Download ppt - Schaefer10e ppt ch11

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Slide 1

SOCIOLOGYRichard T. Schaefer

Racial and Ethnic Inequality

11


Slide 2

11. Racial and Ethnic Inequality

• Minority, Racial, and Ethnic Groups • Prejudice and Discrimination • Patterns of Prejudice and Discrimination• Studying Race and Ethnicity• Patterns of Intergroup Relations • Impact of Global Immigration • Race and Ethnicity in the United States • Social Policy and Race and Ethnicity


Slide 3

Minority, Racial, and Ethnic Groups

• Racial Group– Group set apart from others because

of obvious physical differences

• Ethnic Group– Group set apart from others

primarily because of its national origin or distinctive cultural patterns


Slide 4


• Minority Groups– Properties of minority

groups include: • Unequal treatment• Distinguishing cultural

characteristics• Involuntary membership• Solidarity• In-group marriage

Groups whose members have significantly less control or power than members of the dominant or majority group


Slide 5


• Race– Racial Group: minorities set apart

from others by obvious physical differences

– Biological Significance of Race• There are no “pure races”• Migration, exploration, and invasion led

to intermingling of races


Slide 6


Table 11-1. Racial and EthnicGroups in the United States, 2000


Slide 7


Figure 11-1. Racial and EthnicGroups in the United States,1500—2100 (projected)

Sources: Author’s estimate; Bureau of the Census 1975; Grieco and Cassidy 2001; Therrien 1987


Slide 8


• Social construction of Race

– A dominant or majority group has power to define itself legally and to define a society’s values•Stereotypes: unreliable

generalizations about all members of a group that do not recognize individual differences within the group


Slide 9


• Ethnicity

– Ethnic group set apart from others based on national origin or distinctive cultural patterns

– Distinction between racial groups and ethnic groups socially significant


Slide 10

Prejudice and Discrimination

• Prejudice– Negative attitude toward an entire

category of people– Ethnocentrism: tendency to assume

one’s culture and way of life are superior to others

– Racism: belief that one race is supreme and others are innately inferior

– Hate crime: criminal offense committed because of the offender’s bias against a race, religion, ethnic group, national origin, or sexual orientation


Slide 11


Figure 11-2. Categorization of Reported Hate Crimes, 2003

Source: Department of Justice 2004


Slide 12


Figure 11-3. Active Hate Groups in the United States, 2004

Source: Southern Poverty Law Center 2005


Slide 13

Patterns of Prejudice and Discrimination

• Discriminatory Behavior– Discrimination: denial of

opportunities and equal rights to individuals and groups based on some type of arbitrary bias• Discrimination persists even for

educated and qualified minority members

Glass Ceiling: invisible barrier blocking promotion of qualified individuals in work environment because of gender, race, or ethnicity


Slide 14

Patterns of Prejudice and Discrimination

• The Privileges of the Dominant– White people in U.S. take

membership in the dominant racial group for granted

• Institutional Discrimination– Denial of opportunities and equal

rights that results from operations of a societyAffirmative Action: Positive efforts to recruit minority members or women for jobs, promotions, and educational opportunities


Slide 15


Figure 11-4. U.S. Median Income by Race, Ethnicity, and Gender, 2003

Sources: DeNavas-Walt et al. 2004; for Native Americans, author’s estimate based on Bureau of the

Census 2004f


Slide 16

Studying Race and Ethnicity

• Functionalist Perspective– Nash’s 3 functions that racially

prejudiced beliefs have for the dominant group include:• Moral Justification for maintaining an

unequal society• Discouraging subordinate groups from

questioning their status• Encouraging support for the existing

order


Slide 17


• Functionalist Perspective– Rose identified dysfunctions

associated with racism• Society that

practices discrimination fails to use resources of all individuals

• Discrimination aggravates social problems

• Society must invest time and money to defend barriers to full participation

• Racial prejudice undercuts goodwill and diplomatic relations between nations


Slide 18


• The Conflict Response– Exploitation Theory: racism keeps

minorities in low-paying jobs and supplies the dominant group with cheap labor

• The Interactionist Approach– Contact Hypothesis: interracial

contact between people of equal status in cooperative circumstances will cause them to become less prejudiced and to abandon old stereotypes


Slide 19


Table 11-2. Sociological Perspectives on Race


Slide 20

– Genocide: Deliberate, systematic killing of entire people or nation

– Expulsion: Forced removal of people from region or country

• Assimilation– Process by which person forsakes his

or her own cultural tradition to become part of a different culture

Patterns of Intergroup Relations

• Amalgamation


Slide 21

Patterns of Intergroup Relations

– Refers to physical separation of two groups of people in terms of residence•Apartheid: Republic of South Africa

severely restricted the movement of Blacks and non-Whites

• Pluralism– Based on mutual respect among

various groups in a society for one another’s cultures

• Segregation


Slide 22

Impact of Global Immigration

– Each year, 2.3% (146 million) of the world’s population moves from country to country• U.S. and Europe examining immigration

policies• Emergence of transnationals—people or

families who move across borders multiple times searching for better jobs and education

• Worldwide immigration at an all-time high


Slide 23


Figure 11-5. Foreign-Born Population of the United States, from 10 Leading Counties, 2002

Sources: Schmidley and Robinson 2003:Table A-3


Slide 24


Figure 11-6. Census 2000: The Image of Diversity

Source: Brewer and Suchan 2001:20


Slide 25

Race and Ethnicity in the United States

• African Americans currently largest minority group in U.S.

• Contemporary institutional discrimination and individual prejudice against African Americans rooted in history of slavery

– Black Power: rejected goal of assimilation into White middle-class society

• Racial Groups– African Americans


Slide 26


• 2.5 million Native Americans represent diverse array of cultures distinguishable by language, family organization, religion, and livelihood

• Life remains difficult for members of 554 tribal groups in U.S.

• Increasing number claiming identity as Native American

• Racial Groups– Native Americans


Slide 27


• Asian Americans comprise one of fastest growing segments of U.S. population

• Asian Americans often held up as model or ideal minority group

• Racial Groups– Asian Americans


Slide 28


• Vietnamese Americans– Came to U.S. during and after Vietnam War

and, over time, gravitated toward larger urban areas

• Chinese Americans– Encouraged to immigrate to U.S. from 1850 to

1880– Currently, about 2.7 million Chinese

Americans live in U.S.



Slide 29


– Issei: first generation of Japanese immigrants– In August 1943, 113,000 Japanese Americans

forced into hastily built camps in response to World War II

• Korean Americans– At 1.2 million, population of Korean Americans

exceeds that of Japanese Americans


• Japanese Americans


Slide 30


Figure 11-7. Major Asian American Groups in the United States, 2000

Source: Logan 2001


Slide 31


• Up to 3 million people of Arab ancestry reside in the United States

• Cannot be characterize as having a specific family type, gender role, or occupational pattern

Profiling of potential terrorists has put Arab and Muslim Americans under special surveillance

• Racial Groups– Arab Americans


Slide 32


Figure 11-8. Distribution of the Arab Population by State, 2000

Source: Bureau of the Census 2003c


Slide 33


• Largest minority in the United States• Mexican Americans

– Largest Latino population

• Puerto Ricans– Residents of Puerto Rico are American citizens

• Cuban Americans– Immigration began in earnest following Castro’s

assumption of power in Cuban Revolution (1959)

• Ethnic Groups– Latinos


Slide 34


Figure 11-9. Major Hispanic Groups in the United States, 2002

Source: R. Ramirez and de la Cruz 2003:1


Slide 35


• Constitute almost 3% of population– Anti-Semitism: anti-Jewish prejudice

– White Ethnics• White ethnics’ ancestors came from

Europe in last 100 years

• Ethnic Groups– Jewish Americans

Symbolic ethnicity: emphasis on ethnic food or political issues rather than on deeper ties to one’s ethnic heritage


Slide 36

Social Policy and Race and Ethnicity

• In the late 1980s and 1990s, African Americans constituted 17% of motorists on NJ Turnpike

• African Americans represented 80% of motorists pull over by police during that period

– The Setting•Racial Profiling: any police-initiated action

based on race, ethnicity, or national origin rather than on a person’s behavior

• Racial Profiling– The Issue


Slide 37


• Interactionist theorists note profiling produces distrust on all sides

• Conflict theorists see racial profiling as one more way those in power seek to further social inequality

• Racial Profiling– Sociological Insights


Slide 38


• In 1990s, states and other government units began to devise policies and training to discourage racial profiling

• Efforts cam to abrupt end after terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001

• One survey estimates 32 million Americans subject to racial profiling in 2003

• Racial Profiling– Policy Initiatives