Glossary

Parenthetical numbers refer to the pages on which theterm is introduced.

abolitionists Whites and free Blacks who favored the endof slavery. (205)

absolute deprivation The minimum level of subsistencebelow which families or individuals should not be expect-ed to exist. (69)

acting White Taking school seriously and accepting theauthority of teachers and administrators. (231)

affirmative action Positive efforts to recruit subordinategroup members, including women, for jobs, promotions,and educational opportunities. (85)

Mrocentric perspective An emphasis on the customs ofAfrican cultures and how they have pervaded the history,culture, and behavior of Blacks in the United States andaround the world. (33)

ageism Prejudice and discrimination against the elderly.(456)

AJAs Americans of Japanese ancestry in Hawaii. (347)

amalgamation The process by which a dominant groupand a subordinate group combine through intermarriageto form a new group. (25)

androgyny The state of being both masculine and femi-nine, aggressive and gentle. (403)

anti-Semitism Anti:Tewishprejudice or discrimination. (374)

apartheid The policy of the South African governmentintended to maintain separation of Blacks, Coloureds,and Asians from the dominant Whites. (446)

apartheid schools All-Black schools. (230)

arranged marriage Others choose one's marital partnernot based on any preexisting mutual attraction. (336)

assimilation The process by which a subordinate indi-vidual or group takes on the characteristics of the domi-nant group. (25)

asylees Foreigners who have already entered the UnitedStates and now seek protection because of persecution ora well-founded fear of persecution. (119)

authoritarian personality A psychological construct of apersonality type likely to be prejudiced and to use othersas scapegoats. (45)

bilingual education A program designed to allow stu-dents to learn academic concepts in their native languagewhile they learn a second language. (143)

bilingualism The use of two or more languages in placesof work or education and the treatment of each languageas legitimate. (28)

biological race The mistaken notion of a genetically iso-lated human group. (12)

blaming the victim Portraying the problems of racial andethnic minorities as their fault rather than recognizingsociety's responsibilities. (18)

blended identity Self-image and worldview that is a com-bination of religious faith, cultural background based onnationality, and current residency. (306)

Bogardus scale Technique to measure social distancetoward different racial and ethnic groups. (51)

borderlands The area of a common culture along theborder between Mexico and the United States. (262)

bracero Contracted Mexican laborers brought to theUnited States during World War II. (276)

brain drain Immigration to the United States of skilledworkers, professionals, and technicians who are desper-ately needed by their home countries. (107)

chain immigration Immigrants sponsor several other immi-grants who upon their arrival may sponsor still more. (97)

Chicanismo An ideology emphasizing pride and positiveidentity among Mexican Americans. (281)

civil disobedience A tactic promoted by Martin LutherKing,Jr., based on the belief that people have the right todisobey unjust laws under certain circumstances. (216)

civil religion The religious dimension in American lifethat merges the state with sacred beliefs. (152)

class As defined by Max Weber, people who share similarlevels of wealth. (15)

colonialism A foreign power's maintenance of political,social, economic, and cultural dominance over peoplefor an extended period. (21)

color gradient The placement of people on a continuumfrom light to dark skin color rather than in distinct racialgroupings by skin color. (268)

comparable worth See pay equity. (411)

conflict perspective A sociological approach that assumesthat the social structure is best understood in terms of con-flict or tension between competing groups. (17)

contact hypothesis An interactionist perspective statingthat intergroup contact between people of equal status innoncompetitive circumstances will reduce prejudice. (59)

creationists People who support a literal interpretationof the biblical book of Genesis on the origins of the uni-verse and argue that evolution should not be presentedas established scientific thought. (158)

crossover effect An effect that appears as previouslyhigh-scoring Native American children score as below

average in intelligence when tests are given in Englishrather than their native languages. (188)

culture of poverty A way of life that involves no futureplanning, no enduring commitment to marriage, and nowork ethic; this culture follows the poor even when theymove out of the slums or the barrio. (278)

curanderismo Hispanic folk medicine. (294)

de facto segregation Segregation that is the result ofresidential patterns. (230)

deficit model of ethnic identity One's ethnicity is viewedby others as a factor of subtracting away the characteris-tics corresponding to some ideal ethnic type. (303)

de jure segregation Children assigned to schools specifi-cally to maintain racially separated schools. (214)

denomination A large, organized religion not officiallylinked with the state or government. (147)

desi Colloquial name for people who trace their ancestryto South Asia, especially India and Pakistan. (335)

Diaspora The exile of Jews from Palestine. (385)

differential justice Whites being dealt with more lenient-ly than Blacks, whether at the time of arrest, indictment,conviction, sentencing, or parole. (245)

disability Reduced ability to perform tasks one wouldnormally do at a given stage in life. (461)

discrimination The denial of opportunities and equalrights to individuals and groups because of prejudice orfor other arbitrary reasons. (41)

displaced homemakers Women whose primary occupationhad been homemaking but who did not find full-time em-ployment after being divorced, separated, or widowed. (414)

domestic partnership Two unrelated adults who havechosen to share one another's lives in a relationship ofmutual caring, who reside together, and who agree to bejointly responsible for their dependents, basic living ex-penses, and other common necessities. (470)

dry foot, wet foot Policy toward Cuban immigrants al-lowing entry to those who manage to reach the UnitedStates (dry foot) to remain whereas those picked up atsea (wet foot) are sent back to Cuba. (266)

dual labor market Division of the economy into twoareas of employment, the secondary one of which ispopulated primarily by minorities working at menialjobs. (75)

dysfunction An element of society that may disrupt a so-cial system or decrease its stability. (17)

Ebonies Distinctive dialect with a complex languagestructure found among many Black Americans. (204)

emigration Leaving a country to settle in another. (20)

English immersion Teaching in English by teachers whoknow the students' native language but use it only whenstudents do not understand the lessons. (144)

environmental justice Efforts to ensure that hazardoussubstances are controlled so that all communities re-ceive protection regardless of race or socioeconomiccircumstances. (85)

ethclass The merged ethnicity and class in a person'sstatus. (152)

ethnic cleansing Policy of ethnic Serbs to eliminate Mus-lims from parts of Bosnia. (22)

ethnic group A group set apart from others because of itsnational origin or distinctive cultural patterns. (9)

ethnicity paradox The maintenance of one's ethnic ties in away that can assist with assimilation in larger society. (129)

ethnocentrism The tendency to assume that one's cul-ture and way oflife are superior to all others. (39)

ethnonational conflicts Conflicts between ethnic, racial,religious, and linguistic groups within nations replacingconflicts between nations. (426)

ethnophaulism Ethnic or racial slurs, including derisivenicknames. (41)

evacuees Japanese Americans interned in camps for theduration of World War II. (361)

exploitation theory A Marxist theory that views racialsubordination in the United States as a manifestation ofthe class system inherent in capitalism. (45)

familism Pride and closeness in the family that resultin placing family obligation and loyalty before individ-ual needs. (292)

feminine mystique Society's view of a woman as only herchildren's mother and her husband's wife. (407)

feminization of poverty The trend since 1970 that haswomen accounting for a growing proportion of thosebelow the poverty line. (414)

fish-ins Tribes' protests over government interferencewith their traditional rights to fish as they like. (178)

fringe-of-values theory Behavior that is on the border ofconduct that a society regards as proper and is often car-ried out by subordinate groups, subjecting those groupsto negative sanctions. (379)

functionalist perspective A sociological approach em-phasizing how parts of a society are structured to main-tain its stability. (16)

fusion A minority and a majority group combining toform a new group. (25)

gender roles Expectations regarding the proper behav-ior, attitudes, and activities of males and females. (403)

genocide The deliberate, systematic killing of an entirepeople or nation. (22)

gerrymandering Redrawing districts bizarrely to createpolitically advantageous outcomes. (248)

glass ceiling The barrier that blocks the promotion ofa qualified worker because of gender or minoritymembership. (90)

glass escalator The male advantage experienced in occu-pations dominated by women. (92)

glass wall A barrier to moving laterally in a business to posi-tions that are more likely to lead to upward mobility. (91)

globalization Worldwide integration of government poli-cies, cultures, social movements, and financial markets

through trade, movements of people, and the exchange ofideas. (20)

gook syndrome David Riesman's phrase describingAmericans' tendency to stereotype Asians and to regardthem as all alike and undesirable. (339)

hajj Pilgrimage to Mecca to be completed at least oncein a Muslim's lifetime. (305)

halakha Jewish laws covering obligations and duties. (393)

Haoles Hawaiian term for Caucasians. (345)

hate crimes Criminal offense committed because of theoffender's bias against a race, religion, ethnic/nationalorigin group, or sexual orientation group. (39)

hijab Refers to a variety of garments that allow women tofollow the guidelines of modest dress. (312)

Holocaust The state-sponsored systematic persecutionand annihilation of European Jewry by Nazi Germanyand its collaborators. (381)

Holocaust revisionists People who deny the Nazi effortto exterminate the Jews or who minimize the numberskilled. (381)

hometown clubs Nonprofit organizations that maintainclose ties to immigrants' hometowns in Mexico and otherLatin American countries. (263)

homophobia The fear of and prejudice toward homo-sexuality. (468)

hui kuan Chinese American benevolent associations or-ganized on the basis of the district of the immigrant's ori-gin in China. (355)

ilchomose The 1.5 generation of Korean Americans-those who immigrated into the United States as children.(343)

immigration Coming into a new country as a perma-nent resident. (20)

income Salaries, wages, and other money received. (83)

informal economy Transfers of money, goods, or servicesthat are not reported to the government. Common in inner-city neighborhoods and poverty-stricken rural areas. (75)

in-group virtues Proper behavior by one's own group (in-group virtues) becomes unacceptable when practiced byoutsiders (out-group vices). (380)

institutional discrimination A denial of opportunitiesand equal rights to individuals or groups resulting fromthe normal operations of a society. (72)

intelligence quotient (IQ) The ratio ofa person's mentalage (as computed by an IQ test) to his or her chronologi-cal age, multiplied by 100. (13)

intelligent design View that life is so complex that musthave been created by a higher intelligence. (159)

internal colonialism The treatment of subordinate peo-ples as colonial subjects by those in power. (22)

Intifada The Palestinian uprising against Israeli authori-ties in the occupied territories. (442)

irregular or underground economy See informal econo-my. (75)

Issei First-generation immigrants from Japan to the Unit-ed States. (359)

jihad Struggle against the enemies of Allah, usuallytaken to mean one's own internal struggle. (305)

Jim Crow Southern laws passed in the late nineteenth cen-tury that kept Blacks in their subordinate position. (206)

Judaization The lessening importance of Judaism as areligion and the substitution of cultural traditions as thetie that binds Jews. (376)

kashrut Laws pertaining to permissible (kosher) and for-bidden foods and their preparation. (391)

Kibei Japanese Americans of the Nisei generation sentback to Japan for schooling and to have marriagesarranged. (359)

kickouts or pushouts ative American school dropoutswho leave behind an unproductive academic environment.(187)

kye Rotating credit system used by Korean Americans tosubsidize the start of businesses. (344)

labeling theory A sociological approach introduced byHoward Becker that attempts to explain why certain peo-ple are viewed as deviants and others engaging in thesame behavior are not. (18)

La Raza 'The People"-a term referring to the rich her-itage of Mexican Americans and, therefore, used to denotea sense of pride among Mexican Americans today. (277)

life chances People's opportunities to provide them-selves with material goods, positive living conditions, andfavorable life experiences. (151)

maquiladoras Foreign-owned companies on the Mexicanside of the border with the United States. (263)

marginality The status of being between two cultures atthe same time, such as the status of Jewish immigrants inthe United States. (31)

Marielitos People who arrived from Cuba in the thirdwave of Cuban immigration, most specifically those forciblydeported by way of Mariel Harbor. The term is generally re-sen'ed for refugees seen as especially undesirable. (264)

matrix of domination Cumulative impact of oppressionbecause of race, gender, and class as well as sexual orien-tation, religion, disability status, and age. (421)

melting pot Diverse racial or ethnic groups or both,forming a new creation, a new cultural entity. (25)

middlemen minorities Groups such as Japanese Ameri-cans that typically occupy middle positions in the socialand occupational stratification system. (328)

migradollars (or remittances) The money that immigrantworkers send back to families in their native societies. (114)

migration A general term that describes any transfer ofpopulation. (20)

millenarian movements Movements, such as the GhostDance, that prophesy a cataclysm in the immediate fu-ture, to be followed by collective salvation. (171)

minority group A subordinate group whose members havesignificantly less control or power over their own lives thando the members of a dominant or majOlity group. (7)

model or ideal minority A group that, despite past preju-dice and discrimination, succeeds economically, socially,and educationally without resorting to political or violentconfrontations with Whites. (325)

mojados "Wetbacks"; derisive slang for Mexicans whoenter illegally, supposedly by swimming the Rio Grande.(277)

mommy tax Lower salaries women receive over their life-time because they have children. (419)

mommy track An unofficial corporate career track forwomen who want to divide their attention between workand family. (413)

mulatto escape hatch Notion that Brazilians of mixedancestry can move into high-status positions. (437)

nativism Beliefs and policies favoring native-born citi-zens over immigrants. (100)

naturalization Conferring of citizenship on a personafter birth. (105)

neocolonialism Continuing dependence of formercolonies on foreign countries. (285)

Neoricans Puerto Ricans who return to the island to set-tle after living on the mainland of the United States (alsoNuyoricans). (284)

Nisei Children born of immigrants fromJapan. (359)

normative approach The view that prejudice is influ-enced by societal norms and situations that encourage ordiscourage the tolerance of minorities. (46)

Orientalism The simplistic view of the people and histo-ry of the Orient with no recognition of change over timeor the diversity within its many cultures. (300)

out-group vices Proper behavior by one's own group (in-group virtues) becomes unacceptable when practiced byoutsiders (out-group vices). (380)

panethnicity The development of solidarity betweenethnic subgroups, as reflected in the terms Hispanic orAsian American. (30)

pan-Indianism Intertribal social movements in which sev-eral tribes, joined by political goals but not by kinship,unite in a common identity. (178)

pass laws Laws that controlled internal movement bynon-Whites in South Africa. (446)

pay equity The same wages for different types of workthat are judged to be comparable by such measures asemployee knowledge, skills, effort, responsibility, andworking conditions; also called comparable worth. (411)

Pentecostalism A religion similar in many respects toevangelical faiths that believes in the infusion of the HolySpirit into services and in religious experiences such asfaith healing. (295)

peoplehood Milton Gordon's term for a group with ashared feeling. (398)

pluralism Mutual respect between the various groups ina society for one another's cultures, allowing minoritiesto express their own culture without experiencing preju-dice or hostility. (26)

powwows Native American gatherings of dancing,singing, music playing, and visiting, accompanied bycompetitions. (181)

prejudice A negative attitude toward an entire categoryof people, such as a racial or ethnic minority. (41)

principle of third-generation interest Marcus Hansen'scontention that ethnic interest and awareness increasein the third generation, among the grandchildren ofimmigrants. (127)

quilombo Slave hideaways n Brazil. (437)

Quinceaftera (or Quinceaftero) Celebration of Latinasturning 15 years of age. (258)

racial formation A sociohistorical process by whichracial categories are created, inhibited, transformed, anddestroyed. (15)

racial group A group that is socially set apart because ofobvious physical differences. (8)

racial prOfiling Any arbitrary police-initiated actionbased on race, ethnicity, or natural origin rather than aperson's behavior. (50)

racism A doctrine that one race is superior. (14)

redlining The pattern of discrimination against peopletrying to buy homes in minority and racially changingneighborhoods. (82)

refugees People living outside their country of citizen-ship for fear of political or religious persecution. (118)

relative deprivation The conscious experience of a nega-tive discrepancy between legitimate expectations andpresent actualities. (69)

remittances (or migradollars) The monies that immi-grants return to their country of origin. (114)

repatriation The 1930s' program of deporting Mexicans.(276)

respectable bigotry Michael Lerner's term for the socialacceptance of prejudice against White ethnics, when in-tolerance against non-White minorities is regarded as un-acceptable. (130)

restrictive covenants Private contracts or agreementsthat discourage or prevent minority-group membersfrom purchasing housing in a neighborhood. (211)

reverse discrimination Actions that cause better-qualified White men to be passed over for women andminority men. (88)

riff-raff theory Also called the rotten-apple theory; thebelief that the riots of the 1960s were caused by discon-tented youths rather than by social and economic prob-lems facing all African Americans. (219)

rising expectations The increasing sense of frustrationthat legitimate needs are being blocked. (219)

Sansei The children of the Nisei-that is, the grandchil-dren of the original immigrants fromJapan. (359)

scapegoating theory A person or group blamed irra-tionally for another person's or group's problems ordifficulties. (43)

secessionist minority Groups, such as the Amish, that re-ject both assimilation and coexistence. (158)

second shift The double burden-work outside the homefollowed by child care and housework-that is faced bymany women and that few men share equitably. (419)

segregation The physical separation of two groups, often im-posed on a subordinate group by the dominant group. (23)

self-fulfilling prophecy The tendency to respond to andact on the basis of stereotypes, a predisposition that canlead one to validate false definitions. (19)

set-asides Programs stipulating that a minimum propor-tion of government contracts must be awarded to minority-owned businesses. (329)

sexism The ideology that one sex is superior to theother. (403)

sexual harassment Any unwanted and unwelcome sexualadvances that interfere with a person's ability to performajob and enjoy the benefits of ajob. (413)

sinophobes People with a fear of anything associatedwith China. (101)

slave codes Laws that defined the low position held byslaves in the United States. (202)

slavery reparations Act of making amends for the injus-tices of slavery. (206)

social distance Tendency to approach or withdraw froma racial group. (51)

sociology The systematic study of social behavior andhuman groups. (15)

sovereignty Tribal self-rule. (181)

sovereignty movement Effort by the indigenous peopleof Hawaii to secure a measure of self-government andrestoration of their lands. (347)

states'rights The principle, reinvoked in the late 1940s,that holds that each state is sovereign and has the right toorder its own affairs without interference by the federalgovernment. (81)

stereotypes Unreliable, exaggerated generalizationsabout all members of a group that do not take individualdifferences into account. (18)

stratification A structured ranking of entire groups ofpeople that perpetuates unequal rewards and power ina society. (15)

suffragists Women and men who worked successfully togain women the right to vote. (406)

sundown towns Communities where non-Whites weresystematically excluded from living. (212)

symbolic ethnicity Herbert Gans's term that describesemphasis on ethnic food and ethnically associated politi-cal issues rather than deeper ties to one's heritage. (128)

tongs Chinese American secret associations. (355)

total discrimination The combination of current dis-crimination with past discrimination created by poorschools and menial jobs. (70)

tracking The practice of placing students in specific cur-riculum groups on the basis of test scores and other cri-teria. (230)

transnationals Immigrants who sustain multiple socialrelationships linking their societies of origin and settle-ment. (ll8)

tsu Clans established along family lines and forming abasis for social organization by Chinese Americans. (354)

underemployment Work at ajob for which the worker isoverqualified, involuntary part-time instead of full-timeemployment, or intermittent employment. (236)

underground economy See informal economy. (75)

victim discounting Tendency to view crime as less sociallysignificant if the victim is viewed as less worthy. (246)

victimization surveys Annual attempts to measure crimerates by interviewing ordinary citizens who mayor maynot have been crime victims. (245)

visible minorities In Canada, persons other than Aborig-inal or First Nation people who are non-White in racialbackground. (435)

Viet Kieu Vietnamese living abroad such as in the Unit-ed States. (341)

visitability Building private homes to be accessible forvisitors with disabilities. (466)

wealth An inclusive term encompassing all of a person'smaterial assets, including land and other types of property.(83)

White primary Legal provisions forbidding Black votingin election primaries, which in one-party areas of theSouth effectively denied Blacks their righ t to select elect-ed officials. (206)

world systems theory A view of the global economic sys-tem as divided between nations that control wealth andthose that provide natural resources and labor. (21)

xenophobia The fear or hatred of strangers or for-eigners. (100)

yellow peril A term denoting a generalized prejudice to-ward Asian people and their customs. (330)

Yiddishkait Jewishness. (393)

Yonsei The fourth generation of Japanese Americans inthe United States; the children of the Sansei. (359)

Zionism Traditional Jewish religious yearning to returnto the biblical homeland, now used to refer to supportfor the state of Israel. (385)

zoning laws Legal provisions stipulating land use and the ar-chitectural design of housing, often used to keep racial mi-norities and low-income people out of suburban areas. (244)