CHAPTER 7 —> Ethnicity

acculturation

The adoption of cultural traits, such as language, by one group under the influence of another.

apartheid

Laws (no longer in effect) in South Africa that physically separated different races into different geographic areas.

assimilation

A dominant group imposes it culture on subordinate groups that the subordinate groups become indistinguishable from the dominant culture.

balkanization

Process by which a state breaks down through conflicts among its ethnicities.

balkanized

Descriptive of a small geographic area that could not successfully be organized into one or more stable states because it was inhabited by many ethnicities with complex, long-standing antagonisms toward each other.

Blockbusting

A process by which real estate agents convince white property owners to sell their houses at low prices because of fear that black families will soon move into the neighborhood.

brown vs. board of education

1954- court decision that declared state laws segregating schools to be unconstitutional. Overturned Plessy v. Ferguson (1896).

centrifugal force

The attitudes or forces that divide people and countries.

centripetal force

An attitude that tends to unify people and enhance support for a state.

devolution

The process whereby regions within a state demand and gain political strength and growing autonomy at the expense of the central government.

diaspora

People who come from a common ethnic background but who live in different regions outside of the home of their ethnicity

ethnic cleansing

Process in which more powerful ethnic group forcibly removes a less powerful one in order to create an ethnically homogeneous region.

ethnicity

Affiliation or identity within a group of people bound by common ancestry and culture.

ethnic neighborhoods

In cities, areas that have concentrated populations of a particular ethnic group, such as Chinatown and Little Italy.

gender roles

Expectations about what is appropriate behavior for each sex.

genocide

Deliberate attempt to destroy an entire religious or ethnic group.

indigenous

Native to a certain area or place.

irredentism

A type of expansionism whereby a country wants/attempts to annex a territory whose population is ethnically related to the country but lies outside of its formal borders.

Jim Crow Laws

Any of the laws legalizing racial segregation of blacks and whites that were enacted in Southern states beginning in the 1880s and enforced through the 1950's

Multiculturalism

The encouragement of multiple cultures in a society to enhance diversity.

multi-ethnic state

A state that contains more than one ethnicity.

multinational state

State that contains two or more ethnic groups with traditions of self-determination that agree to coexist peacefully by recognizing each other as distinct nationalities.

nationalism

Loyalty & devotion to a particular nationality.

nationality

Identity with a group of people that share legal attachment and personal allegiance to a particular place as a result of being born there.

nation-state

A country whose population possesses a substantial degree of cultural homogeneity and unity.

Nelson Mandela

A black South African leader who protested the policy of Apartheid and spent over thirty years in prison before becoming the first black president of South Africa.

Plessy vs. Ferguson

(1896) Supreme Court decision that created the "separate but equal" doctrine. As a result many states across the South had "Jim Crow Laws." Separate water fountains, restrooms, entrances, segregated seating at movie theatres, etc. Most importantly, segregated schools.

race

A group of human beings distinguished by physical traits, blood types, genetic code patterns or genetically inherited characteristics.

racism

Belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race.

racist

A person who subscribes to the beliefs of racism.

self-determination

A concept that ethnicities have the right to govern themselves.

sharecropper

A person who works fields rented from a landowner and pays the rent and repays loans by turning over to the landowner a share of the crops.

shatterbelt

Region caught between two stronger forces whose borders are constantly being redefined.

state

An area organized into a political unit and ruled by an established government with control over its internal and foreign affairs.

stateless nation

A term used to imply that a group, usually a minority ethnic group, is a nation but does not have a State of its own (ex. Kurds, Palestinians).

Triangular Trade

Trading System between Europe, Africa, and the colonies; European purchased slaves in Africa and sold them to colonies, new materials from colonies went to Europe while European finished products were sold in the colonies.

stereotype

An unreliable generalization about all members of a group that does not recognize individual differences within the group.

prejudice

To pre-judge a person.

ethnic enclave

A place with a high concentration of an ethnic group that is distinct from those in the surrounding area

Ethnicity

A social division based on national origin, religion, language, and often race.

Ethnoburb

A suburban area with a cluster of a particular ethnic population

Ethnophobia

Fear of people of a particular ethnicity

Genocide

Deliberate extermination of a racial or cultural group

Nationalism

A strong feeling of pride in and devotion to one's country

Racism

Belief that one race is superior to another

Redlining

A process by which banks draw lines on a map and refuse to lend money to purchase or improve property within the boundaries.

Sharecropper

A person who works fields rented from a landowner and pays the rent and repays loans by turning over to the landowner a share of the crops.

xenophobia

fear of foreigners