# Study Guide: Chapter 3 — Racial And Ethnic Inequality > Organized by textbook section. Review the objectives, study topics, key takeaways, and questions for each section. ## 3.1: Racial and Ethnic Inequality - A Historical Prelude ### Key Terms - **civil war** — War within nations. - **Discrimination** — With regard to racial and ethnic inequality, the arbitrary denial of rights, privileges, and opportunities to members of subordinate racial and ethnic groups. - **race** — A category of people who share certain inherited physical characteristics, such as skin color, facial features, and stature. ### Learning Objectives 1. Describe the targets of nineteenth-century mob violence in US cities. 2. Discuss why the familiar saying “The more things change, the more they stay the same” applies to the history of race and ethnicity in the United States. ### Key Takeaways - US history is filled with violence and other maltreatment against Native Americans, blacks, and immigrants. - Social scientists warn that the status of people of color has been worsening. ### Review Questions 1. Describe why Myrdal said US race relations were an “American dilemma.” 2. How much did you learn in high school about the history of race and ethnicity in the United States? Do you think you should have learned more? ## 3.2: The Meaning of Race and Ethnicity ### Study Topics - Lessons from Other Societies - The Concept of Race in Brazil - Race as a Social Construction ### Key Terms - **crime** — Behavior considered so harmful or offensive that it is banned by the criminal law. - **Discrimination** — With regard to racial and ethnic inequality, the arbitrary denial of rights, privileges, and opportunities to members of subordinate racial and ethnic groups. - **ethnic group** — A subgroup of a population with a set of shared social, cultural, and historical experiences; with relatively distinctive beliefs, values, and behaviors; and with some sense of identity of belonging to the subgroup. - **race** — A category of people who share certain inherited physical characteristics, such as skin color, facial features, and stature. - **social construction** — A concept that has no objective reality but rather is what people decide it is. ### Learning Objectives 1. Critique the biological concept of race. 2. Discuss why race is a social construction. 3. Explain why ethnic heritages have both good and bad consequences. ### Key Takeaways - Sociologists think race is best considered a social construction rather than a biological category. - “Ethnicity” and “ethnic” avoid the biological connotations of “race” and “racial.” ### Review Questions 1. List everyone you might know whose ancestry is biracial or multiracial. What do these individuals consider themselves to be? 2. List two or three examples that indicate race is a social construction rather than a biological category. ## 3.3: Prejudice ### Study Topics - Explaining Prejudice - Social-Psychological Explanations - Sociological Explanations - Children and Our Future - Growing Up as Farmworkers’ Kids - Correlates of Prejudice - The Changing Nature of Prejudice - Prejudice and Public Policy Preferences ### Key Terms - **authoritarian personality** — A personality emphasizing such things as obedience to authority, a rigid adherence to rules, and low acceptance of people not like oneself and said to help account for racial and ethnic prejudice. - **crime** — Behavior considered so harmful or offensive that it is banned by the criminal law. - **Discrimination** — With regard to racial and ethnic inequality, the arbitrary denial of rights, privileges, and opportunities to members of subordinate racial and ethnic groups. - **economy** — The social institution that organizes the production, distribution, and consumption of a society’s goods and services. - **frustration theory (or scapegoat theory)** — As an explanation of racial and ethnic prejudice, the view that individuals blame the problems they experience on racial and ethnic minorities and thus scapegoat them instead of recognizing the real sources of their own misfortunes. - **health care** — The provision of medical services to prevent, diagnose, and treat health problems. - **race** — A category of people who share certain inherited physical characteristics, such as skin color, facial features, and stature. - **random sample** — A subset drawn from the larger population in which every unit in the population has the same chance of being included in the subset. - **religiosity** — How religious someone is, in terms of how often the person attends religious service, prays, and reads scripture. - **Socialization** — The process whereby individuals learn the culture of their society. - **stereotypes** — Simplified, mistaken generalizations about people because of their race and/or ethnicity. ### Learning Objectives 1. Define prejudice, racism, and stereotypes. 2. Discuss the major social-psychological and sociological theories of prejudice. 3. Describe how the nature of prejudice has changed. ### Key Takeaways - Social-psychological explanations of prejudice emphasize authoritarian personalities and frustration, while sociological explanations emphasize social learning and group threat. - Education and region of residence are related to racial prejudice among whites; prejudice is higher among whites with lower levels of formal education and among whites living in the South. - Jim Crow racism has been replaced by symbolic or modern racism that emphasizes the cultural inferiority of people of color. - Racial prejudice among whites is linked to certain views they hold about public policy. Prejudice is associated with lower support among whites for governmental efforts to help people of color and with greater support for a more punitive criminal justice system. ### Review Questions 1. Think about the last time you heard someone say a remark that was racially prejudiced. What was said? What was your reaction? 2. The text argues that it is inappropriate in a democratic society for racial prejudice to influence public policy. Do you agree with this argument? Why or why not? ## 3.4: Discrimination ### Study Topics - Individual Discrimination - Institutional Discrimination - Health Care - Mortgages, Redlining, and Residential Segregation - Employment Discrimination ### Key Terms - **crime** — Behavior considered so harmful or offensive that it is banned by the criminal law. - **Discrimination** — With regard to racial and ethnic inequality, the arbitrary denial of rights, privileges, and opportunities to members of subordinate racial and ethnic groups. - **economy** — The social institution that organizes the production, distribution, and consumption of a society’s goods and services. - **health care** — The provision of medical services to prevent, diagnose, and treat health problems. - **individual discrimination** — Discrimination that individuals practice in their daily lives. - **institutional discrimination** — Discrimination that pervades the practices of whole institutions, such as housing, medical care, law enforcement, employment, and education, even if such discrimination is not intended. - **political economy** — The interaction of political and economic institutions and processes. - **race** — A category of people who share certain inherited physical characteristics, such as skin color, facial features, and stature. - **stereotypes** — Simplified, mistaken generalizations about people because of their race and/or ethnicity. ### Learning Objectives 1. Discuss Merton’s views on whether prejudice and discrimination always coincide. 2. Distinguish between individual discrimination and institutional discrimination. 3. Provide two examples of institutional discrimination. ### Key Takeaways - People who practice racial or ethnic discrimination are usually also prejudiced, but not always. Some people practice discrimination without being prejudiced, and some may not practice discrimination even though they are prejudiced. - Individual discrimination is common and can involve various kinds of racial slights. Much individual discrimination occurs in the workplace. - Institutional discrimination often stems from prejudice, but institutions can also practice racial and ethnic discrimination when they engage in practices that seem to be racially neutral but in fact have a discriminatory effect. ### Review Questions 1. If you have ever experienced individual discrimination, either as the person committing it or as the person affected by it, briefly describe what happened. How do you now feel when you reflect on this incident? 2. Do you think institutional discrimination occurs because people are purposely acting in a racially discriminatory manner? Why or why not? ## 3.5: Dimensions of Racial and Ethnic Inequality ### Study Topics - The Increasing Racial/Ethnic Wealth Gap - The Hidden Toll of Racial and Ethnic Inequality - White Privilege: The Benefits of Being White ### Key Terms - **crime** — Behavior considered so harmful or offensive that it is banned by the criminal law. - **Discrimination** — With regard to racial and ethnic inequality, the arbitrary denial of rights, privileges, and opportunities to members of subordinate racial and ethnic groups. - **economy** — The social institution that organizes the production, distribution, and consumption of a society’s goods and services. - **educational attainment** — How far one gets in school, which has been shown to depend heavily on family income and race/ethnicity. - **family** — A group of two or more people who are related by blood, marriage, adoption, or a mutual commitment and who care for one another. - **institutional discrimination** — Discrimination that pervades the practices of whole institutions, such as housing, medical care, law enforcement, employment, and education, even if such discrimination is not intended. - **male privilege** — The advantages a male enjoys in a patriarchal society just because he is a male. - **race** — A category of people who share certain inherited physical characteristics, such as skin color, facial features, and stature. - **stereotypes** — Simplified, mistaken generalizations about people because of their race and/or ethnicity. - **white privilege** — The advantages that US whites enjoy in their daily lives simply because they are white, whether or not they are aware of these advantages. ### Learning Objectives 1. Describe any two manifestations of racial and ethnic inequality in the United States. 2. Explain how and why racial inequality takes a hidden toll on people of color. 3. Provide two examples of white privilege. ### Key Takeaways - Compared to non-Latino whites, people of color have lower incomes, lower educational attainment, higher poverty rates, and worse health. - Racial and ethnic inequality takes a hidden toll on people of color, as the stress they experience impairs their health and ability to achieve. - Whites benefit from being white, whether or not they realize it. This benefit is called white privilege. ### Review Questions 1. Write a brief essay that describes important dimensions of racial and ethnic inequality in the United States. 2. If you are white, describe a time when you benefited from white privilege, whether or not you realized it at the time. If you are a person of color, describe an experience when you would have benefited if you had been white. ## 3.6: Explaining Racial and Ethnic Inequality ### Study Topics - Biological Inferiority - Cultural Deficiencies - Structural Problems - Applying Social Research - The Poor Neighborhoods of Middle-Class African Americans - The Poor Neighborhoods of Middle-Class African Americans ### Key Terms - **conflict theory** — The view that society is composed of groups with different interests arising from their placement in the social structure. - **Discrimination** — With regard to racial and ethnic inequality, the arbitrary denial of rights, privileges, and opportunities to members of subordinate racial and ethnic groups. - **economy** — The social institution that organizes the production, distribution, and consumption of a society’s goods and services. - **educational attainment** — How far one gets in school, which has been shown to depend heavily on family income and race/ethnicity. - **family** — A group of two or more people who are related by blood, marriage, adoption, or a mutual commitment and who care for one another. - **individual discrimination** — Discrimination that individuals practice in their daily lives. - **race** — A category of people who share certain inherited physical characteristics, such as skin color, facial features, and stature. ### Learning Objectives 1. Understand cultural explanations for racial and ethnic inequality. 2. Describe structural explanations for racial and ethnic inequality. ### Key Takeaways - Although a belief in biological inferiority used to be an explanation for racial and ethnic inequality, this belief is now considered racist. - Cultural explanations attribute racial and ethnic inequality to certain cultural deficiencies among people of color. - Structural explanations attribute racial and ethnic inequality to problems in the larger society, including discriminatory practices and lack of opportunity. ### Review Questions 1. Which of the three explanations of racial and ethnic inequality makes the most sense to you? Why? 2. Why should a belief in the biological inferiority of people of color be considered racist? ## 3.7: Reducing Racial and Ethnic Inequality ### Study Topics - Affirmative Action - Other Programs and Policies ### Key Terms - **Affirmative action** — Special consideration for minorities and women in employment and education to compensate for the discrimination and lack of opportunities they experience in the larger society. - **Discrimination** — With regard to racial and ethnic inequality, the arbitrary denial of rights, privileges, and opportunities to members of subordinate racial and ethnic groups. - **institutional discrimination** — Discrimination that pervades the practices of whole institutions, such as housing, medical care, law enforcement, employment, and education, even if such discrimination is not intended. - **race** — A category of people who share certain inherited physical characteristics, such as skin color, facial features, and stature. ### Learning Objectives 1. Summarize the debate over affirmative action. 2. Describe any three policies or practices that could reduce racial and ethnic inequality in the United States. ### Key Takeaways - There is reason to be both hopeful and less hopeful in regard to the future of racial and ethnic relations and inequality in the United States. - Affirmative action continues to be a very controversial issue. Proponents think it is necessary to compensate for past and continuing racial and ethnic discrimination and lack of opportunity, while opponents think it discriminates against qualified whites. - A variety of policies and practices hold strong potential for reducing racial and ethnic inequality, providing they are adequately funded and successfully implemented. ### Review Questions 1. How hopeful are you in regard to the future of race and ethnicity in the United States? Explain your answer. 2. Do you favor or oppose affirmative action? Why? ## 3.8: End-of-Chapter Material ### Key Terms - **Affirmative action** — Special consideration for minorities and women in employment and education to compensate for the discrimination and lack of opportunities they experience in the larger society. - **Discrimination** — With regard to racial and ethnic inequality, the arbitrary denial of rights, privileges, and opportunities to members of subordinate racial and ethnic groups. - **family** — A group of two or more people who are related by blood, marriage, adoption, or a mutual commitment and who care for one another. - **institutional discrimination** — Discrimination that pervades the practices of whole institutions, such as housing, medical care, law enforcement, employment, and education, even if such discrimination is not intended. - **race** — A category of people who share certain inherited physical characteristics, such as skin color, facial features, and stature. - **social construction** — A concept that has no objective reality but rather is what people decide it is. - **Socialization** — The process whereby individuals learn the culture of their society. - **stereotypes** — Simplified, mistaken generalizations about people because of their race and/or ethnicity. ### Chapter Summary 1. Racial and ethnic prejudice and discrimination have been an “American dilemma” in the United States ever since the colonial period. Slavery was only the ugliest manifestation of this dilemma. The urban riots of the 1960s led to warnings about the racial hostility and discrimination confronting African Americans and other groups, and these warnings continue down to the present. 2. Social scientists today tend to consider race more of a social category than a biological one for several reasons. Race is thus best considered a social construction and not a fixed biological category. 3. Ethnicity refers to a shared cultural heritage and is a term increasingly favored by social scientists over race. Membership in ethnic groups gives many people an important sense of identity and pride but can also lead to hostility toward people in other ethnic groups. 4. Prejudice, racism, and stereotypes all refer to negative attitudes about people based on their membership in racial or ethnic categories. Social-psychological explanations of prejudice focus on scapegoating and authoritarian personalities, while sociological explanations focus on conformity and socialization or on economic and political competition. Jim Crow racism has given way to modern or symbolic racism that considers people of color to be culturally inferior. 5. Discrimination and prejudice often go hand in hand, but not always. People can discriminate without being prejudiced, and they can be prejudiced without discriminating. Individual and institutional discrimination both continue to exist in the United States. 6. Racial and ethnic inequality in the United States is reflected in income, employment, education, and health statistics. In their daily lives, whites enjoy many privileges denied to their counterparts in other racial and ethnic groups. 7. On many issues Americans remain sharply divided along racial and ethnic lines. One of the most divisive issues is affirmative action. Its opponents view it among other things as reverse discrimination, while its proponents cite many reasons for its importance, including the need to correct past and present discrimination against racial and ethnic minorities. ### Application After graduating college, you obtain a job in a medium-sized city in the Midwest and rent an apartment in a house in a nearby town. A family with an African American father and white mother has recently moved into a house down the street. You think nothing of it, but you begin to hear some of the neighbors expressing concern that the neighborhood “has begun to change.” Then one night a brick is thrown through the window of the new family’s home, and around the brick is wrapped the message, “Go back to where you came from!” Since you’re new to the neighborhood yourself, you don’t want to make waves, but you are also shocked by this act of racial hatred. You can speak up somehow or you can stay quiet. What do you decide to do? Why? ### Action Ideas To help reduce racial and ethnic inequality, you may wish to do any of the following: 1. Contribute money to a local, state, or national organization that tries to help youths of color at their schools, homes, or other venues. 2. Volunteer for an organization that focuses on policy issues related to race and ethnicity. 3. Volunteer for any programs at your campus that aim at enhancing the educational success of new students of color; if no such programs exist, start one.