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Race, Ethnicity, and Racism — Vocabulary Flashcards (Chapter 11)

Chapter 11 Notes: Race, Ethnicity, and Racism

  • Source: Chapter 11 Lecture Slides (Introduction to Sociology, Giddens et al.)

  • Focus: Concepts of race, ethnicity, racism; historical and comparative perspectives; models of Ethnic integration; global migration; unanswered questions and practice questions.

Opening Question

  • US Census projections (context for the chapter):

    • (a) Latinos will be the majority in the United States by 2040.

    • (b) Whites will be a minority in the United States by 2040.

    • (c) Whites will remain in the majority after 2040.

Learning Objectives: Part 1

  • Basic Concepts

    • Understand the differing meanings of race and ethnicity.

    • Understand why race is a highly contested concept.

  • Thinking about Racism

    • Learn several key concepts important for understanding racism in the contemporary United States:

    • color-blind racism, white privilege, institutional racism, overt racism, microaggressions.

Learning Objectives: Part 2

  • Research on Race and Ethnicity Today

    • Familiarize yourself with the history and social dimensions of ethnic relations in the United States.

    • Recognize the importance of the historical roots of ethnic conflict, particularly in the expansion of Western colonialism.

    • Understand the different models for a multiethnic society.

  • Unanswered Questions

    • Understand the current state of immigration to the United States.

    • Learn the forms of inequality experienced by different racial and ethnic groups in the United States.

Basic Concepts: Part 1

  • Minority Group

    • A group of people in a given society who, because of their distinct physical or cultural characteristics, find themselves in situations of inequality compared with the dominant group in that society.

Basic Concepts: Part 2

  • Race

    • A socially constructed category rooted in the belief that there are fundamental differences among humans, associated with phenotype and ancestry.

  • Ethnicity

    • Cultural values and norms that distinguish the members of a given group from others.

Basic Concepts: Part 3

  • 00 (Content appears to be a placeholder in the slides – no additional concept listed here)

Thinking about Racism: Part 1

  • Defining Racism

    • Racism: the attribution of characteristics of superiority or inferiority to a population sharing certain physically inherited characteristics.

Thinking about Racism: Part 2

  • Prejudice and Discrimination

    • Prejudice: beliefs or attitudes about a group.

    • Discrimination: behavior that denies to the members of a particular group resources or rewards that can be obtained by others.

Thinking about Racism: Part 3

  • Racism in the United States Today (Overview of frameworks)

    • Color-blind racism: racism without racists.

    • White privilege: the unacknowledged and unearned assets that benefit whites in daily life.

    • Institutional racism: racism that occurs through respected and established institutions rather than through hateful actions of individuals.

    • Movement data (illustrative migration flows to show racial/ethnic diversity):

    • Europe to North America: 45,000,000

    • Europe to South America: 20,000,000

    • Africa to South America and North America: 15,000,000

    • Europe to Australia and New Zealand: 17,000,000

Thinking about Racism: Part 4

  • Racism in the United States Today (Continuing) – Overt racism and microaggressions

    • Overt racism: racism by openly hateful or explicit actions.

    • Racial microaggressions: small slights, indignities, or acts of disrespect that are hurtful to people of color, often perpetuated by well-meaning whites.

Race and Racism in Historical and Comparative Perspective: Part 1

  • (Introductory framing for historical/comparative analysis)

Race and Racism in Historical and Comparative Perspective: Part 2

  • Scientific racism

    • The use of scientific research or data to justify or reify beliefs about the superiority or inferiority of particular racial groups.

Race and Racism in Historical and Comparative Perspective: Part 3

  • ISRAEL/Jewish, SOUTH AFRICA, BRAZIL, ROMANIA, UNITED STATES, AUSTRALIA, GERMANY data snapshots (global/selected ethnoracial compositions)

    • Israel: Jewish 75%; Non-Jewish 25%;

    • Of which origin breakdown: Israel-born 75.6%; Europe/America/Oceania-born 16.6%; Africa-born 4.9%; Asia-born 2.9%

    • South Africa: Black 80.2%; Colored 8.8%; White 8.4%; Indian/Asian 2.5% (note: “Colored” is a South African term for mixed-race ancestry).

    • Brazil: White 47.7%; Mulatto (mixed white & black) 43.1%; Black 7.6%; Asian 1.1%; Indigenous 0.4%

    • Romania: Romanian 83.4%; Unspecified 6.1%; Hungarian 6.1%; Roma 3.1%; Ukrainian 0.3%; German 0.2%; Other 0.7%

    • United States: White, Non-Hispanic 61.6%; 2+ Races 2.6%; Hispanic or Latino 17.6%; Black or African American 13.3%; Asian 5.6%; American Indian (Alaska Native) 1.2%; Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander 0.2%

    • Australia: English 25.9%; Chinese 3.1%; Australian-born 25.4% (note: this likely refers to Australian-born or Indigenous context); Indian 1.4%; Irish 7.5%; Greek 1.4%; Scottish 6.4%; Dutch 1.2%; Italian 3.3%; Other (including Australian Aboriginal) 0.5%

    • Germany: German 3.2%; Unspecified 5.4%

    • (Overall note: these slides provide illustrative snapshots of ethnoracial compositions in various countries.)

Race and Racism in Historical and Comparative Perspective: Part 4

  • The Rise of Racism – Apartheid

    • Apartheid: the system of racial segregation established in South Africa.

Race and Racism in Historical and Comparative Perspective: Part 5

  • Blacks in the United States

    • Internal migration from the South to the North.

    • The Civil Rights Movement.

Race and Racism in Historical and Comparative Perspective: Part 6

  • Hispanics and Latinos in the United States

Race and Racism in Historical and Comparative Perspective: Part 7

  • Hispanics and Latinos in the United States

    • Mexican Americans

    • Puerto Ricans and Cubans

Race and Racism in Historical and Comparative Perspective: Part 8

  • Asian Americans

Race and Racism in Historical and Comparative Perspective: Part 9

  • Demographic shifts in the United States (approximate racial/ethnic shares by year)

    • 1900: Black ≈ 13%; White ≈ 87% (Hispanic ≈ 0% documented here); Native American ≈ 0% (approx.)

    • 1910: Black ≈ 12%; White ≈ 88%; Hispanic/Asian/Native shares minor in this snapshot

    • 1920: Black ≈ 11.5%; White ≈ 88.5%

    • 1930: Black ≈ 11%; White ≈ 89%

    • 1940: Black ≈ 11%; White ≈ 89%

    • 1950: Black ≈ 10%; Hispanic ≈ 3%; Asian ≈ 1%; Native American ≈ 0%; White ≈ 86%

    • 1960: Black ≈ 11%; Hispanic ≈ 3%; Asian ≈ 1%; Native American ≈ 1%; White ≈ 85%

    • 1970: Black ≈ 11%; Hispanic ≈ 4%; Asian ≈ 1%; Native American ≈ 1%; White ≈ 83%

    • 1980: Black ≈ 12%; Hispanic ≈ 7%; Asian ≈ 1%; Native American ≈ 1%; White ≈ 79%

    • 1990: Black ≈ 13%; Hispanic ≈ 8%; Asian ≈ 3%; Native American ≈ 2%; White ≈ 74%

    • 2000: Black ≈ 14%; Hispanic ≈ 12%; Asian ≈ 4%; Native American ≈ 2%; White ≈ 69%

    • 2010: Black ≈ 12%; Hispanic ≈ 16%; Asian ≈ 5%; Native American ≈ 1%; White ≈ 65%

Race and Racism in Historical and Comparative Perspective: Part 10

  • Models of Ethnic Integration

    • Assimilation: the acceptance of a minority group by a majority population, where the minority adopts the values and norms of the dominant culture.

    • Melting pot: ethnic differences are combined to create new patterns of behavior drawing on diverse cultural sources.

    • Pluralism: all ethnic groups retain their independent identities but share equally in rights and citizenship.

    • Multiculturalism: a condition in which ethnic groups exist separately and share equally in economic and political life.

Race and Racism in Historical and Comparative Perspective: Part 11

  • Global Migration

    • Migratory movements: immigration (into a country) and emigration (out of a country).

Global Migration: Part 12

  • Global Migration – Key dynamics

    • Acceleration; diversification; globalization; feminization.

Global Migration: Part 13

  • Global Map 11.2: Global migratory movements since 1973 (maps with arrows illustrating flows between regions)

    • Note on interpretation: Arrow dimensions do not indicate the size of movements.

    • Source: Castles and Miller, 1993, p. 6.

Global Migration: Part 14

  • Global Diasporas – Diaspora

    • Diaspora: the dispersal of an ethnic population from an original homeland into foreign areas, often in a forced manner or under traumatic circumstances.

Unanswered Questions: Question 1 — Part 1

  • Do new immigrants help or hinder the nation’s economy? (Prompt for discussion)

Unanswered Questions: Question 1 — Part 2

  • Visual/political context (e.g., posters and marches from 2006 immigration actions) demonstrating immigration debates and activism.

Unanswered Questions: Question 2 — Part 1

  • Has real progress been made since the civil rights movement of the 1960s? – Educational attainment (indicator of progress)

Unanswered Questions: Question 2 — Part 2

  • Figure references (11.2A, 11.2B) displaying comparative data by race/ethnicity for various outcomes.

  • Figure snippets show: non-Hispanic Black, White, Asian, Hispanic, and older age groups impacts on education or other metrics. (Interpretation: uses data from U.S. Census and later sources.)

Unanswered Questions: Question 2 — Part 3

  • Has real progress been made since the civil rights movement of the 1960s? – Educational attainment – Employment and income

Unanswered Questions: Question 2 — Part 4

  • Figure 11.3: Median income in 2015 dollars by race/ethnicity

    • $80,000 (highest bracket) – White, not Hispanic

    • $70,000 – All races

    • $60,000 – Hispanic (any race)

    • $50,000 – Black

    • $40,000 – Asian

    • $30,000 – (range for lower brackets)

    • $20,000 – (lower bracket)

    • $0 – baseline

    • Time axis: 1967, 1970, 1975, 1980, 1985, 1990, 1995, 2000, 2005, 2010, 2015

    • Source: Proctor, Semega, and Kollar, 2016.

Unanswered Questions: Question 2 — Part 5

  • Has real progress been made since the civil rights movement of the 1960s? – Educational attainment – Employment and income – Health – Residential segregation – Political power

Unanswered Questions: Question 3 — Part 1

  • How can ethnic conflict be reduced?

    • Genocide: the systematic, planned destruction of a racial, political, or cultural group.

    • Ethnic cleansing: the creation of ethnically homogeneous territories through the mass expulsion of other ethnic populations.

    • Segregation: the practice of keeping racial and ethnic groups physically separate, thereby maintaining the superior position of the dominant group.

Unanswered Questions: Question 3 — Part 2

  • How can ethnic conflict be reduced? – Conflict and economic power

Concept Quiz: Question 1

  • Cultural practices and outlooks of a given community that have emerged historically and that set people apart are referred to as:

    • (a) race. (b) ethnicity. (c) cultural relativism. (d) pluralism.

  • Answer: (b) ethnicity

Concept Quiz: Question 2

  • Peggy McIntosh likens to an "invisible weightless knapsack" of provisions and tools.

    • (a) racial microaggressions (b) apartheid (c) white privilege (d) race

  • Answer: (c) white privilege

Concept Quiz: Question 3

  • Which pair are closest to opposites?

    • (a) melting pot; pluralism

    • (b) assimilation; emigration

    • (c) multiculturalism; pluralism

    • (d) prejudice; discrimination

  • Answer: (a) melting pot; pluralism

Concept Quiz: Question 4

  • The system of state-controlled racial segregation in South Africa was called

    • (a) institutional racism. (b) apartheid. (c) Jim Crow. (d) colonial rule.

  • Answer: (b) apartheid

Concept Quiz: Question 5

  • The Ferguson, Missouri report illustrated the concept of _ by documenting how the courts and police as a whole perpetuate a system that places undue burden on blacks.

    • (a) institutional racism (b) scientific racism (c) multiculturalism (d) discrimination

  • Answer: (a) institutional racism

Concept Quiz: Question 6

  • In 1954, a landmark decision set the civil rights movement in motion. Which event?

    • (a) The Black Panther Party was formed.

    • (b) Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his I Have a Dream speech.

    • (c) The Supreme Court decided in Brown v. Board of Education that “separate” was inherently unequal.

    • (d) NAACP was formed.

  • Answer: (c) Brown v. Board of Education (1954)

Exercise 1: Thinking Sociologically

  • Prompt: Review the assimilation of different American minorities. Write a short essay comparing the assimilation experiences of Asians and Latinos.

    • Identify the criteria for assimilation.

    • Discuss which group has assimilated most readily.

    • Explain sociological reasons for differences in assimilation between the two groups.

Exercise 2: Thinking Sociologically

  • Prompt: Does affirmative action still have a future in the United States?

    • Consider the tension between rising middle-class attainment among some Black Americans and persistent poverty, school quality gaps, and limited economic opportunity for others.

    • Based on these differences and other contrasts, argue whether affirmative action is still needed.

| Note on content and context |
|- This set of slides covers foundational concepts in race and ethnicity, including definitions, contemporary forms of racism, historical/ comparative perspectives, and current debates around immigration and assimilation. |