, and the Social Structure
Warm Up:
Race:
Humans try to categorize others into racial categories (physical
features like skin color, hair texture, and body structure)
Scholars use three racial categories:
Causasoids
(whites…light skin… straight or wavy hair)
(Asians…yellow/brownish skin…distinctive eyelids)
Negroids (blacks…dark skin…tight curly hair)
Mongoloids
WHAT IS A MINORITY GROUP?
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN
PREJUDICE AND DISCRIMINATIO N?
Does this system work?
Think of
some people you know who don’t fit into these categories.
Race
There are no “pure” races
Most people have attributes of more than 1 race
Sociologists use a different idea of race:
Race – a category of people who share inherited physical
characteristics and whom others see as being a distinct group
Ethnicity
Ethnicity – the set of cultural characteristics that
distinguishes one group from another group
National Origin
Religion
Language
Customs
Values
Ethnic Group – people who share a common cultural
background and a common sense of identity
Think of different ethnic groups found in the U.S.
Difference between Race and Ethnicity:
What is the difference between race and ethnicity?
Minority Group
There are always dominant groups and groups they
dominate (minority groups)
Dominant groups get the best schools, higher incomes,
and more privileges.
Minority group has nothing to do with size
Minority group – a group of people who are singled out
and unequally treated
Think of some examples when a smaller sized group was
the dominant group.
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Minority Groups:
5 Characteristics of Minority Groups
The group possesses identifiable physical or cultural
Minority Group
characteristics that differ from those of the dominant
group
Group members are victims of unequal treatment at the
hands of the dominant group
Membership in the group is an ascribed status
Group members share a strong bond and a sense of
group loyalty
Members tend to practice endogamy (marriage within
the group)
A MINORITY GROUP MUST HAVE ALL 5 OF THESE
CHARACTERISTICS!
Discrimination and Prejudice
The Vicious Cycle of Racism
Discrimination – the denial of equal treatment to individuals based on
the group membership
Prejudice – unsupported generalization about a category of people (its
an attitude)
2 Types of Discrimination:
Legalized – upheld by law
Ex: Apartheid in South Africa… Jim Crowe Laws in the U.S.
Institutionalized – formed by society
Where do most minorities live in the U.S.?
Why?
Types of Prejudice:
Stereotype- an oversimplified, exaggerated, or unfavorable generalization about a
group
Think about some stereotypes you hold about people. List them
Self-fulfilling prophecy- prediction that results in behavior that makes a prediction
come true
Representation of Minority Groups in
Television
White Prejudice and Discrimination against
Blacks
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Asian Americans, 2000
Group
Chinese
Filipino
Indian
Vietnamese
Korean
Japanese
Number
2.7 million
2.4 million
1.8 million
1.1 million
1.1 million
0.8 million
Six Degrees of Separation: Ethnic and Racial
Group Relations
% of Total
22.7
20.1
16.0
9.4
9.0
6.7
Where do you fit?
Prejudice
Yes
Yes
Discrimination
No
Timid Bigot:
Prejudiced Person
who does not
discriminate
No
All-weathered
Liberal:
Nonprejudiced
person who does not
discriminate
Active Bigot:
Fair-weathered Liberal:
Prejudiced person who
discriminates
Nonprejudiced person
who discriminates.
Patterns of Minority Group Treatment
Group Work
Using the textbook (pg. 242-246) read about the
different “Patterns of Minority Group Treatment”
Decide which is the best way to visually present this
information to the class.
Create a visual (poster) illustrating the 6 types of
Treatments.
Make it hallway quality.
Minority Group Treatment
1. Assimilation: Blending of culturally distinct
5. Subjugation: Rule by force
groups into a group w/ common culture (MexicanAmerican can’t speak Spanish well)
2. Cultural Pluralism: Let cultures keep heritage
(Little Italy in Chicago; Little Havana in Miami)
3. Legal Protection: Civil Rights Act of 1964
-Affirmative Action
4. Population Transfer: Transfer Minorities to a
new area: Ex: Indian removal; 1930’s
-Segregation: Physical separation
-De Jure: Based on laws
-De Facto: Informal Norms
6. Extermination:
-Genocide: Destroy an entire population
-Holocaust
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