race
a socially constructed category of people who share biologically transmitted traits that members of a society consider important
-result of living in different regions
-variety of racial traits found today due to migration
-we think of race in biological
racial types
scientists invented the concept of race to organize physical diversity
caucasoid (European)
Negroid (African)
Mongoloid (Asian)
misleading and harmful- more variation within categories than between categories
Ethnicity
a shared cultural heritage that may be based upon:
common ancestors
language
religion
symbolic ethnicity
an ethnic identity that is only relevant on specific occasions and does not significantly impact everyday life
situational ethnicity
an ethnic identity that can be either displayed or concealed, depending on its usefulness in a given situation
minorities
any category of people distinguished by physical or cultural difference that a society sets apart and subordinates (based on race, ethnicity or both)
two important characteristics:
-share a distinct identity
-experience subordination
not all members are d
majority/minority states
California, New Mexico, Hawaii, Texas
prejudice
a rigid and unfair generalization about an entire category of people
-prejudice-> prejudgments, rooted in culture so everyone has some measure of prejudice
-often takes the form of
stereotypes
: an exaggerated description applied to every person in some c
racism
the belief that one racial category is innately superior or inferior to another
-powerful and harmful form of prejudice
-overt racism has decreased
-remains a serious problem
scapegoat theory
prejudice springs from frustration among people who are themselves disadvantaged
authoritarian personality theory
extreme prejudice is a personality trait of certain individuals
-people who show strong intolerance to one minority are intolerant to all minorities
-rigidly conform to conventional cultural values
-see moral issues as clear cut issues of right and wrong
culture theory
some prejudice is found in everyone
-"culture of prejudice"
-taught to view certain categories of people as "better" or "worse" than others
contact hypothesis
in cooperative circumstances, contact between people of different categories in equal circumstances reduces feelings of prejudices
discrimination
unequal treatment of various categories of people
individual discrimination
discrimination carried out by one person against another
-prejudice is attitudes, discrimination is a matter of action
instiutional discrimination
systematic discrimination carried out by social institutions (political, economic, educational, & others) that affects all members of a group who come into contact with it, denial of opportunities based on the way society runs, denial of opportunities and
prejudice & discrimination: the vicious cycle
-reinforce each other
-situations that are defined as real are real in their consequences (Thomas Theorem)
stereotype threat
real to people who believe them, real to those victimized by them
Patterns of Interaction
pluralism
amalgamation
assimilation
segregation
expulsion
genocide
pluralism
a state in which people of all races and ethnicities are distinct but have equal social standing
assimilation
the process by which minorities gradually adopt patterns of the dominant culture
segregation
the physical and social separation of categories of people
amalgamation
when a majority group and a minority group combine to form a new group
expulsion
systematic removal of a group of people from society
genocide
the systematic killing of one category of people by another
diversity in the us
-the rate of documented immigrants has gone up and down over the past 100 years
-before WWII about 80% of documented immigrants to the US were from places in Europe. Today, most are from Latino and Asian countries