Race and Ethnicity

Race and Ethnicity

Race A category of people who have been singled out as inferior or superior, often on the basis of physical characteristics such as skin color, hair texture, and eye shape.

Perceived Perceived biological biological characteristics that characteristics that distinguish peopledistinguish people

Not scientific fact – race is Not scientific fact – race is “murky” business“murky” business

“Concept has no validity in the human species”

“race is self-identification by people according to the race or races with which they most closely

identify” or are Identified

What are "Races"?

Construction of Race: U.S.

From Eugenics to Human Genome Project

Race: The Power of Illusion

So why study it?

“We all live racially structured lives”

2 major myths:1. any pure race2. any superior race

Affects life chances… education, health, religious views, occupation, longevity

Dominant Group Group that is advantaged and has superior resources and rights in a society. Perceptions of innate superiority, ability to oppress minority group members, ability to control political power

Ethnic Group A collection of people distinguished by others or by themselves on the basis of cultural or nationality characteristics (e.g., language and religion)

Subordinate Group “minority”A group whose members, because of physical or cultural characteristics, are disadvantaged and subjected to unequal treatment by the dominant group.

Continuum of race relations

Ethnic PluralismThe coexistence of a variety of distinct racial and ethnic groups within one society.

Assimilation A process by which members of minority groups become absorbed into the dominant culture and distinction disappears.

Blocked Assimilation

SegregationSpatial and social separation of categories of people by race, ethnicity, class, gender and/or religion.

Internal Colonialism Occurs when members

of a racial or ethnic group are conquered or colonized and forcibly placed under the economic and political control of the dominant group within a country

Native Americans: Example of Internal Colonialism 1830 Indian Removal Act - Called for

relocation of all Native Americans to land west of the Mississippi.

In the “Trail of Tears,” the U.S. Army rounded up all 16,000 Cherokees and marched them to Oklahoma.

4,000 Cherokees died. 1890 Wounded Knee ended the war

and resulted in placement on reservations.

Genocide The deliberate, systematic killing of an entire people or nation.

Global example

Genocide in Rwanda -- The Real Ghosts of Rwanda

Genocide

True

False

99%

1%

The Country Featured in Tuesdays Film was A. TrueB. False

What are the driving forces behind these varieties of race relations?

Prejudice A negative attitude based on faulty generalizations about the members of selected racial and ethnic groups.

How might it play out in our everyday lives?

RacismA set of attitudes, beliefs, and practices that is used to justify the superior treatment of one racial or ethnic group and the inferior treatment of another racial or ethnic group.

The Vicious Cycle of Racism

Cycle leads to

Discrimination Actions or practices of dominant group members that have a harmful impact on members of a subordinate group.

How Far Have We Come?

Majority of Americans describeObama as our first Black President

What does this tell usAbout our understandingOf race in America?

Shopping While Black

History of race in the U.S.The 20th Century

Theory of racial formation - actions by the government substantially define racial and ethnic relations -- the politics of race

But social protest movements help to rearticulate our understanding of race

See -- www.jimcrowhistory.org

Between 1892 and 1921 -- estimated 6,000 Lynchings of African Americans

From Slavery to “Jim Crow” to Civil Disobedience -- Civil Rights Acts of 1964 & 1965

As of 2000 the U.S. Census allows for multi-racial classification

Today over 9 million Americans report being of more than one race

An increase of 32 percent since 2000

Almost two million interracial marriages

1 in 7 new marriages are between different racial, ethnic identities

In 1967, there were still sixteen U.S. states that had laws on the books banning interracial marriage. That year the US. Supreme Court unanimously struck down laws banning interracial marriages with these words: "The freedom to marry, or not marry, a person of another race resides within the individual and cannot be infringed on by the State.”

Mildred and Richard Loving’scase led the U.S. Supreme Court to strike down laws against interracial marriages

1998 - South Carolina voted to abolish it’s “symbolic law” against miscegenation

40% voted to keep it

2000 – Alabama 32 percent voted to keep it.

"One-drop rule: American social and legal custom of classifying anyone with one black ancestor, regardless of how far back, as black.” “hypodescent rule”

A Color Blind Society?

His (Obama's) election demonstrates America's extraordinary capacity to renew itself and adapt to a changing world," said former U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan.

Are We really “Post Racial”?

Obama isn't 'post-racial.' He isn't the messiah whose coming ends bigotry and inequality for all time," Cynthia Tucker Atlanta Journal-Constitution .

Growing Pains:Talking about Race

Are We really Post-Racial

Symbolic Ethnicity

“a nostalgic allegiance to the culture of the immigrant generation, or that of the old country; a love for and pride in a tradition that can be felt without having to be incorporated in everyday behavior”

Herbert Gans

Merton’s types of discrimination and prejudice

Non-prejudiced/ non-discriminator – “all weather liberal”

Non-prejudiced discriminator – “fair weather liberal”

Prejudiced Non-discriminator – “fair weather bigot”

Prejudice Discriminator - “all weather bigot”

Theories

Dollard – frustration aggressionUnable to strike out at

real source of frustration

Scapegoat A person or group that is incapable of offering resistance to the hostility or aggression of others.

Adorno’s Authoritarian Personality Type -- excessive conformity,

submissiveness to authority, intolerance, insecurity, a high level of superstition, and rigid, stereotypic thinking.

Stereotypes rigid mental image

Overgeneralizations about the appearance, behavior, or other characteristics of members of particular categories. – bigotry motive

e.g., all blonds are dumb, all blacks are good athletes…..

Often includes – racist motives

White racial frames -- racist ideas, stereotypes, images, stories, etc..

What are some motives….

Ideological – beliefs of superiority Bigotry – stereotypes – white fright Emotional – makes one feel better

about one’s self Criminal – materialist – race hatred

due to economic fears Political territorial – feeling an area

belongs to the majority group

Motives continued

Group norm - seems acceptable, even desirable e.g., after 9/11

Structural – demanded or implicitly expected.

Social distance

The extent to which people are willing to interact and establish relationships with members of racial and ethnic groups other than their own. Bogardus Scale

Hartley Study

Wallonians, Denierians, Perenians….. Significance of Study:

Humans have shown a universal ability to be prejudiced against people they have never met!

Bobo and Klugel found:

Younger and More Educated score lower on the Social Distance Scale. = less prejudiced

Individual Discrimination One-on-one acts by members of the dominant group that harm members of the subordinate group or their property.

Institutional Discrimination

Day-to-day practices of organizations and institutions that have a harmful impact on members of minority groups. While no longer legal – some informal practices linger and continue to benefit the majority group

Why do White Americans Have more wealth than minority groups? Luck or a history of Institutional Racism?

Invisible Knapsack

Feagin’s types

Isolate – harmful action by a dominant group member and is supported by other dominant group members in the immediate community. (e.g., a judge who gives harsher sentencing to members of a minority group)

Small-group - similar but not supported by other members of the dominant group -- e.g., racially motivated vandalism

Direct Institutionalized – e.g., intentional exclusion of people of color from public institutions

Indirect - unintended consequences such as special education classes that were intended for students with various disabilities – but some claim they have resulted in segregation

Wealth Disparity by Race

Home Ownership

Housing Segregation still taking place

“ghettos with grass” - Whites move out of suburban neighborhoods when blacks and Latino(a) residents move in.

Institutional Racism – Wealth

Most Racially Segregated Metropolitan Areas

Rank City Segregation Index

1 Detroit 87.6

2 Chicago 85.8

3 Cleveland 85.1

4 Milwaukee 82.8

5 New York 82.2

Who Are We Today?

Latino Americans

If we include those also here illegally, the number of Latinos in the U.S. is estimated to be 45 million – largest minority group

The Bureau predicts they will number more than 96 million in 2050.

Diverse group

For example Mexicans or Chicano/as (largest segment -- approx. 2/3), Puerto Ricans (since 1917 have been able to move freely to and from the mainland), Cubans (different experiences according to their class origins before immigration)

Asian Americans --- Also very diverse group -- some examples:

Chinese -- transcontinental railroad, gold rush / Japanese -- 120,000 internment camps

Korean kye represents a strong sense of community

Filipinos - over one million Indochinese -- Vietnamese,

Cambodians, Thailand, Laos.. More recent immigration

African Americans (African descent) or “Blacks” (Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Trinidad, the Caribbean) -- unique and different experiences in that while both have experienced discrimination (recent example of Haitian refugees) African American experiences have distinct relationship of slavery and “Jim Crow”

Blacks have a 375-year history on this continent: 245 involving slavery, 100 involving discrimination, and only 30 involving anything else. — Historian Roger Wilkins

Race Discussion with Spike Lee

Starting the conversation by acknowledging privilegeHow do we open the conversation?

A Helpful Resource: http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1240/sotomayor-supreme-court-affirmative-action-minority-preferences

http://colorandmoney.blogspot.com/

Growing Pains?

By 2056 the roots of the average U.S. resident will be from everywhere except Western Europe..... Today 5 workers for every one Social Security recipient -- by 2020, 3 for every 1 and the three will be non-white