Race and Ethnicity
Race
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A race is a socially constructed category of people who
share biologically transmitted traits that members of a
society consider important
People may classify one another racially based on physical
characteristics such as skin color, facial features, hair
texture, and body shape
Although we think of race in terms of biological elements,
race is a socially constructed concept. A race comes into
being only when the members of a society decide that some
physical trait (such as skin color or eye shape) actually
matters
The meanings and importance of race not only differ from
place to place but also change over time
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For one thing, no society contains biologically “pure” people
Why, then, do societies make so much of race? Such
categories allow societies to rank people in a hierarchy,
giving some people more money, power, and prestige than
others and allowing some people to feel that they are
inherently “better” than others
Ethnicity
Ethnicity is a shared cultural heritage. People define
themselves -or others- as members of an ethnic category
based on common ancestry, language, or religion that gives
them a distinctive social identity
Like race, the concept of “ethnicity” is socially constructed
Keep in mind that race is constructed from biological traits
and ethnicity is constructed from cultural traits
Minorities
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A minority is any category of people distinguished by
physical or cultural difference that a society sets apart and
subordinates
Minorities have two important characteristics. First, they
share a distinctive identity, which may be based on physical
or cultural traits. Second, minorities experience
subordination
Prejudice and Stereotypes
Prejudice is a rigid and unfair generalization about an entire
category of people. Prejudice is unfair because all people in
some category are described as the same, based on little or
no direct evidence
Prejudices can be either positive or negative. Our positive
prejudices tend to exaggerate the virtues of people like
ourselves, and our negative prejudices condemn those who
differ from us
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Prejudice often takes the form of a stereotype (stereo is
derived from a Greek word meaning “solid”), a simplified
description applied to every person in some category
Many white people hold stereotypical views of minorities.
Stereotyping is especially harmful to minorities in the
workplace
Racism
A powerful and harmful form of prejudice, racism is the belief
that one racial category is innately superior or inferior to
another. Racism has existed throughout world history
A scapegoat is a person or category of people, typically
with little power, whom people unfairly blame for their own
troubles
Because they have little power and thus are usually “safe
targets”, minorities often are used as scapegoats
Authoritarian Personality Theory
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According to Adorno and his colleagues, people who show
strong prejudice toward one minority are usually intolerant of
all minorities
These authoritarian personalities rigidly conform to
conventional cultural values and see moral issues as clearcut matters of right and wrong
People with authoritarian personalities also view society as
naturally competitive and hierarchical, with “better” people
(like themselves) inevitably dominating those who are
weaker (all minorities)
Closely related to prejudice is discrimination, unequal
treatment of various categories of people
Prejudice refers to attitudes, but discrimination is a matter of
action
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Institutional prejudice and discrimination, bias built into the
operation of society's institutions, including schools,
hospitals, the police, and the workplace
Pluralism is a state in which people of all races and
ethnicities are distinct but have equal social standing
Assimilation describes the process by which minorities
gradually adopt patterns of the dominant culture
Assimilation can involve changing modes of dress, values,
religion, and friends
Segregation is the physical and social separation of
categories of people (residential neighbourhoods, schools,
hospitals, and even cemeteries)
Pluralism encourages distinctiveness without disadvantage,
but segregation enforces separation that harms a minority
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Genocide is the systematic killing of one category of people
by another
This deadly form of racism and ethnocentrism violates
nearly every recognised moral standard
This is England Joshua Churchill End the flag in sea scene
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZK1UOyaPWE