Chapter 10 Race & Ethnicity Javier Navedo, Greg Bolden, Lorien Velasquez, Chedene Ewert, Erin Walsh

Race Race – category of people who share inherited physical characteristics and whom others see as a distinct group Scholars have placed people into three racial groups  Caucasoids = whites with fair skin and straight or wavy hair  Mongoloids = Asians with yellowish or brownish skin and distinctive folds on the eyelids  Negroids = blacks with dark skin and tightly curled hair Doesn’t always describe complexity of race  More concerned with how people react to characteristics and how they affect society

The set of cultural characteristics that distinguishes one group from another group. Examples are: 1. German Americans 2. Hispanics 3. Asian 4. African Americans Ethnicity

Ethnic Group - People who share a common cultural background and a common sense of identity. Minority Group - A group of people who – because of physical characteristics or cultural practices – are singled out and unequally treated.

Discrimination Discrimination – denial of equal treatment to individuals based on their group membership Discrimination is based on behavior and prejudice is based on attitude Discrimination ranges from name-calling and rudeness to acts of violence  Between 1882 and 1970, more than 1,170 African Americans were lynched by white mobs because whites didn’t like them

Discrimination Legal Discrimination: Upheld by law Institutionalized Discrimination: Outgrowth of the structure of Society. Example of Legal Discrimination= The Jim Crow laws passed in southern states during the late 1800s required African American and white Americans to use separate public facilities and to attend separate schools. Example of Institutionalized Discrimination= Minority groups are denied access to jobs and housing because of a prejudiced employer or landlord. Over time, group members may become concentrated in low-income communities.

Prejudice Prejudice – unsupported generalization about a category of people Stereotypes – oversimplified, exaggerated, or unfavorable generalization about a group of people Negative forms of prejudice often involve stereotypes  A person will form an image of a particular group and then apply that to every member of the group Many Americans hold the stereotype that all Irish people are hot-tempered

Prejudice Self-fulfilling prophecy – a prediction that results in behavior that makes the prediction come true Racism – the belief that one’s own race or ethnic group is naturally superior to other races or ethnic groups Individuals combine discrimination and prejudice in four ways  Active bigot prejudiced and openly discriminatory  Timid bigot is prejudiced but afraid to show discrimination  Fair-weather liberal not prejudice but still discriminates  All-weather liberal not prejudice and does not discriminate

Sources of Discrimination Scapegoating: Practice of placing blame for one’s troubles on an innocent individual or group. By focusing on Scapegoats, people gain a sense of superiority at a time when they are feeling powerless. Minority Groups BECOME Scapegoats :  Easy to recognize  Lack Power in Society & may be unlikely to fight back  Concentrated on one geographic area  Target of Scapegoating in the past

Minority Group Treatment Cultural Pluralism: Policy that allows each group within society to keep its unique cultural identity. Assimilation: Blending of culturally distinct groups into a single group with a common culture and identity. Segregation: Physical separation of a minority group from the dominant group.  De jure segregation: Based on Laws  de facto segregation: Informal Norms Subjugation: Maintaining of control over a group through force. Slavery: Ownership of one person by another. Genocide: Extermination aimed at intentionally destroying an entire targeted population. Ethnic Cleansing: Removing a group from a particular area through terror, explosion, and mass murder.

African Americans – More than 12% of the population, largest minority group in the country. 31% of African Americans under 18 live below the poverty level and the unemployment rate is twice the rate of unemployment among white workers. German Americans – German Americans who were raised in America no longer feel ties to their ancestral homeland or its cultural traditions. Hispanics/Asians – Both of these groups have strong ethnic roots unlike the German Americans; They still feel ties to their ancestral homeland and its cultural traditions.

White ethnics White ethnics – collective reference to immigrants from the predominantly Catholic countries of Ireland, Italy, France, Poland, and Greece During the 1800s and 1900s, white ethnics entered the United States and often faced open discrimination at the hands of the American-born Protestant majority  Based on cultural and economic concerns  Opposition vocal and violent (Anti-Catholic riots and lynching)  Some chose to assimilate while others came together in order to hold their identities  White ethnics have been accepted but are still facing discriminations