A L E X I S , B I S H O P , O DAY L S , Q U A D E S H A

RACE IN SOCIOLOGY

• People have always longed to catergorize people according to their physical attributions like skin color, hair texture and color, and body structure.• Originally scholars used these three categories:

Mongoloids, Caucasoids, and Negroids.• Monogoloids- yellowish or brownish skin, distinctive folds on one’s

eyelids• Caucasoids- fair skin with straight or wavy hair• Negroids- dark skin with tightly curled hair• This system left out a lot of people • Race- a category of people who share inherited

physicl characteristics and whom others see as being a distinct group

ETHNICITIES

• Ethnicity- cultural charactistics that distinguishes one group from another• Ethnic group- a group of people who share

cultural characteristics • Beliefs are passed from generation to generation• Example: judiasm

ETHNICITIES

MINORITY GROUPSDefinition- a group of people who are singled out and

unequally treated due to their physical characteristics, beliefs, or cultural characteristics

1. They possess identifiable characteristics- physical or cultural- that differ from those of the dominant group.

2. Members of the minority group are victims of unequal treatment at the hands of the dominant group.

3. Membership in the group is an ascribed status. 4. Group members share a strong sense of community.5. Members tend to marry other members inside the

group. A term referred to as endogamy

MINORITY GROUPS

TYPES OF DISCRIMINATION

• Legal discrimination- upheld by the law.• examples include apartheid in South Africa and the Jim

Crow Laws in America• Institutionalized discrimination- an outgrowth of

the structure of society• This is when minority groups can’t buy or rent houses in

certain parts of town and become concentrated in low-income housing in one part of town that the dominant group will avoid going to

RACISM

• Definition- the belief that one’s own race or ethnic group is naturally superior to other races or ethnic groups

• This leads to stereotypes (oversimplified, exaggerated or unfavorable generalization about a group of people)

• Self- fulfilling prophecy: a prediction that results in behavior that makes the prediction comes true. ( if members of a minority group are told they won’t understand technical training then they aren’t trained and don’t possess the skills to have the technically trained jobs, making the prophecy true.

SOURCES OF DISCRIMINATION

• Taught from other people• Embedded in social norms- the norms explain

how parts of a society interact and relate with another part• Scapegoating- blaming an innocent person(s) for

one’s problems• Arises out of the competition for scarce resources

SOURCES OF DISCRIMINATION

DIFFERENT TYPES OF ACCEPTANCE OF MINORITY GROUPS

• Cultural pluralism- ethnic and racial variety encouraged• Assimilation- culturally distinct groups blended into a

single group with common culture• Legal protection- minority rights protected by law• Segregation- minority group physically separated from

the dominant group• Subjugation- dominant group controls every aspect of

minority group life through force• Population transfer- dominant group moves minority

group to new locations within or outside of the country• Extermination- dominant group attemps to destroy the

minority group