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Racial And Ethnic Inequality (Discussion Points From Chapter 3) 

 

 

1.         What is the difference between a color line and a color gradient?

 

2.         The text states that “…race is a socially constructed category of people who share biologically transmitted traits that a society defines as imprtant” (p. 60).  Is there biological evidence that supports the notion of separate and distinct races of people?  Is there such a thing as a pure race?  (Look at the text’s commentary (p. 61):  Virtually all African Americans have some white ancestors and almost ten percent of White Americans have some African American Ancestry (Palen, 2000).

 

3.         One sociologist, John Palen, distinguishes between race as a biological, political, and administrative concept.  Political distinctions stem from the power of the dominant group over the subordinate group.  Hitler defined Jews as a race of people and set about exterminating them.  At the same time his Japanese allies were politically defined to be “Honorary Aryans.”  Administrative categories of race are created by bureaucrats to gather data, etc.  Today, the U.S. Census allows respondents to check multiple categories when asked to give their race.  Why is this so controversial?

 

4.         How race has made a difference in the U.S. (Poverty Statistics):  (Blacks comprise approximately 12.3 percent of the U.S. population; Hispanics—12.5 percent; Asian—4 percent; American Indians and Alaska Natives—1 percent.

 

Group

% of Population  (2000)

% in “official” poverty (2007)

White (non-Hispanic)

71

8.2

White

 

10.5

Black

12

24.5

Hispanics

12

21.5

Asians and Pacific Islanders

4

11.1

American Indians and Alaska Natives

1

25.7 (2000 data)

 

 

5.         You will find the course web notes (“The Color Line”) helpful here.  http://www.people.vcu.edu/~jmahoney/colrline.html   In Virginia, by the second half of the 17th century, laws had emerged prohibiting racial intermarriage.  The most recent “anti-miscegenation” law in Virginia was passed in 1932.  This law was overturned by the 1967 Supreme Court decision, Loving vs. Virginia.  One hundred years after the passage of the first anti-miscegenation laws, we see the beginning of laws defining who was white and who was black.  Beginning in 1785 the rule was one-fourth.  (If one grandparent was black, the child was so-defined).  By 1924 the so-called “one-drop” rule was passed in Virginia.  Beginning in the 1850s laws appeared requiring that records be kept on the race of the commonwealth’s citizens. 

 

6.         Equation of racism—Prejudice + Action = Discrimination;  Discrimination + Power + Racism.  What is institutionalized racism?

 

7.         Institutionalized discrimination:  Inequality is inherently built into the social structure and is an integral part of the social system.  Segregated facilities, poll taxes, literacy tests, etc. are all examples of institutionalized discrimination.

 

8.         Patterns of African American migration from the end of the Civil War to the present:

 

9.         Racial Segregation:  De facto; De jure; restrictive covenants; redlining; and steering.  What is affirmative action?  Should the United States maintain affirmative action programs?  Explain your answer.

 

10.       The widening gap in the African Community between rich and poor—Two Black Americas; an increasingly affluent middle class (estimates range between 33 and 60 percent).  There is also an “underclass” of truly disadvantaged (about 23 percent of African Americans fall below the official poverty line). 

 

11.  Discuss the relationship between the disappearance of work in the city and hyper segregation (p. 40; 414), also referred to as “hyperghettoization” by some researchers, because it is occurs in urban areas.

 

12.       In general, how do sociologists define “minority”?  Discuss patterns of majority/minority interaction.  Understand Bogardus’s social distance scale (p. 78).

 

13.  What are the key points in the debate between multiculturalism and pluralism?  Discuss conservative and liberal views on racial inequality.

 

14.  Discuss the interaction of race and social class in determining one’s life chances in the United States.

 

15.  Understand the major theoretical perspectives as they approach the problem of racial inequality. 

 

16.  Regarding the politics of racial and ethnic inequality-- Compare the radical left; liberal; conservative; and radical right views.

 

Some Notes on Ethnicity

 1.        It is important to distinguish between the three models of Racial and Ethnic integration in the U.S.: 

 

A.        Assimilation---            (A+B+C=A)

 

B.        Pluralism---                (A+B+C=A+B+C)

 

C.        Amalgamation           (A+B+C=D)  

 

2.         Of these three models, which is the “official” policy of the U.S. at this time?  Which model did it replace and why?

 

3.         According to your instructor, “amalgamation” is the really the “true” melting pot model, but throughout the first half of the 20th century, the “melting pot” was used to refer to the assimilation of all ethnic groups into a standard American who resembled what the text calls, “an English-speaking WASP.”  In this sense, we are speaking of “cultural assimilation.”

 

4.         Why does your instructor say that a “civil rights perspective” is the best approach to take when examining race and ethnic relations in the U.S.?  Explain.

 

5.         Distinguish between behavioral and structural assimilation.  Which of them means essentially the elimination of a minority group as a separate entity in the larger society?

 

6.         The text describes three separate waves of immigration to the United States—1820-1880; 1880-1920; and 1990 to the present.  Germans and Irish were very prevalent in the first wave of immigration.  What was the “Know Nothing Party” and when was it popular in U.S. history?

 

7.         The second wave of immigrants, largely from southern and eastern Europe.  By 1910 southern and eastern Europeans comprised over 70 percent of all immigrants to the U.S.  In fact, between 1880 and 1920, immigration accounted for approximately one-third of this country’s growth in population.  Between 1880 and 1920 close to 25 million people migrated to the U.S. (By 1900, approximately 33 percent of the entire U.S. population consisted of first-or second-generation Americans).

 

8.         The third wave consists largely of Hispanic and Asian immigrants.  In terms of numbers, we have the following data from the U.S. Census:  In the decade of the 1980’s, 7.3 million people immigrated to the U.S.).  According to data provided by the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), during the 1990’s, approximately 8.7 million people immigrated to the U.S. (http://www.ins.usdoj.gov).  According to the U.S. Census, U.S. population grew by more people in the 1990s than in any other decade in its history—approximately 32.7 million people.  So, in the decade of 1990 alone, 25 percent of U.S. population growth was due directly to immigration and the percentage of this growth attributable to immigration and the children of immigrants is even higher.

 

9.         Note the statistics on U.S. ethnic and racial groups:  Between 1990 and 1995 the non-Hispanic white population grew by 3 percent; African American population by 8 percent; Hispanics by 20 percent; and Asians by 31 percent. 

 

10.       Hispanics now are this nation’s largest minority numbering over 35 million.  This ethnic group is younger than the non-Hispanic population and has higher fertility rates ensuring rapid growth even should immigration drop off.  More than half of all Latinos in the U.S. are found in just two states—California and Texas.  Look at the section on Mexican Americans—What three sub-groups does the text divide them into?  Compare Hispanics’ educational attainment with that of other groups described in the chapter.

 

11.       Asian Americans have been the nation’s most rapidly growing minority group and number over 12 million according to the 2000 census.  Where is this minority most heavily concentrated in the U.S.?  Compare Asian Americans status with that of the white Americans regarding poverty levels, median household income, education, etc.

 

12.       The population of Native Americans, once estimated to be as many as 20 million people at the time of European discovery declined to 250 thousand in the 1890s and now number over 2.7 million (2003 Census estimates).  Where are they located?  How do they compare with other minorities in terms of education, poverty, and average age?

 

 

 

 

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