Race and Ethnicity

Race A race is a socially constructed category of people who share biologically transmitted traits that members of a society consider important People may classify one another racially based on physical characteristics such as skin color, facial features, hair texture, and body shape Although we think of race in terms of biological elements, race is a socially constructed concept. A race comes into being only when the members of a society decide that some physical trait (such as skin color or eye shape) actually matters The meanings and importance of race not only differ from place to place but also change over time

For one thing, no society contains biologically “pure” people Why, then, do societies make so much of race? Such categories allow societies to rank people in a hierarchy, giving some people more money, power, and prestige than others and allowing some people to feel that they are inherently “better” than others Ethnicity Ethnicity is a shared cultural heritage. People define themselves -or others- as members of an ethnic category based on common ancestry, language, or religion that gives them a distinctive social identity Like race, the concept of “ethnicity” is socially constructed Keep in mind that race is constructed from biological traits and ethnicity is constructed from cultural traits

Prejudice and Stereotypes Minorities A minority is any category of people distinguished by physical or cultural difference that a society sets apart and subordinates Minorities have two important characteristics. First, they share a distinctive identity, which may be based on physical or cultural traits. Second, minorities experience subordination Prejudice and Stereotypes Prejudice is a rigid and unfair generalization about an entire category of people. Prejudice is unfair because all people in some category are described as the same, based on little or no direct evidence Prejudices can be either positive or negative. Our positive prejudices tend to exaggerate the virtues of people like ourselves, and our negative prejudices condemn those who differ from us

Prejudice often takes the form of a stereotype (stereo is derived from a Greek word meaning “solid”), a simplified description applied to every person in some category Many white people hold stereotypical views of minorities. Stereotyping is especially harmful to minorities in the workplace Racism A powerful and harmful form of prejudice, racism is the belief that one racial category is innately superior or inferior to another. Racism has existed throughout world history A scapegoat is a person or category of people, typically with little power, whom people unfairly blame for their own troubles Because they have little power and thus are usually “safe targets”, minorities often are used as scapegoats

Authoritarian Personality Theory According to Adorno and his colleagues, people who show strong prejudice toward one minority are usually intolerant of all minorities These authoritarian personalities rigidly conform to conventional cultural values and see moral issues as clear-cut matters of right and wrong People with authoritarian personalities also view society as naturally competitive and hierarchical, with “better” people (like themselves) inevitably dominating those who are weaker (all minorities) Closely related to prejudice is discrimination, unequal treatment of various categories of people Prejudice refers to attitudes, but discrimination is a matter of action

Institutional prejudice and discrimination, bias built into the operation of society's institutions, including schools, hospitals, the police, and the workplace Pluralism is a state in which people of all races and ethnicities are distinct but have equal social standing Assimilation describes the process by which minorities gradually adopt patterns of the dominant culture Assimilation can involve changing modes of dress, values, religion, and friends Segregation is the physical and social separation of categories of people (residential neighbourhoods, schools, hospitals, and even cemeteries) Pluralism encourages distinctiveness without disadvantage, but segregation enforces separation that harms a minority

Genocide is the systematic killing of one category of people by another This deadly form of racism and ethnocentrism violates nearly every recognised moral standard This is England Joshua Churchill End the flag in sea scene https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZK1UOyaPWE