Chapter 9 Inequalities of Race and Ethnicity

Minorities • Minorities – a group of people w/ physical or

cultural traits different from those of the dominant group

• Numbers alone do not make you a minority– Ex. Women in the U.S.

• Key factors– Has distinctive physical or cultural characteristics which

can be used to separate if from the majority– The minority is dominated by the majority

• Majority hold an unequal share of desired goods, services, and privleges

– Minority traits are often believed by the dominant majority to be inferior

– Members of the minority have a common sense of identity with strong group loyalty

– The majority determines who belongs to the minority through ascribed status

Race • Race – people sharing certain

inherited physical characteristics that are considered important w/in a society

• In sociology, social attitudes and characteristics that relate to race are more important than physical differences

• No scientific evidence that connects any racial characteristic w/ innate superiority or inferiority

Ethnicity

• Ethnicity – group identified by cultural, religious, or national characteristics

• Ex. Language, religion, values, beliefs, norms, and customs

• Ethnocentrism – main cause for negative attitudes toward ethnic minorities

Racial and Ethnic Relations• If minority groups are - accepted

leads to assimilation, if rejected leads to conflict

• Assimilation – the blending or fusing of minority groups into the dominant society

• Anglo-conformity – the most prevalent pattern of assimilation in America– Traditional American institutions are

maintained – Immigrants are accepted as long as

they conform to the “accepted standards” of the society

• Others must either give up or suppress its own value

Racial and Ethnic Relations• Melting Pot – all ethnic and

racial minorities voluntarily blend together

• Tossed salad – traditions and cultures exist side by side – many Sociologist prefer this idea– Cultural Pluralism – desire of

a group to maintain some sense of identity separate from the dominant group

• Accommodation – an extreme from of cultural pluralism. Occurs when a minority maintains its own culturally unique way of life

Patterns of Conflict• Genocide – the systematic effort to destroy an entire population

– Most extreme version– Ex. – Holocaust, Hutu vs. Tutsis, Serbians’ “Ethnic Cleansing” of

Muslims in Bosnia and Kosovo• Population transfer – a minority is forced either to move to a remote

location or to leave entirely– Ex. - Native Americans

• Subjugation – process by which a minority group is denied equal access to the benefits of society– Most common pattern of conflict– De jure segregation – denial of equal access based on the law

• Ex. – U.S. schools before Brown vs. Board of Ed.– De facto segregation – denial of equal access based on everyday

practice• Ex - Neighbors not selling homes to certain races, businesses not

promoting certain minorities