INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY 53108

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Does Race Exist??
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Some Key Words

• Ascribed Status
• Socio-economic position
• Race
• Ethnicity
• Social construction
• Culture
• Capitalist economy
• Marginalization

• Assimilation
• Integration
• Multiculturalism
• Minority group
• Prejudice
• Discrimination
• Stereotyping

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RACE

• The MEANING of being a particular race is
  ascribed to particular groups
  (ie interpreted socially)
• What it means to be black or
  white is given by particular
  society
• Taking of biological features and using them as
  basis to discriminate

What is racism?
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Phenotype and Genotype

• Genotype genetic inheritance
• Phenotype visible attributes
• i.e. skin color
• races of humans are variable in degrees of
  melanin in skin
• Total genetic variation between racial groups is
  only 6...variation within groups is also 6!
• (King, The Biology of Race,1981)

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What is race?

• Classifying by skin color related
  characteristics appear objective, but
  there are other equally valid
  ways to specify race.

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RACE biological definition

• Refers to biological characteristics
  (skin color, facial features,
  inherited characteristics)

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Ways to Categorize Races

• Race by Resistance
• Presence or absence of anti-malarial genes
• PresentAfrican blacks,Arabs living on Arabian
  peninsula
• Absent Swedes, some black Africans (the Xhosas)

• Race by Digestion

Presence or absence of lactase in
adults (helps to digest milk) Present
Fulani of West Africa, Swedes, Europeans
Absent E Asians, Native Americans, Australian
Aborigines, most black Africans
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• Race by types of fingerprints
• Type 1 Black Africans, most Europeans, East
  Asians (loops)
• Type 2 Jews, some Indonesians (arches)
• Type 3 Australian Aborigines (whorls)
• Source Jared Diamond (1994, Nov.). Race without
  color. Discover, pp. 92-97.

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• Race is arbitrary
• SOCIAL category, not biological one.

So, why such an important category?
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Categorization

• Humans categorize physical and social worlds
• group together objects/people that have similar
  features Circles, triangles, people.
• Its efficient speeds up processing and helps
  us learn about people and things.
• All categorization involves some distortion and
  oversimplification. (principle of least effort )

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US 2002
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cablinasian like me
Term "Caucasian" originated as one of racial
categories in 19th c. by people studying
craniology. Was derived from region of Caucasus
mountains. 18th c. German philosopher Christoph
Meiners first named Caucasian race.
Caucasian-black-Indian-Asian.
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http//www.humanracemachine.com/
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When asked to choose the brown doll, the white
doll, or no doll at all, ten of sixteen students
selected the white doll as the "nice" doll.
Eleven labeled brown doll as the "bad" doll. Even
though the children had demonstrated that they
could distinguish between white and brown dolls,
when asked to choose which doll looked like them,
seven selected the white doll.
Kenneth Mamie Clark Doll Experiments
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The Bell Curve, authors Herrnstein and Murray
strongly implied that the white/black IQ gap is
largely genetic.
Research on IQ and race by Arthur Jensen, William
Shockley, Herrnstein and Murray (The
Bell Curve)
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Ethnicity

• shared cultural heritage ancestry, dress,
  religion, language, tools, holidays
• People can change ethnicities by
  adopting different way of life

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CULTURAL HERITAGE

• Knowledge of culture passed from generations
• Shared social and
  cultural values
• Socially constructed
• Sense of membership of particular people
• Ethnic group is interest group who mobilizes to
  work for their needs and interests

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ETHNICITY as Ascribed Status

• Social construction based on shared
  cultural heritage or tradition
• Culture refers to way of life
• language, dress,
  rituals, ideals,
  norms, belief
  system

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• Minority category distinguished by physical or
  cultural difference that society sets apart and
  subordinates.
• Numerical minority less than 50
• Sociological minority may have s but not power
• e.g., women and Blacks in South
  Africa

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Minority Group Characteristics

• Experience a pattern of disadvantage or
  inequality
• Visible identifying traits
• Aware of their disadvantages and inequality
• Born into their minority classification
• Usually marry within their own group

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What is Hate?

• According to Merriam-Webster dictionary
• Hate to have a strong aversion to (2) find
  very distasteful (3) to express or feel extreme
  hostility
• We will define hate as the mindset that you are
  better than someone else based on appearance,
  beliefs or practices

Hate Groups
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The Birth of Hate Group Websites

• 1st hate group website established 1995
  (Stormfront.org)
• Hate groups around country followed lead/began
  opening websites of their own
• The sites remain in place due to laws of free
  speech
• Sites funded by members willing to contribute to
  cause
• Most sites charge membership fee

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The First Amendment
Congress shall make no law respecting an
establishment of religion, or prohibiting the
free exercise thereof or abridging the freedom
of speech, or of the press, or the right of the
people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the
Government for a redress of grievances.
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What is Speech?
Protected Not Protected

• Symbolic speech
• Political speech
• Prejudiced speech
• Freedom not to speak

• Fighting words

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The Legal Battles

• Cohen v. California (1971)
• Hud v. Wilson (2000)
• Frederick Toben v Germany (2000)

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Hate Group Websites

• American Knights (June, 1998) http//www.americank
  nights.com
• Aryan Nations (Sept, 2000) http//www.aryan-nation
  s.org/
• World Church of the Creator (Aug, 1996)
  http//www.creator.org
• Westboro Baptist Church (Jan, 1997)
  http//www.godhatesfags.com

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Dedicated to Stopping the Hate on the Web

• Federal Bureau of Investigation
• United States Department of Education
• American Civil Liberties Union
• On the Internet
• http//www.publiceye.org
• http//www.thecdr.org
• http//www.adl.org

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Commonsense Explanations of Prejudice and
Discrimination

• Human Nature
• Humans club together in groups
• Innate need to feel superior/safe from others
• Learned Behavior

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RACISM as Prejudice

• Prejudice - PRE-JUDGE person or situation (an
  attitude)
• Based on stereotype (which justifies prejudice)
• STEREOTYPE Generalize from member of group to
  all
• All Muslims are terrorists
• All feminists hate men
• All men like sports/hunting or they are gay

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THEORIES

• Closure theories
• These argue that in order to maintain group
  boundaries members tend to emphasis differences
  between selves and others

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• Class Theories
• Discuss prejudice and discrimination as an aspect
  of inequality
• When resources not evenly distributed dominant
  group will try to maintain its position by
  vilifying or scape-goating members of minority
  groups

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What is a Stereotype?

• schema about group
• lead us to pay attention to information that
  confirms, to interpret information in light of
  stereotype, to remember information that fits
  stereotype.

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• When we act upon our attitudes to detriment of
  others
• Social behavior arising from prejudice and
  stereotyping
• Means that some members of society receive
  different treatment in relation to allocation of
  rewards (different life chances)
• Cycle of discrimination
• migrants dont assimilate, cut funding for
  English classes, dont
  learn English, migrants dont
  assimilate

Discrimination
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Types of DiscriminationFederally Protected
Classes

• Class Protected by
• Race Civil Rights Act of 1964
• Color Civil Rights Act of 1964
• Ethnic Origin Civil Rights Act of 1964
• Gender Civil Rights Act of 1964 Equal Pay Act
• Religion Civil Rights Act of 1964
• Age (over 40) Age Discrimination in Employment
  Act
• Disability Americans with Disabilities Act
• Vocational Rehabilitation Act
• Pregnancy Pregnancy Discrimination Act
• Vietnam Veterans Status Vietnam Veterans
  Readjustment Act

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Prejudice and Discrimination in the 21st Century

• Symbolic Racism--Belief that
• No longer serious discrimination
• Any inequality is fault of minority group
• Demands for preferential treatment is unfair and
  discriminatory (Affirmative Action)
• Racism--Belief that
• Certain groups are genetically inferior
• Unequal treatment is justified

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Affirmative Action

• Intentional recruitment of minority applicants
• Removal of discriminatory workplace practices
• Preferential hiring and promotion of minority
  applicants
• History of discrimination
• Goals based on qualified
  workforce vs. area population
• Cannot trample rights
  of non minorities

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Conclusions

• Notions of ethnicity and race help us define who
  we are and who we are not
• Race and Ethnicity and the kinds of prejudice,
  discrimination and stereotyping that is based on
  ethnicity and race can impact negatively on life
  chances and access to rewards of society, ie.
  contributes to inequality

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Conclusion

• While online hate groups are not beneficial to
  society, we should not restrict their right to
  free speech
• Unfortunately, there is no easy solution to this
  problem
• Should online hate groups be forced to have
  disclaimers for children?