ethnicity and race. ethnic groups and ethnicity ethnic groups –members share certain beliefs,...
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Ethnicity and Race
Ethnic groups and ethnicity
• Ethnic groups– Members share certain beliefs,
values, customs, and norms because of their common background
• Ethnicity – identification with, and feeling part of, an ethnic group and exclusion from certain other groups because of this affiliation
Ethnic groups and ethnicity– Status – the various
positions that people in society
– Shifting identities• Adapting to situations
Race
– Race – an ethnic group assumed to have a biological basis
– Racism – discrimination against a “racial” group– Like ethnicity, race is a cultural category rather than a
biological reality
Social Race• (C. Wagley) – groups assumed to have a biological basis
but actually defined in a culturally arbitrary, rather than scientific, manner
• Cultural construction of “race” in the United States
The Social Construction of Race
• Race - Typically refers to appearances such as skin color, hair type, skin hue, eye color, stature, body size, nose, eyes, and head shape
Race & Science
• The widely held belief that that there are biological differences between racial groups is simply incorrect
Origins of Racial Groups
• Agreement among reputable historians and archaeologists is that the color of primitive humans was Black.
Biracial and Multiracial Identities
• Racial purity is myth– Monoracial – both parents from same racial
group– Biracial – both parents from different racial group– Multiracial – having parents with multiple racial
heritages
Ethnic groups, nations, and nationalities
– Nations/nation-states• Autonomous, centrally organized political entities• Most are not ethnically homogeneous
– Nationalities – ethnic groups that once had, or wish to have or regain, autonomous political status (their own country)
Demography
• Increasing number of persons who are biracial and multiracial
• 2.6% or 7.3 million people in U.S. report more than one race
• Nearly two thirds of all people who reported more than one race lived in just 10 states
• The cities of Los Angeles and New York had the largest two or more races populations
Ethnic tolerance and accommodation - Assimilation
• A minority group adopts the patterns and norms of a dominant host culture to such an extent that it no longer exists as a separate cultural unit
Ethnic tolerance and accommodation - Plural society
• Interethnic contact does not inevitably lead to assimilation
• Plural society
• Ethnic boundaries
One-Drop Rule
• One-drop rule emerged in the South during Slavery– Anyone with 1/16th Black ancestry was denied a White
identity• One-drop rule is still alive, but is not as pervasive as it
used to be• Hypodescent – process wherein biracial people were
assigned to the social status with less social status
Multiculturalism and ethnic identity
– Multiculturalism – the view of cultural diversity in a country as something good and desirable
Roots of ethnic conflict
– Prejudice– Stereotypes– Discrimination
• De facto discrimination – practiced but not legally sanctioned• De jure discrimination – part of law
Aftermaths of oppression– Genocide– Ethnocide– Forced assimilation– Ethnic expulsion
– Colonialism– Cultural colonialism