William Miles Bridges
Brian Huff
Dustin Miller
Erica Van Keuren
Participant Observation Study:
Hospitality Sites
SOCI 4950
Dr. Stephanie McClure
November 19, 2009
Literature Review
Joe R. Feagin’s “The Continuing Significance of Race”, touches on anti-black
discrimination in public places. Feagin states, “Racial discrimination as continuing and major
problems for middle class blacks have been downplayed as analyst have turned to the various
problems of the underclass”(Feagin, 1991). Feagin examines sites of discrimination and states
that these places range from homes to public places such as the workplace. He also found that
after interviewing blacks they indicated that they did not have full enjoyment of public facilities.
This is very important because it shows how blacks are being discriminated in public places, yet
it is overlooked.
Weber’s “Class, Status, Party” defines class as any group of people found in the same
class situation. Class situation is defined briefly as “typical chance for a supply of goods,
external living conditions, and personal life experiences” (Weber, 1958). This proves relevant
because people form their own class and tend to be discriminatory to those outside their class.
The “People Like Us” video showed a variety of classes. One major section that stood out
was the Redneck Games that took place in South Georgia. This group of people held Olympic
Games in their own style by competing in games such as bobbing for pig feet and tire tossing.
The competition was for anyone that considered themselves a “redneck”. Only white people
were participating in these games and excluded all minorities.
“Cracking the Code: Race, Class, and Access to Nightclubs in Urban America” was
written by Reuben A. May and Kenneth Sean Chaplin. This Article tells of how these two men
used ethnographic data collected in downtown Athens, Georgia to explore black male responses
to being rejected from nightclubs in predominately white settings. This article proves relevant in
that the predominately white bars rejected these black males on account of their race.
“Drinking contexts and drinking problems among black and white women”, written by
Denise Herd and Joel Grube, shows how black and white women differ in how often they drink
in particular social settings and if drinking in different contexts predicts alcohol related
problems. Study shows that white women are more likely to drink in bars and other social
gatherings than black women. “Black women consume a higher proportion of their total alcohol
intake at home than white women who do a comparatively large share of their drinking at
restaurants, bars and parties” (Herd & Grube, 1993).
Reuben A. May’s book called “Talking at Trenas”, accounts of Reuben’s experiences at
Trena’s. Trena’s was an African American tavern close to where he lived. The book reveals how
middle class African Americans “make sense of life’s complexities by using a neighborhood
tavern as a safe haven to freely share their feelings about race, sex, television, and work (May &
Chaplin 2007).
Christine L. Williams notes in her article “Shopping as Symbolic Interaction: Race,
Class, and Gender in the Toy Store,” there are
“elaborate stereotypes that service desk workers used in the course of their daily
transactions. Immediate assumptions were made about customers based on their race,
gender, and apparent social class; workers responded to customers using these cues.
Middle-class white women were the most privileged customers, so not surprisingly; many
developed a sense of entitlement” (Williams, 2005).
The article highlights the various ways in which employees and customers “do” race, class and
gender in two different toy stores, in which the author worked for a set period of time. The
findings imply that perceived race, class and gender of customers affects how they are treated by
employees.
In their seminal work on race in America, Michael Omi and Howard Winant identify
what they refer as “racial formation” as “the sociohistorical process by which racial categories
are created, inhabited, transformed, and destroyed” (Omi & Winant, 1986). The implication is
that race is not some static or even naturally occurring phenomenon: it is social construction.
Based on the theory of racial formation, races are assigned attributes by actors or groups of
actors and those assigned attributes have structural effects.
“Tableside racism is restaurant servers’ use of stereotypes, assumptions, and ‘status
beliefs’ to not only predict the dining behavior and tip quality of black customers, but to act on
these predictions” (Rusche & Brewster, 2008). This is how authors Sarah E. Rusche and Zachary
W. Brewster define what they call “tableside racism” in their article “’Because they tip for shit!’:
Psychology of Everyday Racism in Restaurants.” The article asserts that despite the notion that
America is post-racial, black people still experience racism in insignificant, everyday
interactions that have significant consequences. The article highlights different mechanisms by
which racism is acted out on black customers by restaurant employees.
What is significant about race, class, and gender in the workplace is that, according to
Julie A. Kmec, Debra B. McBriar, and Barbara F. Reskin in their article “The Determinants and
Consequences of Workplace Sex and Race Composition,” workplaces are more heterogenous
racially and sexually than “most other settings in which people interact” (Kmec, McBrair, &
Reskin, 1999). This is because we may pick the composition of many of the groups in which we
interact, but we may be subjected to a more diverse group of people in the workplace. In addition
to this, we are expected to work well and interact well with a diverse group of people while at
work, which often proves problematic.
In Women of the Upper Class Susan A. Ostrander writes about white women of the
upper class in New York City. In this writing Ostrander notes how although women of the upper
class have class and status privileges they have limited power. Ostrander tries to conceptualize
the limited way for these women to display power by defining their ideas of work. For the
women charity work prevails above just being something to do and in turn becomes a symbolic
space to display power.
In Jennifer K. Wesely’s article, “Mom said we had a money maker”: Sexualization and
Survival Contests among Homeless Women, she discusses the survival strategies of homeless
women. Wesely discusses how homeless women rely on their perceived sexualization as a
means of income but at the same time are put in danger and face limited means in which to
capitalize on their survival strategies due to gender. Wesely promotes the idea that the
experience of homelessness is being viewed through a gendered frame, by the women in her
article, because of institutional responses to gender.
In Danny Kaplan’s article Public Intimacy: Dynamics of Seduction in Male Homosocial
Interactions he discusses the need for male intimacy. Homosocial interactions can range
anywhere from merely partying together, cursing at each other, playing practical jokes on each
other, or actual hugs and etc. Homosocial interactions can show power struggles between men,
but by engaging in the activities themselves it displays a potential for power over other groups.
By engaging in other homosocial activities men are actually recognizing others as a potential
equal.
John M. Coggeshall’s article titled Symbols of Division: Plantations along South
Carolina’s Coast discusses the emergence of many gated communities along the southeastern
coast with the name plantation. Coggeshall acknowledges the fact that many people believe that
the gated communities are a manifestation of real problems in America
In William C. Domhoff’s piece Who Rules America he discusses the homogeny of the
upper class. He explains how the upper class has a lot of control due to their socioeconomic
position. Due to these socioeconomic positions they also share values and have a heightened
sense of class conscious which aids in the perpetuation and reproduction of their class situation
in turn keeping them in control.
Secondary Data
Reynolds Plantation, Greensboro GA, 30149
$100,000
$80,000
$60,000
Series1
$40,000
$20,000
$0
1
2
Table 1. Median income comparison between Georgia as a whole and Reynolds Plantation
$100,000
$80,000
$60,000
Series1
$40,000
$20,000
$0
1
2
Table 2. Median income comparison between Baldwin County and Reynolds Plantation
$7,000,000
$6,000,000
$5,000,000
$4,000,000
Series2
$3,000,000
Series1
$2,000,000
$1,000,000
$0
1
2
Table 3. Prices of available real estate; comparison between Milledgeville and Reynolds
Plantation
The people that work at Great Waters are mainly college students at Georgia College and
State University or just reside in Milledgeville or the surrounding area. It is fair to take note that
70% of students at GCSU receive some form of financial aid, according to the GCSU website.
According to CollegeBoard.com 99% of the GCSU student body are students from the state of
Georgia and 87% of the student body is White/non-Hispanic.
Chart one is a comparison of the median income for the entire state of Georgia in 2006
according to census.gov and the median income of people belonging to country clubs in
Greensboro Georgia according to Claritas marketing. This comparison helps to show how
isolated this segment of people are from even the state, let alone the people that surround them.
The Median income for this country club demographic is $85,487 which is about $35,000 higher
than the state median income. If middle class status were to be totally allocated solely based on
income middle class status for their specific demographic would fall at $85,487. The
economically defined middle class for the country club demographic is nearly double that of the
states economically defined middle class.
Chart two represents the differences between the median incomes of Baldwin County,
where most of the employees reside, and the same Country Club demographic. The median
income for Baldwin County in 2006 was $42,736. The median family Income for Baldwin
County is even below that of the states Median income. This chart aids in representing the fact
that the employees that work for this country club demographic have an even wider economic
gap between them and the members than the members do with the state at large.
Since ascribed value is something that I hope to see in the field it is necessary to look at
the price difference in a commodity and a huge commodity is housing. Chart three represents
the range in price of the available real estate within Reynolds Plantation (series 2), and the
available real estate in Milledgeville, Georgia and some of the surrounding areas (series 1). The
price range of real estate available in Milledgeville and the closely surrounding areas according
to Craig Massee, a popular real estate group in the area, ranges between $17,000 and $980,000
which is a pretty wide range. The range of real estate available within Reynolds plantation
according to their own real estate website, not including empty lots, ranges between $529,000
and $5,200,000 which again is a fairly wide range which starts closer to the end of the range
available in Milledgeville. Something that is interesting to note about the range of real estate
available within Reynolds Plantation is that range is very vast which suggests that even within
their isolated community there is probably economic stratification.
Taki Japanese Steak House, Macon GA, 31210
Bibb Co.
153,887
34.7
$34,532
% Bibb Co.
(x)
(x)
(x)
% U.S.
(x)
35.3
$41,994
Total Population
Median Age
Median Household
Income
White
77,147
50.1%
75.1%
Black
72,818
47.3%
12.3%
Hispanic
2,023
1.3%
12.5%
Asian
1,658
1.1%
3.6%
Speak a language
5,732
4.0%
17.9%
other than English at
home (pop. 5 years
and older)
In labor force
69,936
59.7%
63.9%
Table 4. Relevant Census information for Bibb County as compared to the U.S. as a whole
(Census 2000)
Bibb County encompasses most of what would be considered Macon, despite the fact that
many parts of Bibb County are outside of Macon City proper. I chose to analyze the information
from Bibb County specifically because it had a wider scope than studying the information for
just the 31210 zip code or the information available for Macon City proper. The fact is the
customers we receive at Taki Japanese Steakhouse are representative of a number of areas
including and surrounding Macon.
Census information for Bibb County holds nothing shocking: the area is predominately
white and black, with numbers of Hispanics and Asians lower than the national average, the
Hispanic population being significantly lower than the national average. Macon is not an affluent
town. Census information puts the median household income of Bibb County at $34,532 in 1999,
as compared to the national average of $41,994.Taki receives customers from across the social
spectrum: the Hibachi grill experience is a novelty and people often come for birthdays,
graduations and anniversaries, or special occasions, even though they do not necessarily eat there
often. The clientele is fairly evenly matched in terms of black and white patrons. A noticeable
lack in Asian customers and Hispanic customers is in keeping with the area’s relatively low
numbers of these groups.
Cowboy Bill’s, Milledgeville GA, 31061
Baldwin County
46,222
$39,225
Baldwin County %
U.S. %
Total Population
Median Household
(x)
$52,175
Income
Black
19,940
43.1
12.3
White
25,394
54.9
74.3
Hispanic
665
1.4
15.1
Asian
488
1.1
4.4
Other
77
0.2
5.8
Table 5. Relevant Census information for Baldwin County as compared to the U.S. as a
whole
(Census 2000)
According to the census 55.7 % of people are white in this area and it the U.S. as a whole
it is around 75.1%. The census shows that there are more different races in Milledgeville than
the U.S. but 99% of customers in Cowboy’s are white. This presents the question of why are
more whites than blacks coming into Cowboy’s even though the census shows we have more
diversity?
4-D Theater Gift Shop, Stone Mountain GA, 30083
DeKalb Co.
739,956
36.0
51,753
% DeKalb Co.
(x)
(x)
(x)
% U.S.
(x)
36.7
$50,740
Total Population
Median Age
Median Household
Income, 2007
White
254,188
34.7%
74.3%
Black
397,287
53.7%
12.3%
Hispanic
73,322
10.0%
15.1%
Asian
30,613
4.2%
4.4%
Speak a language
124,203
18.3%
19.6%
other than English at
home (pop. 5 years
and older)
In labor force
411,813
71.5%
65.2%
Table 6. Relevant Census information for DeKalb County as compared to the U.S. as a
whole `(Census 2000)
Stone Mountain Park is located on the border of the DeKalb and Gwinnett Counties with
most employees’ residences in DeKalb County. According to the data graph, at least half of the
county population is African American which explains the majority of the workforce as African
American. From this location, Stone Mountain Park recruits employees from both DeKalb and
Gwinnett Counties. The employees from DeKalb County are majority African American whereas
those employees from Gwinnett County are white; these different race compositions reflect the
two counties populations. The guests who come to Stone Mountain Park are white, upper middle
class families. When analyzing the table, the DeKalb County median income is almost the same
as that of the nation’s median income which could be due to the fact that DeKalb County is part
of the metro Atlanta area and larger businesses and higher socioeconomic statistics.
Methods
Data was collected at the four sites through participant observation which “refers to the
process in which an investigator establishes and sustains a many-sided and relatively long-term
relationship with a human association in its natural setting for the purpose of developing a
scientific understanding of that association” (Lofland & Lofland, 1994).
In this study, all four researchers were actively employed in each site where observation
occurred, meaning that to some extent long-term relationships had already been established when
the study began.
Findings and Analysis
Attitudes are bound to vary across hospitality institutions. As Christine L. Williams notes
in her article “Shopping as Symbolic Interaction: Race, Class, and Gender in the Toy Store,”
there are
“elaborate stereotypes that service desk workers used in the course of their daily
transactions. Immediate assumptions were made about customers based on their race,
gender, and apparent social class; workers responded to customers using these cues.
Middle-class white women were the most privileged customers, so not surprisingly; many
developed a sense of entitlement” (Williams, 2005).
In the world of restaurant and retail service, symbolic interaction plays an extremely important
role. What seems significant in our data set is that there is a notable difference in the way class,
gender and race are viewed. At Taki for instance, race and national origin play a huge role in the
way employees interact with customers, while class seems imperceptible to those who work
there, perhaps many of them are not of American origin and their understanding of class in
America is less developed. At Great Waters, class and gender played very important and
complex roles in the social fabric of the institution, while race was a non issue. This of course
does not mean that race is not important in terms of this portion of the data; it may in fact be very
important that race is either not recorded or that that institution is extremely homogenous. The
same applies to Cowboy’s where lack of racial diversity is duly noted, and the class composition
of the clientele is as well. At the 4-D Gift Shop, a variety of notes pertain to each category.
Race: Tableside Racism and Omnipresent Racial Norms
Taki Japanese Steakhouse proved to be a very diverse environment in terms of both the
clientele and the staff. The staff was majority Chinese, with some Americans, Indonesians,
Japanese, Cambodians, and many Mexicans present. The clientele was split fairly evenly
between black and white customers, with slightly more white customers on average.
At Taki, incidents of “tableside racism” against blacks were common. “Tableside racism
is restaurant servers’ use of stereotypes, assumptions, and ‘status beliefs’ to not only predict the
dining behavior and tip quality of black customers, but to act on these predictions” (Rusche &
Brewster, 2008). Often, employees will use code words in order to discuss black customers
without them knowing (Rusche & Brewster, 2008). At Taki, one word commonly used was
omima which was used to designate black customers. Less experienced servers were often
instructed to watch these tables closely at the end of their meal to be sure they paid. When one
remarked that a customer was being finicky, the appropriate response was to ask if they were
omima. There were certain behaviors expected of black customers: to be rude and short with
servers; to change their minds often about their orders and have unorthodox demands; to attempt
to get things for free; and, the most vocalized complaint made by servers, to tip poorly. All of
these prescribed attributes affected the way employees interacted with black customers. The
assignment of attributes to individuals based on their race is described by Omi and Winant as
“racial formation:”
“One of the first things we notice about people when we meet (along with their sex) is
their race. We utilize race to provide to provide clues to who a person is… Comments
such as ‘Funny, you don’t look black’ betray an underlying image of what black should
be. We also become disoriented when people do not act ‘black,’ ‘Latino,’ or indeed
‘white’” (Omi & Winant, 1986).
The assumptions were always in place, which is evidenced by the server’s apparent
surprise when these assumptions were disproved. Rarely though did a server perceive their
assumptions to be disproved. These assumptions were pervasive throughout the staff. Incidents
of tableside racism or any other form of racism were not recorded at the other sites, though it is
evidenced that there are perceived racial differences between employees at some sites. The
researcher at the 4-D Gift Shop notes that “As a white employee, I don’t always understand what
the African Americans are saying because they sometimes use their own cultural dialect and/or
speak,” though the researcher did note “In the past, I have not hesitated to ask what a phrase
means…” The same researcher describes some customers as “foreign,” but does not specify any
race or ethnicity.
As we have demonstrated how race relations play out in a highly diverse setting such as
the Japanese restaurant (assigned racial attributes, tableside racism), it is important to note the
significance of race in settings that were racially homogenous: the Bar and the Country Club.
At the bar there is very interesting things to be noticed, that at first glimpse one may not
notice. This bar is predominatly white and excludes minorities not with access into the bar, but
with body language. It would be interesting to see how it feels to be a minority in a white bar.
First off, it would be definitely intimidating to see nothing but a white people in a country bar
setting. Let’s be honest, white people in bars like these are perceived as “rednecks” and along
with being a redneck comes being racist. The bouncers at this bar are told when they are hired
that their job is to keep the peace and let everyone have a good time. Why then when a minority
is allowed in the door does the bouncer’s attention shift towards them? Then music starts playing
and of course its country with a little mix of rock and roll; nothing surprising. Then hip hop
music, or rap, is played and these “rednecks” go wild! Is this not a contradiction? How can these
people hate minorities and look down on them, but react like this to their music?
Ubiquitous norms plays a major factor in this bar because even though there is no
physical barrier saying minorities cannot come in, there is this invisible barrier that keeps them
away. How did this barrier form? These norms are not developed overnight, but are a barrier
built over time. It could have to do with the way minorities are treated when they walk into the
door. It is not that they are being physically harmed but it is the messages delivered with our
body language and the fact that they feel like everyone is staring at them. This is an interesting
concept that could be explored more in depth. When thinking about minorities and them being
discriminated in public places one article stands out; Feagin’s “Continuing Significance of Race”
Feagin’s “Continuing Significance of Race” has great value to our research. Feagin
focuses on anti-black discrimination in public places. He also examines sites of discrimination
and states that these places range from homes to public places such as the workplace. This
proves true for two of our sites. The vast majority of two of our sites is white settings. The other
two sites are more racially mixed. Feagin’s article shows how blacks are being discriminated
against in public places so it is easy to understand that blacks are already being discriminated
against in other places. The question then is why they would want to come to a site where it is
predominantly white only to be discriminated more. Location may also be a factor if it weren’t
that the census data shows that over half the population in Baldwin County is black.
We are looking at two different homogenous groups. One is class homogenous and the
other group is racially homogenous. Two of the sites have proven racially homogenous in that
they have a predominantly white setting. They differ in that one site has lower class individuals
and the other is upper class individuals. The other two sites have proven to be class homogenous
in that they both are racially diverse and deal more with the middle class, which is huge and
undefined. A great example would be the appearance that was noted at all four sites. In the more
racially diverse sites we see black and white couples dressed nice like they were coming from
church. “A young black couple and an older black lady with a younger girl, everyone dressed
nicely, my guess is that they were coming from church”. In the more segregated groups we see
that 99% of the people coming through are white. “Every person in the bar was white. Every
person that worked there or had worked there was white!” A great example from the racially
homogenous sites would be that even though they both are very different in classes, one is upper
class and one is lower class, they both have formed the class they chose to be in. Weber touches
on this by saying that we create our own class by who we hang out with. It is evident that even
though these two sites are predominantly white, they are on two opposing ends of the social
ladder.
Another great article that relates was by Reuben A. May called, “Cracking the Code:
Race, Class, and Access to Nightclubs in Urban America”. This article tells of how two men
used ethnographic data collected in downtown Athens, Georgia to explore how black males
responded to being rejected from nightclubs in predominantly white settings. This is relevant
because this problem is taking place an hour away from one of our sites. It matches to one of our
sites perfectly because they both are nightclubs in predominantly white settings, and both are
rejecting blacks on account of their color of skin. This is not an issue of class because it is
happening in both upper class settings and lower class settings. Also, this just is not happening in
nightclubs, but also in neighborhoods and closed communities. This is proven through one
particular site that is focused on a restaurant in a closed community. In this restaurant there were
mostly white customers due to the exclusion of all minorities. The only minorities there are
workers. The question then is why do these closed communities not allow minorities to
congregate with them but will allow them to work for them?
At the country club the idea of gender inequality was so strongly displayed in the
environment that the idea of any silent inequality was something that would never cross the
mind. It is easy in such a homogenized environment to accept it as the norm. What is missing
from this environment is any racial diversity what so ever. Could it be that this type of lifestyle
only appeals to the white upper class? That is not the situation at all because there is a such thing
as the black upper-class just as there are minorities that belong to the lower class that enjoy
going to bars but they do not go to the Bar. The racially designated signs have been taken down
long ago and there is nothing keeping minorities outside of the gate of the country club but for
some reason they choose to take their business elsewhere this makes for a racially divided class
system. If the upper class is really the ruling class then which section actually rules?