Project Prepare
1. Ethnic Group
2. Racial Group
a. Social construction
3. Census 2000
Race & Ethnicity…Defining our
Terms
Ethnicity?
a group set apart from others because of its
national origin or distinctive cultural patterns(D)
Examples of ethnic groups that are important to your
identity?
Irish, Polish, Italian, Mexican, Puerto Rican,
Chinese, Japanese, Kenyan, Nigerian…
Top 5 Nations of Origin for American Ethnic
Groups
Top 5 Nations of Origin for American
Ethnic Groups (Census 2000)
German
Irish
English
Mexican
Italian
15.2%
10.8%
8.7%
6.5%
5.6%
Racial Group?
a group set apart from others based primarily on
inherited physical characteristics such as skin
color, hair form, and facial form. (D)
Examples?
Racial Group?
a group set apart from others based primarily on inherited
physical characteristics such as skin color, hair form, and
facial form. (D)
Races listed on 1990 US Census
White
Black
Asian & Pacific Islander
American Indian and Alaskan Native
Other
Note that Hispanic is not considered a race …
Points to interesting questions of regarding how a society decides what is
and is not a race …draws attention to how racial boundaries are fluid and
fuzzy….
Irish were once considered an
“Inferior” non-white race
“Inferior” Irish & Black Races… “smoked
Irish” & “negroes turned inside out”
The Inferior “Jewish” Race
Race as a Social Construction
Irish, Jews, Mexicans, Filipinos and Hindus
have all been regarded as races in
America…but now they are not….what
does this say about the idea of race?
It is a social construction…
Anyone know what this term means?
Race as a Social Construction
Race as a SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION
races are created, lived & transformed by social
actors embedded in certain historical
circumstances (D)
• We make them up…Society makes them up..
• They are not rooted in nature…but in our culture
• Red hair could just have easily become a racial
marker…
One Race…the “Human Race”
“Scientists Call Race Insignificant”
Race as a human category, has no biological significance at
all
Too much shared evolutionary biology
Mountains of evidence for this…
Within group variance swamps between group variance
Select 2 random Blacks & compare genes
Select 2 random Whites & compare genes
Likely to find more variation between 2 whites than between 1 black
and 1 white
No genetic basis for race… So how have
different societies and/or scientists tried to
group people by race?
Skin color- shade of pigmentation
What to do with dark skinned Italians, Iraqis, Indians?
Color Gradient used in some countries (Brazil, Cuba)
Dental patterns- presence of shovel shaped incisors
Creates a race of that lumps Asians, Swedes & Native
Americans together
Facial Features- measure contours of the skull
Indians from Asia have Caucasian features, but dark skin
No genetic basis for race… So how have
different societies and/or scientists tried to
group people by race?
Skin color- shade of pigmentation
What to do with dark skinned Italians, Iraqis, Indians?
Color Gradient used in some countries (Brazil, Cuba)
Dental patterns- presence of shovel shaped incisors
Creates a race of that lumps Asians, Swedes & Native Americans together
Facial Features- measure contours of the skull
Indians from Asia have Caucasian features, but dark skin
Add up ancestry & calculate: Common in US…We determined slaves this
way…and currently determine Native American ancestry this way
Interesting results…note next slide
Bottom line: Each strategy gets different
What Race?
SON
Parent
Native
American
White
Parent
Black
Black
Thailand
(Asian)
Thailand
(Asian)
Chinese
(Asian)
Chinese
(Asian)
What Race? Asian by math…Black by skin
color… Race is a social construction
SON
Parent
Native
American
White
Parent
Black
Black
Thailand
(Asian)
Thailand
(Asian)
Chinese
(Asian)
Chinese
(Asian)
Race as a social construction…
Race is a social construction
Racial Classifications are arbitrary &
depend on criteria used by person grouping
people together
Might as Well just have a vote…
Putting to a Vote the Question ‘Who Is
Cherokee?
No Biological Basis…So why not
vote?
Who is a Cherokee???
Officially, the election will ask voters whether to
amend the Cherokee Nation Constitution.
Overriding the 1866 treaty, it would limit citizenship
to those who can trace their heritage to “Cherokee
by blood” rolls, part of a census known as the
Dawes Rolls of 1906. The Freedmen would
automatically be denied citizenship because the
Dawes Rolls, a census commissioned by Congress to
distribute land to tribal members, put the Freedmen
on a separate roll that made no mention of Indian
blood.
No Biological Basis…So why not
vote?
Who is a Cherokee???
“When the Dawes Rolls were created, those with
any African blood were put on the Freedmen roll,
even if they were half Cherokee. Those with mixedwhite and Cherokee ancestry, even if they were
seven-eighths white and one-eighth Cherokee, were
put on the Cherokee by blood roll. More than 75
percent of those enrolled in the Cherokee Nation
have less than one-quarter Cherokee blood, the vast
majority of them of European ancestry.”
Race as a social construction…
Race is a social construction
Racial Classifications are arbitrary & depend on
criteria used by person grouping people together
Might as Well just have a vote…
Or maybe a draft…
Video Clip: Chapelle Show
Race as a Social Construction
Race as a SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION
races are created, lived & transformed by social actors embedded in
certain historical circumstances (D)
• We make them up…Society
makes them up..
• They are not
rooted in nature… but in our
culture
• Red hair could just have easily become a racial marker…
Government Recognized Races
in the US
Big debate has emerged…
Why try to record something we
know doesn’t exist?
If society insists on recording…
• Where do children of inter-racial
marriages fit? Latinos? Asian
Indians? Middle Easterners?
Anyone?
If don’t record race, how would we
notice discrimination?
• Phily Inquirer: Approximately 50%
of Philadelphia residents are
minority, but “minorities today
account for only“ 8 percent to 20
percent of construction workers on
large-scale city projects.”
So…a BIG
DEBATE…
What were
some of the
proposed
solutions???
???
The Paradox of Race
Races don’t exist, so stop asking
the question
Don’t count them and
perpetuate myth that races
exist
Canada has done this
Don’t mess with it …races may
not exist, but discrimination
does…
Not counting eliminates ability
to identify discrimination
• Philly Building Trades
• DWB
Add Multi-Racial
Box
Add new races
Some Hispanics
wanted to become a
race
Allow people to
check multiple boxes
What should
be done? Why?
Government Recognized Races
in the US
1990 Census
White
Black
Asian & Pacific Islander
American Indian and Alaskan
Native
Other
2000 Census
White
Black or African
American
American Indian and
Alaska Native
Asian
Native Hawaiian and
Other Pacific Islander
Some other race
Two or more races
Race/Ethnicity, 2000
Hispanic
12.5
2 or more
2.4
Other
5.5
Nat. Haw 0.1
Asian
3.6
Nat. Amer
0.9
Black
12
White
75
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Projections for 2050
60
50
52.8
40
30
23.8
20
10
0
13.6
8.7
1.1
2050
White
Black
Asian
Nat. Amer
Hispanic
Next…Prejudice and Discrimination
Project Prepare
I. Racism
II.Prejudice
III. Discrimination
IV. Institutional/Structural Discrimination
•
•
Assignment For Tuesday
Power Point slides will be posted to website
by early next week;
http://www2.widener.edu/~spe0001/
Race as a Social Construction
Race as a SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION
races are created, lived & transformed by social
actors embedded in certain historical
circumstances (D)
• We make them up…Society makes them up..
• They are not rooted in nature…but in our culture
• Red hair could just have easily become a racial
marker…
Races may not exist in nature …but
society has acted as if they do…
Scientific Racism (D)…Core Belief in White Supremacy
1) racial and ethnic groups form a natural hierarchy of superiors
and inferiors
2) White race is superior to the non-White races
White Supremacy in America
Alabama Constitutional Convention
president John B. Knox of Anniston:
the foremost objective of the convention was
"to establish white supremacy in this State."
White Supremacy
“Were the Chinese to
amalgamate at all with our
people, it would be the lowest,
most vile and degraded of our
race, and the result of that
amalgamation would be a
hybrid of the most despicable
, a mongrel of the most
detestable that has ever
afflicted the earth…”
• California Legislator, 1870s
White Supremacy
“These people must die out- there is no help for
them. God has given this earth to those will subdue
it, and it is vain to struggle against righteous decree.
Journalist Horace Greeley, 1859
White Supremacy
The marriage of a white person with a negro or
mulatto or person who shall have one-eighth or more
of negro blood, shall be unlawful and void.
Mississippi
Education: The schools for white children and the
schools for negro children shall be conducted
separately. Florida
Circus Tickets All circuses, shows, and tent
exhibitions, to which the attendance of...more than
one race is invited or expected to attend shall provide
for the convenience of its patrons not less than two
ticket offices with individual ticket sellers, and not
less than two entrances to the said performance, with
individual ticket takers and receivers, and in the case
of outside or tent performances, the said ticket
offices shall not be less than twenty-five (25) feet
apart. Louisiana
White Supremacy and Work…Legal until
1964…practiced through 1970s…
Dual Job Ladders
Management
$3.00
XXXXXXXXXX
Skilled Trades
$2.00 hr
XXXXXXXXXX
Unskilled Manufacturing
$1.45 hr
Unskilled Manufacturing
<------Temporary Fill Ins
$1.10 hr
Whites Hired off the Street
Blacks Sanitation, Cafeteria
.75 cents hr
Blacks Hired of the Street
Races may not exist in nature …but
society has acted as if they do…
Scientific Racism (D)…Core Beliefs:
1) racial and ethnic groups form a natural hierarchy of superiors
and inferiors
2) White race is superior to the non-White races
3) within the White race the “Nordic” segment is superior to
other segments
Note the next slide
The immigrants are ruining the
country
“The American nation was founded by and
developed by the Nordic race, but if a few
more million members of the Alpine,
Mediterranean and Semitic races (Italians,
Jews etc.) are poured among us, the result
will inevitably be a hybrid race of people
as worthless and futile as the good for
nothing mongrels of Central America and
southeastern Europe.”
Kenneth Roberts, prominent Journalist.”p. 92 Feagin
Races may not exist in nature …but
society has acted as if they do…
Scientific Racism (D)…Core Beliefs:
1) racial and ethnic groups form a natural hierarchy of superiors
and inferiors
2) White race is superior to the non-White races
3) within the White race the “Nordic” segment is superior to
other segments
A small minority still believe this despite lack of evidence…
Racism
To study, Sociologists Break into 3 parts
Part 1:
Prejudice (D)
a negative attitude toward an entire category of people,
such as a racial or ethnic minority
Prejudice often based on the following…
Video Clip
Stereotypes (D)
unreliable generalizations about all members of a group that do
not take into account individual differences within the group.
Exaggerated over simplifications
Dumb Blondes & Poles, Smart Germans & Asians, Cheap Jews,
Drunken Irish, Nasty French, Criminal Italians & on and on and
on…
Often acquired second hand…and just don’t hold
Become substitutes for facts
• Can lead to wrong headed actions…
Pre-judging using stereotypes undermines the very that
people should be judged on individual merit
The NJ Turnpike…
Note Slide
US Illicit Drug Use by
Race…pattern?
Rate of Illicit Drug
Use…pattern?
The NJ Turnpike…
DWB…meaning?
NJ State Police
Searches…trend
Found with
contraband…
Racism
Next Video Clip moves beyond prejudice…
From TV Nation
Michael Moore series that ran on Fox
Racism
Black people often have trouble getting cabs in
NYC
Became big issue when Danny Glover experienced
this…
Mayor Guiliani Got Involved
Placed Undercover police on streets
Cabbies risked loss of medallion
Anyone know the term we use to refer to the
cabbies refusal to pick up Black men…
Part 2. Discrimination
the denial of opportunities and equal rights to
individuals and groups because of prejudice or for
other arbitrary reason (D)
Not just an attitude, but an action
Cabbies won’t pick up Black men
Denny’s refuses to seat Black secret servicemen
Landlords refuse to rent to minority residents
Is this allowed?
If Archie Bunker wants to be prejudiced, we
may judge him, but that’s his business…
Can Archie Bunker refuse to hire a Black,a
woman, or a Puerto Rican?
Is this allowed?
1964 Civil Rights Act (D)banned discrimination in
most areas of society.
Employment
Public accommodations
Education
Discrimination in
employment, housing and
other spheres of society is
illegal…
Does that mean it no longer
occurs?
What does evidences suggest with regard
to discrimination & work?
Hiring Audits (Social Audits)…Anyone
remember what these are?
What does evidences suggest with regard
to discrimination & work?
Urban Institute Study
“entrenched and widespread” discrimination at every step
in the process.
Whites were 3 times more likely as blacks to advance in
the hiring process to the point of being offered a job
U.S General Accounting Office
“uncovered significant discrimination against black and
Latino testers.” p. 15
25% fewer interviews, 34% fewer offers
Discrimination Today
MIT and U of Chicago Professors
5,000 resumes sent in response to ads in Boston
Globe and Chicago Tribune
Some with “White names”: Neil, Brett, Greg, Emily
Some with “Black names”: Tamika, Eboney, Aisha,
Kareem
White names elicited 50% more responses
Clearly subverts idea of hiring based on merit…
Notion that we are all judged based on individual
characteristics is undermined by the evidence
Discrimination
College Students Pose as Job Applicants
Identical credentials…but different color skin
Visit 350 employers
Waiters, warehouse & other low skilled jobs
Criminal History…Mix it up
Sometimes admit to having done 18 months in jail for
possession of cocaine with intent to sell
Sometimes have no criminal history
Who gets hired?
Remember the Work and Criminal
Background experiment…
Evidence of Discrimination
Department of Housing and Urban Development:
Housing Audits
Blacks discriminated against by Realtors & Others
56% of the time in rental market
59% of the time in home sales
• 15% told nothing available
• Were shown 18% fewer units
• 21% steered to minority neighborhoods
Complicating matters…
Can anyone explain why a even a nonprejudiced cabbie might not pick up a Black
man?
Hint: Where did Run DMC want to go…
Part 3: Institutional Discrimination
(structural discrimination)
the denial of opportunities and equal rights to individuals and
groups that results from the normal operation of society (D)
Referred to as “structural discrimination” in reading…
Legal segregation of past leads to segregated cities…in NYC,
minorities live further from downtown, where most of the cab
action is
Cabbies don’t want a fare to Harlem since it will be hard to get
a return fare…it is about money, not race…
Normal operation of society leads to Blacks who can’t get cabs
Education and Institutional Disc.
Children do not have access to equal education.
Why?
By basing school funding on property taxes, towns
with low property values can not meet the needs of
their student body.
Minority children are disproportionately impacted
because they are concentrated in inner cities with
low property vaules
Race neutral policy…but discriminatory outcome
Institutional Discrimination and
Building Trades Apprenticeships
To get into a building trades apprenticeship in
Milwaukee you need to have taken certain math and
science courses in high school.
Many Black children in Milwaukee attend sub-par
schools and do not take these courses
When they graduate, they are not eligible for
apprenticeship programs.
Unions remain disproportionately White
Today’s paper
Judge Finds Racial Bias in Fire Dept. Recruiting
By DIANE CARDWELL July 23, 2009
New York City used tests that discriminated against black
and Hispanic applicants to the Fire Department and had little
relation to firefighting, a federal judge in Brooklyn ruled on
Wednesday, dealing a blow to the administration of Mayor
Michael R. Bloomberg.
“These examinations unfairly excluded hundreds of qualified
people of color from the opportunity to serve as New York
City firefighters,” wrote Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis of
Federal District Court in Brooklyn, referring to two tests
administered in 1999 and 2002.
Institutional Discrimination &
Lending
Bias in mortgage lending.
Mortgage Loan Reject Rates, 1990
White
Blacks
Lowest Income
Highest
23.1%
40.1%
8.5%
21.4%
More than just ideas…
Racial and ethnic stratification is located in
social systems, as well as the attitudes of and
actions of individuals.
Problem is not just Archie Bunker types
Every day operations of society an issue
Institutional discrimination often hard to address
Discrimination Today
5,000 resumes sent in response to ads in Boston
Globe and Chicago Tribune
Some with “White names”: Neil, Brett, Greg, Emily
Some with “Black names”: Tamika, Eboney, Aisha,
Kareem
White names elicited 50% more responses
Clearly subverts idea of hiring based on merit…
What can be done???
Next…Gender