Race Relations Chapter 2

Prejudice

the negative attitude toward an entire category of people; involves attitudes, thoughts and beliefs (not actions) and is often expressed using ethnophaulisms (slurs)

*pre judgement, belief that leads to categorial rejection (generalizations)

*learned, people and media teach it

Microaggressions

daily verbal indignities that POC and other minorities experience; includes name-calling, intentional/unintentional insults, etc.

*increase stress, impede learning and work performance for POC

Discrimination

the denial of opportunities and equal rights as a result of prejudice or for other arbitrary reasons; involves behavior and actions that exclude members of a group from certain rights, opportunities, or privileges

Merton’s typology categories

*Prejudice doesn’t always result in discriminatory behavior

1. unprejudiced nondiscriminator/all-weather liberal

2. unprejudiced discriminator/reluctant liberal

3. prejudiced nondistriminator/timid bigot

4. prejudiced discriminator/all-weather bigot

unprejudiced nondiscriminator/all-weathre liberal

Believe in equality, actively practices it, committed to equality among people

unprejudiced discriminator/reluctant liberal

Not completely committed to equality between groups; social pressure may cause them to discriminate

*manager fearing the lose employees and avoiding employing a woman as a supervisor

prejudiced nondiscriminator/timid bigot

Do not believe in equal treatment for racial and ethnic groups; will not discriminate if discrimination costs money or reduces profits, or if peers/government discourage it (social pressure)

prejudiced discriminator/all-weather bigot

Do not believe in equal treatment for racial and ethnic groups; act without hesitation and are openly racist

White privilege

White privilege: the rights or immunities granted as a particular benefit/favor for being White; makes it easier to access wealth and success, limits intolerance

*exists unconsciously and is invisible to White people enjoying it; unaware of how this dictates minorities lives and how they’re being marginalized

Examples of White privilege

• Being considered financially reliable

• Taking a job without having coworkers suspect you were only hired because of your race

• Never speaking for all people of your race

• Speaking to a large group without being called a credit to your race

• Assuming legal/medical help will not use your race against working with/helping you

Scapegoating

prejudiced people believe they’re society’s victims, so they blame others and refuse responsibility; rather than accepting guilt for personal failure, they transfer blame to a minority

*hate against Chinese Americans for COVID-19 pandemic

Authoritarian personality

adheres to conventional values, practices uncritical acceptance of authority, and is concerned with power/toughness; also act aggressive towards people who don't conform to norms or obey authority

*can contribute to prejudice, racism, sexism, etc.; how you’re raised contributes to prejudice

Racial prejudice in functionalist perspective

Racial prejudice is used to justify keeping a group subordinate economically and the role of racial/ethnic hostility is a way for the dominant group to keep its status/power

*Minimizes competition between White people and POC, keeps things the way they are

Exploitation theory

Marxist theory that emphasized that exploitation of the lower class is an integral part of capitalism, and explains how racism can stigmatize a group as inferior to justify their exploitation

*extension of inequality faced by lower class

*some minorities are subject to little prejudice until they start going to occupations that bring them into competition with White people

Normative approach

takes the view that prejudice is influenced by societal norms and situations that encourage/discourage tolerance of POC

*societal influences shape climate for tolerance or intolerance; social circumstances provide cues regarding the attitudes people should adopt and personality determines how much these are followed and if they’ll encourage others to do the same

*personality traits suggest the degree to which a person will conform to intolerance or tolerance norms

Stereotypes

unreliable generalizations about all members of a group and do not take individual differences into account; exaggerated images representative of people's willingness to assign positive or negative traits to entire groups, which are then applied to individuals of those groups

*exaggerated generalizations can rise out of real conditions and self fulfilling prophecy (mistaking laziness for having to take a lower job because they’re in poverty anyway)

*influences both how the individual feels about themselves and how others perceive them

Racial profiling

any initiated action based on race, ethnicity, or national origin rather than a person's behavior; occurs when law enforcement assume that people in certain descriptions/groups are more likely to be involved in illegal activities

*persists even though it’s ineffective

*ex: singling out Muslims after 9/11

Double consciousness

the division of an individual's identity into two or more social realities

*African Americans being able to have an education and jobs, but still being treated suspiciously

Color-blind racism

refers to the use of race-neutral principles to defend the racially unequal status quo

*emphasis on class, lack of citizenship, individual failure, and immigration status rather than racism and recognizing patterns of disparity among minorities in social issue debates

*Leads many White people to declare that they’re not racist and to conclude that more progress has been made than in reality

*notion that racial discrimination is in the past and proceeding colorblind will perpetuate inequality

Blaming the victim in economics

Economically marginalized minorities are associated with negative traits to the point where urban decay, homelessness, crime, and welfare are seen as race issues even though race is never specifically mentioned; it fails to see the systemic issue, makes it harder to solve difficult social problems, and is another case of blaming the victim

*Perceptions occur when government is unwilling to address domestic ills because of opposition to new taxes and continual fighting of terrorism domestically and internationally

Mood of the Oppressed

• Members of subordinate groups learn they are being treated differently, and this results in feeling contempt toward all White people for a lifetime

• White attitudes are more researched on racial issues than attitudes of POC, which in itself shows bias of White researchers and stems from the contention that the dominant group is more important to study because it's in a higher position of power/can act on its beliefs

Disproven fact that minorities come to hate themselves

These assumptions may create a stereotype

The characteristics of POC are not entirely the result of being subordinated; they are also the result of income, residency status, etc.

Many studies of personality imply that certain values are normal/preferable, but the values chosen are of dominant groups

Diversity of prejudice

exists not only between dominant and subordinate groups, but also between specific minorities

*Prejudice exists among POC; surveys show contempt for White people and other POC

*Sometimes POC get along better with White people because they compete daily with POC and do not see societal forces that contribute to their challenged economic positions

*Immigrants bring their culture with them, which includes its own distinctive brand of prejudice that immigrants harbor in their new home

*Intergroup hostility sometimes becomes violent and results in hate crimes between minorities; this can be in neighborhoods where competition for jobs and housing is high and gangs become organized along racial lines

Fighting prejudice

Focusing on how to eliminate prejudice involves an explicit value judgment; prejudice is wrong and causes problems for both the prejudiced and the victims

• The obvious way to eliminate prejudice is to eliminate the desire to exploit, the sense of being threatened, and the need to blame others for one's own failure

*Prejudice is more directly attacked when discrimination is attacked

*We can legislate against prejudice; legal statutes and decisions do affect attitudes

*Laws and court rulings that have mandated equal treatment have led people to reconsider their beliefs about what's right and wrong and challenged their sense of morality/ethics

Education, mass media, and intergroup contact all influence prejudice

Formal education and prejudice

Increased formal education is associated with racial tolerance because highly educated people are more likely to indicate respect and liking for groups different from them

*broader outlook- less likely to endorse stereotypes/myths

*teaches importance of context

*introduces learner to diversity of social groups- questions and rejects categorizations

*multiculturalism classes required

*formal education instructs people in responses

*only issue is we vs they mindset, and White intolerance to affirmative action

Mass media and prejudice

broadcast and cable networks incorporate diversity of population

some TV is still dominated by White actors/actresses

Color line remains in reality shows, such as putting POC in mostly White settings

Bogardus scale

technique to measure social distance toward different racial/ethnic groups

*Asks people how willing they would be to interact with various racial/ethnic groups in specific social situations, and these situations describe varying degrees of social contact/distance

*marriage, workplace cooperation, etc.

Contact hypothesis

intergroup contact between people of equal status in harmonious circumstances causes them to become less prejudiced and to abandon previous stereotypes

*Context matters; hostility could be for outside reasons (reluctant liberal= nonprejudiced discrimination)

*The situation that's pleasant creates interracial harmony, and vise versa

*social contact may decrease prejudice toward a minority, negative views are less likely to be held by people who’ve had intergroup contact

*contact is brief and superficial in segregated society

*method being used to reduce LGBTQ prejudice

Avoidance

initiated by technology and people; we are less likely to benefit from intergroup contacts and friendships, and search engines are personalized

*enclosed in bubble on social media so we’re less likely to discover/interact with ideas, people, places different from ourselves

Workplace and prejudice

prejudice harms the victim and the organization they work with; interferes with functioning, loss of productivity and staff, hostility, and workplace reputation

diversity training

*Respect cultural/racial differences

*Be professional in conduct/speech

*Refuse to initiate, participate, or condone discrimination and harassment

*Avoid race based/culturally offensive humor

*Familiarize yourself with company workplace policies and act responsibly

*Attend training on EEO principles and learn about your legal rights and responsibilities under anti discrimination laws

*Be proactive by reporting incidents of inappropriate, discriminatory, harassing or abusive behavior

*Contact EEOC if you experience or witness discrimination/harassment

Diversity task forces

*bring people together from different departments to brainstorm hiring opportunities that would increase diversity in upper management

*establish cross training and mentoring programs for aspiring women and POC to help them achieve their career goals

*employees could have tensions due to competing for promotions, assignments, office space, etc. and diversity training is meant to remove ill feelings

*racial lines and barriers may occur anyway and cause hostility