Download To Kill A Mockingbird - Montgomery Township School

Introduction to the
Language of Prejudice
A Raisin in the Sun
To Kill A Mockingbird
Get ready…
Get set…
Definitions!!!
Your Task
• THINK about these ideas.
• COPY the spelling and parts of
speech of different forms of the
words.
• DO NOT copy definitions at this time
– this powerpoint will be on Ms. M’s
website, and you can check later if you
need to study.
What do you know?
Define
• Ethnic
• Ethnicity
• Ethnocentrism
• Ethnocentric
• Ethnic
– (adj) of or relating to large groups of
people classed according to common racial,
national, tribal, religious, linguistic, or
cultural origin or background
– (noun or adj.) a member of a minority
ethnic group who retains the customs,
language, or social views of the group
• Ethnicity (noun) – an ethnic quality or
affiliation
• Ethnocentrism (noun) – the tendency to believe that
one’s ethnic or cultural group is centrally important,
and that all other groups are measured in relation to
one’s own. The ethnocentric individual will judge other
groups relative to his or her own particular ethnic
group or culture, especially with concern to language,
behavior, customs, and religion. The term
ethnocentrism was coined by William G. Sumner; he
described it as often leading to pride, vanity, beliefs of
one’s own group’s superiority, and contempt of
outsiders.
• Ethnocentric (adj) – characterized by or based on the
attitude that one’s own group is superior
Sooooo…
• Ethnicity is about a shared cultural
background
and
• Ethnocentrism is about believing that your
cultural background is the best one.
What do you know?
Define
• Race (as in a category)
• Race (noun)
– 1. a) a breeding stock of animals. b) an
actually or potentially interbreeding group
within a species. c) a breed.
– 2. a) a category of humankind that shares
certain distinctive physical traits. b) a family,
tribe, people, or nation belonging to the same
stock.
– 3. a class or kind of people unified by shared
interests, habits, or characteristics
RACE was a term once commonly used in physical
anthropology to denote a division of humankind
possessing traits that are transmissible by descent and
sufficient to characterize it as a distinct human type
(e.g., Caucasoid, Mongoloid, Negroid). Today the
term has little scientific standing, as older methods
of differentiation, including hair form and body
measurement, have given way to the comparative
analysis of DNA and gene frequencies relating to such
factors as blood typing, the excretion of amino acids,
and inherited enzyme deficiencies. Because all
human populations today are extremely similar
genetically, most researchers have abandoned the
concept of race for the concept of the cline, a
graded series of differences occurring along a line of
environmental or geographical transition …
… This reflects the recognition that human populations have
always been in a state of flux, with genes constantly flowing
from one gene pool to another, impeded only by physical or
ecological boundaries. While relative isolation does preserve
genetic differences and allow populations to maximally adapt
to climatic and disease factors over long periods of time, all
groups currently existing are thoroughly “mixed”
genetically, and such differences as still exist do not lend
themselves to simple typologizing.
“Race” is today primarily a sociological
designation, identifying a class sharing some
outward physical characteristics and some
commonalities of culture and history.
What do you know?
Define
• Racism
• Racist
• Racism (noun)
– a) a belief that race is the primary
determinant of human traits and
capacities, and that racial differences
produce an inherent superiority of a
particular race
– b) racial prejudice or discrimination
• Racist (noun or adjectival form of racism)
Soooo…
RACISM is any action, practice, or belief that
reflects the racial worldview – the
ideology that humans are divided into
separate and exclusive biological entities
called “races;” that there is a causal link
between inherited physical traits and traits
of personality, intellect, morality, and
other cultural behavioral features; and
that some “races” are innately
superior to others.
Did you know?
Racism was at the heart of both North
American slavery and the overseas colonization
& empire-building activities of some western
Europeans, especially in the 18th century. The
idea of race was invented to magnify the
differences between people of European
origin in the U.S. and those of African
descent whose ancestors had been brought
against their will to function as slaves in the
American South. By viewing Africans and
their descendants as lesser human beings, …
… the proponents of slavery attempted to
justify and maintain this system of
exploitation while at the same time
portraying the U.S. as a bastion and
champion of human freedom, with human
rights, democratic institutions, unlimited
opportunities, and equality. The contradiction
between slavery and the ideology of human
equality, accompanying a philosophy of human
freedom and dignity, seemed to demand the
dehumanization of those enslaved. …
… Racism differs from ethnocentrism in that
it is linked to physical and therefore
immutable differences among people.
Ethnic identity is acquired, and ethnic
features are learned forms of behavior.
Race, on the other hand, is a form of
identity that is perceived as innate and
unalterable …
Racism reflects an acceptance of the deepest
forms and degrees of divisiveness, and
carries the implication that differences
among groups are so great that they cannot
be transcended.
What do you know?
Define
• Prejudice/ prejudiced
• Bias/ biased
• Discriminate/ discrimination/ discriminatory
• Prejudice (noun)
– preconceived judgment or opinion; an adverse
opinion or leaning formed without just
grounds or before sufficient knowledge
– an instance of such judgment or opinion
– an irrational attitude of hostility directed
against an individual, a group, a race, or their
supposed characteristics
• Prejudiced (adj.)
– resulting from or having a prejudice or bias
for or especially against
• Bias (noun)
– a tendency
– an inclination of temperament or outlook; a
personal and sometimes unreasoned
judgment; prejudice
– an instance of such prejudice
• Biased (adj.)
– exhibiting or characterized by bias
• Discriminate (verb)
– to make a distinction, or use good judgment
– make a difference in treatment or favor on a basis
other than individual merit. <discriminate in favor
of your friends> or <discriminate against a certain
nationality >
• Discrimination (noun)
– the act, practice, or a particular instance of
discriminating categorically rather than individually
– a prejudiced or prejudicial outlook, action, or
treatment. <racial discrimination>
• Discriminatory (adj.)
– applying or favoring discrimination in treatment.
<The law prohibits discriminatory hiring
practices.>
Sooooo…
Prejudice and bias are fairly close synonyms. The
difference is:
• Prejudice is generally about being negative
without good reason, while bias is about
forming a judgment without good reason.
Discriminate simply means to make a distinction.
• One can discriminate in favor of or against
someone, but some people only know the word’s
negative and prejudiced meaning.
Sooooo…
• From now on, you need to use the
appropriate word.
AND
• You must spell it correctly.
Be prepared for a vocab quiz on these
words during our next class!