Race and Ethnicity soc final

study!

Definition of race

Social construct that groups people based on perceived physical characteristics

• Biological concept and socially constructed concept

Ethnicity definition

group of people who share a common cultural background including language, transitions, and ancestry

• Cultural concept

Ethnocentrism definition

the evaluation of other cultures according to preconceptions originating in the standards and customs of one’s own culture

Prejudice definition

opinion/belief/feeling about a person or group

2 Theories of prejudice

• Scapegoat theories: one group blames another for its own problems

• Conflict theories: prejudice is used to maintain positions at the top

• Authoritarian personality theory- the F scale

conventionalism

embracing mainstream values

authoritarian submission

follow directions from leader in group

authoritarian aggression

get really angry with people who violate conventional norms

anti-intraception

dislikes subjectivity and imagination

superstition and strategy

belief in individual faith

power and toughness

submission and domination

destructiveness and cynicism

distrust and lack of faith in people

projectivity

project unconscious impulses; perception that the world is dangerous

Institutional discrimination

the unfair treatment of a group or individuals by institutions, which can be intentional or unintentional

• ex: company refusing to hire people of a certain ethnicity

• can occur in the form of policies laws, or traditions that deny resources and opportunities for certain groups

what are the 3 models of outcomes of racial and ethnic relations

elimination, accommodation, and assimilation

Elimination and its types

dominate group gets rid of subordinate group

• Genocide: the attempted killing of an entire category of people based on race and ethnicity

• Expulsion: chasing subordinate group out

Accommodation and its types

dominate and subordinate groups live in the same society and maintain group distinctiveness

• Segregation: restricted contact; Jim Crow South (1875-1960)

• Cultural pluralism: racial and ethnic identity maintained in private spaces; racial and ethnic groups conform in dominant group in public spaces

Assimilation and its types

blending of groups and everyone becomes one

• Anglo-conformity: adopting language and practices (WASPS)

• Melting pot: dominate and subordinate groups come together, surrender their uniqueness, and become alike

WASPS

WASPS- white Anglo-Saxon protestant

• very dominant and privileged

• used to be dominant group until 1930s/40s

• dominant group today is whites