Chapter 8 Race and Ethnic Group Stratification: Beyond “We” and “They” © Pine Forge Press, an Imprint of SAGE Publications, Inc., 2011

Chapter 8Chapter 8Race and Ethnic Group Race and Ethnic Group

Stratification: Stratification:

Beyond “We” and “They”Beyond “We” and “They”

© Pine Forge Press, an Imprint of SAGE Publications, Inc., 2011.


Minority groups are characterized by:Being Distinguishable from dominant group by features like appearance, language, religionExcluded or denied full participation in economic, political, and other institutionsLess access to power, resources, prestigeAre stereotyped, ridiculed, condemned, or defamed, which justifies poor treatmentDevelop collective identities, communities, and institutions to insulate themselves

Race and Ethnic Groups


Minority groups, cont.Determined by history and ideology• A group that is a minority in one time or place

may be a dominant group in other times and places

Dominant groups are not always the numerical majorityEthnic and racial groups are the most common minority groups



The concept of raceRace: a group identified by society because of certain biologically inherited physical characteristicsRacial classifications have been based on different combinations of characteristics

Race and Ethnic GroupsRace and Ethnic Groups


Origins of the Concept of RaceIn the 18th and 19th century, scientists developed four major race categories• Mongoloid, Caucasoid, Negroid, Australoid

In the 1970s, the United Nations issued a “Statement on Race”: • All people are born free and equal• Racism retards personal development• (Racial) conflicts cost nations resources• Racism creates international conflict



Origins of the concept of race, cont.Race categories are defined by society, often based on what is convenient for the dominant groupRacist doctrines lack any scientific basis



Symbolic Interaction Analysis The Social Construction of Race

If people believe something is real, it is real in its consequencesPeople believe race categories are real, which has real consequences:

People use race categories to classify themselves and others based on physical characteristicsThe idea of race expanded from physical differences to psychological and moral differencesThe idea of psychological and moral race differences has been used to justify discriminatory treatment



The Significance of Race vs. ClassRace was historically central to U.S. stratificationAfter WWII, African Americans developed a class structure based on occupation and income, similar to that of Whites

The African American middle class has grownBut the African American urban “underclass” has become increasingly unemployed and isolated

Has race declined in significance and class become more important?

Inequalities between blacks and whites remain



Ethnic GroupsEthnic groups: membership is based on shared cultural heritage, often connected with national or geographic identity

The term “ethnic” includes most minorities and avoids problems of the term “race”

Some groups inhabit ethnic enclavesEthnicity is defined in part by the government

Census categories encourage diverse groups to think of themselves as parts of a larger category, or panethnicity (e.g., Asian, Hispanic)



Biracial and Multiracial Populations:Race is a social construct that can change Many countries are now multiracial due to migration• The U.S. accepts more immigrants than any other

country; 16% of the population is foreign born

Many individuals are now multiracial• In the 2000 Census, 7 million or 2.3% of the U.S.

population selected two or more racial categories

Yet the legacy of the “race” concept remains



Processes that keep minorities unequal

Prejudice & Racism


Micro-Level Analysis:Prejudice and Discrimination

Prejudice: attitudes that prejudge a group, usually negative and not based on facts

May be stimulated by meso- and macro-level events, but attitudes are held at the micro-level

Discrimination: differential treatment and harmful actions against minorities

Actions occur at micro-, meso-, and macro-levels

Prejudice & Racism


The Nature of PrejudiceResults partly from in-group loyalty and information overloadStereotyping: categorizing the personal qualities of large groups of people based on racial or ethnic features

Distorted ideas are passed down through cultureIdeas applied to all group members and used to justify discrimination and inequality

Self-fulfilling prophesy: minorities may incorporate prejudiced views of themselves into their behavior

Prejudice & Racism


Frustration-aggression theory: acts of prejudice and discrimination are carried out by individuals who cannot achieve their goals and direct their anger and frustration at vulnerable minority groups

Scapegoating: a minority group is blamed and victimized for acts carried out by others, as the perpetrator cannot vent frustration on its real target or cause

Prejudice & Racism

Explanations for Prejudice

What these theories don’t explain: why only some people vent their frustrations on others, why particular groups become scapegoats


Racism: an institutional arrangement that favors one racial group over another, with intentional or unintentional consequences for minority groups

• Not just individual bigotry

Ideological racism: justification of discrimination using pseudo-scientific ideas Symbolic racism: opposition to policy that would make real equality possible, often by people claiming not to be racistInstitutional racism: discrimination hidden within meso-level systems

Prejudice & Racism


Meso-Level AnalysisDiscrimination: actions taken against members of a minority group

Individual discrimination (micro level): action against minority members by individualsInstitutional discrimination (meso level): intentional or unintentional actions by organizations and institutions that restrict minority membersDiscrimination and prejudice often work together and reinforce one another

Discrimination


Types of Institutional DiscriminationPurposeful (de jure) discrimination: built into the law or explicit organizational policiesUnintentional (de facto) discrimination: results from policies that have unanticipated consequences favoring one group over another• Side-effect discrimination: practices in one

institutional area that have a negative impact due to links to other areas

• Past-in-present discrimination: practices from the past that may no longer be allowed today but continue to affect people anyway

Discrimination


Dominant/Minority Group ContactThe form of dominant and minority group relations depend on several factors:

Who has more power

Dominant group needs for labor and other resources that could be provided by minorities

The cultural norms of each group

The social histories of the groups

Physical & cultural distinctions between groups

The times and circumstances

Macro-Level Analysis


Types of Dominant/Minority Group Relations



Types of Dominant/Minority Group RelationsGenocide: systematic effort by dominant group to destroy a minority group

Subjugation: subordination of one group by another that holds power and authority

Population transfer: removal of minority group from a region or country, often forced

Assimilation: forced or chosen social and cultural merging of groups in which minority members may lose their original identity

Pluralism: each group maintains its culture and institutions but has recognized equity in society



Explaining Dominant/Minority Group Relations: Conflict Theory

The dominant group protects its privileges and resources by creating a “lesser” groupFactors contributing to hostility over resources

If two groups are identifiably different, “we” versus “they” thinking may developIf two groups want the same scarce resources, hostilities are likely to ariseIf one group is more powerful, intense dislike and misrepresentation of each group by the other is likely



Explaining Dominant/Minority Group Relations: Conflict Theory, cont.

Split Labor Market TheoryThe labor market has two levels:

• Primary market – “good” jobs• Secondary market – “bad” jobs

Minorities are more likely to work in secondary jobsCompetition for secondary jobs sets minorities against each other and against low-income WhitesEmployers enjoy reduced threats to their dominance and profit from cheaper labor



Explaining Dominant/Minority Group Relations: Structural Functional Theory

Minority groups often serve as pools of cheap, marginally employed labor, and this has several functions for society:

Provide a labor force to do “dirty work”

Make possible occupations which service the poor

Buy goods others do not want

Set examples for others of what not to be

Allow others to feel good about giving to charity



Explaining Dominant/Minority Group Relations:

Cultural ExplanationsPrejudice and discrimination are passed on from generation to generation through cultural transmission

Socialization, macro-level structures, and media stereotypes all contribute to transmissionCultural stereotypes do not generate inequality by themselves, but they do stabilize it



Costs of RacismIndividual Effects

Poverty, ill-health, lack of property, enslavement, warLow self-esteem, poor self-concept

Organizations and communities Loss of talents of excluded individualsCost of government subsidies necessitated by lack of opportunities

Cultural costsLoss of contributions to cultural production

Prejudice, Racism & Discrimination: Effects


Minority reactions to prejudice, discrimination, and racism:

Individual reactionsAssimilation and Passing

Acceptance

Avoidance

Aggression (indirect, displaced)

Meso- to macro-level reactionsChange-oriented Action



Meso- to macro-level reactions to discrimination:

Nonviolent ResistanceAttempts to bring about change at the institutional and societal levelsModel comes from India’s Mahatma Gandhi and has been followed in the U.S. by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and others



Policies to reduce prejudice, racism, and discrimination

Individual or small group solutions: educational workshops, group encounters, therapy

Group contact: integrated housing, employment, and education; especially successful when groups must cooperate to achieve a goal

Institutional & societal strategies: lobbying, legislation, watchdog monitoring, information dissemination, social protest

Policy


Policies to reduce discrimination, cont.Affirmative Action legislation: three policies intended to fight institutional racism

Strict affirmative action: affirmative or positive steps to prevent unintended discriminationQuota systems: require employers to hire a certain percentage of minoritiesPreference policies: based on the belief that due to institutional discrimination, sometimes people must be treated differently in order to be treated fairly

Policy


Global movement for human rightsGlobal issues and ethnic conflicts are interrelated

The United Nations passed the Declaration of Universal Human Rights after the Holocaust to ensure the rights of all, regardless of nation

National governments and privately funded groups advocate for international human rights that transcend national boundaries

Policy

Documents

Chapter 8 Race and Ethnic Group Stratification: Beyond “We” and “They” © Pine Forge Press, an Imprint of SAGE Publications, Inc., 2011