Race and Ethnicity: Chapter 10

Race and Ethnicity: Key Concepts

• Race: A biological classification of human groups sharing similar physical characteristics (e.g., skin color, facial features, hair texture).

  • Sociologists study race due to its social significance.

• Ethnicity: Pertains to groups with distinct cultural characteristics, alongside racial similarities.

  • Example: Chinese culture vs. Japanese culture.

• Dominant Group: Those whose values, language, customs, and traditions prevail in a society.

  • E.g. The European origins of the Founding Fathers influencing American culture.

Ethnic Identity and Minority Groups

• Ethnic Identity: Experiences from childhood across minority group members in a dominantly-valued society.

  • Immigrants need to adapt to the dominant language and religion in the U.S.

• Minority Group: A category facing differential treatment due to lack of political/economic influence.

  • Targets of economic exploitation, regardless of numerical classification.

• Contact Hypothesis: Increased personal interactions reduce prejudices against minority groups.

Prejudice and Discrimination

• Prejudice: Positive or negative biases towards a group, often forming from personal experiences.

• Social Distance: Level of comfort individuals have with those different from themselves, used as a prejudice measurement.

  • E.g. Comfort with people of different backgrounds.

• Discrimination: Actions preventing a group from social opportunities (e.g., employment, education).

  • Can manifest as bias against gender, age, or physical characteristics.

• Racism: The belief in the superiority of certain races leading to domination over others.

• Hate Crimes: Involve violence directed at individuals based on racial characteristics.

Stereotyping and Perception

• Stereotype: Inaccurate mental image leading to generalized, often negative views of a group.

• Spillover Bigotry: Stereotyping different ethnic groups as a homogenous group.

  • E.g. All African Americans are perceived negatively.

• Selective Perception: The practice of perceiving only information aligned with one's views while ignoring contradictory evidence.

Social Structures and Segregation

• Internal Colonialism: The political/economic exploitation of minority groups.

  • Example: U.S. slavery.

• Segregation: Spatial separation of different societal groups.

  • Jim Crow Laws: Series of laws establishing segregation in the U.S. post-Civil War.

  • Upheld by the 1896 Supreme Court case, Plessy vs. Ferguson.

• Desegregation: The removal of barriers separating groups, leading to interaction.

  • E.g. Brown vs. Board of Education (1954) declared school segregation unconstitutional.

• Integration: Voluntary blending of groups.

• De Jure vs. De Facto Segregation:

  • De Jure: Law-mandated segregation.

  • De Facto: Results from personal choice, e.g. ethnic enclaves.

Discrimination and Labor Markets

• Institutional Discrimination: Built into the social structure; can be intentional or unintentional.

• Split-Labor Market: Minority exploitation leading to competition among low-wage laborers, fostering distrust.

Assimilation and Amalgamation

• Assimilation: Process of minority absorption into dominant culture, losing unique characteristics.

• Amalgamation: Interracial marriage, legally recognized since 1967 (Loving v. Virginia ruling).

  • Prior to that, varying state laws affected the legitimacy of interracial unions.

Policies and Bias

• Affirmative Action: Initiatives promoting the hiring of minority candidates, reinforced by the Civil Rights Act of 1964,

  • Repealed in some states; Supreme Court halted race-conscious admissions on June 29, 2023.

• Implicit Bias: Unconscious judgments against socially stigmatized groups.

• Nativism: Preference for established inhabitants over newcomers.

• Expulsion: Forced removal of minority groups (e.g., “Trail of Tears” events).

Racial Formations and Outcomes

• Racial Formation: The evolution of racial categories over time.

  • Example: Native American assimilation and boarding schools in the late 1800s.

• Scientific Racism: Pseudoscientific justifications for racial superiority; e.g. the Eugenics Movement.

Scapegoating and Genocide

• Scapegoat: A group blamed for problems caused by others; e.g., Nazi Germany blaming Jews.

• Genocide: Systematic murder based on characteristics such as race, religion, or politics.

Race: A biological classification of human groups sharing similar physical characteristics (e.g., skin color, facial features, hair texture). Sociologists study race due to its social significance.

Contact Hypothesis: Increased personal interactions reduce prejudices against minority groups.

Prejudice: Positive or negative biases towards a group, often forming from personal experiences.

Discrimination: Actions preventing a group from social opportunities (e.g., employment, education). Can manifest as bias against gender, age, or physical characteristics.

Scapegoat: A group blamed for problems caused by others; e.g., Nazi Germany blaming Jews.

Assimilation: Process of minority absorption into dominant culture, losing unique characteristics.

Selective Perception: The practice of perceiving only information aligned with one's views while ignoring contradictory evidence.

Dominant Group: Those whose values, language, customs, and traditions prevail in a society. E.g. The European origins of the Founding Fathers influencing American culture.

Institutional Discrimination: Built into the social structure; can be intentional or unintentional.

Genocide: Systematic murder based on characteristics such as race, religion, or politics.

Internal Colonialism: The political/economic exploitation of minority groups. Example: U.S. slavery.

Jim Crow Laws: Series of laws establishing segregation in the U.S. post-Civil War; upheld by the 1896 Supreme Court case, Plessy vs. Ferguson.

Racial Formation: The evolution of racial categories over time. Example: Native American assimilation and boarding schools in the late 1800s.

Amalgamation: Interracial marriage, legally recognized since 1967 (Loving v. Virginia ruling). Prior to that, varying state laws affected the legitimacy of interracial unions.