Racial and Ethnic Inequality
The Sociology of race
• What is race?
• Is race still significant? Does the color of one’s
skin affect life chances? Access to valued
resources?
– Quality education? Employment? Equal treatment in
the criminal justice system?
• Complex and volatile topic
Lecture Outline
• I. The Significance of Race
• II. The Social Construction of Race
• III. Prejudice and Discrimination
I. The Significance of Race
How do we define Race and Ethnicity?
Minority Groups
• Racial group: refers to a category of people who are
believed to share physical characteristics that are
deemed socially significant.
• Ethnic group: group set apart from others primarily
because of its national origin or distinctive cultural
patterns
• Minority group: subordinate group whose members
have significantly less control or power than members
of dominant or majority group
– Race? What other groups are minority groups? What
characteristics create minority groups?
Dominant and
Minority Groups
Other characteristics
that may make a
group subject to
unequal treatment:
gender, sexual
orientation,
religion, ethnicity,
skin color, ability
status.
Are dominant
groups always larger
than minority
groups?
• Are you “color-blind”? What does it mean to
be “color-blind”?
– Are children color blind?
Why talk about Race? Is Racial
Inequality a Social Problem?
•
One Argument: Race no longer matters
– There is equal opportunity due to civil rights movement
– We live in a color-blind society
• Do we? Have we reached the promise land that MLK spoke of in 1963?
•
Opposition (Sociological): Race structures society and is highly significant.
While trends may be encouraging, and there are no longer legally enforced
forms of racial domination, racial inequality is widespread racism certainly still
exists, although it is much less overt/hidden
-Race and ethnicity organize societies and play a large role in fueling violence around the
globe.
-Existence of hate crimes and hate organizations (Increasing rates of membership)
-Existence of racial inequalities
-Poverty rates
-Treatment in the Criminal Justice system
-Prejudice and discrimination towards minority groups
II. Race-A Social Construction
– Each society socially constructs the meaning of
symbols
• Social Construction of Race
– What does this mean?
Race as a social construct
• We know race is socially constructed because
the meaning of race has been inconsistent.
• The meaning of race has changed
– 1?
– 2?
Example: Race changing over time
• The idea of “white” and
“black” and “other” has
evolved over time.
– Thoughts?
Example: Race changing over time
 Since 1790, the census has never measured race
in the same way in the U.S.
 “Mulatto” was in the 1800 census, but taken out a few
decades later
 “Mexican” was considered a race in 1930, but in the
next census, they were counted as white
 Asian Indians were considered white in 1970
 The term “negro” still appears on today’s census, in
addition to “African American”
 In the earliest census measurements, survey takers
would assign your race to you.
Example: Race across cultures
• How many races are in the United States?
• Brazil?
– http://www.zonalatina.com/Zldata55.htm
The Social Construction of Race
• Racial Formation: Basically, racial categories
have been created, shaped, re-shaped, and
destroyed throughout history depending on
the social and historical context.
– -Social, economic, and political forces create and
perpetuate racial categories and meanings
• Race is NOT biologically/genetically real, but it
is very real in the social sense.
Biological Meaning and Race
• A mistaken notion
• Race is not a biological reality
• The absence of pure races
– http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9YMCKp5my
I
A Brief History of Race
• Race became the tool through
which Europeans could justify
the domination, enslavement,
and exploitation of racially
“othered” groups. Which
groups?
• Since race became a social
construct, it has been used by
those in power (dominant
groups)to deny “others”
(minority groups) access to
valued resources. What types
of resources?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UZS8Wb4S5k
III. Prejudice and Discrimination
• What’s the difference?
Prejudice
• Prejudice: “pre-judge”
– Attitudes of aversion and hostility towards the members
of a group simply because they belong to it and are
presumed to have negative qualities attached to group
membership
• A subjective phenomenon: A State of mind
– Stereotypes-Unreliable generalizations about all members of a group
• How do people become prejudiced?
Theories of Prejudice
• Frustration-aggression theory
• Socialization theories
• Structural Theories
Discrimination
• The acts that arise from prejudices
– Members of a group are denied the privileges, prestige,
power, legal rights, equal protection under law, and other
societal benefits available to members of dominant group
– 2 main levels
• 1.
– i.e. Not inviting a co-worker to lunch based on their race-subtle
– i.e. hate crimes-blatant and dangerous
• 2.
Institutionalized discrimination
 Institutionalized
discrimination: how
discrimination is woven
into the fabric of society
 Looks at a culture of racism
 Does not look at individuals
as racists
 The Denial of opportunities
and equal rights that result
from the normal operations
of society and institutions
– Edu, CJS, HCS, economy,
politics, etc
Institutional Discrimination Examples
Housing: Home mortgage and car loans
Thomas and Passell found that controlling for income and credit
scores, Latinos and African Americans were 60% more likely to be
rejected for loans than whites or receive higher interest rates
The Criminal Justice System
Differential Sentencing and drug policies
Death penalty
Racial Profiling
The Education system
Racial Minorities are disproportionately represented in low-income
neighborhoods, where schools and teachers are underfunded.
I.e.: Discrimination in the economy
• Studies show that discrimination on the job
market continues at institutional level
– Can your name affect the possibility of a call back
for an interview?
– Who is more likely to get a call back on a resume?
• A white male who has served jail time or a black male
who has served no jail time?
Institutionalized discrimination
• Environmental racism:
– Low income communities and areas with
significant minority populations are more likely to
be located near hazardous waste sites, dumps,
and have higher air pollution which results in
higher levels of health issues and related deaths
• I.e.: Location of toxic waste sites on native American
reservations
Institutionalized discrimination
• One mechanism of institutional discrimination is
gatekeeping:
– decisions upon which people are admitted to offices
and positions of privilege, prestige, and power within
society and are treated fairly
• Who are gatekeepers?
– Individuals in personnel, HR, managers in the workplace,
landlords, loan officers, police officers, teachers
– When enough individuals, gatekeepers, act in a way that is
discriminatory, individualized racism can become
institutionalized