1. Unit 3: Social Inequality Chapter 10: Racial and Ethnic Relations

2. Do you know what was happening in South Africa?  Ever heard of Apartheid?  Ever heard of Nelson Mandela?

3. History of South Africa  All power (economic, social, political) was in hands of 6 million whites. Only 15% of the population 34 million Black, Asian, & mixed race were under their control  Apartheid Enacted by whites Limited access of other racial groups to housing, education, employment, health care, legal protection, and public facilities. Limited their personal freedoms…like?  Done away with in 1990’s Today it is democratic, power shared among races.

4. Section 1: Race, Ethnicity, & the Social Structure  3 racial groups according to scholars: Caucasoids:  Whites, fair skin, straight or wavy hair Mongoloids  Asians, yellowish or brownish skin and distinctive folds on the eyelids Negroids  Blacks, dark skin, tightly curled hair  Can these possibly encompass everyone?

5. Defining important terms:  Race: Category of people who share inherited physical characteristics and whom others see as being a distinct group For sociologists….  Race isn’t determined by a set of physical characteristics… but is based on people’s reactions to physical characteristics.

6. Defining important terms:  Ethnicity Set of cultural characteristics that distinguishes one group from another group  Ex: national origin, religion, language, customs, values  Ethnic group People who share a common cultural background and a common sense of identity  Some keep heritage stronger than others

7. Important questions:  Can some races be ethnicities?  Can some ethnicities be races?  Are any races or ethnicities genetically inferior than others?  Are some groups more dominant? How can we tell who they are?

8. Defining Important Terms:  Minority group According to Louis Wirth… A group of people who (b/c of phys characteristics or cultural practices) are singled out and unequally treated. Has nothing to do with group size.

9. Characteristics of minority groups (must exhibit all of the below)  They possess identifiable physical or cultural characteristics that differ from those of the dominant group.  Group members are the victims of unequal treatment at the hands of the dominant group.  Membership in the group is an ascribed status.  Group members share a strong bond and sense of group loyalty.  Members tend to practice endogamy.

10. Why do minority groups make excellent scapegoats?  1.) Easy to recognize b/c of physical features, language, style of dress, or religious practices  2.) Lack power in society and may be unlikely to fight back.  3.) They are often concentrated in one geographic area (easy target)  4.) Often targets of scapegoating in the past, so hostility already exists  5.) They represent something the scapegoater does not like

11. Section 2: Patterns of Intergroup Relations  Discrimination Denial of equal treatment to individuals based on their group membership Involves behaviors  Prejudice Unsupported generalization about a category of people. Involves attitudes.

12. Discrimination  Individual level and societal level Name-calling, rudeness, acts of violence  Legal discrim. Societal; upheld by the law  Institutionalized discrim. Societal; outgrowth of the structure of a society  Which is: Apartheid; women in the US not voting; Jim Crow laws; unequal access to resources

13. Prejudice  Involves stereotypes An oversimplified, exaggerated, or unfavorable generalization about a group of people.  Form an image of one particular person, than apply that image to all members of the group  W.I. Thomas If we hear stereotypes enough, they might start to be believed  Robert K. Merton Self-fulfilling prophecy  Prediction that results in behavior that makes the prediction come true

14. Prejudice continued:  For the dominant group… Prejudice serves as a justification for discriminatory actions  Once people come to believe negative claims made against members of a minority group, they find it easier to accept open acts of discrimination.  Racism: Belief that one’s own race or ethnic group is naturally superior to others.  Has been used to justify genocide and slavery

15. Merton – we can combine racism and prejudice in four possible ways Timid Bigot: Prejudiced person who does not discriminate All-Weather Liberal: Non-prejudiced person who does not discriminate Active Bigot: Prejudiced person who discriminates Fair-Weather Liberal: Non-prejudiced person who discriminates DISCRIMINATIONDISCRIMINATION NO YES PREJUDICE YESNO

17. See Racism Power Point

18. Where the heck do discrimination and prejudice come from?  Sociology From our social environment & socialization Internalize norms  Psychology Individual behavior Authoritarian personality  Follow those in authority, conformist Product of frustration and anger Scapegoating  Economic Arise out of competition for scarce resources

19. Patterns of Minority Group Treatment  Cultural Pluralism Each group within society keeps its own unique cultural identity  Ex: Switzerland has 3 official languages  Assimilation Blending of culturally distinct groups into a single group with a common culture and identity  Legal Protection Civil Rights Act of 1964; Voting Rights Act 1965

20. Patterns of Minority Group Treatment  Segregation Policies that physically separate a minority group from the dominant group  De jure segregation – based on laws  De facto segregation: Based on informal norms  Examples?

21. Patterns of Minority Group Treatment  Subjugation Maintaining of control over a group through force  Slavery – most extreme form  Population Transfer When minority group goes to a new territory b/c dominant group wants them too  Extermination Genocide:  When the goal of extermination is the intentional destruction of the entire targeted population Ethnic cleansing:  Removing a group from a particular area through terror, expulsion, and mass murder

22. Section 3: Minority Groups in the US: African Americans  More than 12% of population  How have they suffered here?  Positive gains: 24% hold managerial or professional jobs  35% of whites 41% have middle class incomes

23. African Americans: Not so positive gains  About half the % of Af Amers complete college compared to whites  Af Amer family income is about 64% of a white family income  % of Af Amer families below poverty level is almost three times that of white families  31% of Af Amers 18 years old and younger live below poverty level  Unemployment rate among Af Amer is more than twice as high as the rate among white workers

24. How would Barrack Obama help African Americans in the United States?

25. Minority Groups: Hispanics  US is home to more than 35 million. 58% increase since 1990.  Becoming the largest minority group in the USA.  Estimate there are 5 million illegal immigrants – 70% are Hispanic.  Hold 6,000 elected offices.  Lag behind in education and employment. Ex: poverty rate is about twice that of whites  Very diverse minority group: Where they are from, culture, etc.

26. Minority Groups: Asian Americans  Variety of national backgrounds.  6 largest groups: Chinese, Filipino, Indian, Korean, Vietnamese, & Japanese  4% of US population  3 rd largest minority group  Chinese Exclusion Act, 1882 Lifted in 1940’s  Immigration Act of 1924  Achieve high scores in verbal & math sections of SAT 44% over 25 have a bachelor’s or higher degree  26% of whites  Income for their household is $13,000 higher than all Americans  “Model Minority” Japanese Interment Camps WWII

27. Minority Groups: Native Americans  When Europeans first came here, they had 100’s of tribes and millions of people.  What did they have to endure? Disease War Destruction of their way of life Reservations  2000: 2.5 million in the USA

28. Native Americans continued:  Face the hardest challenges of all…why? 50% on or near reservations are unemployed. 31% live below the poverty level. Rate of alcohol related deaths is 7 times higher than general population. Suicide rate is 1.5 times higher than general population.  2 nd leading cause of death 15-24 years old. 66% 25 and older have graduated from high school, less than 10% have graduated from college.  1924 – all N.A.’s are citizens of USA  1989 – Legislation passed for museum

29. Minority Groups: White Ethnics  Not all white immigrants accepted with a hug: Ireland, Italy, France, Poland, Greece (white ethnics)  All mostly Catholic – treated with discrimination  Came with little money and few skills Didn’t speak English  EX of discrimination: Catholic lynchings “only Americans need apply” Lowest paying jobs  How did they respond? Assimilation! Banded together in ethnic neighborhoods – ghettos  Often stereotyped as poorly educated…not so true…