Links
• Social Construction
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7NwtQe2FZM
Race and biology
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GyuKJAG11Cw
• Jefferson Video Clip
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UZS8Wb4S5k&feature=related
• FHA Home loans:
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mW764dXEI_8
Racial and Ethnic Inequality
Sociology 70
“Race is one of the most misunderstood, misused, and often dangerous
concepts of the modern world” Margaret Marger, Race Scholar
Is race still significant? Relevant?
Lecture Outline
• I. Defining Race and the Social Construction of Race
• II. Patterns of Racial and Ethnic Group Interaction
• III. Social Problems and Race in Contemporary Society
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A) Prejudice, Racism, and Discrimination
B) Institutional Racism
C) Racial Stratification
D) Strategies for action
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?
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
• Over time
• Across cultures
The Origins of “Race” and Racial Domination
• Middle Age Europe: Race = Breeding stock/Horses, etc
• common ancestry and distinctive appearance
• 16th Century New World: Race = People, nation, or variety
• Symbol of differentiation of non-European groups with distinctive appearance
and culture (non Spanish and English colonizers)
• The idea of race emerges…
Origins of Race and Racial Domination
• “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 and rights.
What types of resources/rights?
Race and Science: Is Race Biological or
Social?
• 17/1800’s and 1900’s (much of 20th century)
• Scientists and Leaders assumed/attempt to prove race is innate/genetic and
accounts for differences in behavior and ability
• Science attempts in many ways to justify superiority and inferiority of races in the social
structure-Scientific Racism-Eugenics research etc.
• Modern Science
• Advanced science and genetics research shows that genetics cannot be correlated
with racial classifications
• A essentialist perspective on race is no longer supported by modern science
• “Classifying people by color is very much like classifying cars by color. Those in the same
classification look alike…but the classification tells you nothing about the hidden details of
construction or about how the cars or people will perform” (Cohen 1998)
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.
• Race is NOT biologically/genetically real, but it is very real
in the social sense.
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
and forms of racism and discrimination have changed, not
disappeared.
II. Patterns of Racial and Ethnic Interaction
• Genocide
• Expulsion
• Segregation
• Acculturation
• Assimilation
• Pluralism
III. Prejudice, Racism, and Discrimination
• What’s the difference?
Prejudice
• Prejudice: “pre-judge”
• Attitudes that certain groups of people are either inferior or superior
• Can be either positive or negative
• Where do people learn prejudice?
• i.e. ?
• Stereotypes
• Prejudice and stereotypes evolve with a changing society
• Rise in Islamophobia
• Since when?
• Increased racial profiling, hate crimes, discrimination
• Racism
• A belief that race accounts for differences in human character and ability and that a
particular race is superior to others
Discrimination
• The acts that arise from prejudices
• Individual discrimination: Unfair or unequal treatment based on group
membership, on an individual level
• Individual Discrimination is:
• Subtle: for example not sitting next to someone; Not inviting a co-worker to lunch based
on their race
• Blatant: Racial slurs; Hate Crimes
- (2009) study-888 racial hate groups/organizations in U.S.
Dept of Just-(2011)-6600 hate crimes reported-47%
motivated by race-13% Ethnicity
-Many more go unreported
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 Racism/Discrimination on the
basis of race
• Employment Discrimination
• Housing
• Education
• Criminal Justice System
Racial Stratification
• Wealth and Income
• Explaining the Wealth gap
• Intergenerational transmission of wealth
• I.e.: The Conley example in your text
• Video: Power of an Illusion-White Suburbinization and FHA home loans
Strategies for Action: Responding to
Prejudice, Racism, and Discrimination
???? What can be done????
Solutions?
• The EEOC
• AA
• Educational Strategies
• Retrospective Justice Initiatives
Other Topics or “Problems” to consider
• Immigration issues
• Hate crimes
• Race across the world