Race and Ethnic Relations :
Race and Ethnic Relations
Definitions :
Definitions Race – a socially constructed category composed of people who share biologically transmitted traits that members of a society consider important Ethnicity – a shared cultural heritage
Common ancestors
Common language
Common religion
Slide 6:
Attitudes – none of these imply actionPrejudice – a rigid and irrational generalization about an entire category of people +/-Stereotyping – an exaggerated description applied to every person in some category +/-Racism – the belief that one racial category is innately superior or inferior to anotherEthnocentrism - Judging another culture by one’s own standardsThese all refer to having certain attitudes/beliefs about certain groups of people
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Discrimination – treating various categories of people unequally. This is a behavior/action.
This can be either negative or positive (prejudice as well).
Prejudice (attitude) and discrimination (action) often occur together. They also reinforce each other.
Patterns of Interaction :
Patterns of Interaction Pluralism – a state in which racial and ethnic minorities are distinct but have social parity (“salad bowl”)
Assimilation – the process by which minorities gradually adopt patterns of the dominant category (“melting pot”)
Segregation – the physical and social separation of categories of people
Self-segregation
Genocide –the systematic killing of one category of people by another