race and ethnicity 2014

CAN’T WE ALL JUST GET ALONG?

Understanding race and ethnicity

This evening

Returning to race and ethnicity

Cultural differences and social divisions

Discriminating institutions

Ethnicity, class and stratification

Our task

Why are there such marked differences in the social fates of different ethnicities in Britain?

Is it?

Biological differences

Direct racism

Institutionalism discrimination

Economic exploitation

Why are young black men more likely to be

stopped and searched?

The natural and the cultural

Race

Race is conceptualised as a biological category – the genetic differences that produce individual physical characteristics that are the basis for social categorisation

Yet, there is no such thing as race from a biological perspective (see Mason, 2013, p.108)

There are physical differences between humans, but these differences become the concept of ‘race’ when they are categorised together

There are bigger differences within ‘racial’ categories than between them

Social bodies

Race, like sex, is an insufficient explanation for the social differences between peoples

Yet, there are socially constructed differences between peoples, whether we like it or not, and these differences have become divisions

Ethnicity is the main sociological tool for understanding the socially constructed cultural and physical differences between peoples

Ethnicity

Ethnicity refers to the shared cultural characteristics that distinguish one group from another

Giddens: “Cultural values and norms which distinguish the members of a given group from others. An ethnic group is one whose members share a distinct awareness of a common cultural identity, separating them from other groups around them.”

Determining ethnicity

We may not think of these groupings as our ‘ethnicity’, but they often become a point of strong identification: ‘these are my people’

Alternatively ethnicity may be determined for us: ‘they are all like that’

A belief in common descent is more important than actual origin

Who are ‘your people’ and how do

you know?

What are you?

Alternative national categories

PAKEHA

To what extent is your ethnicity determined

by your blood?

Finding ethnicity

Ethnicity may feel like a more abstract idea than the biological foundations of race

We know ethnicity exists, however, because we can observe that there are differences in behaviour between people who identify with different groups Different forms of cultural reproduction

There are also different social outcomes for these groups across a wide range of measures Different structural pressures

From differences to divisions

Although ethnicity is the very definition of a social difference, there are stark divisions between ethnic groups

London Ethnicities

In the 2011 census:

‘White British’ were 45% of the population (of total 60% white)

‘Asian’ made up 20%

‘Black’ 13%

Racism

Giddens (2009, p.638) states “[a] racist is someone who believes that some individuals are superior or inferior to others on the basis of racialised differences”

There are a number of modes of racism

Direct racism

Direct racism, sometimes know as ‘old racism’, comes through either explicit institutional discrimination (slavery, segregation) or individual acts

Explicit public racism is rare in the developed/Western world

Direct acts of individual racism still occur, but public discourse is extremely sensitive to it and egalitarian social norms have become publicly dominant

Have you witnessed any direct racism?

Participation in Higher Education

University diversity

Ethnic minorities tend to be over-represented (16% compared to 14%) in higher education, but there are significant differences within the system

There are more Indian and Chinese, less Bangladeshi and Pakistani, more Black African than Black Caribbean

There are substantial differences within subject area and by university

Is it all white at Oxford?

Applying differences

‘White’ students with three A*s are more than 20% more likely to be given an offer to study medicine at Cambridge University than if they are from an ethnic minority.

White students applying for medicine who went on to achieve three A*s were 94% more likely to be offered a place at Oxford than those from ethnic minorities.

“Educational Division”

[Freedom of Information] data also shows that of more than 1,500 academic and lab staff at Cambridge, none are black. Thirty-four are of British Asian origin.

One Oxford college, Merton, has admitted no black students in five years – and just three in the last decade.

Eleven Oxford colleges and ten Cambridge colleges made no offers to black students for the academic year beginning autumn 2009.

Oxford's breakdown of its latest undergraduate admissions figures, published on its website, shows that just one black Caribbean student was accepted in 2009, out of 35 applications

Why?

Euro-elitism and ethnicity

A-Level results are only one element of the application process, which also involves interviews at some universities

"Admissions decisions are based on students' ability, commitment and their potential to achieve“

This suggests that subjective judgements are made during the application process, but upon what criteria?

Students from minority groups may lack the cultural capital required, or fail to fit into the social norms expected, in these interview and evaluation sessions

The ‘ethnic penalty’

Research has consistently shown bias against minority ethnicities in the employment process, which Mason labels the ‘ethnic penalty’ (see Mason, 2013, p.124-126) 2004 research by Marianne Bertrand in Chicago showed that

applicants with ‘White’ sounding names were 50% more likely to received call-backs than equally qualified applicants with ‘Black’ sounding names

A similar study in the UK found that minority names had to send in 16 applicants to receive an interview, compared to 9 applicants for white sounding candidates

Whether this discrimination is intentional or stereotyped

beliefs about whether people will ‘fit in’ is controversial

What would you do to combat the ‘ethnic

penalty’ if you were working in HR?

Institutionalised racism

Institutional racism is a concept developed by Stokely Carmichael in USA in the late 1960s, occurs when the structural patterning of society discriminates against certain groups

The hegemonic norms of the mainstream culture may discriminate against minorities

Certain forms of cultural practice specific to an ethnicity become the ‘right’ way to act, rather than being cultural constructions

This includes racial profiling and stereotyped media representations that reproduce interpersonal discrimination

Racist institutions?

Institutional racism moves from the individual to the collective: although individuals within an organisation may not be racist, the way the organisation operates produces racist outcomes

Moreover, class issues such as income, education and housing reproduce divisions between ethnic groups without any direct discrimination being necessary

Stephen Lawrence

Stephen Lawrence was an 18-year old Black British man who was killed in South-East London in 1993

The case was not initially solved and, following a public enquiry in 1998, the Metropolitan Police Force was concluded to be institutionally racist, which (legally):

“can be seen or detected in processes, attitudes, and behaviour, which amount to discrimination through unwitting prejudice, ignorance, thoughtlessness, and racist stereotyping, which disadvantages minority ethnic people"

Racism, continued?

It is argued that, despite this inquiry, institutional racism continues in the Metropolitan Police

As well as the inequalities in stop and searches, BME groups are significantly unrepresented in the police force, although they are improving

10% of the Metropolitan Police are BME, compared to 40% of the London population

85% of those interviewed by the LSE ‘Reading the Riots’ (2012) research who were directly involved in the 2011 riots cited policing as a major issue

Why would BME groups be under-represented in the

police?

Does it matter?

Ethnicity and riots

Whilst the 2011 riots were not specifically ‘race riots’, there are suggestions that half the rioters were black and many of the areas where there was rioting are predominately black

Media representations focused on worklessness among youth ‘sub-cultures’, as well as ‘pure criminality’ (Cavanagh and Dennis, 2012)

Other suggest that ethnicity was not the central issue, but was highlighted by common social exclusion

Understanding the London Riots

Reading the Riots concluded that: Analysis of more than 1,000 court records suggests

59% of the England rioters come from the most deprived 20% of areas in the UK.

Other analysis carried out by the Department for Education and the Ministry of Justice on young riot defendants found 64% came from the poorest fifth of areas – and only 3% came from the richest fifth.

40% of those arrested were classified as Black, 37% white and 6% Asian

Causing the riots

There was considerable media debate about the rioters lack of ‘cause’

The rioters themselves identified a perceived lack of respect from the police as highly influential, particularly patterns in police searches

Tottenham MP David Lammy has argued that fatherlessness was a primary contributor to the violence

Up to 65% of British Caribbean children are raised by solo

parents, but this is strongly related to class differences

Why might have ‘black’ people been over-represented in

the 2011 riots?

Ethnicity and stratification

Institutionalised racism returns us to class and the question of stratification and intersectionality

Is ethnicity more effective than class and gender for explaining differences between people in London and the UK?

More specifically, does ethnicity explain inequality more effectively?

Returning to the economic

Historical stratification, from slave trading to colonisation, has resulted in substantial class divisions between ethnic groups

Many minority groups entered society as immigrant workers, taking on jobs unwanted by locals

Many of the inequalities experienced by minority groups are linked to class

Income and Ethnicity

Unemployment

Almost half of all young black men available for work in the UK are unemployed

Income and crime

A significant range of evidence shows that violent crime is linked to inequality

Two-thirds of prisoners were unemployed in the four weeks before imprisonment.

Nearly three-quarters of prisoners were in receipt of benefits immediately before entering prison.

Source: Prison population statistics (2012)

To what extent can economic factors explain divisions between ethnic

groups?

Summary

Sociologists make a strong distinction between biological conceptions of race and cultural ethnicity

Whilst ethnicity appears to be a social difference, it operates as a strong and persistent division

Racial discrimination can be produced through cultural practices, institutional factors or economic structures

Next Week

WEEK VI: HEALTH, ILLNESS AND DISABILITY

READINGS

Hyde, M. (2006) Disability. In G. Payne (Ed.) Social Divisions (second edition), Basingstoke: Macmillan.

Payne, J., Payne, G. and Bond, M. (2006) Health. In G. Payne (Ed.) Social Divisions (second edition),

Basingstoke: Macmillan.

Assessments

Submit one copy on BBL and the other to the Gaskell building (the new SocComs reception)

Any questions?