Chapter 8: Race and Ethnicity as Lived Experience
DEFINING RACE AND ETHNICITY
Race vs. Ethnicity: Often used interchangeably, but social scientists differentiate them significantly.
Race: A social category based on real or perceived biological differences between groups of people.
Historically, 19th-century biologists grouped humans into three races: Negroid, Mongoloid, and Caucasoid, believing each had a distinct biological makeup.
Modern Scientific View: No "pure" races; lines are blurry. Genetic diversity is greater within racial populations than between them.
Physical differences (e.g., skin color) are due to geographic adaptations (melanin for sun protection/vitamin D absorption).
Humans are 99.9% genetically identical; only 15% of the remaining 0.1% variation occurs between geographically distinct groups.
Sociologists understand race as a social construct, more meaningful on a social level than a biological one.
Ethnicity: A social category applied to a group with a shared ancestry or cultural heritage (e.g., language, religion, history).
Examples: Scotch-Irish (rural Appalachia, traditional values, evangelical Christianity, conservative politics), Jewish people (religious and cultural background, not a race).
The Social Construction of Race
Race is not an objective or scientific concept but a social and historical process, with arbitrary definitions based on chosen physical features. The definition changes over time as racial categories are contested.
Example: In the early 1900s, Irish, Italian, or Jewish immigrants were not considered "white" by native-born Americans, facing housing and work restrictions. After WWII, skin color became the main differentiator for "white."
Contemporary Question: Whether people of Middle Eastern descent are white, especially post-9/11 where Arabs and Muslims have been symbolically labeled as "nonwhite" despite diverse appearances.
"Ethnic Options": Symbolic and Situational Ethnicity
Ways to display racial and ethnic group membership: dress, language, food, religious practices, music, art, literature, etc.
Symbolic Ethnicity: Enactments of ethnic identity on special occasions, often by fully assimilated groups whose ancestry does not matter daily (e.g., Irish Americans on St. Patrick’s Day).
Situational Ethnicity: Deliberately asserting ethnicity in some situations but downplaying it in others, based on a cost-benefit analysis (e.g., Dr. Ferris leveraging Lebanese ancestry in Peoria, Illinois).
The choice to display symbolic or situational ethnicity is not available to everyone; a visibly Black person invoking Irish ethnicity may be questioned, unlike a white person.
Sociologist Mary Waters: Social and political consequences of being Asian, Hispanic, or Black are "real, unavoidable, and sometimes hurtful," not symbolic or voluntary.
THE U.S. POPULATION BY RACE
The U.S. is becoming increasingly diverse.
2020 Demographics: 58% non-Hispanic white, 19% Hispanic, 12% Black, 6% Asian, 1% American Indian, 0.2% Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander, 4% multiracial.
U.S. Census: In 2000, Americans could identify with more than one race, creating 57 possible combinations, reflecting the historical intermixing.
Future Predictions: Demographers predict whites will make up less than half the U.S. population by 2045, making the U.S. a "majority-minority country."
What Is a Minority?
Common Misconception: A group smaller in number than the majority.
Sociological Definition: People recognized as belonging to a social category (racial or ethnic group) who suffer unequal treatment and are denied access to power and resources by the dominant group.
It is possible to be a numerical majority but still have minority status (e.g., Black people in pre-1994 South Africa, Hispanics/Latinos in California).
Master Status: Membership in a minority group can be a "master status," overriding other statuses like gender or age, leading to social disadvantages.
Unequal treatment generates a strong sense of common identity and solidarity among minority group members.
RACISM IN ITS MANY FORMS
Racism: An ideology or set of beliefs claiming the superiority of one racial/ethnic group over another, used to justify unequal social arrangements. It assumes differences are innate or based on negative cultural views.
Persistence: Racism is woven into American society, persisting in social institutions despite civil rights advances.
Contemporary Examples:
Anti-Asian Racism: Rose dramatically during the Covid-19 pandemic due to xenophobia; hate crimes increased by nearly 150% in 2020.
Police Brutality: Killing of George Floyd (2020) highlighted excessive force against Black Americans; 57% of Americans now believe police are more prone to use excessive force on Black Americans (up from 33% in 2014).
More than 75% of Americans now say discrimination is a "big problem." However, pessimism about progress toward racial equality has increased since 2014.
Prejudice and Discrimination
Prejudice: An inflexible attitude (usually negative) about a particular group, rooted in generalizations or stereotypes.
Can flow from dominant to minority groups, or vice versa.
Internalized Racism: Minority group members holding negative stereotypes about themselves or their own group.
Prejudiced ideas circulate culturally and are hard to avoid.
Discrimination: An action or behavior that results in unequal treatment of individuals due to their group membership.
Prejudice often leads to discrimination, but not always.
"Timid Bigots" (Robert Merton): People who are prejudiced but do not discriminate.
Conversely, people can discriminate unknowingly by carrying out institutional policies with discriminatory outcomes (e.g., seniority-based promotions favoring dominant groups).
Implicit Bias: Unrecognized or unconscious prejudices and stereotypes shaping interactions (e.g., pediatricians treating pain in Black vs. white children, school discipline disparities).
Forms of Racial Discrimination:
Individual Discrimination: One person treats others unfairly because of race/ethnicity (e.g., a racist teacher assigning a lower grade).
Institutional Discrimination: (Systemic/Institutional Racism) Systematic and widespread discriminatory policies practiced by institutions (e.g., government agencies, schools, banks) affecting whole groups.
Examples: Ferguson Police Department's racial bias (85% vehicle stops, 88% use of force, 93% arrests for Black residents in a 67% Black city); Federal Housing Authority's "redlining" policies (1930s) that systematically excluded African Americans from homeownership, leading to persistent segregation.
White Nationalism
White Nationalism: The belief that the nation should be built around a white identity reflected in religion, politics, economics, and culture.
Groups like the KKK, Aryan Brotherhood, neo-Nazis espouse white supremacy, believing whites are innately superior and should control all institutions and resources.
Gained traction and visibility during the Trump administration, with anti-immigrant ideas aligning with white nationalist sentiment.
Examples: Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville (2017), January 6th Capitol attack (Proud Boys, Oath Keepers, Three Percenters) displaying white nationalist symbols.
Federal law enforcement identifies white supremacist terrorist violence as the number one domestic threat.
Sociologist Joe Feagin: White supremacy/nationalism are historical and foundational to the U.S., explaining why racism remains extensive and systemic.
Anxiety about changing demographics (e.g., "line-cutters" mentality among some working-class whites).
White Privilege and Color-Blind Racism
White Privilege: Unearned advantages enjoyed by whites in society not available to nonwhites, often unrecognized by those who possess them.
W.E.B. Du Bois (1935): Whiteness as a "public and psychological wage" to exploited non-Black social groups, preventing alliance with poor Blacks.
Peggy McIntosh (1988): "Unpacking the invisible knapsack" of white privilege, illustrating daily advantages (e.g., assuming authority figures are white, readily finding matching products).
The Problem: Privilege is often invisible to the privileged, blinding them to challenges faced by nonprivileged groups.
Color-Blind Racism: The misguided belief that racial prejudice and discrimination no longer exist, attributing group differences to nonracial dynamics. It implies race should be invisible and inconsequential.
Sociologist Eduardo Bonilla-Silva (2003/2017): A new, more "civilized" form of racism.
Examples: High concentration of corner liquor stores in Black urban areas, or Latino immigrants in low-wage jobs.
Whites may use cognitive maneuvers to maintain ignorance of white privilege, attributing success to class, education, etc., to avoid acknowledging race as a factor.
Race Consciousness: An awareness of the importance of race in everyday lives and social institutions, recognizing historical racism and ongoing inequalities.
Microaggressions
Microaggressions: Small-scale racial slights, insults, and misperceptions in everyday interactions, typically between dominant (white) group members and racial/ethnic minorities.
Often subtle, casual, and unintentional, but still denigrate or marginalize.
Examples:
Questions like "What are you?" or "Where are you really from?" (demands for identity, reveal stereotypes).
Body language: white woman clutching handbag when passing Latino men.
Being mistaken for a service worker or passed over by a taxi driver.
Backhanded compliments: praising Asians for being smart or multiracial persons for looking "exotic."
Consequences: Can cause significant and long-lasting physical and mental health issues, including elevated risk of depression and suicide.
Cultural Appropriation
Cultural Appropriation: When members of the dominant group adopt, co-opt, or take cultural elements from a marginalized group and use them for their own advantage.
Cultural elements: art, music, dance, dress, language, religious rituals.
Examples: Halloween costumes, high-fashion featuring Native American symbols, American Indian mascots in sports (e.g., Cleveland Indians team name change).
Problematic aspects: Use of sacred items without awareness/respect; benefits the dominant group by commodifying oppressed groups' symbols (postmodern cultural imperialism).
Hollywood has a history of "white-washing" minority characters, though backlash is growing.
Reverse Racism
Reverse Racism: The claim that whites can suffer discrimination based on their race, experiencing disadvantages similar to minority groups.
This belief persists despite refuting data (36% of Americans, 40% of whites vs. 20% of Black respondents believe whites experience a lot of discrimination).
Sociological Refutation: While whites may face temporary/occasional discrimination, they do not experience widespread cumulative disadvantages perpetuated by a historically and pervasively racist society.
Racism requires the ongoing use of institutional power and authority to perpetuate systemic discrimination.
People of color may hold prejudices or discriminate against whites individually, but they lack the collective power to systematically bias society against whites.
Whites possess the position and power to influence laws, practices, customs, and norms in ways not available to people of color.
IN THE FUTURE
Black Lives Matter (BLM) Movement: Arose in response to extrajudicial killings of Black men, challenging systemic racism in the U.S. Most urgently, aims to make the U.S. safer for Black people.
Systemic Racism (Structural/Institutional Racism): Found in policies and practices of social institutions (education, economy, military) that result in discrimination and exclusion of racial minority groups. Neither individual intent nor explicitly racist policy is necessary for it to occur.
Built into U.S. structures since its founding (e.g., Constitution supporting slavery).
Police discrimination against Black people (e.g., disproportionate shootings, lower charging/conviction rates for officers).
Many resist acknowledging systemic racism, blaming victims or isolated "bad apples."
Combating Systemic Racism: Requires learning about the nation's true history, listening to diverse experiences, and taking action (e.g., joining movements, refusing racist jokes, supporting minority-owned businesses, engaging in difficult conversations, volunteering, advocating for policy changes).
Affirmative Action
Affirmative Action: Policies, programs, and practices to create opportunities for underrepresented minorities in housing, education, and employment.
Goals: promote diversity, inclusion, equal access, and reduce historical discrimination effects.
Debate: Critics argue it gives preferential treatment (reverse racism); proponents say it creates a level playing field.
Supreme Court Rulings (2023): Struck down race-conscious admissions at Harvard and UNC, siding with Students for Fair Admissions. Many states had already banned it.
Beneficiaries: Historically, white women have been the biggest beneficiaries of affirmative action laws.
Legacy Admissions: A persistent inequality at elite colleges, giving preferential treatment to children of alumni.
Antiracist Allies
White people have a role in solidarity for racial justice by becoming antiracist allies (or accomplices/co-conspirators).
Role: Work with other white people to increase awareness of racism, confront it in their own lives, and recruit others.
Actions: Get educated (read authors like Ibram X. Kendi), listen to people of color, revise personnel guidelines at work, reduce reliance on racially biased tests, protest injustice, support relevant political candidates, run for office, and leverage their own privilege while centering those affected by inequities.
Backlash: Some high-status groups (white men) may interpret pro-diversity messages as unfair or threatening to their status.
THEORETICAL APPROACHES TO UNDERSTANDING RACE
Sociologists reject an objective biological meaning of race, focusing instead on its critical social role. Theories explain connections among race, discrimination, and inequality.
Structural Functionalism
View: Racial and ethnic differences (and even inequality) are seen through their contributions to social stability.
Explains assimilation of European immigrants (Irish, Italians) into larger society.
Less successful at explaining persistent racial divisions (e.g., for African Americans, Hispanics).
Prejudice/Discrimination Development: Focuses on social solidarity and group cohesion.
Ethnocentrism: Belief that one's own culture and way of life are right and normal. Positive feelings for one's group can lead to unfavorable views of others, feeding fear and hostility.
Conflict Theory
View: Focuses on the struggle for power and control. Racism is a product of economic competition and resource struggle.
Classic Marxist Analysis (Edna Bonacich, 1980): Racism partly driven by economic competition.
Split Labor Market: One group of workers (racial/ethnic minorities) routinely paid less, keeping wages low for them, compounding racism with poverty.
William Julius Wilson (1980): Argued racist policies created a Black underclass, now perpetuated by economic factors.
New Approaches: Implicate social institutions beyond economics.
Dr. Robert P. Jones (2021): Examines racism in American Christianity, showing how white Christian fears about "Christian" values morphed into fears about loss of white dominance.
White supremacy historically taken for granted in Christian churches, providing a "divine stamp of approval" for racist beliefs.
Intersectionality: Race, class, and gender inequalities intersect (Patricia Hill Collins, bell hooks, Gloria Anzaldúa).
Critical Race Theory (CRT): Outgrowth of conflict theory, developed by legal scholars (1980s).
Core Idea: Racism permeates social institutions, especially the judicial system, and must be recognized and addressed.
Intersectionality: Focuses on how race is modified by class, gender, sexuality, and other social statuses; emphasizes narratives from multiple intersecting voices.
Commitment: Challenging racist laws/policies, promoting social justice (public sociology).
Controversy: Anti-CRT crusades in states banning its teaching, often based on misunderstanding or political opportunism.
Symbolic Interactionism
View: Focuses on how individuals perceive and interpret race in everyday life, examining meanings and ideas that produce real-world consequences.
Meanings of race change over time.
Social Construction of Race (Michael Omi and Howard Winant): Society chooses particular features for racial distinctions, a "social and historical process." Definitions are arbitrary and change.
Real bodies matter, but the meaning attributed to them defines racial categories (e.g., Victor Ray's experience being light-skinned Black, treated differently from his darker-skinned brother).
Identity is constructed through negotiation between self-projection and others' recognition.
Passing
Racial Passing: Living as if one is a member of a different racial category, historically or currently, to avoid negative consequences or gain advantages.
Double-Consciousness (W.E.B. Du Bois): The internal conflict of belonging to a subordinated racial group while seeking rights in a dominant society.
Code-switching: Adjusting one's behavior (appearance, gestures, language) to align with norms of the dominant group (especially whites).
Common for Black and Hispanic Americans in white-dominated settings (e.g., workplace, police encounters).
Benefits: Lessens association with negative stereotypes, improves chances of hiring/promotion.
Costs: Cognitive strain, inauthenticity, burnout.
Legal Passing (Angela S. Garcia): Linguistic/behavioral expressions by undocumented Mexican immigrants (e.g., unaccented English, perfect car condition) to avoid law enforcement scrutiny.
Embodied (and Disembodied) Identities
Online Interactions: Absence of physical cues (email, chat, text) can transcend categories like race, gender, age, which have historically been bases for discrimination.
However, online anonymity and distance can also make it easier to express racist ideas, unmasking covert racism (e.g., racist rhetoric on Twitter).
Exposure to "unmasked" racism online can disrupt racial worldviews and affect relationships for students of color.
RACE, ETHNICITY, AND LIFE CHANCES
Membership in socially constructed categories of race and ethnicity often carries a high price.
Family
Marriage Rates: African Americans are less likely to marry than whites and Hispanic Americans. Decline in marriage has been steeper for Black Americans.
50% of white households and 45% of Hispanic households include a married couple, vs. 27% of Black households.
Single-Parent Homes: Black children are significantly more likely to live in single-parent homes (41% Black children with two parents vs. 76% white, 68% Hispanic).
Mass Incarceration: Profound impact on Black families.
Black children are six times more likely than white children to have an incarcerated parent.
Incarcerated men less likely to marry/more likely to divorce; less involved post-release.
Mothers with incarcerated partners more likely to experience depression.
Children of incarcerated parents face negative outcomes (behavioral/mental health problems).
Interracial Dating and Marriage
Historical Context: In 1958, 41 states prohibited miscegenation (interracial marriage).
Loving v. Virginia (1967): Supreme Court overturned all anti-miscegenation laws.
Alabama was the last state to overturn its statute in 2000.
Current Trends: Interracial marriage has increased steadily from 0.4% in 1960 to 11% in 2019 (19% among newlyweds).
Most common among Asians (29%) and Hispanics (27%), then African Americans (18%), and whites (11%).
Variations by gender: Asian women marry outside race more than Asian men; African American women marry outside race less than African American men.
More common among college-educated individuals.
Societal Attitudes: Attitudes have become much more positive; 39% of Americans say marrying someone of a different race is good for society. Disapproval rates have declined significantly.
Health
Disparities: Widespread disparities among racial/ethnic groups, with whites typically faring better than minorities.
Life Expectancy: In 2019, white males 76, white females 81. African American males 71, females 78. Hispanics have highest: males 79, females 84.
Infant and Maternal Mortality: Black mothers die from pregnancy complications at > 3x rate of others. Infant mortality for Black babies > 2x that of white babies.
"Weathering" (Arline Geronimus): Exposure to racism erodes health, leading to higher chronic disease and lower life expectancies for Americans of color.
Environmental Factors: Minorities disproportionately exposed to workplace dangers, environmental toxins, and violence.
Covid-19 Impact: People of color disproportionately affected (higher infection/death rates) due to factors intersecting with class (essential workers, crowded housing, unequal healthcare access, discrimination).
Health Insurance Access: Disparities remain despite Affordable Care Act.
Nonelderly uninsured rates: 19% Hispanics, 11% Black, vs. 7% whites, 6% Asians.
Education
High School Graduation Rates: Asians 93%, whites 89%, Hispanics 82%, Black Americans 80%. Highest dropout rates for economically disadvantaged and non-English speakers (Hispanics at 8%).
School-to-Prison Pipeline (Victor Rios): Negative encounters with school authorities lead to criminalization of Latino youth, away from education.
Higher Education Disparities: Bachelor's degree or higher (over 25): Asians 59%, whites 42%, African Americans 28%, Hispanics 21% (2022 data).
Reasons: Economic and cultural factors; lower-income families less likely to attend college.
Stereotype Threat (Claude Steele, 2010): Social-psychological mechanism where negative racial stereotypes adversely affect minority students' academic performance in high-stakes situations due to anxiety.
Stereotype Promise (Jennifer Lee and Min Zhou, 2015): Inverse phenomenon where positive stereotypes (e.g., for Asian Americans) lead to benefits in stressful academic situations.
Work and Income
Occupational Segregation: Persons of color often hold society's most difficult, lower-skilled jobs (e.g., 33% home health aides Black, 51% construction workers Hispanic).
Shift in low-wage jobs from African Americans to Hispanics over time, leading to increased competition.
Income Gaps (2021 Median Household Income):
Asians: $101,418
Whites: $77,999
Hispanics: $57,981
African Americans: $48,297
Black and Hispanic incomes are 62% and 74%, respectively, of white households.
Poverty Rates (2021): 8% whites, 20% African Americans, 17% Hispanics.
Racial Discrimination in Labor Market: Job Callback Study (Bertrand and Mullainathan, 2004): Resumes with white-sounding names (Emily, Greg) garnered 50% higher callback rates than identical resumes with Black-sounding names (Lakisha, Jamal), regardless of additional qualifications.
Diversity Programs
Purpose: Increase workforce diversity (e.g., only 6 Black CEOs and 53 female CEOs in Fortune 500 in 2023).
Effectiveness (Dobbin and Kalev, 2016):
Less Effective: Top-down approaches, mandatory diversity training (fades quickly, causes resistance).
More Effective: Voluntary diversity training (+9-13% in women/minority men in management after 5 years).
Most Effective: Programs engaging managers, increasing contact with female/minority workers, promoting social accountability:
Mentoring and college recruitment programs (+10% in women in management).
Diversity task forces and diversity managers (increase manager consideration of all applicants).
Backlash: High-status groups (white men) may interpret pro-diversity messages as unfair or threatening.
Post-George Floyd murder, demand for antiracism training grew, despite political controversy.
Criminal Justice
Disproportionate Incarceration: While 60% of U.S. population is white (13% Black, 19% Hispanic), prison population (2021) is 32% Black, 31% white, 24% Hispanic. Black men incarcerated at 5.5 times the rate of white men.
Racial Profiling: Black and Hispanic Americans 127% more likely to be stopped, 43% more likely to be frisked, but 42% and 32% less likely to possess weapons/drugs than whites.
Contributing Factors: Higher unemployment and dropout rates among minority groups.
Sentencing Disparities: Until 2010, federal law had tougher sentences for crack cocaine users (more likely Black) than powder cocaine users (more likely white/Hispanic).
Example: 5 grams crack = 500 grams powder for mandatory 10-year sentence.
Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 reduced disparity from 100:1 to 18:1, but many pre-2010 sentences remain, and state/local laws still have harsher penalties.
Homicide Victimization: In 2021, 53% of murder victims nationwide were Black (13% of population), due to interplay of poverty, unsafe living conditions, volatile relationships, and increased police contact.
Intersectionality
Race and ethnicity do not shape life chances in isolation; they are enmeshed with social class, gender, sexuality, and other statuses.
Example (Shannon Malone Gonzalez, 2022): Black mothers' "the talk" with children about police interactions varies by gender and class.
Middle-class Black mothers: Focus on "respectability norms" for daughters (dress, look, act like "ladies" to prevent sexual violence).
Working-class Black mothers: Adopt a "predatory" narrative, urging daughters to take defensive actions (pull over in well-lit area, get names, call witness on speakerphone), assuming abuse regardless of actions.
This research highlights how race, gender, and class combine to shape lived experiences and reactions to police profiling and violence.
INTERGROUP RELATIONS: CONFLICT OR COOPERATION
Five basic patterns of intergroup relationships, from most violent to most tolerant:
Genocide
Definition: The deliberate and systematic extermination of a racial, ethnic, national, or cultural group.
Examples: Armenian genocide (1915-1923), Nazi Holocaust, Darfur, ethnic cleansing in the Balkans, Hutu slaughter of Tutsi in Rwanda.
Violence perpetrated by early Americans against Native Americans (disease and systematic killing) is also considered a form of genocide.
Population Transfer
Definition: The forcible removal of a group of people from the territory they have occupied.
Examples:
American Indians: Forced onto reservations west of the Mississippi River in the 19th century.
Trail of Tears (1838-1839): 17,000 Cherokees forced westward 800 miles, over 4,000 died.
Indirect form: Making life miserable to induce "voluntary" departure (e.g., Mormon migration to Utah).
Settler Colonialism and Segregation
Colonialism: Stronger nation controls weaker nation for territorial expansion or resource exploitation.
Settler Colonialism: Exploitation of a minority group within the dominant group's own borders, often involving economic exploitation and physical segregation.
Segregation: Physical separation of groups by race or ethnicity (e.g., "coloreds"-only sections in the U.S. South, separate neighborhoods, segregated military/sports).
Civil Rights Movement accelerated efforts to desegregate.
Assimilation
Definition: A minority group is absorbed into the dominant group ("melting pot" idea).
Aims to decrease conflict by promoting homogeneity.
Historical Examples: Irish, Italians, Eastern Europeans assimilated into "white Americans," losing distinct ethnic traces unless emphasized.
Types:
Racial Assimilation: Interracial reproduction until races are mixed.
Cultural Assimilation: Members learn cultural practices of the dominant group.
Voluntariness: Not always voluntary; minorities may be forced to adopt new behaviors and abandon their own culture/language.
Sacrifice: Loss of previous ethnic/racial identity (e.g., many American Indians losing tribal languages/practices).
Pluralism
Definition: Permits and encourages racial and ethnic variation within one society, celebrating diversity as a positive feature ("salad bowl"). Also called multiculturalism.
Core: Tolerance of racial and ethnic differences.
Example: Canada, with two official linguistic groups and diverse ethnic/racial minorities, committed to multiculturalism with government funding.