Sociology

Andrew Rollings, Ph.D. Jun. 2006

RACE AND ETHNICITY RACE

Race is a social category and ascribed status based on physical characteristics and physical differences, especially such things as skin color, nose shape, hair texture, etc. If necessary, you can refresh your memory about the concept of category and how it differs from a group and the concept of ascribed status Since the 18th century, Western culture has categorized the human population into three broad racial groups: Caucasians - light skin and fine hair Negroids - darker skin and thick hair Mongoloids - yellow or brownish skin and distinctive eyelid folds These categories came from an influential classification scheme developed by Carolus Lineaeus (17071778) and Johann Friederich Blumenbach, (1752-1840), Lineaeus' successor. They divided the human species into: "European" category (Homo Sapiens europeaeus) described as white, serious and strong Asiatic (Homo sapiens asiaticus) described as yellow, melancholy, and greedy African (Homo sapiens afer) described as black, impassive and lazy Native Americans (Homo Sapiens Americanus) described as red, ill-tempered, and subjugated Since then science has disproved the foundation for such thinking. No important biological differences exist between "races." Biologically "races" don't exist. Humans form a single species. Physical variability occurred over thousands of generations because people lived in different physical environments. Race has more to do with geography than biology. In fact, there's more variation within a so-called "racial group" - blond and black hair among Caucasians or height differences among Asians - than between "the races." Still race is sociologically important because people believe these physical differences are real. "Race" is a label, a perception, and a socially constructed definition of reality, not a real fact. Race truly proves the "Thomas theorem" that "if men define situations as real, they are real in their consequences." So, although race is not real, its consequences are real. Racism is a reality. Prejudice is a real psychological and sociological phenomenon. Discrimination really occurs. Marginalization occurs. Segregation occurs. Racially-based genocide occurs. The distribution of money, power, prestige, and life chances is strongly determined by racist thinking and racial discrimination. Racism in America It's not much of an overstatement to say America is a racist society. The importance of race in American culture and society can't be overestimated. Along with capitalism, democracy, and patriarchy, racism has shaped our national destiny. Race is etched deeply into our social structure and national psyche. As a part of the British Empire, early racial relations in America began as slavery. Compared to many other European societies, the "peculiar institution" lasted longer in the United States (the English abolished slavery in 1833 and the French in 1848). Emancipation in 1863 gave African-Americans legal

Race and Ethnicity

freedom but did little to change their economic or social condition. After the brief period of Reconstruction (1865-1877), Jim Crow regimes in the Southern states disenfranchised and segregated African Americans in the late nineteenth-century. The "Northern Migration" of African-Americans from the Jim Crow South to Northern cities (especially Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, Pittsburgh, and New York) moved racism into the heart of modern America. It transformed racism into an urban problem and a struggle between blacks and white ethnics (Italians, Poles, Irish, etc.). The Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s ended Jim Crow, opened up opportunities for AfricanAmericans, and changed many basic structures of racism in America. Still today racism exists in our society and may even be getting stronger. Racism creates two Americas, one white and one black. While other non-European groups have experienced prejudice, discrimination, segregation, and even violence, color is the major dividing line in our society. Poverty largely breaks along the color line. Color distinguishes neighborhoods and housing, sometimes with dramatic contrast. Racial intermarriage is rare (0.7%). Crime exhibits strong color patterns. Color is a major determinant of health and illness. Perhaps more significantly, as the first non-whites immigrants, albeit involuntary immigrants, AfricanAmericans watched wave after wave of immigrants come into American society and achieve some degree of assimilation and upward mobility. Even Native Americans, the original inhabitants, recently started to enjoy some mobility after centuries of oppression and segregation. Only African-Americans deviate from the main pattern of racial and ethnic relations characterizing American history. Also revealing is how taboo the subject of race can be in American society. We avoid talking about it. More then sex, more than almost any other topic, the subject of race touches a raw nerve.

ETHNICITY
Ethnicity is a social category based on culture, ancestral origin, national origin, history, traditions, language, or religion. Like race, ethnicity is a label, a perception, emphasizing and highlighting specific differences. Ethnic differences are real to the degree they shape perception and behavior, to the degree people treat them as real. Ethnicity tends to create conflict. This follows from the human tendency towards ethnocentricism, the first paradox of culture, and the structural characteristic of group boundaries. When a society or nation contains multiple ethnic groups, generally they attempt to eliminate or dominate each other. Rather than tolerance and mutual respect, these ethnic relations tend towards intolerance, prejudice, friction, and violence. Ethnicity strongly influences relations and politics between societies or nations with differing ethnic identities. Sometimes such international relations stay at the level of mutual intolerance and disrespect but oftentimes the ethnic differences lead to warfare and conquest. Given this general pattern in world history, American history stands out as a remarkable exception. As a multiethnic society with perhaps with the biggest mix of ethnic groups in history, ethnic relations in America have generally been peaceful. Except for three major exceptions (slavery, treatment of Native Americans, and the Civil War) and other examples (e.g., Jim Crow laws, racial lynching, treatment of Irish, Jews, and Italians, Japanese interments during WWII, and the Civil Rights movement), ethnic groups in American society have not shot, killed, burned, tortured, or beaten each other. Major Racial/Ethnic Groups in American Society Generally America contains three major ethnic levels: 1. 2. 3. White Northern European Protestants (WASPs - White Anglo-Saxon Protestants) White Euro-American CatholicsJews, Russian Orthodox, plus some Asian-Americans African-Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans, and some Asian-Americans

More specifically, the ethnic groups in American society are:

Race and Ethnicity

White Ethnics Northern European Protestants (WASPs) Germans English Scots Dutch Catholics - Southern and Eastern European + Irish Italian Irish Polish European Jews Russian Orthodox Asian-Americans Chinese Japanese Korean Vietnamese Laotian Filipino African American Latino / Hispanic Mexican Puerto Rican Cuban Other Latin American Native American Arabic