Race and Ethnicity Exam 2

differences in marriage rates of racial groups

latinos and asians, whites, AA

why do we see differences in marriage rates between racial groups

familism and marriageable men hypothesis

familism

cultural orientation prioritizing families, including marriage and children

marriageable men hypothesis

shortage of economically stable or suitable men in some racial communities

intermarriage

marriage between members of different racial groups

disparity in support and actuality of interracial marriage

94% of Americans support interracial marriage, only 15% of couples are interracial though

why is there a gap between attitudes and practice of interracial marriage?

assortative mating, digital sexual racism, lacework, race socialization

assortative mating

tendency to partner with people who share similar characteristics

social networks can remain racially segregated (segregated schools => segregated neighborhoods => segregated friend groups → segregated dating pools)

online dating show stats

black users more likely to initiate contact with white users than white users initiate with black users

black women and asian men are often rated lower than other groups

digital sexual racism

distinct form of racism mediated and amplified through impersonal anonymous context of online dating due to algorithms, user preferences, and racial stereotypes

what does digital sexual racism reveal

• hierarchies of desirability

• fetishization

• racial exclusion framed as just a preference

• racialized sexual scripts: socially constructed ideas about who is desirable, dominant, submissive, or marriage material

racework

everyday strategies people use to maintain close relationships in racially unequal society such as

• distancing themselves from stereotypes about interracial intimacy

• emphasizing normalcy and downplaying race

• blurring distinctions between themselves and same race couples

racial socialization

messages, practices, and behavior parents and caregivers use to teach children about

• the meaning of race

• racial identity

• racism and discrimination

• cultural history and pride

• how to safely navigate a racially unequal society

types of racial socialization

1. cultural socialization

2. preparation for bias

3. promotion of mistrust

4. colorblind socialization

5. racial avoidance

cultural socialization

teaching children about their cultural heritage, traditions, and racial group history

preparation for bias

preparing children to recognize and cope with discrimination

(particularly common in black families due to well documented racial disparities in policing and education)

promotion of mistrust

teaching children to be wary of other racial groups without necessarily providing coping Strats

colorblind socialization

emphasizing individual qualities over race and minimizing racial differences

racial avoidance

silence about race, different from explicit colorblindness

• children notice racial differences early on even without adult instruction, does not prevent racial meaning making

research questions in “White Kids”

1. how do affluent white kids form different ideas about race despite similar structural privileges

2. how do white kids learn race

3. what role do parents play in shaping their views

research methods in “White Kids”

ethnographic research with white, affluent families in the Midwest living in three different neighborhoods (interview with children and participant observation, follow up interviews with some of the initial participatns to see how views evolved as teens

Three locations that author of White Kids investigates

1. Sheridan: affluent, mostly white and segregated where parents usually send kids to private schools or homogenous public schools, racism is denied or minimized

2. Wheaton Hills: well-to-do, mixed public school experiences, some racial diversity, parents seek out quality schools and believe in diversity but struggle to enact it, racism is acknowledged but individualized

3. Evergreen: progressive urban neighborhood, more liberal families committed to public schooling, intentional exposure to diversity and anti-racist values, more nuanced social awareness

Reasoning for parents sending kids to each school in White Kids

1. Sheridan: safe, exclusive, prestigious (linked to whiteness and wealth), avoid convos about race and frame choice as merit based

2. Wheaton Hills: public schools that are high quality but also somewhat diverse but also value academic advantages

3. Evergreen: committed to education equity and diversity, still face tension between doing the right thing and giving children an advantage

conundrum of privilege in White Kids

parents know their children benefit from racial and class privilege, but they also want what is best for their children, creating a paradox between reducing inequality and failing as a parent for not securing advantages

justified avoidance in white kids

strategies of vehemently claiming not to be racist while acting in ways that secure advantages for their own child

where do white children learn about race in white kids

• home and family race talk

• school environments

• peers and neighborhoods

  • interracial friendships do not transform racial understandings

• travel and volunteer work

  • parents have the goal of their kids acknowledging their privilege and doing something for people who not have the same advantages but this is achieved through exposure to marginalized for privilged to learn about themselves

How do kids in each school understand their privilege in White Kids

1. Sheridan Kids: see inequality as individual rather than systemic, assume they deserve advantage through merit

2. Wheaton Hills: more likely to acknowledge racism but struggle to connect it to privilege, often view privilege as neutral or justified

3. Evergreen Kids: more likely to critique structural racism and recognize their privilege, participate in activism or community work, yet still often see their advantages as merit not race

____% of adoptions can be considered transracial

40, mostly white parents adopting children of color

1972 proposal by National association of black social workers

black children should be places into black families when adoption was necessary

transracial parenting

• transracial adoptees struggle with issues of racial identity and belonging

• transracial adoptees raised white environments have higher levels of identity distress, stereotype threat, and isolation

• communication about race between parents and children predicts his well children integrate race into their identity

• research showed that white parents of transracial adoptees often struggle w discussing race (receive post adoption training more likely to engage with purposeful socialization)

racial achievement gap

disparity in academic performance between asian and white students and black, native, and latino students

social reproduction theory (Bourdieu 1977)

schools reproduce class and racial hierarchies rather than eliminate them

cultural capital and habits explain how white middle class norms are rewarded

theories of radicalized education

social reproduction theory

racial formation theory

racial formation theory (omi and winant 1986)

institutions give race meaning through policy and everyday practice

schools are sites where racial meanings are actively produced

desegregation after brown v board

• white flight to suburbs and private schools undermined integration

• seventy years after brown v board of ed most students in the US still attended racially homogenous schools

• some schools are more segregated today than they were in the 1970s

aka defacto segregation (subtler process of segregation)

major driver of inequality in education

school funding: tied to local property taxes= wealthier and often whiter districts receive far more per pupil spending than lower income, racially diverse ones

school choice

magnet and charter schools designed to expand opportunity but in practice can unintentionally re-segregate schools by drawing away middle class white families, leaving under resources public schools behind

“neutral policies” that yield racialized outcomes

1. gifted and advanced placement tracks

2. dress codes

3. discipline policies

school as social worlds

• racial dynamics in peer interactions and teacher-student relationships shape who feels recognized v marginalized

• schools can either reinforce racial divisions or provide space for cross group solidarity

• representation in curriculum influences sense of belonging

radicalization in higher education

race shapes

• admissions policies

• campus climate

• faculty diversity

• student networks

• institutional prestige

Bonilla silva and peoples 2022

many us institutions are hwcus even after formal desegregation

characteristics of HWCUs

predominantly white faculty

eurocentric curriculum

white cultural norms on campus

marginalization of students of color

affirmative action

instituted in 1965 by president Johnson as part of employment policy and has been extended to the education system

regents of the university of California v Bakke 1978

ruled that use of racial quotas in admissions is unconstitutional

universities treated being an underrepresented minority as factor that could boost one applicant (like preference for athletes, children of major donors, etc)

Grutter v Bollinger 2003

ruled that affirmative action in school admissions is constitutional if it treats race as one factor among many and its purpose is to achieve a diverse class but not if its purpose is to remedy past injustices

led to state level bans against racial based preferences

students for fair admissions v Harvard 2023

alleged that the admission process violates title vi of the civil rights act of 1964 by discriminating against asian american applicants in favor of white applicants (AA receive lower personal ratings)

ruled that race based admission systems fail to met the strict security established by grutter and Bakke = programs found to violate equal protection clause of 14th amendment

how should sociologists conceptualize asian American success in education?

more recent immigration patterns= different resources and wealth opportunities

aa is NOT monolithic, these measurable successful outcomes vary depending on asian ethnic group studied

aa have different ideas about education and parenting than other racial groups

Lee 2021 on affirmative action on Asian Americans

frames AA as primary victims of affirmative action (relies on misunderstanding of how affirmative action works and who it benefits)

lee points to survey data showing that most asian Americans support affirmative action policies

draws on racial triangulation

racial triangulation

successful minority but used as evidence against policies benefiting other groups, positioned as racial wedge where they are used politically to undermine affirmative action policies aimed at addressing historical racial inequality

relative valiorization and civic ostracism

impact of students for fair admissions v Harvard 2023

10% drop in black and latino enrollment in coming years

colleges explore other ways to achieve diverse student body:

= expand outreach to build bigger applicant pool

top percent plans

assess how race has affected applicants life so long it is tied to character

DEI

• created by universities to increase racial and ethnic diversity, address historical exclusion in education, improve campus climate, expand access through diversity offices and admin, bias training and diversity workshops, faculty diversity hiring initiatives, etc.

DEI debates

• critics say DEI promotes political ideology, divides people by race, and undermines meritocracy

• recent state and fed orders aim to investigate organizations receiving federal funding that use dei programs (universities receiving federal funding felt pressured to eliminate DEI initiatives), framing Dei as illegal discrimination

prohibited content in florida intro to social course

suggest unintional institutional discrimination

discussino about instittuions oppressing people of color

discussion that heteronormative behaviors tied to implicit bias, harmful to children

learned traits and behaviors men and women

sexual orientation and gender identity

minority serving institutions

universities and colleges enrolling significant percentage of students from minority groups

HBCU

university that were established during segregation with goal of eeducating black students

experience an enrollment decline through mid 2010s but applications have been up at HBCUs since 2018

racialized aesthetics

ways in which beauty standards are shaped by racial hierarchies, which are related to social and economic rewards

colorism

differentiate people by shade where lighter skin people have advantages in the racialized hierarchies

body work

unpaid work individuals do to modify their own bodies

beauty work

a subset of body work and describes beauty practices that individuals perform on themselves to elicit benefits (like skin whitening)

aesthetic labor

practice of hiring employees based on looks, can partially explain job segregation and unequal outcomes on basis of race

Arya 2021

defines cultural appropriation as the adoption of elements of a margiainzled culture by a dominant group, which features

• power imbalances

• decontextualizing cultural meaning

• commodification

• selective appreciation

cultural production

describes how cultural goods are created and distributed (art, media, music)

cultural consumption

describes how audiences interpret, use, and assign meanings to goods

Banks 2024

argues that culture is not neutral but race shapes both what is produced and how it is valued

how culture is classified, valued, represented, capital, and intermediaries

cultural production is

racially stratified—people of color are underrepresented in leadership roles in production

cultural production is controlled by gatekeepers who shape what gets produced, therefore reproducing dominant perspectives

segmented markets

people of color are not valued in marketing = less reach and reinforce marginalization

cultural intermediaries

critics, influencers, marketers, etc. shape cultural value and public perception ans whiteness often defines what counts as universal appeal and good taste

commodification of race

describes the ways in which race becomes a marketable asset of a cultural good

authenticty is socially constructed and tied to racial identity

marginalized groups are expected to be authnetic but are limited in how they can be expressed

media literacy

ability to sift through and analyze the messages that inform, entertain, and sell to us

increased movement to contextualizing racialized media

how are new media types changing racial cultural production and consumption?

individuals do not have to rely on gatekeepers to produce and distribute their content directly

content visibility is governed by racialized algorithms

cultural forms spread rapidly

audience driven, participatory forms of racial discourse

intensified struggles over ownership, credit, and representation

racial and ethnic disparities appear across

maternal mortality

infant mortality

chronic disease

covid outcomes

complications with measuring and explaining racial health disparities

1. population heterogenity

2. time and place (change across history and geography)

3. race and ethnicty shift

4. health is multidimensional (physical, mental, behavioral, and env factors interact)

5. risk of oversimplification

   1. descriptive stats hide mechanisms and inequality processes and can be used to justify racial essentialist views

social determinants of health

nonmedical factors that influence health outcomes such as conditions i nwhich people are born, grow, work, live, and age

helps explain how black women have a higher baseline health risk entering pregnancy than white women

causes of maternal health disparities

1. nutrition and food access: higher rates of food insecurity and more likely to live in food desserts and food swamps = higher rates of diet related conditions

2. Housing and environmental conditions: residential segregation is linked with higher exposure levesl of air pollution, lead and toxins, and unsafe housing conditions in general

3. health care access: more likely to be un/underinsured, more likely to live in medically underserved communities, higher rates of delayed prenatal care

4. Occupational exposure: work in physically demanding jobs w little flexibility, lack paid leave = stress, physical strain, environmental hazards

what does not shield black women from pregnancy related risks

education and income (college educated black women in us still face higher risks for maternal mortality than white women who do not finish high school)

Hummer 2023

population health has under-theorized racism and must center it

historically focused on SES, behaviors, demohgraphics, but has underemphasized racism itself

argues that it should be treated as a central causal force

weathering, population health, systemic racism, nativity, intersectionality

*revision of presidential address using demographic analysis

health care bias and discrimination

racial bias impacts medical decisions that providers make in assestment, diagnosis, and treatment

black women are more likely to have pregnancy complications missed or treated later

weathering

long term activiation of the stress response system, which can accelerate aging of the body and increase the risk for numerous health problems

solutions to maternal health disparities

• train providers to understand and address racism and race biases

• build more diverse health care workforce

• offer patients tools to navitate their health care system, including patient advocates

• invest in community programs that offer on stop comprehensive services, home vists, and follow up services

types of racial inequities in criminal justice

1. incarceration rates

2. sentencing disparities (black males receive longer sentences)

3. police stops

past research on criminal justice system can be split into two camps

1. study of criminal behavior

2. study of criminal legel contact and formal punishment

sampson 2025

criminal justice system lit review

argues that there is a need to focus on social processes that shape both behavior and system responses including

1. time and place

2. criminal behavior and legal contact

3. structural inequaliteis accumulate across life course

crimmigration, algorithimic bias, birth lottery of history

racial profiling

utilize race as informant to determine what policing measures to take

• considered illegal by violating 14th amendment and 4th amendment but recent court decisions narrowed these protections in specific contexts (allow race as a factor in immigration stops)

broken windows theory

theory that stopping low impact cimes leads to a more cohesive neighborhood and a setting less likely to attract violine crime but practically it leads to heightened surveillance and police presence in poor nonwhite urban neighrborhoods

defunding the police

movement torwards divesting money from local and state police budgets and reinvesting it into communities, mental health services, and social service programs

• investments instead intended to address root causes of crime

• also advocates for increasing oversight on police

luxury beliefs

signal status or moral virtue but are low cost for the people who hold them while potentially imposing costs on others, especially less advantaged groups

is defunding the police a luxury belief

critics say yes because those supporting defunding the police tend to live in safer neighborhoods and have access to private security, resources, or social capital. therefore, reductions in policing may affect lower income communities and higher crime exposure which are often communities of color

racialization of the legal system

crack v powder cocaine

drug free zone laws

bias impacting sentencing outcomes

crimmigration system

system in which the immifration enforcement system is integrated with the day to day operations of the criminal justice system

history of crimmigration

1776- little immifration regulation

1882- race becomes central to immigration regulation and immifration regulation is legalizezd

1924- immigration is capped

2003- immigration becomes a matter of national security and criminal justice

hate crimes

criminal acts motivated by bias or prejudice torward a group

message crimes

send fear beyond individual victim

hate crimes often rise during

1. political tension

2. economic instability

3. periods of increased immigration or demographic change

hate crimes tend to be underreported due to

fear of retaliation

distrust of law enforcement

immigration status concerns

hate crime laws enhance penalties for bias motivated crimes but require prood of intent which is difficult to prove

hate groups

organization or collection of individuals that based on its official statement or principles or activiteis has beliefs or practices that attack or malign an entire class of people (doesn’t need to engage in criminal activity or engage in their positioning)

associational life

voluntary groups people join outside of work and family

examples of associational life

religious organizations, clubs, neighborhood groups, sports leagues

homophily

tendency for people to associate with people who are most like themselves

race and religion

heavily racialized, religious identity becomes treated like racial identity

shape race ideology

sites of racial action

race identity

individuals sense of belonging to a particular racial group, shaped by psychological, cultural, and sociopolitical factors