Sociology Chapter 11 - Race and Ethnicity

Key Concepts of Race and Ethnicity

• Race: A socially constructed category based on biologically transmitted traits deemed significant by society.
• Ethnicity: Involves shared cultural heritage, including traditions, language, and national origin.
• Minority: A group distinguished by physical or cultural differences that society subordinates.

Prejudice and Discrimination

• Prejudice: Rigid and unfair generalizations about entire categories of people, influenced by factors such as race and ethnicity.
• Stereotype: An exaggerated description applied to all individuals within a particular category, with significant negative impact on minorities.
• Discrimination: Refers to the unequal treatment of various groups, manifesting in actions that are positive, negative, subtle, or overt.

Theories Explaining Prejudice

• Scapegoat Theory: Suggests that frustration among disadvantaged groups leads to blaming others for their troubles.
• Authoritarian Personality Theory: Views extreme prejudice as a personality trait connected to conformity and a black-and-white moral worldview.
• Culture Theory: Posits that while extreme prejudice exists in some individuals, moderate prejudice can be found in everyone.
• Conflict Theory: Argues that prejudice serves as a tool for powerful individuals to maintain control over subordinate groups.

Social Structures and Distinctions

• Social Distance Scale: Measures how closely people are willing to interact with various social categories; shifts in acceptance have been observed over time.
• Institutional Discrimination: Bias ingrained in societal institutions, perpetuating inequalities.
• Pluralism: Ideally promotes equal social standing among diverse racial and ethnic groups, though the U.S. struggles with genuine pluralism.

Racial and Ethnic Dynamics in the U.S.

• Segregation: The enforced separation of racial and ethnic groups, leading to social and physical isolation, classified as either de jure (by law) or de facto (in practice).
• Assimilation: The process where minorities adopt the dominant culture, affecting their ethnicity but not their race.
• Hypersegregation: Characterized by limited contact with outside communities, reinforcing isolation.

Historical Context of Racial/Ethnic Groups

• Native Americans: Experienced centuries of conflict and genocide, reducing their population from millions in the 15th century to about 250,000 by 1990.
• White Anglo-Saxon Protestants: Predominantly English ancestry, historically dominant in American society without facing significant prejudice.
• African Americans: Subjected to slavery, with systemic denial of rights leading to the "American Dilemma" involving entrenched racial inequalities.
• Asian Americans: Noted for considerable cultural diversity, facing the "Model Minority" stereotype, which obscures the economic challenges within the group.

Specific Ethnic Group Experiences

• Chinese Americans: Immigration surged during the gold rush; faced severe discrimination leading to restrictive laws and social marginalization but gained upward mobility post-WWII, despite ongoing prejudice.