CHAPTER 12: RACE AND ETHNICITY SOCI 100: INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY Spring 2013 Deniz Yükseker

CHAPTER OUTLINE What is ethnicity, what is race? What is racialization? What are prejudice and discrimination? How does sociology explain prejudice and discrimination?

Ethnicity Ethnicity: shared cultural heritage Cultural heritage may include language, religion, common historic background, common ancestry, common customs and traditions  distinct social identity of a group Ethnicity is NOT a biological category. It is related to culture.  One person can possibly belong to more than one ethnic group. Or, a person can somewhat modify her ethnicity over her life course.

the myth of racial superiority What is race? A group whose inherited physical characteristics distinguish it from other groups The reality of race Myths about race: the myth of pure races the myth of a fixed number of races the myth of racial superiority

THE MYTH OF RACE “Biological” differences between racial groups are superficial. All human beings belong to a single biological species: the human race Many genetic characteristics are shared by people belonging to different racial groups

THE MYTH OF RACE READ: http://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2012/0 7/19/skin-tone-and-the-arbitrariness-of- race/

THE REALITY OF RACE If so, where does the term race come from, and why has it been so persistent? The term race came into use between the late 18th and mid-19th centuries. It gained predominance during the European expansion to Asia, Africa and the Americas.

THE REALITY OF RACE Even though race is not a scientific category, race is still important in contemporary society. Racialization: the process of ranking people on the basis of their presumed race. Racialization creates a system of inequality and social exclusion Examples: US society during slavery and segregation, South African apartheid, Nazi Germany

How does racialization work How does racialization work? Marriage rules, definition of races, inheritance rules, segregation in education, employment, housing, etc.

Racial and ethnic minorities An ethnic or racial minority is a category of people distinguished by physical or cultural traits, and who are often socially disadvantaged. They share a distinctive identity they are likely to be subordinated by the mainstream society (e.g. less income, lower education, discrimination, etc.)

What are the officially recognized minorities in Turkey What are the officially recognized minorities in Turkey? Are there other minorities?

Prejudice, discrimination, racism Prejudice: a rigid and irrational generalization about an entire category of people, with little regard for the facts. Prejudice is an attitude. It can be positive or negative. There may be prejudices about ethnic and racial groups, people of a certain social class, people of certain sexual orientations, women, the elderly, etc.

Stereotypes A stereotype is a prejudicial, exaggerated description of some category of people. Stereotypes are exaggerated images of a group of people fostered by hate and fear (towards out-groups), or love and loyalty (towards members of the in-group)

Discrimination Any action that involves treating various categories of people unequally. Discrimination is about behavior. It can be positive or negative. Discrimination is often related to power relations. Institutional discrimination

Racism Racism is a powerful and destructive form of prejudice. Racism is the belief that one racial category is superior or inferior to another one. Institutional racism: collective failure of an organization to provide an appropriate an professional service to people because of their culture, color or ethnic origin. It includes discrimination, prejudice and racist stereotyping.

THEORIES OF PREJUDICE Scapegoat theory: prejudice stems from frustration A scapegoat: a person or category of people whom others unfairly blame for their own troubles. Note: in the textbook, disregard the authoritarian personality theory

theorIES of prejudICE Functionalism: prejudice and discrimination might be «functional» for the rulers to «unite» a nation Prejudice against the «Other» might be functional for strengthening in-groups

theorIES of PReJUDICE Conflict theory: Powerful groups (often ruling groups) in a society use prejudice to economically exploit an ethnic or racial group Why? How?

Patterns of ethnic/racial interaction in a society Pluralism, assimilation, segregation, genocide

pluralISM A state in which racial and ethnic minorities are distinct but have social parity.  Living together, but maintaining cultural differences West European and North American societies are pluralistic in some respects, but not so pluralistic in other ways.

AssIMIlatIon Assimilation: the process by which minorities gradually adopt patterns of the dominant culture The American “melting pot”

Segregation Segregation is the physical and social separation of categories of people. Sometimes, majority ethnic or racial groups segregate minorities in terms of occupations, housing, schools, healthcare, transportation, etc. De Jure (by law) segregation: “Jim Crow” segregation in the southern United States until the early 1960s, apartheid South Africa De facto (in fact) segregation: contemporary United States (in terms of schooling and housing, especially in Northeastern urban areas) Note: segregation is not only about ethnic and racial groups. There can also be gender segregation

genocIDE Genocide is the systematic annihilation of one category of people by another Recently also called “ethnic cleansing” Historical examples: decimation of native peoples in North and South America by the Portuguese, Spanish, French and the British from 16th century onwards 20th century examples: the Nazi Holocaust; Serbian ethnic cleansing of Bosnians Hutu genocide of Tutsis in Rwanda in 1994 during civil war; chemical bombing of Halabja and the killing of thousands of Kurds by the Iraqi regime in 1988