Social Problems: A Down-To-Earth Approach, Tenth Edition by James M. Henslin ©2011 Pearson...

Social Problems: A Down-To-Earth Approach, Tenth Edition by James M. Henslin ©2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved

Chapter 8

Racial–Ethnic Relations


The Problem in Sociological Perspective

•Prejudice is an attitude.

•Discrimination is action, differential treatment.

•Minority group: People who are discriminated against

because they belong to a particular group.

•Dominant group: those who discriminate


Characteristics of Minority Groups

•Membership is not voluntary (achieved status) but comes through birth (ascribed status).

•Physical or cultural traits are held in low esteem by the dominant group (prejudice).

•Members are treated unequally by the dominant group (discrimination).

•Minority members tend to marry within their group (endogamy).

•Minorities feel group solidarity because of physical or cultural traits and disadvantages of these traits.


•Affinity groups: voluntary segregation

•Objectives of minority groups Pluralism Assimilation Secession Militancy

Characteristics of Minority Groups


Policies of Dominant Groups

•Pluralism

•Assimilation: forced or permissible

•Segregation

•Internal colonialism

•Population transfer: direct or indirect

•Genocide


Ideas of Racial Superiority•Race

The inherited physical characteristics that identify a group of people

•Eugenics Attempts to improve the human “race” through

selective breeding

•Race is an arbitrary social category.

•Sociologists use the term racial–ethnic group.

•Racial–ethnic group: people who identify with one another on basis of ancestry and cultural heritage


The Scope of the Problem

•The melting pot vs. The salad bowl

•Anglo-conformity

•Stereotypes: unrealistic generalizations of what people are like

•Effects of discrimination reach beyond statistics


Symbolic Interactionism

•Ethnophaulisms: derogatory labels that are applied to racial–ethnic groups

•Socialization into prejudice

•Labels affect prejudice by causing selective perception

•Self-fulfilling Prophecy: labels so powerful they justify prejudice and discrimination

•Compartmentalize: separate negative acts from other aspects of their lives


Functionalism

•Functions and dysfunctions of discrimination

•Racial–ethnic stratification Ensures that society’s dirty work gets done Society needs a division of labor

•Ethnocentrism Helps dominant group justify higher social

position and greater share of society’s resources

•Dysfunctions Interfere with people’s welfare and the functioning

of society


Conflict Theory

• Surplus value of labor

• Split-labor Market Weakens the bargaining power of workers by

splitting them along racial–ethnic lines

• Reserve Labor Force Minority workers are ideal for the reserve labor force

• False class consciousness

• Consequences of a split-labor market Leads minorities and whites to view one another as

enemies

• Riots


Research Findings

•Native Americans 2 million Native Americans representing more than

500 tribes Exogamy: intermarriage Treaties: broken for land and resources Stereotypes: justify inhumane acts Education and culture conflict: Bureau of Indian

Affairs (BIA) Pan-Indianism: moving beyond identification with a

particular tribe and emphasizing common elements that run through all of their cultures


•Latinos (Hispanics) Largest ethnic group in the U.S. Unauthorized immigrants Factor that clearly distinguishes Latinos from other

U.S. minorities is the Spanish language

•African Americans Civil Disobedience: deliberately but peacefully

disobeying laws considered unjust Rising Expectations Militancy: after M.L. King’s death 1954 Supreme Court decision to integrate U.S.

schools led to even more segregation


Race or Social Class? A Sociological Debate

•Social Class Any group of people who have more or

less similar goods, services, or skills to offer for income in a given economic order and who therefore receive similar financial remuneration in the market-place

•Life Chances Quality of life and experiences


Asian Americans

•Detention Camps

•Discrimination against Chinese

•Development stages of Chinatowns Involuntary segregation Defensive insulation Voluntary segregation Gradual assimilation

•General economic success of Asian Americans seems to be rooted in three factors: family life, education, and assimilation


Social Policy

•Centers on goals of encouraging cultural pluralism and preventing discrimination

•Appreciating different backgrounds Establish national, state, and local “cultural

centers” Teach history in ways that recognize the

contributions of many groups Teach foreign languages in public schools


Preventing Discrimination

•Use the legal system Civil Rights Act of 1964, which forbids

discrimination by race, color, creed, national origin, and sex, must be enforced

•Education vouchers Parents could choose any school they

wanted their children to attend, private or public


The Dilemma of Affirmative Action

•The Bakke Case

•Proposition 209

•The University of Michigan Case Absent constitutional amendments like

those in Michigan and California; states that want to use race–ethnicity in college admissions must follow the Supreme Court’s decision


Principles for Improving Relations

•People of different racial–ethnic backgrounds should have equal status.

•People in interethnic contact should work together.

•To achieve equality, groups must demonstrate cooperative dependence.

•Authority, law, and custom should support interaction among groups.


The Future of the Problem

• Progress Inconsistent and backwards at times

• An ongoing struggle

• Disparities in education Education is the key in improving racial–ethnic

relations

• Disturbing possibility is permanent underclass

•Militants, from minority or dominant group, are an unpredictable factor in future racial–ethnic relations

• The American Dilemma

Social Problems: A Down-To-Earth Approach, Tenth Edition by James M. Henslin ©2011 Pearson...

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