Lesson 19: Racial and Ethnic Minorities Attention Edward Thorndike was the first to do real research on the Halo Effect The halo effect or halo error is a cognitive bias in which one's judgments of a person’s character can be influenced by one's overall impression of him or her. It can be found in a range of situations from the courtroom to the classroom and in everyday interactions. The halo effect was given its name by psychologist Edward Thorndike; subsequent researchers have studied it in relation to attractiveness and its bearing on the judicial and educational systems. (Wikipedia Link) What halo effects do we have about race and ethnicity? What do we assume based on a person being Muslim? Learning Outcomes Upon completion of this lesson's material, students will be able to:
Teaching Race and Ethnicity
A race is a category
of people who have been singled our at inferior or superior, often on the basis
of physical characteristics such as skin color, hair texture and eye shape.
An ethnic group is a collection of people distinguished, by others or by themselves, primarily on the basis of cultural or nationality characteristics. Looking at these two definitions it challenges the common
use of these terms. We often think
of topics such as "racial identity" and we are certainly hearing a lot
of reports about "ethnic groups" worldwide right now.
Within a given society there are majority (dominant) and minority (subordinate) groups. Do not let the terms "majority" and "minority" trap
you in an interpretation that these have anything to do with numbers.
Small numbers of individuals residing at the top of the pyramid have a disproportionate amount of power and influence when compared to the masses below them.
Prejudice and Discrimination
Prejudice is a
negative attitude based on faulty generalizations about members of selected
racial and ethnic groups.
Stereotypes are overgeneralizations about the appearance, behavior, or other characteristics of all members of a category.
STOP and think for a minute!
As you were reading the categories of people I just
listed…did images pop into your head at all…possibly exaggerations that you saw
in the media or funny incidents you may have encountered, possibly some
not-so-funny incidents?
Prejudice occurs
when we find out that a person is a member of a category for which we have a stereotyped image. Let us say that you have a strong image of what rich people
are like and then you find out that a person you know is very, very wealthy. You may assume that some of what you
assume is characteristic of rich people also applies to them.
Discrimination is
defined as actions or practices of dominant group members that have a harmful
impact on members of a subordinate group.
Sometimes we can engage in Individual Discrimination where we treat a particular individual differently
based on our stereotypes.
Institutional Discrimination when the day to day operations of a business have an harmful impact on a subordinate group.
Now, one can argue that the principle reason for this difference is based on gender-role
and gender-work expectations in our society. However, a good sociologist would also explore whether or
not the institution was participating in any practices that might contribute
these numbers. Let's look at some
possibilities.
Consider what may happen if the faculty and staff responsible for recruiting new nursing students hung posters at the daycares and shopping malls in the area. I'm not sure what the statistics are but it may be that these locations would be more likely to be noticed by women than men since they spend more time in these locations than men do.
This said…policy makers have tried to provide incentives to
companies and schools to be more fair and ultimately reduce the incidence of
institutional discrimination (it is nearly impossible to legislate individual
discrimination).
Laws that have come to be knows collectively as Affirmative
Action and the advertising of companies
hiring policies as providing equal opportunity reflect this move towards fairness.
Affirmative Action concluded that if you look at a school or a company in a particular geographic
area and then recorded demographic information from the area, the demographics
of the employees or students should match the area.
For example: If
a small city in Maine consisted of 52% women, 32% blacks, 12% Hispanics, 10%
Muslims, etc. etc. then the composition of the local college student population
should reflect similar numbers. (52% of the students should be women, etc. etc.)
Administrators monitoring their numbers compared to the
local demographics were sometimes forced to hire possibly less qualified
individuals who helped them approximate the demographics. Some wonder if the time has come to set
aside the laws of Affirmative Action and begin to look at the problem from another point of view.
Some assume that the root of all discrimination is at the
individual level. Policy makers,
hiring professionals, owners of businesses will conduct their business in some
ways which reflect their personal views on equality and equal opportunity.
Perspectives on Racial and Ethnic Relations
Symbolic Interactionist Perspective
Just as I stated in the previous notes that discrimination
is at some level a product of individual choice and perspective, so does the
symbolic interactionist perspective.
Functionalist Perspective
Conflict Perspective
Critical Race Theory
An interesting perspective on inequality based on racial and
ethnic lines is that it has become "expected and normal" in our
society. Consider this example.
Global Racial and Ethnic Inequality
"Ethnic Cleansing" and uprisings have become common household terms. Our recent war with Iraq has brought to light a great deal of ethnic based killing (although it may be concluded that the ethnic cleansing there had a lot of political ramifications as well…these groups were often in opposition to the dominant political party).
These nations, including the US, are becoming more and more racially diverse themselves. As we deal with our own inner "baggage" of inequality and discrimination, we are also trying to be an example of pluralism to the world. Racial Diversity in the US Click HERE to view a series of maps that depict racial diversity in the US. Click HERE to review the questions on the US Census that relate to Race and Ethnicity The Racial History of US Drug Prohibition This brief article analyses the development of drug policy and how it relates to race as it was in 2001. One of the perspectives within Sociology encompasses that law can be a tool of those in power to keep those who are not in power in their place. This is an example of this kind of analysis. Click HERE to download the document. Race and Ethnicity in America Article on Race, Culture, and Equality by Thomas Sowell The Brown University Center for the Study of Race and Ethnicity
in America Microaggressions Click HERE to review a 2009 article by the APA on Microaggression Assessment Possible Class Discussion Read the article above on Racial History of US Drug Prohibition...look up any internet based article using the terms "race" and "drugs". Provide the link to the article in your post and explore if perspectives about a link between race and drugs is still around. Lesson 19 Quiz
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