Download Sociology Chapter 9 Notes

Sociology: Chapter 9 Sec 1
“Racial and Ethnic Relations”
“Race, Ethnicity, and the Social
Structure”
Standards for Ch 10: 2.4, 2.7, 3.3,
3.4, 4.1-4.4, 4.10, 4.11-4.13, 5.3, 5.5,
6.3, 7.1, 7.2, 7.5, 7.6
The “Myth” of Race
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Race: Grouping of Human Beings by
1. Skin Color
2. Hair Texture
3. Body Structure
Early Studies into the Three basic racial groups
1. Caucasoid: White; Fair Skin; Straight/Wavy
Hair
 2. Mongoloid: Oriental; Yellowish/Brownish Skin;
Distinct Folds on the Eyelids
 3. Negroids: Dark Skin; Tightly Curled Hair
* Scientists categorize animals into “species” based
on reproduction between organisms
* Obvious physical characteristics are based on
“Environmental Factors” not genetic
Characteristic Problems
 Southern India: White features; Dark Skin;
Straight Hair
 AINU: Japan; White Skin; Oriental Features
Black Like Me: Possible Book for Review
Race From a Social Perspective
-Race: Category of people who share inherited
physical characteristics and are perceived as being
a “distinct” group by others
* Sociologists are not as concerned w/ the
differences as they are HOW people REACT to
these differences (Or Perceive them)
Ethnicity and Ethnic Groups
 Ethnicity: Set of Social Characteristics that
distinguish one group from another
 Ethnic Group: Share a common cultural
background and sense of identity
 -Beliefs and practices often passed from one
generation to another
 *Not ENTIRELY physical
 *Ex: Jewish people base their ethnicity on
religion
Characteristics of Minority Groups
 Minority Group: Category of people who share
physical characteristics or cultural practices that
result in the group being denied equal
treatment…by Dominant Group: Group w/ power
to discriminate Watch: The Great Divide
 Characteristics of Minority Groups
 1. Possess Obvious Physical/Cultural
Characteristics that are different than the
dominant group
 2. Are victims of unequal treatment
 3. Membership is Ascribed
 4. Group members share a bond and sense of
loyalty
 5. Members practice Endogamy: Marriage w/in
Sociology: Chapter 9 Sec 2
“Patterns of Intergroup Relations”
Standards:”
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Discrimination and Prejudice
 1. Discrimination: Denial of equal treatment based
on group membership
 2. Prejudice: Unsupported generalization about a
category of people: “Pre-Judge”
 Types of Discrimination
 1. Legal Discrimination: Discrimination upheld by
law (Jim Crow)
 2. Institutionalized Discrimination: An outgrowth
of the structure of society; 1882-1970: 1,170
African-Americans lynched; Crime; Trying to vote
 *Even after the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed,
blacks were still denied equal opportunities in many
Two “Precedent” Court Cases
 Plessy v Ferguson: 1896; “Separate but Equal is
Constitutional”
 *This case made racial segregation LEGAL
 Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka Kansas:
1954; “Plessy v. Ferguson is UN-constitutional
because it is impossible to keep the races ‘separate
but equal’ because of the unequal distribution of
the means of production”
 *After this case, schools systems started “busing”
students to other high schools to integrate the
American school system
 Watch: Remember the Titans
Self- Fulfilling Prophecy
 Prejudice: W.I. Thomas
 Stereotype: Oversimplified, exaggerated, or
unfavorable generalization about a group
 -”If people define situations as real, they are real
in their consequences.”
 -Ex: If I am interviewing candidates for a job
opening and I believe the “stereotype” that “Black
people are lazy,” is it likely that I will hire a black
candidate?
 Robert K. Merton
 Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
 A prediction that results in behavior that makes the
prediction true. “You are bad”
Racism and Patterns of Prejudice
 Racism: Belief that one’s own race or ethnic group
is superior to others
 Merton’s Patterns of Discrimination and
Prejudice: See chart; P. 214
 1. Active Bigot: Someone who is prejudice and
openly discriminates
 2. Timid Bigot: Is prejudiced but is afraid to
discriminate because of societal pressure
 3. Fair-Weather Liberal: Not Prejudiced;
discriminates because of societal pressures
 4. All-Weather Liberal: Not prejudice; does not
discriminate
Sources of Discrimination and
Prejudice
 1.Sociological: Stereotyping: Oversimplified
exaggerated generalization about a particular
group
 -Often times, this becomes a NORM in some
societies and racism becomes “Socialized” into an
individual
 2. Psychological: Scapegoating: Place blame of
one’s own troubles on an innocent person or group
 -Jewish people in pre-WWII Germany
 -Mexican-Americans being blamed for “taking”
American jobs
 3.Economic: Differences in the distribution of
power also influences discrimination. Read P. 241
Patterns of Minority Group Treatment
 1. Cultural Pluralism: Let cultures keep
heritage (Little Italy in Chicago; Little
Havana in Miami)
 2. Assimilation: Blending of culturally distinct
groups into a group w/ common culture (MexicanAmerican can’t speak Spanish well)
 3. Legal Protection: Civil Rights Act of
1964
 -Affirmative Action
Minority Group Treatment
 4. Segregation:
 - Physical separation
 -De Jure: Based on laws
 -De Facto: Informal Norms
 5. Subjugation:
 -Rule by Force (Slavery/Apartheid)
 6. Population Transfer: Transfer Minorities to a new
area: Ex: Indian removal; 1930’s
 7. Extermination:
 -Genocide: Destroy an entire population
 -Holocaust
 Ethnic Cleansing: removing group through
expulsion, and mass murder
terror,
Sociology: Chapter 9 Sec 3
“Minority Groups in the United
States”
Minority Groups
 Gunnar Myrdal: An American Dilemma
 “Gap between what Americans believe and
how they actually behave”
 American Ideal: Freedom for All/ Equality
 American Reality: Slavery/Discrimination
 *Other people “picture” Americans as
 1. White/ Anglo
 2. European
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African Americans P. 219-220
12% of Population
-One of most discriminated against groups
-1950’s-60’s; made gains
-% of blacks employed similar to whites
-26% hold Manager + Positions
-35% White “
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-41% of households have middle class incomes
1965: Voting Act Passed
African American Officials went from 200 to 9,000
-Barack Obama
-Condoleezza Rice
-Colin Powell
Environmental Racism: Practice of using minority
neighborhoods as: “Toxic Dumps”
Hispanic Americans P. 221
 15% population
 1990-2009 59% increase in population
-Largest Minority Group
 *6,000 Office Holders
 *Lagging behind in education
 -ESL and Bilingual education are two
methods being utilized to help this problem
Asian Americans: P. 222-223
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5% of Population
Six Largest Groups
1. Chinese
2. Filipino
3. Japanese
4. Asian Indian
5. Korean
6. Vietnamese
First Wave: 1850’s; Western RR work
Chinese Exclusion Act: 1882
Barred Chinese men from bringing wives and
children into U.S.
 1940: Ban Lifted
 National Origins Act: set quotas for asian
immigration
Asian Americans
 Mc Carran-Walter Act: Opened country to
immigration on quotas
 -Tend to excel in education
 -Called the “Model Minority”
 Resent label
 -Hides fact that group has faced discrimination
 Ex: WWII Japanese internment camps
 See Page 222
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Native Americans
2,900,000 Live in United States
-Extreme Poverty
-55% live on reservations
-15% Unemployed (50% on reservation)
-25% Live in Poverty
-High Suicide (2nd Leading Cause of Death)
-High Alcoholism (7 Times the National Avg.)
- 76% High School 14% Graduate from college
-Sioux at St. Francis
-Lakota woman
-High Suicide Rates
Did not gain citizenship until 1924
Pan-Indianism: Movement to preserve culture and
deal with problems facing Native Americans today
Other Minorities
 White Ethnics: White immigrants from mainly
Catholic/Eastern Orthodox Countries
 18-1900’s
 -Ireland: St Patrick’s Day
 -Italy
 -Poland
 -Greece
 *Included Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, and non
native Protestants
 Jewish Americans: Focus ethnic “identity” on
religion
 Anti-semitism: Discrimination/Prejudice against
Jews
 Arab Americans: 3,500,000 representing 22 Arab
nations NOT ALL ARE MUSLIM! (Page 225)