A Glossary of Key Concepts in EDFS 011-Race and Racism in the U.S.
Active racism:
This refers to blatant, intentional acts of racial bigotry and
discrimination(Tatum, 1997)
Achievement ideology:
A general belief that one reaches a socially perceived
definition of success mainly through hard work and
education. In this view, factors such as gender,
race/ethnicity, economic background, social networks, or
neighborhoods/ geography are secondary to hard work and
education or are altogether irrelevant in the pursuit of
success.
Affirmative Action:
A set of public policies and initiatives designed to help
eliminate past and present discrimination based on race,
color, religion, sex, or national origin, etc.
Capitalism:
In simple terms, it is a society ruled by the profit motive.
The wealthy hold disproportionate power within capitalism
and use it to preserve their interests, especially the ability to
make more money. But in generating these profits, the
system causes various forms of social and ecological
trauma. Socially, human potential is absorbed by a
relentless cycle of work and consumption, while
ecologically, nature is torn from its surroundings and
packaged as lifeless products to be sold and eventually
discarded as waste. Today, capitalism is the dominant
social, political and economic system in the world,
affecting every corner of the Earth, every government and
peoples (UnkownAuthor, 2011)
Civil rights:
A system based on majority rule designed to bring the
greatest good for the greatest number. Based on a
fundamental belief that if one is a “good” citizen then one
earns rights within a society. Implicit in such a system is
the assumption that society cannot provide for everyone.
Cognitive dissonance:
The feeling of uncomfortable tension, which comes from
holding two conflicting thoughts or ideas in the mind at the
same time. Dissonance is often strong when we believe
something about ourselves and then do something against
that belief.
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College of Education and Social Services, email: vmugisha@uvm.edu
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Cultural Racism:
The cultural images and messages that affirm the assumed
superiority of Whites and the assumed inferiority of people
of color (Tatum, 1997)
Cultural Relativism:
The view that a culture should be judged by its own rules
and values and not by the standards of a dominant culture
Dichotomy:
A division or contrast between two things that are
represented as being opposed or entirely different. A
division of a phenomenon or variable into two categories,
e.g. traditional society has dichotomized the gender
variable in to male and female categories
Diversity:
In the simplest sense, diversity is about the variety of
people in the world, the varied mix of gender, race, age,
social class, disability status, ethnicity, religion, and other
social characteristics (Johnson, 2008).
Enculturation:
A process by which individuals are immersed in their own
culture to the point where they assume their way of life is
“natural” or “normal.”
Essentialism:
The view that human behavior is “natural,” predetermined
by genetic, biological, or physiological mechanisms and
thus not subject to change. This is the opposite of Social
construction theory (see definition below)
Ethnicity:
A social phenomenon which denotes a group of people who
perceive themselves and are perceived by others as sharing
cultural traits such as language, religion, family customs,
and food preferences.
Ethnocentrism:
The practice of judging another culture based on the
standards of one’s own.
Eugenics:
The study of or belief in the possibility of improving the
qualities of the human species or a human population,
especially by such means as discouraging reproduction by
persons having genetic defects or presumed to have
inheritable undesirable traits (negative eugenics) or
encouraging reproduction by persons presumed to have
inheritable desirable traits (positive eugenics)
[Dictionary.com, 2011].
Compiled by Vincent Mugisha, Doctoral Student & Graduate Teaching Fellow, UVM,
College of Education and Social Services, email: vmugisha@uvm.edu
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Hegemony:
A system where dominant cultural/ political/ religious/
economic beliefs and practices pervade the society to the
detriment of powerless social groups.
Human rights:
A system that recognizes each person as an individual and
as valuable, that everyone has the inalienable rights to
housing, food, education, and health care, and that society
must provide these if a person is unable to provide them for
her or himself.
Imperialism:
A system whereby unequal economic, cultural, and
territorial relationships (usually between states) are created
and maintained based on domination and subordination
(The Dictionary of Human Geography)
Individualism:
A belief in the primary importance of the individual and in
the virtues of self-reliance and personal independence.
Internalized racism:
It occurs when people targeted by racism (e.g. people of
color) are influenced or pressured to hold and apply to
themselves the views of the perpetrators of racism.
Internalized oppression:
This is when people in oppressed groups believe, act on, or
enforce the dominant system of beliefs about themselves
and members of their own group.
Master status:
This is what we “believe” are the primary axes of
differences in society. In the U.S., we would include: race,
sex, social class, sexual orientation, and disability.
Oppression:
Oppression is the systematic, institutionalized mistreatment
of one group by another for any reason, e.g. racism,
patriarchy, heterosexism, ageism, ethnocentrism, etc.
Passive racism:
This refers to more subtle actions or behaviors that can be
seen as condoning racism such as laughing when racist joke
is told, letting racist actions of other continue unchallenged;
etc.
Paths of least resistance:
In a sociological sense, the concept of paths of least
resistance refers to situations in which individuals are
socially compelled to act in ways that will gain acceptance
by the social system(Johnson, 2006). Example, in a
prejudiced community, a non-prejudiced person might fail
to challenge a racial slur in order to maintain loyal
community membership.
Compiled by Vincent Mugisha, Doctoral Student & Graduate Teaching Fellow, UVM,
College of Education and Social Services, email: vmugisha@uvm.edu
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People of color:
Groups of people in America that are and have been
historically targeted by racism, e.g. people of African
descent, people of Asian descent, people of Latin American
descent, and indigenous peoples/ Native Americans/
American Indians (Tatum, 1997).
Prejudice:
Preconceived judgment or opinion about people usually
based on limited information (Tatum, 1997). To feel
prejudice is to hold an adverse opinion with out just
grounds or acquiring sufficient knowledge. When prejudice
beliefs move to the realm of behavior, the result is
discrimination, which denies individuals or groups the
equality of treatment.
Privilege:
Privilege exists when one group ha something of value that
is denied to others simply because of the groups they
belong to, rather than because of anything they have done
or failed to do (Peggy McIntosh as cited in Johnson, 2006)
Race:
A social phenomenon which denotes a group of people who
perceive themselves and are perceived by others as
possessing distinctive hereditary or biological traits.
Race constancy:
The idea that one’s racial group membership is fixed and
will not change (Tatum, 1997)
Race is socially constructed:
Racism:
This is implies that racial categories & boundaries
are not natural or biological, but were created for
self-seeking reasons; group names, definitions &
boundaries in the US today are fluid, and always
shifting; there is always political contestation over
categories, who is in a group, who is out, what their
boundaries are, how many groups there are, etc.
A sustained system of advantages based on race. It is not
only a personal ideology based on racial prejudice, but a
system involving cultural messages and institutional
policies and practices as well as the beliefs and actions of
individuals (Tatum, 1997). Other anti-racism educators
define racism as racial prejudice combined with social
power-access to social, cultural, and economic resources
and decision-making.
Compiled by Vincent Mugisha, Doctoral Student & Graduate Teaching Fellow, UVM,
College of Education and Social Services, email: vmugisha@uvm.edu
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Racial or ethnic slur:
A pejorative term or word used to insult on the basis of
race, ethnicity, or nationality
Social system:
Any pattern of dynamic relationships between individuals
in a bounded situation. An important is that point is that it’s
the people who make the system happen consciously or not,
and the system shapes the behaviors and beliefs of
individuals (Johnson, 2008)
Stereotype:
Ideas about members of other particular groups, based
primarily on membership in that group.
Social class:
A group of individuals who occupy a similar position in the
economic system of production and consumption. In the
U.S., sociologist generally recognize 5 classes: Upper
Class-Elites (institutional leadership, heads of
multinational corporations/foundations/universities;
capitalist elites: owners of land, stocks and bonds and other
assets); Upper Middle Class (Those with scientific and
technical knowledge such as engineers, accountants,
lawyers, architects, university faculty, school teachers,
managers and directors of public and private
organizations); Lower Middle Class (those who provide
support for professionals such clerical-administrative staff,
paralegals, nurses, bank tellers, sales representatives, bluecollar workers in skilled trades, etc.); Working Class (craft
workers, laborers in factories, restaurant workers, nursing
home staff, repair shop workers, garage workers, delivery
services employees, etc.); Poor (the working poor who
work full-time but at wages below the poverty line)
Social construction theory: Social Construction Theory or simply Social
Constructionism is concerned with the ways we think
about and use categories to structure our experience and
analysis of the world. Social construction theory helps us
understand how categories (e.g. race) are socially
constructed and then accepted as reality, despite the facts
that they are not real.
Sociological mindfulness:
Sociological mindfulness involves being attentive to your
actions and realizing that your behavior has a collective
impact on your community and society (Schwalbe, 2007).
Compiled by Vincent Mugisha, Doctoral Student & Graduate Teaching Fellow, UVM,
College of Education and Social Services, email: vmugisha@uvm.edu
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Socialization:
It is a process through which knowledge about society,
norms, customs, values, traditions, social roles, etc., are
transmitted by social institutions such as families, schools,
churches, media, government, etc.
White supremacy:
A general belief, and continued promotion of the belief,
that white people are superior to people of other racial
groups. The term was mainly used specifically to describe a
political ideology that advocated the social and political
dominance by whites in colonial South Africa, and in the
United States.
References
Johnson, G., A. (2006). Privilege, power, and difference (2 ed.). New York: McGraw
Hill.
Johnson, G., A. (2008). The Forest and the Trees: Sociology as Life, Practice, and
Promise: Temple University Press.
Schwalbe, M. (2007). The sociologically examined Life: Pieces of the conversation. New
York: McGraw Hill.
Tatum, D., B. (1997). "Why are all the black kids sitting together in the cafeteria?". New
York: Basic Books.
UnkownAuthor. (2011). The End of Capitalism: A new world is on its way. We are
building it, one day at a time. Retrieved September 27, 2011, 2011
Compiled by Vincent Mugisha, Doctoral Student & Graduate Teaching Fellow, UVM,
College of Education and Social Services, email: vmugisha@uvm.edu
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