Dramatic racial transformations of the past two decades have shattered the hope that civil rights victories would end racial injustice.
Instead, the United States now faces serious new racial problems. These problems include the increasing isolation of minorities in
central cities, growing minority unemployment, and other forms of economic dislocation. This chapter focuses on how structured
racial inequality produces social problems (Eitzen et al., 2011:208).
I.
A.
How to Think about Racial and Ethnic Inequality
Explanations of Racial and Ethnic Inequality Minority and Majority Groups
Different racial and ethnic groups are unequal in power, resources, prestige, and presumed worth. The basic reason is power -power derived from superior numbers, technology, weapons, property, or economic resources. Those holding superior power in a
society -- the majority group -- establish a system of inequality by dominating less-powerful groups. This system of inequality is
then maintained and perpetuated through social forces.
Various social characteristics denote minority status. They include race, ethnicity, religious preferences, and age.
Ultimately, however, the terms majority and minority describe power differences. The critical feature of the minority group's status
is its inferior social position, in which its interests are not effectively represented in the political, economic, and social institutions of
the society (Eitzen et al., 2011:209).
B.
Racial stratification
Racial privilege reaches far back into America's past. The racial hierarchy, with White groups of European origin at the top and
people of color at the bottom, serves important functions for society and for certain categories of people. It ensures, for example,
that some people are available to do society's dirty work at low wages. The racial hierarchy has positive consequences for the
status quo: It enables the powerful to retain their control and their advantages. Racial stratification also offers better occupational
opportunities, income, and education to White people. These advantages constitute racial privilege (Eitzen et al., 2011:209).
C.
Racial and Ethnic Minorities
Because majority-minority relations operate basically as a power relationship, conflict (or at least the potential for conflict) is always
present. Overt conflict is most likely when subordinate groups attempt to alter the distribution of power. Size is not crucial in
determining whether a group is the most powerful. A numerical minority may in fact have more political representation than the
majority, as was the case in South Africa (Eitzen et al., 2011:210).
Determining who is a minority is largely a matter of history, politics, and judgment -- both social and political. Population
characteristics other than race and ethnicity such as age, gender, or religious preference are sometimes used to designate minority
status. However, race and ethnicity are the characteristics used most often to define the minority and majority populations in
contemporary U.S. society (Eitzen et al., 2011:210).
The different experiences of racial groups are structurally embedded in society even though races, per se, do not exist. What does
exist is the idea that races are distinct biological categories. Most scientists reject race as a valid way to divide human groups.
Although there is no such thing as biological race, races are real insofar as they are socially defined (Eitzen et al., 2011:210).
D.
Racial Categories
1.
Racial Formation
Racial formation refers to how society continually creates and transforms its definitions of racial categories. Groups that were
previously self-defined in terms of specific ethnic background (such as Mexican Americans and Japanese Americans) have become
racialized as "Hispanics" and "Asian Americans."
2.
The Census and Multi-race Identification
Even the U.S. Census Bureau, which measures race on the basis of self-identification, has revised the way racial and ethnic
statistics will be collected in the 2000 census. For the first time, people will now be able to identify themselves as members of more
than one racial group on census and other federal forms. This new classification system still has problems. For example, people of
mixed Hispanic ethnicity must still say they are Hispanic or not Hispanic. Nevertheless, the new system will begin to capture the
complex mix of racial and ethnic groups that are present in the United States (Eitzen, 2000:215).
3.
White as Raceless
Although we tend to view race in frameworks that are largely Black/White, the dominant group is seen as raceless. Being White is
not defined as having a racial status (Andersen, forthcoming), and most Whites do not think of themselves in racial terms because
they are not people of color. Race is treated as something possessed by people of color and as something affecting them, whereas
Whites are depicted "(usually implicitly) as having no race and as people whose lives are not affected by race". In this view
Whiteness is the normal or natural condition. It is racially unmarked and therefore something immune to investigation. This is a false
picture of race. In reality, the racial order shapes the lives of all people, even Whites who are advantaged by the system. Just as
social classes exist in relation to each other, "races" are defined, compared, and judged in relation to other races. "Black" is
meaningful only insofar as it is set apart from, and in distinction to, "White." This point is particularly obvious when people are
referred to as "non-White," a word that ignores the differences in experiences among people of color. Race should not be seen
simply as a matter of two opposite categories, but as a range of power relations among differently situated people (Eitzen,
2000:217).
4.
Ethnicity
Whereas race is used for socially marking groups based on physical differences, ethnicity allows for a broader range of affiliation.
Ethnic groups are distinctive on the basis of national origin, language, religion, and culture. The contemporary world is replete with
examples of newly constructed ethnicities. In the United States, people started to affiliate along ethnic lines such as Italian
American or German American much more frequently after the civil rights movement. In Europe, as the Western countries move
toward economic and political integration, there is a proliferation of regional identification -- people may no longer identify as Italian,
but as Lombardians, Sicilians, or Romans, as these regions lose economic resources to a larger entity: the European community
(Eitzen, 2000:217).
E.
Prejudice and Discrimination
1.
Prejudice
Prejudice is a prejudged attitude. Generally, prejudice refers to negative attitudes, but one can make the case that prejudice also
includes positive attitudes. Prejudice refers to any rigid and irrational generalization about an entire category of people. The root
word of prejudice is "pre-judge."
2.
Discrimination
Discrimination refers to actions against a group of people.
F.
Racism
Racism refers to attitudes, beliefs, or behaviors that favor one group over another. The minority group might be seen as biologically
(innately) inferior and, therefore, practices involving their domination and exploitation are justified.
II.
A.
Patterns of Race and Ethnic Relations
Explanations of Racial and Ethnic Inequality Assimilation
Assimilation is the process of being absorbed into the mainstream of the dominate culture. The assimilation model demands that
other groups conform to the dominant culture. New comers are to be socialized into the dominant culture that is already present.
B.
Explanations of Racial and Ethnic Inequality Pluralism (multiculturalism)
In a pluralist society unique groups coexist side by side. The uniqueness of each group is considered a trait worth having in the
dominant culture. Note our fascination with unique cultures.
C.
Explanations of Racial and Ethnic Inequality Segregation
Segregation is the physical and social separation of categories of people.
D.
Explanations of Racial and Ethnic Inequality Genocide
Genocide is the systematic killing of one category of people by another.
III.
Explanations of Racial and Ethnic Inequality
A.
Bias Theories
Why have some racial and ethnic groups been consistently disadvantaged? Some ethnic groups, such as the Irish and the Jews,
have experienced discrimination but managed to overcome their initial disadvantages. But African Americans, Latinos, Asian
Americans, and Native Americans have not been able to cast off their secondary status. Three types of theories have been used to
explain why some groups are singled out for discrimination: deficiency theories, bias theories, and structural discrimination theories
(Eitzen, 2000:223).
Bias theories blame the members of the majority. In particular, bias theories blame individuals who are prejudiced or racist.
Affirmative Action
The term Affirmative Action was first used by LBJ in an executive order in 1967 regarding employment with agencies in
the federal government. The order said
"The contractor will not discriminate against any employee or applicant because of race, color, religion, sex, or
national origin. The contractor will take affirmative action to ensure that employees are treated during
employment, without regard to their race, color, religion, sex, or national origin."
Farley (2000:492) notes that the fundamental argument for making special efforts to hire more minority workers
(or to admit more minority students to colleges) is that this practice is the only way to undo the harmful effects of
past and present discrimination.
Recall the analogy of two runners, one with weights tied to his/her feet.
Supporters of affirmative action see it as a temporary tactic for off-setting the effects of past discrimination.
B.
Structural-Discrimination Theories
Parenti (1978) has criticized those who ignore the system as victim blamers. "Focusing on the poor and ignoring the system of
power, privilege, and profit which makes them poor, is a little like blaming the corpse for the murder." The alternative view is that
racial inequality is not fundamentally a matter of what is in people's heads, not a matter of their private individual intentions, but
rather a matter of public institutions and practices that create or perpetuate racism. Structural discrimination theories move away
from thinking about "racism-in-the-head" toward understanding "racism-in-the-world." These theories are based on racialized
opportunity structures in the United States (Eitzen, 2000:225).
1.
Individual Racism
Individual racism consists of overt acts by individuals that harm other individuals or their property. This type of action is usually
publicly decried. However, institutional racism is more injurious than individual racism to more minority-group members, but it is not
recognized by the dominant-group members as racism.
2.
Institutional Racism
Institutional racism refers to those "processes which, intentionally, or not, result in the continued exclusion of a subordinate group
[and... activities and practices which are intended to protect the advantages of the dominant group and/or maintain or widen the
unequal position of a subordinate group."
Some individuals and groups discriminate whether they are bigots or not. These individuals and groups operate within a social
milieu that ensures racial dominance. The social milieu includes laws, customs, religious beliefs, and the stable arrangements and
practices through which things get done in society. The major sectors of society -- the system of law and the administration of
justice, the economic system, the formal educational structure, and health care are all possible discriminators. Thus, the term
institutional discrimination is a useful one. The institutions of society:
have great power to reward and penalize. They reward by providing career opportunities for some people and foreclosing them for
others. They reward as well by the way social goods and services are distributed by deciding who receives training and skills,
medical care, formal education, political influence, moral support and self-respect, productive employment, fair treatment by the law,
decent housing, self-confidence, and the promise of a secure future for self and children (see Eitzen, 2000:226).
C.
Four Basic Themes of Institutional Discrimination
1.
The Importance of History
Historically, institutions defined and enforced norms and role relationships that were racially distinct. The United States was
founded and its institutions established when Blacks were slaves, uneducated, and different culturally from the dominant Whites.
From the beginning, Blacks were considered inferior (the original Constitution, for example, counted a slave as three-fifths of a
person).
Religious beliefs buttressed this notion of the inferiority of Blacks and justified the differential allocation of privileges and sanctions
in society.
Laws, customs, and traditions usually continue to reinforce current thinking. Institutions have an inertial quality:
Once set in motion, they tend to continue on the same course. Thus, institutional racism is extremely difficult to change without a
complete overhaul of society's institutions (Eitzen, 2000:226).
2.
Discrimination Without Conscious Bigotry
With or without malicious intent, racial discrimination is the "normal" outcome of the system. Even if "racism-in-the-head"
disappeared, then "racism-in-the-world" would not, because it is the system that disadvantages.
a. Minorities suffer if the law continues to favor the owners of property over renters and debtors.
b. Job opportunities remain unequal if employers hire people with the most conventional training and experience.
c. Poor children get an inferior education if
• we continue tracking,
• using class-biased tests,
•
•
•
a.
making education irrelevant in their work,
rewarding children who conform to the teachers' middle-class concepts of the good student,
paying disproportionately less for their education (buildings, supplies, teachers, counselors).
In other words, all that is needed to perpetuate discrimination in the United States is to pursue a policy of business as usual
(Eitzen, 2000:227).
3. Institutional Discrimination Is More Invisible
Institutional discrimination is more subtle and less intentional than individual acts of discrimination. As a result, establishing blame
for this kind of discrimination is extremely difficult (Eitzen, 2000:227).
4.
Institutional Discrimination Is Reinforced Because Institutions Are Interrelated
The exclusion of minorities from the upper levels of education, for example, is likely to affect their opportunities in other institutions
(type of job, level of remuneration). Similarly, poor children will probably receive an inferior education, be propertyless, suffer from
bad health, and be treated unjustly by the criminal justice system. These inequities are cumulative (Eitzen, 2000:227).
D.
Why is U.S. Society Organized Along Racial Lines?
1.
World Capitalism
Many scholars argue that modern race relations are produced by world capitalism. Using the labor of non-White peoples began as
a means for White owners to accumulate profits. This perspective contends that capitalism as a system of class exploitation has
shaped race and racism in the United States and the world (Eitzen, 2000:227).
2.
Colonial Theory
Colonial theory incorporates class and race to address the question of why some ethnic groups have overcome their disadvantaged
status, whereas others have not. This is important, because it challenges the myth that the United States is a melting pot. Colonial
theory argues that there are fundamental differences between the experiences of racial ethnics and European ethnics. Racial
ethnics have been much like colonial subjects in the United States, while Europeans immigrated to this society. Using this
framework, we can see that despite certain similarities (such as poverty and discrimination), the experiences of racial minorities
contrasted sharply with those of European immigrants (Eitzen, 2000:227).
A key feature of the colonial model is the labor that people of color did when they were brought into the United States. European
ethnics began work mostly in industry, or at least in industrial sectors of the economy, where they could move about as families or
individuals in response to the needs of an industrializing economy. In contrast, Blacks and Hispanics were forced into other
preindustrial work in the least advanced sectors of the economy and the most industrially backward regions of the nation. This
placement of non-White groups, however, imposed barrier upon barrier on their social mobility (Eitzen, 2000:228).
IV.
Discrimination Against African Americans
and Latinos: Continuity and Change
Since World War II under pressure from civil rights advocates, the government has led the way in breaking down discriminatory
practices. The 1960 civil rights movement overturned segregation laws, opened voting booths, created new job opportunities, and
renewed hope for racial equality. In the past quarter-century, well-educated people of color have made considerable advances.
Many Blacks and Latinos are now solidly middle class. Twenty-one percent of African Americans and 19 percent of Hispanic
families now have incomes of $50,000 or more. They have taken advantage of fair-housing legislation and moved to the suburbs
looking for better schools, safer streets, and better services. Yet having "made it" in the United States does not shield people of
color from discrimination (Eitzen, 2000:228).
The Kerner Commission on Civil Disorders
The minority middle class has not erased the problem of segregation. A class divide now characterizes minority communities across the country. As
unsuccessful ones have been marginalized. Thirty years ago, the Kerner Commission on Civil Disorders worried that our nation was moving towa
the Kerner Commission Update:
• The unemployment rate for young men in inner cities is over 30 percent; the national rate is under 5 percent.
• The U.S. income gap has widened to the point that the top 1 percent of Americans have more wealth than the bottom 90 percent. The poor are dis
• One in three young Black men is in prison, on probation, or on parole.
The present segregation of African Americans cannot be dismissed as wrongs committed in the past. Black/White segregation has
not diminished. Middle-class Blacks tend to live in Black suburbs with weak tax bases and poor municipal services. Therefore they
are only marginally less segregated than poor Blacks (Eitzen, 2000:229).
V.
Contemporary Trends and Issues
in U.S. Racial and Ethnic Relations
Racial diversity presents a host of new social problems that reflect differences in group power and access to social resources.
Three major trends reveal new forms of racial inequality: growing racial strife, the economic polarization of minorities, and a
nationwide shift in U.S. racial policies. These trends are occurring in a global context, closely associated with macro social forces at
work around the world (Eitzen, 2000:236).
A.
Growing Racial Strife: Nativism
Social scientists use the term nativism to denote hostility toward immigrants. Here, and in other countries, racial diversity is marked
by growing conflicts (Eitzen, 2000:237).
Racial violence is often associated with uncertain economic conditions. Lack of jobs, housing, and other resources can add to fear.
It can also lead to minority scapegoating on the part of Whites. Despite evidence that immigrants actually strengthen the social
fabric, immigrants are becoming a scapegoat for social problems. In Florida and many parts of the West and Southwest,
perceptions that Cubans, Mexicans, and other Hispanics are taking jobs from Anglos have touched off racial tensions (Eitzen,
2000:238):
1.
More Racially Based Groups and Atrocities
The Southern Poverty Law Center documented a large increase in U.S. hate groups. Their research found 474 hate groups
involved in racist behavior in 1997, a 20 percent rise over the previous year. The jump reflects continued growth of racially-based
separatism, religion, and hate, along with the fervor produced by the approaching millennium. Groups include White supremacist
groups with such diverse elements as the Ku Klux Klan, Nazi-identified parties, and skinheads. With many hate sites on the Internet
and increasing popularity of White power rock, racist organizers are reaching more young people.
Southern Poverty Law Center
Tolerance.Org -- Tracking Hate Groups
2.
Black Church Arson
Since 1990, numerous cases of arson or serious vandalism have been carried out in the South against Black churches.
3.
Maltreatment and Arrests.
Numerous reports testify to the widespread police practice of systematically stopping (and sometimes savagely beating) Black and
Latino drivers.
Example: D.W.B. -- Driving While Black
VI.
Comparative Data on Race and Ethnicity
See the study guide for suggestions on how to study the following tables.
Per Capita Income by Race and Ethnicity:
Year = 2006-2010
(five year ACS es
Total Population
White (only, not Hispanic)
Black
Hispanic
Native American
Asian
U.S.
Texas
$27,334
$30,154
$18,257
$15,638
$16,645
$30,021
$24,870
$27,587
$18,418
$14,169
$19,910
$28,253
Austin
Metro
$30,045
$34,194
$20,214
$16,601
$21,348
$30,704
The United States Office of Management and Budget (OMB) defines metropolitan areas (MAs) according to published standards that are ap
of a core area containing a large population nucleus, together with adjacent communities having a high degree of economic and social int
http://www.census.gov/population/www/estimates/aboutmetro.html
Tables compiled by Russ Long, revised June 11, 2012
Source for Per Capita Income Data: Sources for Poverty data: U.S. Census Bureau, 2010 American Community Survey. Five-year estimate
Poverty Rates by Race and Ethnicity:
Year = 2010
Total Population
White (only, not Hispanic)
Black
Hispanic
Native American
Asian
U.S.
Texas
15.3
10.6
27.1
24.8
28.4
12.5
17.9
9.3
24.8
26.8
23.1
12.6
Austin
Metro
15.9
9.3
25.2
25.6
22.9
13.9
The United States Office of Management and Budget (OMB) defines metropolitan areas (MAs) according to published standards that are ap
of a core area containing a large population nucleus, together with adjacent communities having a high degree of economic and social int
http://www.census.gov/population/www/estimates/aboutmetro.html
Tables compiled by Russ Long, revised June 11, 2012
Source for Poverty Data: Sources for Poverty data: U.S. Census Bureau, 2010 American Community Survey. One-year estimates. Table S
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