(or the importance of skin color and culture in society)
Race/Ethnicity
 Social construction of race/ethnicity
 Privilege of the dominant
 Immigration and new ethnic groups
 Sociological perspectives on race/ethnicity
 Patters of prejudice and discrimination
Social Construction of
Race/Ethnicity
 Racial formation: sociohistorical process in which racial
categories are created, inhibited, transformed, and
destroyed
 Quantum
 “One-drop rule”
 Stereotypes: unreliable generalizations about members
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of group that do not recognize individual differences
Racial group: minorities set apart from others by obvious
physical differences
Ethnic group: Set apart from others primarily because of
its national origin or distinctive cultural patterns
Racial/Ethnic Groups in the US,
2008
Projections of Racial/Ethnic Groups
Privilege of the Dominant
 White privilege: Refers to the right or immunities granted
to people as a particular benefit or favor simply because
they are White
 McIntosh’s “invisible knapsack”:
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


Rarely need to step out of comfort zones
Skin color opens doors
Not evaluated in racial terms
Always surrounded by people who look like you
Immigration and New Ethnic
Groups
 Significant segment of population of U.S. made up of
White ethnics whose ancestors arrived from Europe
within the last 100 years
 Symbolic ethnicity: emphasis on concerns such as ethnic
food or political issues rather than deeper ties to one’s
ethnic heritage
Immigration History
 Contemporary diversity of U.S. reflects centuries of
immigration
 1920s: preference to people from western Europe
 Late 1930s and early 1940s: allowed Jewish refugees to
escape Nazi regime
 Since 1960s: policies encourage immigration of people
who have relatives in U.S. or those who have needed skills
 Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986
Functions of Immigration
 For receiving society:
 Alleviates labor shortages
 For sending nation:
 Can relieve economies unable to support large
numbers of people
 Dysfunctions:
 Areas with high concentration of immigrants may not
meet short-term social needs
 Loss of skills to developing countries
Conflict Approach to Immigration
 White ethnics and racial minorities often
antagonistic toward one another because of
economic competition
 Theorists note how much of debate over
immigration phrased in economic terms
 “They’re taking OUR jobs!”
Functionalist Perspectives on
Race/Ethnicty
 Nash’s 3 functions that racially prejudiced beliefs provide to the
dominant group:



Moral justification for maintaining unequal society
Discourage subordinate groups from questioning their lowly status
Racial myths encourage support for the existing order by introducing the
argument that any major societal change would only bring greater poverty to
the subordinate group
 Rose identified dysfunctions associated with racism
 Society that practices discrimination fails to use resources
of all individuals
 Discrimination aggravates social problems
 Society must invest time and money to defend barriers to
full participation
 Racial prejudice undercuts goodwill and diplomatic relations between
nations
Conflict Perspectives on
Race/Ethnicty
 Exploitation theory: Racism keeps members of
subordinate groups in low-paying jobs, thereby
supplying the capitalist ruling class with cheap labor
 When workers are fighting each other for resources they
are not advocating for social change or more equal
redistribution of resources
Interactionist Perspective on
Race/Ethnicity
 Labeling perspective:
 Racial profiling: Arbitrary action initiated by an
authority based on race, ethnicity, or national origin
rather than on person’s behavior
 Authorities continue to rely on racial profiling,
despite overwhelming evidence that it is misleading
 “Driving while black”
 Contact hypothesis: interracial contact between
people of equal status in cooperative tasks will
cause them to become less prejudiced and to
abandon previous stereotypes
Patterns of Prejudice and
Discrimination
 Prejudice: Negative attitude toward an entire
category of people
 Ethnocentrism: Tendency to assume one’s culture and way
of life are superior to others
 Racism: Belief that one race is supreme and others are
innately inferior
 Hate crime: Criminal offense committed because of the
offender’s bias against a race, religion, ethnic group,
national origin, or sexual orientation
Categorization of Reported Hate
Crimes
Racism and Discrimination
 Color-blind racism: Use of principle of race neutrality to
define racially unequal status quo
 Proponents oppose affirmative action, public welfare assistance,
and government-funded health insurance
 Discrimination: denial of opportunities and equal rights
to individuals and groups based on some type of
arbitrary bias
 Discrimination persists even for educated and qualified minority
members
 Glass ceiling: invisible barrier blocking promotion of qualified
individuals in work environment because of gender, race, or
ethnicity
Institutional Discrimination
 Institutional discrimination: denial of opportunities
and equal rights to individuals and groups that
results from the normal operations of a society
 Affirmative action: positive efforts to recruit minority
members or women for jobs, promotions, and educational
opportunities
 The single largest affirmative action program in US history
was the GI Bill following WW2 – and it primarily benefited
those who were white
Measuring Discrimination
 Comparing income data
 White men earned 30% more money than Black men in
2008
 Black women earned significantly less than White women
 Highly educated Asian Americans trail well behind their
White counterparts
Median Income by Race and Sex