Exploring Race and Ethnicity
Discussion Outline
1. Ranking Groups
2. Types of Groups
3. The Social Construction of Race
Race as a Complex Social Reality
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Changing Racial demographics
Effects of Immigration
A Multiracial President
Perpetuation of Racial Stereotypes
Racial Tension and hate move to the internet
Feuling violenc
• What is a minority group?
Ranking Groups
• Minority Groups
– 5 main characteristics
• Dominant Groups
Types of Minority Groups
• Racial Groups
– Each society defines what is obvious
– Physical differences, not cultural
– Socially constructed
• Ethnic groups
• Religious groups
• Gender groups
– If women make up more than half of the
population, aren’t they the majority/dominant
group?
– In what ways do women lack power in
contemporary American Society? Do they?
Dominant and
Minority Groups
Other
characteristics that
may make a group
subject to unequal
treatment: gender,
sexual orientation,
religion, ethnicity,
skin color, age,
disability status,
physical
appearance.
The Social Significance of Race
• Does race matter?
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 racism is much
less overt.
Biological Meaning and Race
• A mistaken notion
• Race is not a biological reality
• The absence of pure races
Race-A Social Construction
– Each society socially constructs the meaning of
symbols
• Social Construction of Race
– What does this mean?
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
Example: Race changing over time
• The idea of “white” has
evolved over time.
• Some scholars predict that
Latinos and Asians will be the
new “whites” in the next 50
years.
– Thoughts?
Example: Race changing over time
 Since 1790, the census has never measured race
in the same way in the U.S.
 “Mulatto” was in the 1800 census, but taken out a few
decades later
 “Mexican” was considered a race in 1930, but in the
next census, they were counted as white
 Asian Indians were considered white in 1970
 The term “negro” still appears on today’s census, in
addition to “African American”
 In the earliest census measurements, survey takers
would assign your race to you.
Example: Race across cultures
• How many races are in the United States?
• Brazil?
– http://www.zonalatina.com/Zldata55.htm
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.
– Who has had the power to define groups and the
meanings attached to them? How does this happen?
A Brief History of Race
• 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. What types
of resources?
A System of Racial Hierarchy
• Racism
doctrine of racial supremacy that states one
race is superior to another