Race, Culture and American Society

All of the World Is a Stage Saturday Reader

Identity Who are WE really?

US Census American is changing everyday. She is becoming more “colorful”, has more “accents,” and is older. Check out census. census

Who is a minority Minority Group Minority status has more to with wealth and power. Using Wagley and Harris (1958) there are 5 characteristics of minority The members of the group experience a pattern of disadvantage or inequality. The members of the group share a visible trait or characteristic that differentiates them from other groups. The minority group is a self-conscious social unit. Membership is the group is usually determined at birth. Members tend to marry within the group.

More Ethnic minorities – use cultural characteristics

Racial minorities – use physical characteristics

Race The conception that people can be classified into groups based on skin color, hair texture, shape of head, eyes, nose, and lips. from Meaning of Difference (5 th ) by Karen Rosenblum and Toni- Michelle C. Travis

Ethnicity Membership is a subgroup within an environment dominated by another culture. “Minority groups identified primarily by cultural characteristics such as language or religion.” (race, ethnicity, etc.) “It is an an aspect of social relationship between agents who consider themselves as being culturally distinctive from members of other groups with whom they have a minimum of regular interaction. It can thus be defined as a social identity (based on a contrast vis-à-vis others) characterized by metaphoric or fictive kinship (Yelvington, 1991:168).” [

Gender

What is it about men? What is it about women?

Some Definitions Prejudice Is the tendency of an individual to think about other groups in negative ways, to attach negative emotions to those groups, and to prejudice individuals on the basis of their group membership. Individual prejudice has two parts –Cognitive (thinking) –Affective (feeling) A prejudice person thinks about other groups in terms of stereotypes which are generalizations that are thought to apply to group members.

Four Concepts in Dominant-Minority Relations Level of Analysis DimensionIndividualGroup or Societal Thinking/feeling Doing Prejudice Discrimination Ideological Racism Institutional Discrimination

More Definitions Discrimination is the unequal treatment of a person or person based on group membership. Ideological Racism A belief system that asserts that a particular group is inferior; it is the group of societal equivalent of individual prejudice. Institutional Discrimination Is a pattern of unequal treatment based on group membership that is built into the daily operations of society, whether or not it is consciously intended.

Assimilation and Pluralism Is resistance futile?

What is Assimilation “is a process in which formerly distinct and separate groups come to share a common culture and merge together socially. Differences in among groups decrease.” Pluralism “exists when groups maintain their individual identities. Groups remain separate and cultural and social differences persist over time.”

Types of Assimilation Melting Pot – is where groups come together and contribute in roughly equal amounts creating a common culture and a new, unique society.

Questions Is this true of the US? Why or Why not? What is distinctive about US culture and society? Who are the biggest contributors?

Another type -- dominant in praxis In the US Americanization or Anglo- conformity Assimilation in the US “was designed to maintain the predominance of the British-type institutional patterns created during the early years of American society.” In this systems “immigrants and minority groups are expected to adapt Anglo-American culture as quickly as possible.”

Milton Gordon He developed 3 stages of assimilation. Acculturation Integration Secondary level Primary level Intermarriage

Gordon’s Stages of Assimilation StageProcess 1. Acculturation (cultural assimilation) The group learns the culture, language, and value system of the dominant society.

Gordon’s Stages of Assimilation StageProcess 2. Integration (structural assimilation) At the secondary level: Public, impersonal At the primary level: Interpersonal, intimate Members of the group enter that public institutions of the dominant society Members of the group into into cliques, clubs, and friendship groups of the dominant society.

Gordon’s Stages (cont.) StageProcess 3. Intermarriage (marital assimilation) Members of the group intermarry with members of the dominant group on a large-scale basis.

Pluralism Cultural pluralism “Groups have not acculturated and each maintains it own identity. The groups might speak different languages, practice different religions, and have different value systems.” Structural pluralism “Cultural differences are minimal but the groups occupy different locations in the social structure.” The has many of the same cultural practices as the dominant group but they maintain separate organizations.

Multiculturalism This stresses mutual respect for all groups and celebrates the multiplicity of heritages that have contributed to the development of the United States.

Sources 2. Race, Ethnicity, Class and Gender by Joseph Healy, (3 rd edition). Race What is race - Race, Ethnicity, Class and Gender by Joseph Healy, (3 rd edition). photos/Ethnic%20Minorities%20support%20Beijing's%20Bid.jpg security/bb/adss/images/minorities_1a.gif Gender Prejudice et al – Race, pp Borg pictures -

Sources Race, Ethnicity etc.