Introduction to Sociology - Defining Race and Ethnicity

Chapter 8 Outline 1. The race is a socially defined category based on real or perceived biological differences between groups of people. 2. Ethnicity is a socially defined category based on a common language, religion, nationality, history, or some other cultural factor. 3. Changes in the boundaries of the “white” category, including the exclusion and inclusion of Irish, Italian, and Jewish immigrants, exemplify how race and ethnicity are social constructions. 4. Some groups of people, such as white ethnic Americans, can choose when and how to display their ethnicity to others. a. Symbolic ethnicity is an ethnic identity that is relevant only on specific occasions and does not significantly affect everyday life. b. Situational ethnicity is an ethnic identity that can be either displayed or concealed depending on its usefulness in a given situation. c. Neither symbolic nor situational ethnicity is an option for visibly nonmainstream people, and in the United States, this generally means those who are non-white. 8.2 The U.S. Population by Race 1. The United States is becoming a more diverse nation. 2. The U.S. Census Bureau collects comprehensive data every decade to quantify the size of racial and ethnic groups, but this is complicated by Americans who identify as belonging to multiple races. 3. A minority group is a social group that is systematically denied the same access to power and resources available to society’s dominant groups through its members are not necessarily fewer in numbers than the dominant groups. a. Membership in a minority group may serve as a “master status” that can subject the individual to racist beliefs and social disadvantages. 8.3 Racism in Its Many Forms 1. Racism is a set of beliefs about the claimed superiority of one racial or ethnic group; used to justify inequality and is often rooted in the assumption that differences among groups are genetic. a. Racism is woven into the fabric of American society, and despite some signs of progress, it persists in our social institutions today. 2. Prejudice is an idea about the characteristics of a group that is applied to all members of that group and is unlikely to change regardless of the evidence against it. a. Prejudice can flow both ways between dominant groups and minorities, and it can also be applied by minority group members against themselves, which is referred to as “internalized racism.” b. Prejudice often leads to discrimination, the unequal treatment of individuals based on their membership in a social group. i. Discrimination can be individual or institutional. ii. Despite believing in equality, dominant group members may still act in ways to uphold institutional discrimination due to implicit bias. 3. White nationalism is the belief that the nation should be built around a white identity that is reflected in religion, politics, economics, and culture. a. While white dominance was a reality for most of American history, there has been a recent resurgence of white nationalism bolstered by President Donald Trump’s anti-immigrant ideas and anxiety from extremists about the growing population of immigrants and nonwhite groups in the United States. 4. Privilege is an unearned advantage accorded to members of dominant social groups that often goes unrecognized by those who have it. a. White privilege is the idea that whites in society enjoy certain unearned advantages on both individual and institutional levels unavailable to nonwhites, and that whites are largely unaware of these benefits they possess. b. Color-blind racism is an ideology that removes race as an explanation for any form of unequal treatment. i. It is problematic because it ignores the reality that racial prejudice and discrimination still exist. ii. It is often perpetuated by members of privileged groups who are blind to their own privilege. c. Race consciousness is an ideology that counters color-blind racism by acknowledging race as a powerful social construct that shapes our individual and social experiences. 5. Microaggressions are everyday uses of subtle verbal and nonverbal communications that convey denigrating or dismissive messages to members of certain social groups. 6. Cultural appropriation is the adoption of cultural elements belonging to an oppressed group by members of the dominant group, without permission and often for the dominant group’s gain. 7. Reverse racism is the claim by whites that they suffer discrimination based upon their race and, therefore, experience social disadvantages. a. Affirmative action is the subject of many reverse racism claims, and its necessity and fairness remain highly debated in American society. 8. Antiracist allies are whites and others working toward the goal of ending racial injustice. a. More whites are realizing they must take an active role in educating themselves and supporting people of color if they want a more inclusive, fair, and just society. 8.4 Theoretical Approaches to Understanding Race 1. Structural functionalists explain prejudice and discrimination as a negative side effect of necessary phenomena for social stability, such as social solidarity and group cohesion. 2. Conflict theorists suggest racism is driven by economic competition and the struggle over scarce resources. As a result, racist beliefs have been institutionalized as a part of political and economic life throughout history. a. Critical race theory is the study of the intersectional relationships between race, racism, and power. 3. Symbolic interactionists understand race as a social construction framed in terms of biological features. One aspect of this social construction is the interaction that occurs in the “reading” of others and the act of making ourselves “readable” through self-presentation. a. Racial and ethnic identity are both projected and interpreted by individuals in their everyday lives. b. Passing means to present yourself as a member of a different group than the stigmatized group to which you belong. i. “Double-consciousness” is W.E.B. DuBois’s term for the divided identity experienced by blacks in the United States. c. Embodied identity refers to the elements of identity that are generated through others’ perceptions of our physical traits. i. Online interactions have led some to question the relevance of embodied identity, but closer examination shows that the Internet doesn’t make problematic distinctions disappear, it simply makes them manifest in different ways. 8.5 Race, Ethnicity, and Life Chances 1. Family: African Americans are more likely than whites or Latinos never to marry, to divorce, and to be widowed. African Americans and Latinos are more likely to be teen mothers than whites and Asian Americans. 2. Health: Nonwhites are less likely to have health insurance than whites. Also, life expectancies for African Americans are significantly lower than for whites. 3. Education: Asian Americans and whites enjoy more overall success in the U.S. educational system than African Americans and Latinos, in terms of both high school graduation rates and the number of degrees in higher education. 4. Work and income: Whites hold the majority of positions in managerial and executive professions. Asian Americans had the highest median income in 2006, followed by whites and African Americans. Latinos had the lowest median income among these four groups. 5. Criminal justice: African American and Latino males are more likely to be incarcerated than white males. 6. Intersectionality: For white women married to black men, race and gender combine to create different understandings of race. 8.6 Intergroup Relations: Conflict or Cooperation 1. Both culture and conflict are possible in intergroup relations. 2. Genocide is the deliberate and systematic extermination of a racial, ethnic, national or cultural group. 3. Population transfer is the forcible removal of a group of people from the territory they have occupied. 4. Internal colonialism is the economic and political subjugation of a minority group by the dominant group within a nation. a. It often involves some form of economic exploitation and segregation, which is the physical and legal separation of groups by race or ethnicity. 5. Assimilation is a pattern of relations between ethnic or racial groups in which the minority group is absorbed into the mainstream or dominant group, making society more homogeneous. a. Racial assimilation is the process by which racial minority groups are absorbed into the dominant group by intermarriage. b. Cultural assimilation is the process by which racial or ethnic groups are absorbed into the dominant group by adopting the dominant group’s culture. 6. Pluralism is a cultural pattern of intergroup relations that encourages racial and ethnic variation and acceptance within a society.