Chapter 15 Notes Race and Ethnicity

Chapter 15 Notes: Race and Ethnicity The Social Meaning of Race and Ethnicity 15.1 Explain the social construction of race and ethnicity. Race refers to socially constructed categories based on biological traits a society defines as important. ● The meaning and importance of race vary from place to place and over time. ● Societies use racial categories to rank people in a hierarchy, giving some people more money, power, and prestige than others. ● In the past, scientists created three broad categories— Caucasoids, Mongoloids, and Negroids— but there are no biologically pure races. Ethnicity refers to socially constructed categories based on cultural traits a society defines as important. ● Ethnicity reflects common ancestors, language, and religion. ● The importance of ethnicity varies from place to place and over time. ● People choose to play up or play down their ethnicity. ● Societies may or may not set categories of people apart based on differences in ethnicity. Key Terms 15.1 race- a socially constructed category of people who share biologically transmitted traits that members of a society consider important ethnicity- a shared cultural heritage minority- any category of people distinguished by physical or cultural difference that a society sets apart and subordinates Prejudice and Stereotypes 15.2 Describe the extent and causes of prejudice. Prejudice is a rigid and unfair generalization about a category of people. ● The social distance scale is one measure of prejudice. ● One type of prejudice is the stereotype, an exaggerated description applied to every person in some category. ● Racism, a very destructive type of prejudice, asserts that one race is innately superior or inferior to another. There are four theories of prejudice: ● Scapegoat theory claims that prejudice results from frustration among people who are disadvantaged. ● Authoritarian personality theory (Adorno) claims that prejudice is a personality trait of certain individuals, especially those with little education and those raised by cold and demanding parents. ● Culture theory (Bogardus) claims that prejudice is rooted in culture; we learn to feel greater social distance from some categories of people. ● Conflict theory claims that prejudice is a tool used by powerful people to divide and control the population. Key Terms 15.2 prejudice- a rigid and unfair generalization about an entire category of people stereotype- a simplified description applied to every person in some category racism- the belief that one racial category is innately superior or inferior to another scapegoat- a person or category of people, typically with little power, whom people unfairly blame for their own troubles Discrimination 15.3 Distinguish discrimination from prejudice. Discrimination refers to actions by which a person treats various categories of people unqually. ● Prejudice refers to attitudes: discrimination involves actions. ● Institutional prejudice and discrimination are biases built into the operation of society’s institutions, including schools, hospitals, the police, and the workplace. ● Prejudice and discrimination perpetuate themeslves in a vicious circle, resulting in social disadvantge that fuels additional prejudice and discrimination. Key Terms 15.3 discrimination- unequal treatment of various categories of people institutional prejudice and discrimination- bias built into the operation of society’s institutions Majority and Minority: Patterns of Interaction 15.4 Identify examples of pluraslim, assimilation, segregation, and genocide. Pluralism means that racial and ethnic categories, although distinct, have roughly equal standing. ● U.S society is pluralistic in that all people in the United States, regardless of race or ethnicity, have equal standing under the law. ● U.S society is not pluralistic in that all racial and ethnic categories do not have equal social standing. Assimilation is a process by which minorities gradually adopt the patterns of the dominant culture. ● Assimilation involves changes in dress, language, religion, values, and friends. ● Assimilation is a strategy to escape prejudice and discrimination and to achieve upward social mobility. ● Some categories of people have assimilated more than others. Segregation is the physical and social separation of categories of people. ● Although some segregation is voluntary (as by the Amish), majorities usually segregate minorities by excluding them from neighborhoods, schools, and occupations. ● De jure segregation by law; de facto segregation describes settings that contain only people of one category. ● Hypersegregation means having little social contact with people beyond the local community. Genocide is the systematic killing of one category of people by another. ● Historical examples of genocide include the extermination of Jews by the Nazis and the killing of Western-leaning people in Cambodia by Pol Pot. ● Recent examples of genocide include Hutus killing Tutsis in the African nation of Rwanda, Serbs killing Bosnians in the Balkans of Eastern Europe, and systematic killing in the Darfur region of Suan. Key Terms 15.4 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. miscegenation- biological reproduction by partners of different racial categories segregation- the physical and social separation of categories of people genocide- the systematic killing of one category of people by another Race and Ethnicity in the United States 15.5 Assess the social standing of racial and ethnic categories of U.S Society. Native Americans, the earliest human inhabitants of the Americas, have endured genocide, segregation, and forced assimalitaion. Today, the social standing of Native Americans is well below the national average. White Anglo-Saxon Protestants (WASPs) were most of the original European settlers of the United States, and many continue to enjoy high social position today. African Americans experienced more than two centuries of slavery. Emancipation in 1865 gave way to segregation by law (the so-called Jim Crow laws). In the 1950s and 1960s, a national civil rights movement resulted in legislation that outlawed segregated schools and overt discrimination in employment and public accommodations. Today, despite legal equality, African Americans are still disadvantaged. Asian Americans have suffered both racial and ethnic hostility. Although some prejudice and discrimination continue, both Chinese and Japaneze Americans now have aboveaverage income and schooling. Asian immigrants—especially Koreans, Indians, and Filipinos—now account for 36% of all immigration to the United States. Hispanic Americans/Latina/os, the largest U.S minority, include people with many ethnicities sharing a Spanish heritage. Mexican Americans, the largest Hispanic minority, are concentrated in the southwestern region of the country and are the poorest Hispanic category. Cubans, concentrated in Miami, are the most affluent Hispaic category. Arab Americans are a growing U.S minority. Because they come to the United States from so many different nations, Arab Americans are a culturally diverse population, and they are represented in all social classes. They have been a target of prejudice and hate crimes in recent years as a result of a sterotype that links all Arab Americans with terrorism. White ethnic Americans are non-WASPs whose ancestors emigrated from Europe in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. In response to prejudice and discrimination, many white ethnics formed supportive residential enclaves.