CHAPTER 12
Inequalities of Race and Ethnicity
Chapter Outline





The Meaning of Race and Ethnicity
When Worlds Collide: Patterns of Intergroup
Relations
Culture and Intergroup Relations
Theories of Racial and Ethnic Inequality
A Piece of the Pie
Race



Biological race refers to
distinct physical
characteristics.
Race is also a social concept
that varies from one society
to another.
Racism is the belief that
certain traits are marks of
inferiority that justify
discriminatory treatment of
people with those traits.
Ethnic Groups

Ethnic groups are populations that have a
sense of group identity based on a distinctive
cultural pattern and shared ancestry, whether
actual or assumed.
Ethnic Groups


Their members usually have migrated to a
new nation or been conquered by an invading
population.
The Native Americans are believed to have
crossed the Bering Strait as migrant peoples
between 14,000 and 20,000 years ago.
Minority Groups


A minority group is a set of people who,
because of their physical or cultural
characteristics, are singled out from the others
in the society in which they live for differential
and unequal treatment, and who regard
themselves as objects of collective
discrimination.
Minority status carries with it exclusion from
full participation in the life of the society.
Periods of Migration and Settlement in
the U.S.




1820–1885: “Old” Northwest European and
Asian migration
1885–1940: “Intermediate” migration from
Southern and Eastern Europe and beginning
of heavy immigration from Mexico
1921–1959: Immigration by quota and refugee
status
1960 to the Present: Worldwide immigration
Patterns of Intergroup Relations


Genocide - state-sponsored mass killing to
exterminate a population deemed racially or
ethnically different and threatening to the
dominant population.
Expulsion - the forcible removal of one
population from territory claimed by another.
Patterns of Intergroup Relations



Slavery - ownership and control of one
population by another.
Segregation - ecological and institutional
separation of races or ethnic groups.
Assimilation - blending of a minority group
into the majority population, leading to its
eventual disappearance as a distinct people.
A Continuum of Intergroup
Relations
Is Interracial Dating OK?
The Transatlantic Slave Trade


From the end of
the16th century to the
early decades of the
19th, approximately
11 to 12 million
Africans were
imported to the New
World.
The thickness of the
arrows shows the
approximate volume
of the slave trade to
each region.
Segregation in Areas With
Largest Black Populations
Metropolitan Area
Boston
1970
81.2
1980
77.6
1990
68.2
2000
65.7
Chicago
91.9
87.8
85.8
80.8
Cleveland
90.8
87.5
85.1
77.3
Detroit
Kansas City
Los Angeles
–Long Beach
88.4
87.4
86.7
78.9
87.6
72.6
84.7
69.1
91.0
81.1
73.1
67.5
Milwaukee
New York
90.5
81.0
83.9
82.0
82.8
82.2
82.2
81.8
Segregation in Areas With
Largest Black Populations
South
1970
1980
1990
2000
Atlanta
82.1
78.5
67.8
65.6
Baltimore
81. 9
74.7
71.4
67.9
Birmingham
37.8
40.8
71.7
72.9
Dallas–Fort Worth
86.9
77.1
63.1
59.4
Houston
78.1
69.5
66.8
67.5
Memphis
75.9
71.6
69.3
68.7
New Orleans
73.1
68.3
68.8
69.3
Washington, DC
81.1
70.1
66.1
63.1
Segregation in Areas With Largest Black
Populations
U.S. Immigration
Minority Groups in the U.S.

Three ideological tendencies
 Anglo-conformity
 The
melting-pot theory
 Cultural pluralism
Interracial Marriages, United States
Receptivity Toward Immigrants, by
Area
Receptivity Toward Immigrants, by
Area
Receptivity Toward Immigrants,
by Area
Assimilation


How many ethnic
groups can you
spot in this photo?
The effects of
assimilation are
powerful, and it is
likely that the
immigrants’ children
will prefer to read
signs in English
when they are
adults.
Culture and Intergroup
Relations



Stereotypes - images of a racial or cultural
group that are held whether or not they are
true.
Prejudice - judging a person on the basis of
real or imagined characteristics of a group of
which that person is a member.
Discrimination - unfair treatment of people
on the basis of their group membership.
Merton’s Typology of Prejudice and
Discrimination
Social-psychological Theories of
Racial and Ethnic Inequality
Theory
Example
Frustrationaggression
Scapegoating of minority groups such
as gypsies or Jews.
Projection
Attribution of one’s own sexual
desires to others.
Social-psychological Theories of
Racial and Ethnic Inequality
Theory
Example
Authoritarian individuals were punished
frequently as children. They feel an intense
anger that they fail to examine and submit
Authoritarian
to people in positions of authority, greatly
Personality
fear self-analysis and have a tendency to
blame their troubles on people or groups
whom they see as inferior.
Theories of Racial and Ethnic
Inequality
Theory
Example
Interactionists
Groups that need to cooperate (e.g.,
sports teams) often find ways to reduce
racial or ethnic tensions.
Functionalist
Inequalities derived from prejudice help
maintain a supply of low-wage workers.
Theories of Racial and Ethnic
Inequality
Theory
Conflict Theories
Ecological Theories
Example
African Americans were treated as a
colonial people until they mobilized to
fight back.
People in racial or ethnic ghettos
seeking upward mobility.
Internal Colonialism Theory

Minority groups are essentially colonial
peoples within the larger society.
 The
“colonial” people did not enter the society
voluntarily.
 The culture of the “colonial” people has been
destroyed or transformed.
 The “colonial” population is controlled by the
dominant population.
 Members of the “colonial” people are seen as
inferior and are socially and psychologically
oppressed.
Park’s Model of Urban Intergroup
Relations
Five Stages:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Invasion
Resistance
Competition
Accommodation and cooperation
Assimilation
Native Americans

As a result of their
unsuccessful
resistance to the
European invasion,
Native Americans
were segregated on
reservations, many of
which lacked
adequate resources to
permit them to share
in the “American
dream.”
Racial Inequality in the United States



Blacks have been excluded from full
participation in American social institutions
longer than any other group.
Black families have higher rates of family
breakup than white families.
Structural changes in the American economy
have continually placed blacks at a
disadvantage.
QUICK QUIZ
1. Which is true about "race?"
a.
b.
c.
d.
It is irrelevant in our society.
There are only two races in the world.
Race and stratification are today unrelated in
the U.S.
Race relates to people sharing presumably
similar physical characteristics.
Answer: d

The following statement is true about "race”:
 Race
relates to people sharing presumably
similar physical characteristics.
2. A minority group is primarily defined in
a sociological sense on the basis of its
a.
b.
c.
d.
small population size.
ethnic or racial background of members.
negative treatment by the dominant society.
low level of educational and occupational
attainment.
Answer: c

A minority group is primarily defined in a
sociological sense on the basis of its negative
treatment by the dominant society.
3. The ________ theoretical perspective is best
supported by the fact that many minorities
remain segregated in ghettos and barrios,
and are exploited politically and
economically by capitalist interests.
a.
b.
c.
d.
conflict
functional
interactionist
social-psychological
Answer: a

The conflict theoretical perspective is best
supported by the fact that many minorities
remain segregated in ghettos and barrios, and
are exploited politically and economically by
capitalist interests.
4. Prejudice is to discrimination as
________ is to ________.
a.
b.
c.
d.
attitude / action
stereotype / prototype
assimilation / acculturation
necessity /the mother of invention
Answer: a

Prejudice is to discrimination as attitude is to
action.