Chapter 8 Racial-Ethnic Relations Pgs. 225 - 259

Do Now Read Page 225

The Problems in Sociological Perspective Prejudice and discrimination exist around the world Prejudice is an attitude, a pre-judging of some sort Usually negative but can be positive Discrimination is an action that treats someone or some group unfairly People who are discriminated against because they belong to a particular group are called a minority group. Does not necessarily mean numerical minority Those who discriminate are the dominant group Has more power, privileges, and higher social status Minorities come into existence when people who have different customs, languages, values, or physical characteristics come under control of the same political system. Discrimination is based on differences.

Characteristics of Minority Groups Membership comes through birth It is an ascribed status. The dominant group holds the minority’s physical or cultural traits in low esteem. (prejudice) The dominant group treats members to the minority group unequally. (discrimination) Minority members tend to marry within their group (endogamy) Minority members tend to feel a common identity because of their physical or cultural traits, and the disadvantages that these traits bring.

Goals of Minority Groups Assimilation: wanting to be treated as individuals, not as members of a separate group, the minority group adopts the culture of the dominant group and is absorbed into the larger society Pluralism: the minority group wants to live peacefully with the dominant group, yet maintain the differences that set it apart and are important to its identity Secession: wanting cultural and political independence, the minority group seeks to separate itself and form a separate union Militancy: convinced of its own superiority the minority wants to reverse the status and dominate society Native Americans

Policies of Dominant Groups Assimilation: an attempt to eliminate the minority by absorbing it into the mainstream culture Forced assimilation – the dominant group bans the minority’s religion, language, and other distinctive customs Permissible assimilation – permits the minority to adopt the dominant customs at its own pace Pluralism: when a dominant group permits or encourages cultural differences Segregation: an attempt by the dominant group to keep a minority subservient and exploitable

Policies of Dominant Groups Internal colonialism: a dominant group exploiting a minority group’s labor Population transfer Direct population transfer – the dominant group forces the minority to leave Indirect population transfer – the dominant group makes life so miserable for a minority that its members “choose” to leave Genocide: policy of extermination motivated by hatred, fear, or greed South African Apartheid History and Laws "Miracle Rising" - South African Apartheid Rwandan Genocide

Race and Ethnicity Race – the inherited physical characteristics that identify a group of people people in history have used race to distinguish the superior from the inferior Eugenics – attempts to improve the human “race” through selective breeding Approved by many professionals in the 1930s Today biologists have found that human characteristics flow endlessly into one another There is no pure race The term used is racial-ethnic group which refers to people who identify with one another on the basis of their ancestry and cultural heritage

Immigrants and the Melting Pot The many racial-ethnic groups that make up the United States have distinct histories, customs, and identities. See pg. 231 – Figure 8.2 Throughout U.S. history, immigrants have confronted Anglo-conformity They were expected to speak the English language and adopt other Anglo-Saxon ways of life Melting pot – “melt” European immigrants into a new cultural and biological blend Most European immigrants lost their specific ethnic identities and merged into mainstream culture Some who want to get “melted” have found that their appearance evokes stereotypes that make such melting difficult Stereotypes – generalizations about what people are like The Changing State of U.S. Immigration

What is the Problem? Social problems arise when people get upset because prejudice and discrimination deprive minorities of the rights to which citizenship entitles them and the equality guaranteed by the constitution. Effects of Discrimination People who are discriminated against can internalize the views of the dominant group Minority can begin to believe they are less capable, less worth, and less human Economic Consequences Family income of African Americas, Latinos, and Native Americans run about 40% less than that of white families African America babies are more and twice as likely to die than are white babies

Institutional Discrimination Individual discrimination – one person treating another badly on the basis of race-ethnicity Institutional discrimination – discrimination built into the social system that oppresses whole groups ex. Whites denied African American the right to vote Ex. South African Apartheid

Theoretical Perspectives Symbolic Interactionism: Labels No one is born prejudiced We learn values, beliefs, and ways to perceive the world from the families and racial-ethnic groups we are born into The labels that we apply to racial-ethnic groups create selective perception As we generalize members of groups based on labels and stereotypes we only see certain things Labels may help people commit acts that otherwise would challenge their moral sense Ex: by labeling Native Americans as “savages” the U.S. cavalry and settlers perceive them as less then humans This made it easier to kill off whole tribes

Theoretical Perspectives Functionalism: Costs and benefits The discrimination woven into U.S. history benefited the dominant group and it continues to do so Racial-ethnic stratification, the unequal distribution of a society’s resources based on race- ethnicity, helps get society’s dirty work done Dirty work – physically dirty or dangerous, temporary, dead-end and underpaid, undignified and menial jobs When minorities are prevented from higher- paying, prestigious jobs, they take dirty jobs Ethnocentrism – a type of prejudice; “my group’s ways are right, and your group’s ways are wrong” Helps dominant group justify its higher social position and greater share of the resources

Theoretical Perspectives Conflict theory: The Labor Market The dominant group pits racial-ethnic groups against one another in order to exploit workers and increase profit. People Like Us - PBS

What problems do minatory groups in the U.S. today face? You will spit up into 4 groups of 4 or 5. Each group will be assigned a minority group: Latinos, African Americans, Asian Americans, or Native Americans. Over the next few days, using your textbook and outside research, you will put together a brief PowerPoint answering the above question about your particular group. We are working with pages 242-255 in the textbook. You will be presenting your PowerPoint to the class and all students will be responsible for knowing about each minority group for the next test. Your PowerPoint/presentation will be a project grade for the 4th quarter.