CHAPTER 10: RACE/ETHNICITY Kendall begins by looking at sports as a way of examining racial inequality. (LOOK AT QUIZ: P 311) (her point: Sports are an upward ladder in social mobility (NOTE: Her answer to q 7 is wrong: There has been movement into higher echelons of ownership and management by minorities) (#9 is also wrong) RACE/ETHNIC RACE AND ETHNICITY IS ONE WAY OF STRATIFYING PEOPLE AND ALSO REFLECTS CULTURAL COMPOSITION. A MINORITY GROUP IS ANY SUBORDINANT GROUP WHOSE MEMBER HAVE SIGNIFICANTLY SLESS CONTROL OR POWER OVER THEIR OWN LIVES THAN THE MEMBER OF A DOMINANT OR MAJORITY GROUP HAVE OVER THEIRS. A "MAJORITY" GROUP CAN STILL BE A "MINORITY" (WOMEN) WHY? BECAUSE IT'S NOT SIMPLY NUMBERS OF MEMBERS, BUT A RESOURCE AND POWER RATIO. CHARACTERISTICS: 1. MINORITY MEMBERS SHARE PHYSICAL OR CULTURL CHARACTERISTICS THAT DISTINGUISH THEM FROM THE DOMINANT GROUP 2. EXPERIENCE UNEQUAL TREATMENT AND HAVE LESS POWER OVER THEIR LIVES 3. MEMBERSHIP NOT "VOLUNTARY" (GAYS, WOMEN, ETC) 4. STRONG SENSE OF GROUP SOLIDARITY 5. MEMBERS GENERALLY MARRY OTHERS FROM SAME GROUP 6. USUALLY STIGMATIZED EXAMPLES: RACE: BIOLOGICAL DEF: CATEGORY OF PEOPLE WHO THROUGH MANY GENERATIONS OF INBREEDING HAVE DEVEOPED COMMON PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS FROM OTHER OTHER HUMANS. (BLACKS, GYPSIES, ITINERANTS IN IRELAND) SOCIAL DEFINITION: A category of people singled out as inferior or superior, often based on some set of biological characteristics. Generally, they are singled out as inferior or superior. Point: Race stratifies people. QUESTION: Given that people share 99.99 percent of DNA composition, is race a valid concept? (In the US, 2.4 pct report being two or more: Which one dominates?) SOCIAL SIGNIFICANCE OF THE CONCEPT: OFFERS IDENTIFIABLE MEANS TO DISCRIMINATE (EG, GAYS DON'T HAVE THIS; WHO ELSE?) SELF-FULFILLING PROPHECY: (LABELLING)---BEGINS TO TAKE ON CHARACTERISTCS ATTRIBUTED TO THEM (EG, UNFRIENDLINESS) ETC ETHNICITY: NOT A RACIAL CATEGORY---CAN BE NATIONALITY (eg, IRISH) WHY DO WE STUDY IT AND HOW? 1. POWER/INEQUALITY 2. SOCIAL PROBLEMS CREATED AND CAN BE RESOLVED 3. THEORIES: A) CONFLICT: EXPLOITATION THEORY B) INTERACTIONIST--"CONTACT HYOTHESIS"--STIGMA REDUCED THROUGH CONTACT-- Some Definitions: STIGMA: REDUCED STATUS ON THE BASIS OF SOME OBSERVABLE CHARACTERISTIC; LEADES TO PREJUDICE AND DISCRIMINATION STEREOTYPES: **Overgeneralizations** about the appearance, behavior, or other characteristis of particular groups PREJUDICE: NEGATIVE ATTITUDE TOWARD AN ENTIRE CATEGORY REGARDLESS OF INDIVIDUAL ATTTRIBUTES (ANTI-"COLORED" DRS) BIAS: A predisposition to judgment (Q: Can be be biased without being prejudiced and vice-versa? ETHNOCENTRISM: OUR CULTURE IS SUPERIOUR SCAPEGOATING (BLAMING A RACE (OR OTHERS) AFFIRMATIVE ACTION: Positive efforts to recruit minority group members or women for jobs, promotions, and educational opportunities (news:)MILWAUKEE WISCONSIN -- A federal jury found that Milwaukee's former police chief discriminated against 17 white men by promoting women and minorities ahead of them. (chicago tribune, march 31 '05) ETHNIC GROUP: A group set apart from others because of its national origin or distinctive cultural patterns DISCRIMINATION: DENYING OPPORTUNITIES TO CERTAIN CATEGORIES TYPES: A) PERSONAL B) INSTITUTIONAL/STRUCTURAL--IE, SOCIETY SET-UP OR ORGANIZED IN A WAY THAT EXCLUDES SOME FROM POWER ASSIMILATION/ACCOMODATION/PLURALISM EXPLAIN EACH-- THEORIES: (EXPLAIN PURPOSE OF THEORY AGAIN): A) CONFLICT: EXPLOITATION/"COLONIAL GROUPS" ETC B) INTERACTIONIST: CONTACT (KNOWING PEOPLE DECREASES PREJUDICE; LABELLING, ETC WHY ARE PEOPLE PREJUDICED? (SOCIAL PSYCH)-- A) AUTHORITARIAN PERSONALITY / ADORNO & F-SCALE SCAPEGOATING (BLAMING OTHERS) JEWS, ETC B) STRUCTURE: BUILT-IN DISCRIMINATION, ETC C) *AMALGAMATION* MAJORITY GROUP & MINORITY GROUP COMBINE TO FORM (NEW GROUP. EXAMPLES: A) US--MELTING POT? B) STUDENTS C) HMS BOUNTY/POLYNESIAN PLURALISM: SUBORDINATE GROUP DOESN'T REJECT LIFE-STYLE---IS BASED ON"SEPARATE BUT EQUAL" NOTION. RACE IN THE US: A) BLACKS B) INDIANS C) ORIENTALS D) LATINOS/HISPANICS E) JEWS F) MIDDLE EASTERNERS POLICY ISSUES: 1. IS IT A PROBLEM? WHAT DO WE DO ABOUT IT? A) EDUCATION B) CIVIL RIGHTS LAW C) AFFIRMATIVE ACTION D) "SELF-HELP" E) "HELP POLICIES" (IE, GOV'T BASED)
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