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Chapter 10
Race and Ethnicity
Key Terms

race
A category of people who have been singled
out as inferior or superior, often on the basis of
physical characteristics such as skin color, hair
texture, and eye shape.

ethnic group
A collection of people distinguished, by others
or by themselves, primarily on the basis of
cultural or nationality characteristics.

majority (dominant) group
Group that is advantaged and has superior
resources and rights in a society.

minority (subordinate) group
A group whose members, because of physical
or cultural characteristics, are disadvantaged
and subjected to unequal treatment by the
dominant group and who regard themselves as
objects of collective discrimination.

prejudice
A negative attitude based on faulty
generalizations about the members of selected
racial and ethnic groups.

stereotypes
Overgeneralizations about the appearance,
behavior, or other characteristics of members
of particular categories.

racism
A set of attitudes, beliefs, and practices that is
used to justify the superior treatment of one
racial or ethnic group and the inferior treatment
of another racial or ethnic group.

scapegoat
A person or group that is incapable of offering
resistance to the hostility or aggression of
others.

authoritarian personality
Characterized by excessive conformity,
submissiveness to authority, intolerance,
insecurity, a high level of superstition, and rigid,
stereotypic thinking.

social distance
The extent to which people are willing to
interact and establish relationships with
members of racial and ethnic groups other than
their own.

discrimination
Actions or practices of dominant group
members that have a harmful impact on
members of a subordinate group.

genocide
The deliberate, systematic killing of an entire
people or nation.

individual discrimination
One-on-one acts by members of the dominant
group that harm members of the subordinate
group or their property.

institutional discrimination
Day-to-day practices of organizations and
institutions that have a harmful impact on
members of subordinate groups.

assimilation
A process by which members of subordinate
racial and ethnic groups become absorbed into
the dominant culture.

ethnic pluralism
The coexistence of a variety of distinct racial
and ethnic groups within one society.

segregation
Spatial and social separation of categories of
people by race, ethnicity, class, gender and/or
religion.

internal colonialism
Occurs when members of a racial or ethnic
group are conquered or colonized and forcibly
placed under the economic and political control
of the dominant group.

split labor market
The division of the economy into a primary
sector composed of higher paid workers in
more secure jobs, and a secondary sector
composed of lower-paid workers in jobs with
little security and hazardous working
conditions.