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Chapter 3
Racial and Ethnic
Inequality
Defining race
• Biological definition of race:
– Population differs from another because of
some genes.
– Today no “pure” races exist due to
generations of intermixing.
• Sociologists view race as a social
construct
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Racial Group
• A racial group is:
– A category of people who have been singled
out
– Seen as inferior or superior than other groups
– Determined by subjectively defined physical
characteristics
• Such as skin color, hair texture, eye shape
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Ethnic Group
• An Ethnic Group is:
– A group distinguished from others.
– Seen as inferior or superior.
– Distinguished on the basis of cultural or
nationality characteristics.
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© 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
Dominant and Subordinate Groups
• Dominant Group:
– Advantaged compared to other groups in
society
– Have superior resources and rights in a
society
– Can be determined by race, ethnicity, gender,
sexual orientation, or other factors
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Dominant and Subordinate Groups
– In the U.S. the dominant group is associated
with white-skin privilege.
• Subordinate Group:
– Are disadvantaged compared to other groups
– Face unequal treatment, prejudice, or
discrimination
– See themselves as objects of discrimination
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Racism and Prejudice
• Racism:
– Beliefs and practices which justify unequal
treatment of racial and ethnic groups
– White racism is present in the U.S. and denies
people of color opportunities
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Racism and Prejudice
• Prejudice: negative attitude toward a
particular group
– Based on faulty generalizations
– Stems from ethnocentrism (assumption one’s
group is superior)
– Also influenced by stereotypes
• Overgeneralizations about all members of a group
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Discrimination
• Individual Discrimination:
– One on one acts against subordinate group
by dominant group
– Generally stems from prejudice
• Institutional Discrimination:
– Involves day to day practices of institutions
– Harmful impact on subordinate group
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Sociological Perspectives on Race
• Social Psychological Perspective:
– Frustration-aggression hypothesis:
• Individuals who are unable to achieve a set goal
become frustrated
– Authoritarian Personality
• Tendency to be more prejudice
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Symbolic Interactionist
• Racial Socialization:
– Process of social interaction containing
messages about one’s racial/ethnic group.
– Can be direct via contact with parents, peers,
teachers, others
– Also indirectly through media images
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Functionalist
• Focus on social order and stability as
being important.
• Assimilation:
– Process where subordinate group members
become absorbed in dominant culture
– Seen by functionalists as stabilizing
• Anglo-conformity model
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Functionalist
• Ethnic Pluralism:
– Diverse racial and ethnic groups coexist
– Maintain separate identities and cultures
• Segregation:
– Spatial and social separation of people
– Based on race/ethnicity, class, gender,
religion or other social characteristics.
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Conflict
• Class perspectives:
– Historically African Americans were enslaved;
they were the cheapest & best workers
– Contemporary theory
• Split-labor market theory: U.S. economy divided
into 2 sectors
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Conflict
• Gendered Racism:
– Interaction of gender and race resulting in
exploitation of woman of color.
• Internal Colonialism:
– Members of a racial/ethnic group are placed
under control of the dominant group
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Conflict
• Theory of racial formation:
– Government has large role in defining racial
and ethnic relations
– Policies and actions placing one group in a
subordinate position
– Immigration and naturalization laws
• Influence relations between racial & ethnic groups
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Native Americans
• Population of 15 million inhabited land
when Columbus arrived in 1492
• White Europeans conquered and
colonized the Native Americans
– Engaged in genocide
• 1830: Indian Removal Act passed
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African Americans
• First brought to North American as slaves
in 1619
• Slavery abolished in 1863:
– In South: de jure segregation
– In North: de facto segregation
• Civil Rights Acts of 1964 and 1965 ended
de jure segregation
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Latinos (Hispanic Americans)
• Puerto Rico became a U.S. possession in
1917; citizens allowed migration to U.S.
• In late 1950s refugees immigrated to U.S.
from Cuba to flee from Fidel Castro
• Mexicans have immigrated to the U.S. as
agricultural workers
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Asian and Pacific Americans
• Chinese workers came to America
between 1850 and 1880.
• Japanese immigrants forced into
internment camps during WWII.
• Many immigrants have come recently from
other parts of Asia
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© 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
Solutions to Racial and Ethnic
Inequality
• Functionalist:
– Restructure Social Institutions
• Conflict:
– Struggle and Political Action
• Interactionist:
– Teach cultural diversity to unlearn prejudice
and discrimination
© 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
© 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.