11.1 Chapter Learning Objectives and Overview
Learning Objectives
- Explain how race and ethnicity are socially constructed, and distinguish between majority and minority groups.
- Explain historical and contemporary theories related to race and ethnicity.
- Discuss how stereotypes, prejudice, discrimination, and racism function in contemporary society.
- Discuss how race is connected to people’s identities, influences group interactions, and is embedded in institutions and structures.
Overview
“What are you?” This question carries several meanings and can put additional pressure on non-White people as they navigate the balance between their identities, family history, and how others perceive them. To learn about how others respond to this question, you can refer to this short clip in the Pew Research Center video (figure 11.1).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2WaNmhvEzo&t=3s
As you learned from the stories shared at the beginning of this chapter, identities are complicated. At times, the perceived status of one’s racial or ethnic group creates additional pressure for people to explain who they are. For those who are multiracial, there can be an additional amount of emotional work involved in explaining who they are, particularly if their appearance doesn’t align with what others may expect for a given racial category. For example, Roo shared the struggles he faced with the need to prove his racial category membership by using a narrative that outlines his connections to the Catawba Indian community.
Roo’s story also highlights the complexities of intersectionality as he reflects on his identities and how they fit together. Rather than stacking categories of experience, he encourages us to think about how he has to understand what it means to be a man who is Native American, White, and gay.
Almost seven percent of all U.S. adults identify as having at least two races in their background. Studies from the Pew Research Center indicate that most Americans are proud of their multiracial background and find that their experiences help them be more open to other cultures (Parker et al. 2015). With interracial marriages on the rise and the increasing diversity in the United States, we can expect these numbers to grow. For instance, the number of multiracial or multiethnic U.S. infants has nearly tripled since 1980 (Livingston 2017).
How can we use our sociological imagination to understand the complexities of race? How can we use theoretical perspectives on race in sociology to help us understand patterns of interaction and practices of discrimination? How do we develop racialized identities, and how does this process vary for Whites and non-Whites? What is institutionalized discrimination, and why does it persist?
These questions about race, identity, and inequities are the focus of this chapter. First, we will explore the distinctions between race and ethnicity and discuss how both are socially constructed. Next, we will evaluate a variety of sociological perspectives on race. Then, we will turn to issues of racial prejudice and discrimination. Finally, we will end by exploring how race impacts peoples’ identities and the interaction between groups.
Licenses and Attributions for Chapter Learning Objectives and Overview
Open Content, Original
“Overview” by Jennifer Puentes is licensed under CC BY 4.0.
All Rights Reserved Content
Figure 11.1. “Multiracial American Voices: Identity – Pew Research Center [Streaming Video]” by Pew Research Center is licensed under the Standard YouTube License.
a category of identity that ascribes social, cultural, and political meaning and consequence to physical characteristics.
categories of difference organized around shared language, culture and faith tradition.
the beliefs, thoughts, feelings, and attitudes someone holds about a group. A prejudice is not based on personal experience; instead, it is a prejudgment, originating outside actual experience.
actions against a group of people. Discrimination can be based on race, ethnicity, age, religion, health, and other categories.
a type of prejudice and discrimination used to justify inequalities against individuals by maintaining that one racial category is somehow superior or inferior to others; it is a set of practices used by a racial dominant group to maximize advantages for itself by disadvantaging racial minority groups.
a group of people who live in a defined geographic area, interact with one another, and share a common culture.
any collection of at least two people who interact with some frequency and who share some sense of aligned identity.
the idea that inequalities produced by multiple interconnected social characteristics can influence the life course of an individual or group. Intersectionality, then, suggests that we should view gender, race, class, or sexuality not as individual characteristics but as interconnected social situations.
the presence of differences, including psychological, physical, and social differences that occur among individuals.
an awareness of the relationship between a person’s behavior and experience and the wider culture that shaped the person’s choices and perceptions.
the scientific and systematic study of groups and group interactions, societies and social interactions, from small and personal groups to very large groups and mass culture; also, the systematic study of human society and interactions.