Inequality by Race and Ethnicity

2. Inequality by Race and Ethnicity • The Privileges of the Dominant • The Social Construction of Race and Ethnicity • Immigration and New Ethnic Groups • Explaining Inequality by Race and Ethnicity • Patterns of Prejudice and Discrimination

3. The Privileges of the Dominant • One aspect of discrimination often overlooked is privileges dominant groups enjoy at expense of others • McIntosh: • Rarely needed to step out of comfort zone • Skin color (white) opened doors • Whiteness made job of parenting easier • Others did not evaluate her in racial terms

4. The Privileges of the Dominant • Racialformation: sociohistorical process in which racial categories are created, inhibited, transformed, and destroyed • Social construction of race: process of defining a group as a race based in part on physical characteristics as well as historical, cultural, and economic factors

5. The Privileges of the Dominant • Stereotypes: unreliable generalizations about members of group that do not recognize individual differences • Racial group: minorities set apart from others by obvious physical differences • Ethnic group: Set apart from others primarily because of its national origin or distinctive cultural patterns

6. Race • Each society determines which “obvious” differences are important while ignoring others • Racial and ethnic composition of U.S. population will change more in next 100 years than in the last 100

7. Table 6-1: Racial and Ethnic Groups in the United States, 2006

8. Figure 6-1: Racial and Ethnic Groups in the United States, 1500-2100 (Projected)

9. Ethnicity • Ethnic group: Set apart from others primarily because of its national origin or distinctive cultural patterns • Distinction between racial and ethnic minorities not always clear-cut • Distinction between racial and ethnic groups is socially significant

10. Immigration and New Ethnic Groups • Significant segment of population of U.S. made up of White ethnics whose ancestors arrived from Europe • Symbolicethnicity: emphasis on concerns such as ethnic food or political issues rather than deeper ties to one’s ethnic heritage

11. History of Immigration • Contemporary diversity of U.S. reflects centuries of immigration • 1920s: preference to people from western Europe • Late 1930s and early 1940s: allowed Jewish refugees to escape Nazi regime • Since 1960s: policies encourage immigration of people who have relatives in U.S. or those who have needed skills • Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986

12. Figure 6-2: Legal Migration in the United States, 1820-2010

13. Functions of Immigration • Immigration performs valuable functions • For receiving society: • Alleviates labor shortages • For sending nation: • Can relieve economies unable to support large numbers of people • Dysfunctions: • Areas with high concentration of immigrants may not meet short-term social needs • Loss of skills to developing countries

14. The Conflict Approach to Immigration • White ethnics and racial minorities often antagonistic toward one another because of economic competition • Theorists note how much of debate over immigration phrased in economic terms

15. Explaining Inequality by Race and Ethnicity • Functionalist Perspective • Nash’s 3 functions that racially prejudiced beliefs provide to the dominant group: • Moral justification for maintaining unequal society • Discourage subordinate groups from questioning their status • Encourage support for the existing order

16. Explaining Inequality by Race and Ethnicity • Functionalist Perspective • Rose identified dysfunctions associated with racism • Society must invest time and money to defend barriers to full participation • Racial prejudice undercuts goodwill and diplomatic relations between nations • Society that practices discrimination fails to use resources of all individuals • Discrimination aggravates social problems

17. Explaining Inequality by Race and Ethnicity • Conflict Perspective • Exploitation theory: Racism keeps minorities in low-paying jobs and supplies the dominant group with cheap labor • Too limited to explain prejudice in its many forms • Racial profiling: Arbitrary action initiated by an authority based on race, ethnicity, or national origin rather than on person’s behavior

18. Explaining Inequality by Race and Ethnicity • Interactionist Perspective • Contacthypothesis: interracial contact between people of equal status in cooperative circumstances will cause them to become less prejudiced and to abandon old stereotypes

19. Table 6-2: Sociology Perspectives on Race

20. Patterns of Prejudice and Discrimination • Prejudice: Negative attitude toward an entire category of people • Ethnocentrism: Tendency to assume one’s culture and way of life are superior to others • Racism: Belief that one race is supreme and others are innately inferior • Hatecrime: Criminal offense committed because of the offender’s bias against a race, religion, ethnic group, national origin, or sexual orientation

21. Color-Blind Racism • Color-blind racism: Use of principle of race neutrality to define racially unequal status quo • Idea that society should be color-blind only perpetuates racial inequality • Color line is still in place, even if more people refuse to acknowledge its existence

22. Discriminatory Behavior • Discrimination: denial of opportunities and equal rights to individuals and groups based on some type of arbitrary bias • Discrimination persists even for educated and qualified minority members Glass ceiling: invisible barrier blocking promotion of qualified individuals in work environment because of gender, race, or ethnicity

23. Figure 6-3: Categorization of Reported Hate Crimes, 2005

24. Figure 6-4: U.S. Median Income by Race, Ethnicity, and Gender

25. Institutional Discrimination • Institutionaldiscrimination: denial of opportunities and equal rights that results from operations of a society • Affirmative action: positive efforts to recruit minority members or women for jobs, promotions, and educational opportunities

26. Measuring Discrimination • Comparing income data • White men earned 40% more money than Black men in 2006 • Black women earned significantly less than White women • Highly educated Asian Americans trail well behind their White counterparts

27. Table 6-3: Median Income by Race and Sex, Holding Education Constant