Chapter summary imageRace is a division of people based on certain physical characteristics, while ethnicity is based on cultural, linguistic, or ancestral heritage.

What is the Difference Between Race and Ethnicity?

race is the division of people based on certain physical characteristics, but ethnicity is the classification of people who share a common cultural, linguistic, or ancestral heritage.

What Causes Racist Attitudes, and How do These Attitudes Affect People?

color-blind racism, racial stereotypes, belief that segregation is a personal choice, belief that racism is a thing of the past, which denies its impact on minorities; these lead to a feeling of double consciousness for minorities.

How Does Affirmative Action Help Minority Groups in the United States?

by allowing employers and educators to use minority status as a deciding factor if candidates are equal.

Theory

Functionalism

  • racism has both intended and unintended consequences
  • slavery in the South functioned to build wealth and agriculture, but it came at the expense of people being treated like animals•by changing what is acceptable in society, we change reality

Conflict Theory

  • racism is a result of power conflicts among different groups
  • the group with more power oppresses the weaker groups, a result of which can cause racism to occur
  • 1838 relocation of Native Americans for the farmer’s own personal gain

Symbolic Interactionism

  • by changing what is acceptable in society, we change reality
  • racial slurs that were acceptable 100 years ago are highly discouraged today
  • acceptable terms leads to what is said and thought in society

Key Terms

Race

is the division of people based on certain physical characteristics.

Ethnicity

is the classification of people who share a common cultural, linguistic, or ancestral heritage.

Majority Group

is the group that has the largest population in society and holds signifi- cant power and privilege.

Minority Group

is a group that has a smaller population and less power than the majority group.

Dominant Group

is the group that has the greatest power, but not necessarily the greatest numbers.

Colonialism

is the imposition of control over a weak nation by a more powerful country.

Racism

is discrimination based on a person’s race.

Genocide

is the attempt to destroy or exterminate a people based on their race and/or ethnicity.

Hate Groups

are organizations that promote hostility or violence toward others based on race and other factors.

Conquest

is the domination over a group of people by a superior force.

Annexation

is the incorporation of one territory into another.

Voluntary Immigration

is the willing movement of people from one society to another.

Involuntary Immigration

is the forced movement of people from one society to another.

Ethnic Cleansing

refers to persecution through imprisonment, expulsion, or murder of members of an ethnic minority by a majority to achieve ethnic homogeneity in majority- controlled territory.

Migrant Superordination

is the conquest of a native population by a more powerful group.

Indigenous Superordination

is the subordination of an immigrant group to a dominant group.

Pluralistic Minorities

are groups that enter into an area voluntarily, but seek to maintain their own culture while also integrating into the dominant group.

Assimilationist Minorities

are groups that seek to shed their old ways and integrate themselves into mainstream society.

Secessionist Minorities

are groups that voluntarily separate themselves from the dominant group and view the dominant group with disdain, believing that it will corrupt the group’s belief system.

Militant Minorities

are groups that seek to overthrow the existing system because they see it as unjust.

Ethnic Enclaves

are neighborhoods where people from similar cultures live together and assert cultural distinction from the dominant group.

Prejudice

refers to negative attitudes about an entire category of people.

Stereotypes

are simplified perceptions people have of an entire group that are usually based on false assumptions.

Discrimination

is the unfair treatment of people based on a prejudice.

Institutional Discrimination

maintains the advantage for the dominant group, while providing the appearance of fairness to all.

Scapegoat

means making an unfair accusation against a person or group as the cause of a problem.

Segregation

is forced separation based on factors such as race, gender, or ethnicity.

Cycle of Poverty

is a generational barrier that prevents poor people from breaking into the middle and upper classes.

Color-blind Racism

is the idea that racism still exists in society in more subtle ways.

Double Consciousness

is the sense that a person must keep a foot in two worlds, one in the majority group’s world and one in the minority group’s world.

Essay

1. What are Joseph Graves’ five pillars of racism?

2. Why does Wilson believe that class-based affirmative action should replace our current race-based system?

3. Why do some people have a sort of “double consciousness”?

4. What is the difference between prejudice and discrimination?

5. What are some ways that the United States is trying to break the cycle of poverty for minority groups?

Where to Start Your Research Paper

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