CHAPTER 8 SLIDES

Race and Ethnicity

• Ascribed status – Born with a certain race or ethnicity that cannot be changed.

• Achieved status – Race or ethnicity are acquired by virtue of social definition.

Race and Ethnicity

Objective definitions of ethnicity:

• Assume that ethnic groups exist because of people’s social attachments.

Subjective approaches to ethnicity:

• Focus on the process of ethnic identification.

Race and Ethnicity

Most of our taken for granted ethnic categories are recent historical creations.

• Ethnic category of “English” – Historically known as Celts, Saxons, Normans.

• “Germans” – Did not exist 150 years ago.

Canadian

English

Scottish

French

Irish

German

Chinese

Italian

First Nations (North American Indian)

East Indian

Ukrainian

Dutch

Polish

Filipino

British Isles origins, n.i.e.

Russian

Métis

Portuguese

Welsh

Norwegian

1 British Isles origins, n.i.e. includes general responses indicating British Isles origins (e.g., "British," "United Kingdom") as well as more specific responses indicating British Isles origins that have not been included elsewhere (e.g., "Celtic").

A vertical bar graph showing the 20 largest ethnic groups in Canada in 2016, with population numbers in millions on the horizontal axis. Bars are color-coded with red for single responses and blue for multiple responses.

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Race and Ethnicity

• Socially constructed label that has been used to describe certain kinds of physical differences between people.

• Genetic differences between racial groups are arbitrary, small, and behaviourally insignificant.

Racism

Biological definitions of racism refer to the belief that:

• Humans are subdivided into distinct hereditary groups that are innately different in social behaviour and mental capacities.

– Can be ranked as superior or inferior.

Claims for inherent superiority have been thoroughly discredited.

New Racism

Involves the belief that although races of people cannot be ranked biologically, they are different from each other and that social problems are created when different groups try to live together.

- One group is neither better nor worse than another, but feelings of antagonism will be aroused if outsiders are admitted.

Muslims

- A lot: 46%

- Some: 33%

- Only a little: 11%

- None at all: 5%

- Don’t know: 4%

Indigenous People

- A lot: 31%

- Some: 36%

- Only a little: 20%

- None at all: 6%

- Don’t know: 7%

Black people

- A lot: 25%

- Some: 41%

- Only a little: 23%

- None at all: 7%

- Don’t know: 5%

Gays and lesbians

- A lot: 24%

- Some: 39%

- Only a little: 25%

- None at all: 6%

- Don’t know: 5%

Women

- A lot: 16%

- Some: 35%

- Only a little: 31%

- None at all: 13%

- Don’t know: 5%

Jews

- A lot: 10%

- Some: 35%

- Only a little: 14%

- None at all: 9%

- Don’t know: 9%

People of Asian descent

- A lot: 8%

- Some: 36%

- Only a little: 32%

- None at all: 16%

- Don’t know: 7%

Evangelical Christians

- A lot: 7%

- Some: 22%

- Only a little: 26%

- None at all: 17%

- Don’t know: 11%

White or Caucasian people

- A lot: 5%

- Some: 17%

- Only a little: 28%

- None at all: 44%

- Don’t know: 6%

A bar graph displaying perceptions of discrimination against various groups in Canada for the year 2016, with categories including Muslims, Indigenous People, Black people, Gays and lesbians, Women, Jews, People of Asian descent, Evangelical Christians, and White or Caucasian people. Each group has distinct colored bars indicating the proportion of responses (A lot, Some, Only a little, None at all, Don't know).

Institutional Racism

Discriminatory racial practices built into such prominent structures as the political, economic, and education systems.

Three forms:

1. Institutional practices based on explicitly racist ideas (e.g., Chinese people were excluded from certain jobs and denied the right to vote until 1947).

2. Institutional practices that arose from—but are no longer sustained by—racist ideas

(e.g., black migrant farm workers from the Caribbean).

3. Institutional practices that sometimes unintentionally exclude certain groups through seemingly neutral rules, regulations, and procedures.

• systemic racism

Explaining various forms of ethnic and racial hostility:

1. Social psychology

2. Primordialism

3. Normative theories

4. Power-conflict theories

Social Psychology

Social-psychological approaches focus on how prejudice and racism satisfy the psychic needs of certain people.

• Frustration-aggression thesis – Prejudice and racism as forms of hostility arising from frustration.

• Racial and ethnic groups become safe targets (scapegoats) of displaced aggressions.

Primordialism

• Ethnic and racial attachments reflect an innate tendency of people to seek out and associate with others who are similar in terms of language, culture, beliefs, and ancestry.

– Ethnic prejudice and racism are ways of maintaining social boundaries.

Normative Theories

• Prejudice is transmitted through socialization and the social circumstances that encourage discriminatory behaviour.

– Ethnic and racial stereotypes and prejudices are taught by families, peer groups, and mass media.

– Ethnic and racial prejudices and attitudes are learned through social interaction.

Power-Conflict Theories

• Power-conflict theories link racism to the structure of, and distribution of power in, capitalist societies.

– Racism is ideology used by capitalists to justify the exploitation and the unequal treatment of groups of people.

Power-Conflict Theories (cont’d)

– Suggests individual racism, ethnic prejudice, and institutional racism emerge from intergroup conflict.

– Prejudicial ideas and discriminatory behaviour are used to marginalize those who threaten the power of the dominant group.

– Need to analyze processes of economic, social, and political competition among groups.

Indigenous Peoples in Canada

– Group comprised of Indians, Métis and Inuit.

Indian (or status or registered Indian)

– Refers to those recognized as “Indians” according to the federal government’s Indian Act.

Indigenous Peoples in Canada

- Group comprised of Indians, Métis and Inuit.

Métis

- Either descendants of historic Métis, or anyone of mixed European-Indian ancestry who self-defines as Métis, and whose self-definition is accepted by other Métis.

Inuit

- A diverse group of people who have lived for centuries north of the tree line.

Average CWB score

First Nations communities

Inuit communities

Non-Indigenous communities

Year: 1981-2016

Line graph displaying the Average CWB score for First Nations communities (red), Inuit communities (green), and Non-Indigenous communities (blue) from 1981 to 2016.

Indigenous poverty is linked to government efforts to forcibly Europeanize and Christianize Indigenous peoples and culture.

– Premised on the belief that Indian culture was inferior to European culture.

– Government’s legislative, regulatory, and educational approach reflected the view that inequality, poverty, and poor social conditions were rooted in Indigenous cultural and racial inferiority.

Explanations of Indigenous Conditions

Culture of Poverty Thesis

Some ethnic groups do not readily assimilate and hence are poor because their culture does not value economic success, hard work, and achievement.

- Argument criticized for confusing effect with cause.

Explanations of Indigenous Conditions

Conflict approach uses colonization model.

– Analyzes problem of inequality in terms of power imbalances and the exploitation of Indigenous peoples and lands by white society.

• Argues that misuse of state power and paternalistic federal laws have disempowered Indigenous peoples by fostering social marginality and dependence.

Explanations of Indigenous Conditions

Criticisms of Internal Colonial Model

Rather than being a homogeneous socioeconomic group, Indigenous peoples are divided by both gender and class privilege.

• Feminist sociologists study the gender inequality.

• Conflict theorists note the political and economic implications of socioeconomic differentiation within Indigenous communities.

Following the 1763 conquest of New France by Britain, the anglophone elite became the new colonizing power of what is now Quebec.

• Mid-twentieth century – The rise of a new francophone middle class of technical workers and professionals.

Quiet Revolution

Social, political, and cultural changes that occurred in Quebec in the 1960s.

– Secularization of education system

– Reform of the civil service

– Growth in provincially controlled public sector

– Increased involvement by provincial government in economic affairs

– Questioning of Catholic Church’s authority

Who Is Québécois?

Quebec is ethnically and linguistically heterogeneous.

- 20.6 percent of population’s mother tongue is not French.

- 13 percent of population is ‘visible minorities.’

No visual elements present.

Nations are comprised of "imagined communities" in terms of physical, social, and symbolic boundaries that define group membership.

Civic nationalists: All those who now reside in Quebec.

Ethnic nationalists: Only those who share a common history, culture, ancestry, or language (known as pure laine—"pure wool"—Quebecois).

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Migration has been a major feature of Canadian history for over 300 years.

– In 2016, 7.5 million immigrants were living in Canada, representing 21.9 percent of the population.

Six factors shape Canadian immigration:

Social class

Most immigrants are admitted to Canada because of Canada’s economic needs and interests.

Ethnic and racial stereotypes

Exaggerated, oversimplified images of characteristics of certain groups.

Prior to 1962, Canadian immigration policy had a racialized hierarchy of desirability.

3. Variety of geopolitical considerations

– Stemming from Canada’s relationships with other countries.

4. Humanitarianism

– Immigrants and refugees were accepted partly on humanitarian and compassionate grounds.

Six factors shape Canadian immigration:

Public opinion

– Difficult to determine, given no “one voice” of Canadians regarding immigration.

Security considerations

– More important since 9/11 terrorist attacks.

– Introduction of the Permanent Resident Card.

• Movement toward a “Fortress North America.”

Immigrants fit one of three main categories:

1. Refugees

– Convention refugees (are unable or unwilling to return to their country of origin for fear of persecution).

– Country of asylum class refugees (outside their country of citizenship or residence and are seriously and personally affected by civil war, armed conflict, or massive violation of human rights).

– Source country class refugees (meet the definition of convention refugee but are still in their country of citizenship or residence).

Immigrants fit one of three main categories:

Family class immigrants

– Have close family members already living in Canada who are willing and able to sponsor and support them.

Economic class immigrants

– Skilled workers

Other economic pathways:

4. Provincial nominees

- Based on specific provincial labour shortages.

5. Canadian experience class

- Temporary workers and international students who have studied in Canada can apply for permanent residency.

6. Live-in caregivers

- Housekeepers and nannies, mainly for upper-middle-class and wealthy families.

Porter: Canada as a vertical mosaic

Society in which ethnic groups tend to occupy different and unequal positions in a stratification system.

• Two “charter groups”—English and French—predominated in various Canadian elites.

The vertical mosaic metaphor still seems to accurately describe the position of many visible minority immigrants:

• Higher rates of unemployment, lower earnings, and higher rates of poverty than white immigrant counterparts and the Canadian born.

– Stems from education credentials being devalued by certification authorities, and racial discrimination influencing hiring practices.