Chapter 9 Race and Ethnicity Melanie Hatfield Soc 100

Prejudice and Discrimination Prejudice is an attitude that judges a person on his or her group’s real or imagined characteristics. Discrimination is unfair treatment of people just because of their group membership.

Prejudice, Discrimination, and Sports People who face prejudice and discrimination often enter sports in disproportionately large numbers for lack of other ways to improve their social and economic position. The idea that people of African descent are genetically superior to whites in athletic ability complements the idea that they are genetically inferior to whites in intellectual ability.

The Social Construction of Race Many scholars believe we all belong to one human race, which originated in Africa. They argue that subsequent migration, geographical separation, and inbreeding led to the form of more or less distinct races. Humanity has experienced so much intermixing that race as a biological category has lost nearly all meaning. Some biologists and social scientists suggest we drop the term “race” because perceptions of race affect the lives of most people profoundly. Perceptions of racial difference are socially constructed and often arbitrary.

Why Race Matters If race is merely a social construct and not a useful biological term, why are perceptions of physical difference used to distinguish groups of people in the first place? Most sociologists believe race matters because it allows social inequity to be created and maintained.

The Vicious Cycle of Racism

Ethnicity, Culture, and Social Structure A race is a category of people whose perceives physical markers are deemed socially significant. An ethnic group is composed of people whose perceived cultural markers are deemed socially significant. The biological and cultural aspects of race and ethnicity are secondary to their sociological character.

The Formation of Racial and Ethnic Identities Social contexts, and in particular the nature of one’s relations with members of other racial and ethnic groups, shape and continuously reshape one’s racial and ethnic identity.

The Formation of Ethnic Enclaves An ethnic enclave is a geographical concentration of ethnic group members who establish businesses that serve and employ mainly members of the ethnic group and reinvest profits in community businesses and organizations.

Hispanic Ethnicity Label What unifies the Hispanic community is highly diverse. It was created out of social necessity and is still being socially constructed. This is similar to all ethnic labels and identities, even those that may seem most fixed and natural.

Ethnic and Racial Labels: Choice versus Imposition The idea that race and ethnicity are socially constructed does not mean that everyone can always choose their racial or ethnic identity freely. Political and social processes structure the degree to which people are able to choose their racial and ethnic identities.

Ecological Theory Five stages in the process by which conflict between ethnic and racial emerges and is resolved: Invasion Resistance Competition Accommodations and Cooperation Assimilation

Internal Colonialism and the Split Labor Market Attention should be paid to the social-structural conditions that prevent some groups from assimilating. Internal Colonialism Split Labor Market

Native Americans 1830 Indian Removal Act - Called for relocation of all Native Americans to land west of the Mississippi. In the “Trail of Tears,” the U.S. Army rounded up all 16,000 Cherokees and marched them to Oklahoma. Late 19th century - government adopted a policy of forced assimilation. 1930’s and 40s - Roosevelt adopted a more liberal policy. By the 1960s a full-fledged Red Power movement had emerged. In recent decades, Native Americans have used the legal system to fight for political self-determination and the protection of their remaining lands.

Chicanos The US went to war with Mexico in 1848 to win land. Due mainly to discrimination, Chicanos are socially, occupationally, and residentially segregated from white European Americans, which prevents them from assimilating. Instead many Chicanos have taken part in a movement to renew their culture and protect and advance their rights.

African Americans Many millions of Africans were brought here by force and enslaved. Even after slavery was banned in 1863, Jim Crow laws kept blacks from voting, attending white schools, and participating equally in social institutions. After rapid industrialization some migrated from the South and sought inexpensive housing and low-skill jobs. Their situation improved, but in the mid-1960s, about a third of African Americans lived in poverty, and the proportion is virtually unchanged today.

Chinese Americans In 1882, Congress passed an act prohibiting the immigration of three classes of people into the US for 10 years: lunatics, idiots, and Chinese. Chinese Americans have experienced considerable upward mobility in the past half century.

Advantages of Ethnicity Three main factors enhance the value of ethnic group membership for some Americans who have lived in the country for many generations. These factors are economic, political, and emotional.

The Future of Race and Ethnicity African Americans continue to suffer high levels of racial prejudice and discrimination. But many believe that race is declining in significance as a force shaping the lives of African Americans.