Chapter
11: Sociology, Schaefer, 1995-2012
See also: Michael
Kearl
Down to Patterns
of Dominant/Subordinate Group Interaction
Race:
Biological
Significance
Social
Significance
Typifications
Ethnicity:
Culture and Learning
Functions:
- Ideology justifies inequality--socialization.
- Dirty work
- Discourages questioning
- Impact of change-paternalism
- Ethnic Succession
- Ethnocentrism
Dysfunctions:
- Use of resources in order to maintain
inequalities
- Social problems
- Waste of Resources (especially
human)
- Impact on international relations
Conflict:
Exploitation Theory
Interactionism:
Contact
Hypothesis
- Sherif's--Robber's Cave
- Non-competitive, equal status
and common super-ordinate goals.
-
Prejudice: Attitude=> stereotypes
-
Discrimination: Behavior=>
unequal treatment
- Prejudicial attitudes
can be the foundation of an ideology which justifies unequal treatment. Denied
access to societal resources can lead to internalization of a sense of worthlessness,
and/or produce the reality of failure in competition for prized rewards. Failure
and a sense of worthlessness can then serve to justify the original prejudicial
attitudes, and the cycle begins again.
- This is the "Social
Construction of Reality"
- The reality of a "Self-fulfilling
Prophecy"
- These patterns of interaction
can be "built in" to interactional patterns in various ways
- Merton:
Prejudiced discriminator:
"All-weather
Bigot" |
Prejudiced non-discriminator:
"Timid Bigot" |
Unprejudiced discriminator:
"Reluctant
Liberal" |
Unprejudiced non discriminator:
"All weather
Liberal" |
Sources of prejudice:
Types of discrimination:
- Individual
- Institutional
- Legal
- Altering:
- U.S. 1954: Brown v Board of Ed.-Topeka
- 1964 Civil Rights Act--EEO, Affirmative
Action
- 1987-expanded to ethnic groups
as well
Dominant
Group Privilege
- Associate with own race
(with ease)
- No trouble shopping for
a home
- Not followed in stores
- Not evaluated in racial
terms
- Applies to categories
other than race
Back
Patterns
of Inter-Group (dominant/minority
group) Interaction
- Genocide
- Expulsion
- Assimilation:
A+B+C=A. Forced or voluntary; names, cultural practices-religion, Passing.
- Segregation: forced,
voluntary, and/or institutional. (Racial segregation in major American cities)
- Pluralism: A+B+C=A+B+C.
Equal status and tolerance. U.S.--religion, ethnic neighborhoods. Problem
here--language
- Amalgamation: A+B+C=D.
America the "Melting Pot" vs . The "Salad Bowl."
Back to Theories
Major Racial Groups
African-Americans
- 13.1% of population
- Poverty (1/3)
- Income
~1/2 whites (The Money
Gap)
- 20% of military
- 25% of soldiers in the Gulf War
- Legacy of Slavery
- Dr. Martin Luther King-civil disobedience
- Malcolm X: Black Power
- Little Change past 30 years: Income,
Health (infant mortality), Education, Residence
- Criminal justice: 13% of current
drug users, 35% of arrests for drug use, 55% of convictions, 70% of incarcerations
- 1/3==> Middle-class, yet mobility
stalled
- Black politics: Urban change =>St.
Louis: Freeman Bosley, Jr.
- W. J. Wilson: The Underclass
- Infant Mortality (graph)
Native Americans
- 1.2% of population
- Genocide
- Reservations
- Diverse groups--Pan-Indian Movement
- Bleak--poverty, alcoholism, violence.
- BIA and schools--Wax: cultural
conflict
Asian Groups in the USA (see also, The Rise of Asian Americans)
Chinese
- Less than 2% of population
- Railroad
- Opium
- 1882 Exclusion Act
- Change since WWII
Japanese
- 1% of population
- Recent arrival
- Nisei (3rd generation) and assimilation
- Internment and WWII
- Denial of rights
Indochinese:
- very recent, esp. Vietnamese
- Rejected
- Dispersed
- Asian-Americans: Model Minority
Myth
Major Ethnic Groups
Hispanics
- 16.7% of population: Since 2000
have become largest minority in USA
- Growth
- Language
- Diversity
Jews:
- Anti-Semitism
- Assimilation
White Ethnics and
WASP's (63.4%)
URL: http://www.umsl.edu/~keelr/010/racethic.html
Owner: Robert O. Keel rok@umsl.edu
References and
Credits for this Page of Notes
Last Updated:
Thursday, April 4, 2013 3:01 PM
