Race and Ethnicity

Activity: Does Race Exist?

Having read the NOVA article that explains two of the

viewpoints on the Great Race Debate answer the final

analysis question:

Final Analysis Question: Based on the article, which side do you think you fall on in the Great Race Debate?

“We versus They”

Watch the video clip on the creation of the we versus the they and answer these three

questions:1. Why do human societies divide so easily into

“we” and “they”?2. How does history inform our understanding

of hatreds and why they persist?3. What is at stake for a society when minorities

are vulnerable to persecution, discrimination, and injustice?

The Neuroscience of “Different”

The Psychology of Difference Video Clip

Defining Key Terms

• In your notebook, write down how you would define “race” and “ethnicity”

“Race” according to Merriam-Webster

• a family, tribe, people, or nation belonging to the same stock

• a class or kind of people unified by shared interests, habits, or characteristics

• a category of humankind that shares certain distinctive physical traits

“Ethnicity” according to Merriam-Webster

• of or relating to races or large groups of people who have the same customs, religion, origin, etc.

• associated with or belonging to a particular race or group of people who have a culture that is different from the main culture of a country

Race and Ethnicity Survey1. Did you have trouble selecting a designation in

either category? If yes, why?2. What information isn’t captured with these options?3. Is it important to capture that missing information?

Explain. 4. Does having only two choices for ethnicity and five

for race shape our perceptions of both labels?5. Are there aspects of your identity that are important

to you that are not revealed by these labels? How would our understanding of your identity change if we asked different questions?

Create an identity chart for yourself in your notebook

Begin with the words or phrases that describe the way you see yourself. Most people define themselves by using categories important to their culture. They include not only gender, age, and physical characteristics but also ties to a particular religion, class, neighborhood, school and

nation.

Prejudice? Stereotype?

There are a number of other essential terms that we must have a working knowledge of in

order to delve into the topics we are going to be discussing.

In your notebooks, write down your definitions of prejudice and stereotype.

Prejudice?

• An unfair feeling of dislike for a person or group because of race, sex, religion, etc.

• A feeling of like or dislike for someone or something especially when it is not reasonable or logical

Merriam-Webster Dictionary

Stereotype?

• To believe unfairly that all people or things with a particular characteristic are the same

Merriam-Webster Dictionary

• A widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing

Oxford Dictionary

Are we living in a post-racial society?

CURRENT EVENTS ASSIGNMENT

• Affirmative Action• NBA – Donald Sterling’s lifetime ban• NYC’s Stop and Frisk policies• Imminent Threat Cases in Florida• Beating of Steve Utash in Detroit• Medal of Honor• Cheerios – Reaction to the interracial couple• Paula Deen• Voting Rights Act

Changing Definitions of Race

• 2000 Census gave option to identify using multiple racial categories for the first time

• Half of those classified as multiracial were under age 18

• This points towards a growing awareness of population diversity

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65.9%WHITE(NON-HISPANIC)

198,420,355 people

15.1%HISPANIC OR LATINO

45,432,158 people

12.1% AFRICAN AMERICAN

36,397,922 people

4.3%ASIAN

13,000,306 people

1.6%TWO OR MORE RACES

4,794,461 people

0.7% AMERICAN INDIAN AND ALASKA NATIVE

2,041,269 people

0.1%NATIVE HAWAIIAN AND OTHER PACIFIC ISLANDER

413,294 people

0.2% SOME OTHER RACE

737,938 people

Note: This map is not geographically representative of population distribution.

SOURCE: U.S. Bureau of the Census 2008b.

Essentials Of Sociology, 3rd EditionCopyright © 2011

W.W. Norton & Company

Racial and Ethnic Populations

Note: Percentages do not total 100 and subtotals do not add up to totals in major categories because of overlap between groups (for example, Polish American Jewsor people of mixed ancestry, such as Irish and Italian). White ancestry is for the year2000, and percentages are based on totalpopulation in that year.Source: Author estimates based on AmericanCommunity Survey 2006, Tables DP-1 and R0203, in Bureau of the Census 2007d; Sheskin and Dashefsky 2006.

“Unpacking the Invisible Backpack”

Racialization

• Racialization: imposing a racial schema on society

• The process involves both formal and informal inequities, including segregated schools and businesses, along with differentiated rights

• These inequalities shape the lives of all those in the racialized society

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Seeing Racial and Ethnic Inequality

• To say that a society is racialized is to say that it has a racial system of stratification

• The United States is a racially stratified society, and we can see this in many places:– Educational attainment– Income– Residence– Wealth

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Types of Segregation

1. What is the difference between de jure and de facto segregation?

2. Why does de facto segregation persist?3. Do you think residential segregation is a

problem in our community? Why?

“Not economically viable”

In the Year 2050

DEMOGRAPHICS of the United States2000 *

WHITE 80% OF POPULATION– HISPANIC 12.5%– BLACK 12.3%– ASIAN 3.9%

2050WHITE 53% OF POPULATION– HISPANIC 21%– BLACK 16%– ASIAN 10%

* Percentages taken from previous slide

Seeing Inequality

• We can also see racial inequality in:– Political representation– Residential segregation– Health and wellness– Criminal justice system

36Southern Poverty Law Center Hate Map

Prom Night in Mississippi• Tradition Group — Although the film calls traditions into question, the students who didn’t

agree with segregated proms didn’t want to forgo a prom altogether. Why might the tradition of prom be important to them, too?

• Change Group — How does change happen? Who made the change possible at Charleston High School? Is change easy? Why? What kinds of obstacles did students in the film encounter as they tried to live integrated lives?

• Fear Group — What were people afraid of in this film? Did those fears differ by racial identity? How did fear sometimes limit the ability of people to embrace equality and change?

• Judgment Group —In Prom Night in Mississippi, what kinds of judgments did people sometimes make about one another? How were those judgments related to race? With which characters’ decisions do you most agree? Disagree? Why?

• Opportunity Group — At what moments in the film were specific students and adults offered opportunities to help create positive change? Who grabbed onto them? Who chose not to? Why do you think they had these reactions? How does opportunity relate to change? Can you have one without the other? Why?

The Loving Case

1. What protections does the Fourteenth Amendment provide to U.S. citizens?

2. What kind of beliefs led to the passage of miscegenation laws?

3. How do those beliefs mirror some of the sentiments expressed in Prom Night in Mississippi?

4. Why did the Court conclude that miscegenation laws violated the Fourteenth Amendment?

It Don’t Make No Difference To Me1. How do the song’s lyrics serve to denounce racism?

2. The song is about romantic love across the color line, to be sure, but it also advocates “one love.” What do you think Michael means by that?

3. This song has been called “a transracial modern-day anthem.” Would you agree with that description? Why?

4. How do the messages of this song differ from the thinking of miscegenation laws? How far have we come as a nation in ending that kind of racism?

5. How do you think Jeremy and Heather, the interracial couple in Prom Night in Mississippi, would respond to this song? Why? How do you think Heather’s father, Glenn, would respond? Why?

Social Analysis of Racial and Ethnic Inequality

• The Functionalist Perspective– A functional argument may be that until racial and ethnic minorities

improve their skills and social positions they will be unable to compete successfully with other groups, however, it is part of climbing the social ladder.

• The Conflict Perspective– As the different minority groups struggle for resources and status, the

competition between them serves the interests of those in power; “divide and conquer”.

• The Symbolic Interactionist Perspective– A member of the minority culture can never feel “oneness” with a

different culture if they are made to be seen as, and see themselves as, different.