Race Relations chapter 1

Minority

subordinate group whose members have significantly less control or power over their own lives than the majority (dominant) group

*experience limited access to success, wealth, education, pursuit of happiness, etc.

Majority

privileged group that enjoys more rights over the rest of society

5 distinct characteristics of minorities

unequal treatment (prejudice, discrimination, etc.)

distinguishing physical/cultural traits (skin color, language, etc.; these distinguishing traits are determined by society)

involuntary membership (members born into this group)

awareness of subordination (sense of solidarity, make distinctions between their group and everyone else; us vs them complex)

ingroup marriage (members marry other members, majority unwilling to join minority and vise versa)

Identity

how we view ourselves in relationship to other groups and society; seeing ourselves as an individual that’s part of a larger group

*Race, gender, etc.

*identities can change over time, personal conceptualizations

Identity politics

emergence of self conscious social movements arising out of expression of people’s shared identity

Racial group

minority socially segregated from the majority on the basis of physical difference; each society defines these differences

*Colorism ranks individuals by skin tone; hierarchy with white being at the top

*The closer your skin tone resembles white, the more privilege you will have

Ethnic group

groups set apart from others because of their national origin or distinctive cultural patterns; defined by language, food habits, parenting, and marriage

*cultural traits that define ethnic groups originate from their homelands or long history of being segregated from society

*maintain their practices through clubs, worship, etc.

Religious groups

association with religion; Islam, Amish, Buddhist, etc.

*Jewish people are ethnic group

Gender groups

identification with a gender, with men being the social majority

*Women encounter prejudice and discrimination, have a sense of sisterhood (solidarity), and are physically distinguishable

Race is a social construct

• Distinct groups have been made in our minds since society has added importance to differences in physical characteristics, geographic origin, and shared culture

• Race has meanings for people, some of which are inaccurately based on archaic theories science disproved already

• Race has no scientific basis

Biological race

mistaken notion of a genetically isolated human group; pure genetic types do not exist, grouping people by genetics actually disproves the concept of race

*skin color is a spectrum as the result of differentiating gene expression of melanin

*genetic diversity is much more prominent between members of the same race than those of separate racial groups

Eugenics

the belief that human genetic quality can be improved by selective breeding; includes sterilization of the mentally ill, banning mixed marriages, genocide via the Holocaust, etc.

Us vs them mentality

results from societal grouping and feeling of inferiority; is appealing for the majority because it perpetuates privilege and justifies receiving opportunities others are denied

How race social construct benefits the oppressor

• the majority defines which groups are privileged/valuable and which are not, and societal acceptation of race allows racial hierarchies to emerge to benefit the majority

• declaring mass shootings as a societal concern and placed on national agenda while declaring shootings in minority neighborhoods as racial/ethnic specific issues remedied by cleaning up troubled neighborhoods (saying its a personal problem with the group)

• Belief in the inheritance of behavior patterns and association between physical and cultural traits is widespread

Racism

racial supremacy that sees one race as superior to another; when the belief that inheritance of behavior patterns/association between physical and cultural traits is coupled with the belief that certain groups must be inherently superior to others

*race implies that groups that differ physically also bear distinctive emotional and mental abilities, which is based on the notion that humans are divisible into distinct groups

Racial formation

a sociohistorical process in which racial categories are created, inhabited, transformed, and destroyed; the majority defines groups of people based on a racist social structure

*These definitions become systematic and embedded for a long time; we are subjected to racial formation

Example of racial formation

One drop rule: the way to socially construct race in the US; stipulates that if a person has any identifiable African ancestry, even "one drop of Black blood," they are defined/viewed as Black

*Gives identity crisis to biracial/mixed children, who are supposed to be fit into one category but are stuck bouncing around multiple by the country who uses this categorization to oppress minorities legally, socially, politically, economically, etc.

Critical race theory

educational framework that stresses historical origins and contemporary racism perpetuated by social construct of race, seeing racism as coming from people being indifferent rather than confined to an individual

*When applied to law, it argues that our judicial systems and laws are rooted in racism from slavery and colonialism, even when they appear fair

Racial profiling

use of race to suspect someone of a crime

Panethnicity

the development of solidarity among related ethnic subgroups; coalition of tribes to confront external forces

Marginality

the status of being between two cultures, such as a person who has parents that are two different religions

*Feel double consciousness, such as being citizens of the US but being excluded from the majority, or incomplete assimilation

*Trevor Noah’s identity crisis since he was mixed during apartheid

Sociology

the systematic study of social behavior and human groups, well suited for understanding intergroup relations, including race relations

Stratification

the structured ranking/hierarchy of entire groups of people that perpetuates unequal rewards and power in a society; involves subordination of minorities and has implications for how people are treated

*race connects to class and POC are at disadvantage by default and in lower class

*gender also connects to class and is used as a tactic for treatment of women, such as for jobs, education, health, wellness, etc.

Class

people who share similar wealth

*mobility from one class to the other is not easy to achieve, with the movement of minorities into wealthy positions being the most challenging due to facing prejudice/discrimination

3 sociologist perspectives

functionalist, conflict,

functionalist perspective

emphasizes how parts of a society are structured to maintain its stability; if an aspect of social life doesn’t contribute to society's stability/survival, then it will not be passed to the next generation

*racial hostility serves positive functions from perspectives of racists

*Racist ideologies justify discrimination though societal act

*racist beliefs discourage minorities from questioning their status and relieve the majority from responsibility of economic, educational, etc. problems faced by minorities

*existing order supported, nothing changes

Conflict perspective

assumes that social structure is best understood in terms of conflict or tension between competing groups, with the result being economic disparity and structural inequality in education, the labor market, housing, and healthcare; society is in a struggle between the privileged dominant group an the exploited subordinate group

*not all conflicts are violent, take place in policy, practices, etc.

*accounts for tension between competing groups; competition takes place between groups with uneven amounts of power

*minorities exploited and ignored by majority

*social world is a constant struggle, with lots of social changes and redistribution of resources

What are dysfunctions and how is racism dysfunctional to society?

Dysfunctions: elements of society that may disrupt a social system or decrease its stability

6 ways racism is dysfunctional:

1. discrimination makes it so society fails to use resources of all individuals and limits the search for talent/leadership to one group (limits knowledge)

2. discrimination aggravates poverty, crime etc. and places the financial burden of alleviating these problems on the majority

3. society invests lots of time and finance into defending racial barriers

4. prejudice and discrimination disrupt diplomacy and negatively affect global trade

5. social change inhibited

6. discrimination promotes disrespect/disobedience

Blaming the victim

portraying the problems of racial and ethnic minorities as their fault rather than recognizing societal responsibility; criticizing minorities repeatedly for their low status

Labeling perspective

explains why certain people are viewed as deviant while others engaging in the same behavior are not; comes from generalizations, stereotypes, self fulfilling prophecy, etc.

*ex: a youth who misbehaves is considered delinquent if they come from a family with no supervision while another who comes from a middle class family and commits the same misbehavior might be given another chance

Stereotypes

unreliable generalizations about members of a group that do not take into account individual differences; the image prejudiced people maintain of a group toward which they hold ill feelings

*have social consequences

Self fulfilling prophecy

the tendency to respond to and act on the basis of stereotypes; a predisposition that can lead one to validate false definitions

*occurs when minorities become their stereotypes in given situations, such as being put into society’s inferior jobs since they’re denied from more advanced professions and then appearing like their inferior stereotype; the subordinate group was inferior by default and stays inferior

Migration

any transfer of a population; not always voluntary, people can be displaced by conflict (refugees)

*Involuntary migration puts the person at a subordinate status immediately

*The immigrant finds themselves as a member of the minority

Immigration vs emigration

*Emigration= leaving a country to settle into another one

*Immigration= coming to a new country

Push vs pull factors in migration

Push factor= discourage a person from remaining where they live (conflict/war, economic situation, etc.)

Pull factor= attract an immigrant to particular country and encourage person to more to new location (better standards of living, friends and relatives, etc.)

Annexation

nations incorporate or attach land during wars or as a result of war, with the new land being contiguous to the nation's existing border

*makes majorities into minorities; dominant power suppresses the language and culture of minority being annexed

Globalization

the worldwide integration of government policies, cultures, social movements, and financial markets through trade and exchange of ideas

Colonialism

maintenance of political, social, economic, and cultural dominance over people by a foreign power for an extended period; rule by outsiders that doesn't involve actual incorporation into the dominant nation

*Societies gain power over foreign land through military strength, political organization, and investment capital

*Extent of power varies depending on settlement and relations between colonized and colonizing nation; colonial subjects given menial jobs and labor wages, with their resources stripped away to benefit the ruling class

World systems theory

views global economic system as divided between nations that control wealth and those that provide natural resources and labor; limited economic resources available in developing nations worsens ethnic, racial, and religious conflicts, and massive inequality among nations encourages immigration/the movement of many skilled workers from developing to industrial nations

Genocide

deliberate, systematic killing of an entire people or nation

Ethnic cleansing

refers to the forced deportation of people, accompanied by systematic violence and death

Expulsion

when dominant groups choose to force a specific subordinate group out of certain areas or forces them to vacate the country; extreme consequence of minority status

Secession

leaving a country to form a separate country; occurs when a group ceases to be subordinate and forms a new nation or moves to an already established nation, where it becomes dominant

Partition

dividing a nation into parts to make another nation

Segregation

the physical separation of two groups in residence, workplace, and social functions; dominant group imposes segregation of the subordinate group

*measured by segregation index; values indicate percentage of minority that needs to be moved for even distribution

*can be on the basis of race and class

*limits contact between majority and minorities

*de jure and de facto are two types

Apartheid

rigid, government-imposed racial segregation that prevailed in Republic of South Africa, White supremacy rule was formalized into law; Black South Africans limited to impoverished urban townships or rural areas, with their mobility strictly regulated

De facto segregation

result of residential patterns; results from the ways things are organized in society

*ex: gated communities based on income, which segregates Black and White people because race and wealth are related

De jure segregation

legally binding ways to exclude minorities, such as specific assignment to segregated schools

Fusion

occurs when a minority and majority group combine to form new group

*A+B+C=D

Melting pot

idea of human melting pot that implied a new group would emerge that would represent the best qualities/attributes of each initial culture; suggested that the US had a mission to destroy artificial divisions and create a single kind of human

Assimilation

When a subordinate individual/group takes on characteristics of the dominant group and is eventually accepted as part of the group; ideology of dominant group in forcing people how to act and all social institutions in the US push for it (education, economy, government, religion, medical care)

A+B+C=A

*Majority dominates so minorities eventually become indistinguishable and minority sheds actions, beliefs, cultural traditions etc.

*also requires majority to accept minority; dominant group defines what’s an acceptable level of assimilation

*values dominant society and makes it seem that good qualities taken on by minority were inherited from them; subjective

Assimilation occurs slower when:

1. large differences between the minority and the majority

2. majority is not receptive or minority retains its culture

3. minority arrives quickly

4. minorities are concentrated rather than dispersed

5. arrival of minorities is recent and homeland is accessible

Relational assimilation

emphasizes how the lives of nation’s people have changed due to presence of immigrant; US population and immigrants more familiar with each other

*assimilation can only occur when there’s mutual adjustment

*seen in cuisines, such as Italian food being accepted into majority society and seen as American while Mexican remains perceived as foreign

*degree to which relational assimilation occurs can cause anger towards immigrants because majority feels like they’re being asked to adjust to them and don’t want to

Pluralism

implies that various groups in society have mutual respect for their differences, which allows all racial/ethnic groups to express their own cultures without prejudice/discrimination; the alternative to eliminating, changing, or assimilating subordinates

*A+B+C=A+B+C

*coexistence of differences

*reemergence of ethnic identifications of groups that were previously not expressing heritage

*example is language use, accommodating funeral practices, inclusive of cultural traditions and religious needs, etc.

Resistance by minorities

*By wielding power and influence, the dominant group defines the terms by which members of society operate

*Subordinate groups do not accept definitions and ideology proposed by the dominant group, but instead challenge its subordination; they promote change that will bring them more rights and privileges (equality)

*Panethnicity resists erasure and creates solidarity, social movements, new legislation, pushing for policies and communicating to people in power, protest, challenging social norms, media expression, etc.

Intersectionality

refers to the overlapping and interdependent system of advantage and disadvantage that positions people in a society on the basis of race, class, gender, and other characteristics

*creates a matrix of domination

*helps us understand given subjects and social issues by showing us how society uses and abuses identities to exclude and privilege different groups

*addressing exclusion and acknowledging privilege require social change

Racial assimilation

rejection by dominant group, yields segregation; when assimilation is resisted segregation occurs

Cultural assimilation

conforming to dominant culture in country