Ch 3. Racism and Ethnic Inequality

Question 1

Ethnic Group

Answer 1

a category of people who are distinguished by others or by themselves, on the basis of cultural or nationality characteristics. (includes: languages, country of origin, and adherence to a culture)

Question 2

Members of an ethnic group share five characteristics:

Answer 2

1. Unique cultural traits
2. A sense of community
3. Feeling that one’s own group is distinct
4. Tendency (at least initially) to occupy a distinct geographic area.
5. Membership from birth (disputed by prof)

Question 3

Racialized Group

Answer 3

category of people who have been singled out, by others or themselves, as inferior or superior on the basis of subjectively selected physical characteristics such as skin colour, hair texture, and eye shape.

Question 4

Racialized Group NOT…

Answer 4

Visible Minority or Minority Group

Question 5

Ethnicity may be defined in two ways….

Answer 5

1. Objectively (by group language, culture, customs, national origin, and ancestry)
2. Subjectively (by self-identification of group members)

Question 6

Race and ethnicity are both…

Answer 6

achieved statuses

Question 7

Once an ethnic identity has been assigned to a group…

Answer 7

…it must then be asserted by it’s members

Question 8

The Social Construction of Race (3)

Answer 8

1. Originally defined in terms of biology
2. However humans have not been able to decide the exact number of races based on genetics (there’s no such thing as “pure race”)
3. Our definition of racial categories owes more to cultural/historical/political distinctions than to scientific differences

Question 9

Internalized Dominance

Answer 9

all the ways that White people learn they are normal, feel included, and do not think of themselves as “other” or “different”

Question 10

White privilege is normalized in the world which makes it…

Answer 10

…difficult to detect, and we speak about racialized people in relation to White people.

Question 11

The Special Case of Indigenous Canadians (4)

Answer 11

1. Life expectancy (gap of six years)
2. Education: 12+% below non-Indigenous in receiving high school diplomas
3. Income: earned about 2/3 of non-Indigenous salaries
4. Incarceration: 4% of population but 20% of adults in federal custody

Question 12

Prejudice

Answer 12

negative attitude toward another group

Question 13

Discrimination

Answer 13

negative action based on a prejudice belief (individual or institutional)

Question 14

Individual discrimination

Answer 14

one-on-one acts by members of the dominant group that harm members of the subordinate group or their property

Question 15

Institutional discrimination

Answer 15

consists of the day-to-day practices of organizations and institutions that have a harmful impact on members of subordinate groups

Question 16

Institutional design of omission

Answer 16

institutional ways of omitting racialized groups from positions of power

Question 17

Anti-Semitism

Answer 17

prejudice and discrimination against Jews (one of the longest-standing forms of discrimination in history)

Question 18

Defining Racism (5)

Answer 18

1. A system of dominance and subordination
2. An ideology that assumes the superiority of one social group over another
3. A conscious or unconscious attitude or value based on an assumption about characteristics of a particular group or religion
4. The institutional power to put these perceptions into practice
5. Resulting in the benefit of one group over another

Question 19

Interpersonal Racism

Answer 19

occurs between individuals and is directed at an individual because of who or what he or she stands for

Question 20

Polite Racism

Answer 20

ways that people may couch criticisms of racialized others in bland tones or use language that appears non-prejudicial on the surface

Question 21

Types of microaggressions (3)

Answer 21

1. Micro-assaults
2. Micro-insults
3. Micro-invalidations

Anything that positions you as the “other than”

(First used in 1977 by Chester Pierce in his look at racial depictions in television advertisements.)

Question 22

Institutional Racism

Answer 22

various organizational practices, policies, and procedures that discriminate, either purposely or inadvertently

Question 23

Systemic Racism

Answer 23

embedded in the design of the organization, and formalized and legally sanctioned

Question 24

Everyday Racism

Answer 24

notions of superiority/inferiority between groups

Question 25

Active Racism

Answer 25

intentional exclusion of racialized groups

Question 26

Passive Racism

Answer 26

being complicit in another’s racism

Question 27

Cultural Racism

Answer 27

cultural values that favour dominant group interests at the expense of subordinate groups

Question 28

Symbolic Interaction Theory on Racial/Ethnic Inequality

Answer 28

We are socialized to think of other groups in particular (racialized) ways

Question 29

Racialized Socialization (symbolic interaction theory)

Answer 29

“a process of social interaction that contains specific messages and practices concerning the nature of one’s racialized or ethnic status”

Question 30

Structural Functional Theory

Answer 30

Assimilation serves as a stabilizing force that minimizes differences that some fear might lead to violence and hostility

Question 31

Assimilation

Answer 31

process by which members of subordinate racialized and ethnic groups become absorbed into the dominant culture

Question 32

Pluralism (structural functional theory)

Answer 32

the coexistence of diverse racialized/ethnic groups with separate identities and cultures within a society

(Serves international relations (e.g., refugees) and harmonious relations between different groups within the same geographic space)

Question 33

Pluralism can lead to…

Answer 33

…segregation (separation of groups)

Question 34

Split-Labour Market Theory (Social Conflict Theory)

Answer 34

white people tend to work in the higher paying, more secure jobs, while non-whites tend to work in lower paying, less secure jobs

Question 35

Internal Colonialism (Social Conflict Theory)

Answer 35

a process that occurs when members of a racialized/ethnic group are conquered or colonized and forcibly placed under the economic and political control of the dominant group

Question 36

Theory of Racial Formation (Social Conflict Theory)

Answer 36

government substantially defines racialized and ethnic relations

(Historically, the Canadian government has determined which racial groups should be allowed into Canada, and under which circumstances.)

Question 37

Gendered Racism (Feminist Perspective)

Answer 37

not only are visible minorities at a disadvantage, but female visible minorities are at an added disadvantage.

(Highlights the intersection of race ad gender in our society)

Question 38

Critical Race Theory Principles (4)

Answer 38

1. Racism is ordinary, not the exception
2. Racism advances the interests of both the elite and working class whites
3. Race is socially constructed
4. Opposed to colour-blind approaches

Question 39

Can Racialized and Ethnic Inequalities Be Reduced? (Each Theory)

Answer 39

1. Interactionist: resocialize at the grass-roots level
2. Functionalist: Restructure institutions
3. Conflict: Political action
4. Feminists and anti-racist feminists: Critical analysis from the standpoints and experiences of people
5. CRT: realist and idealist responses

Question 40

Systematic Racism

Answer 40

intentional denial of privilege

Question 41

Societal Racism

Answer 41

The generalized, and typically unconscious patterns of interaction between people that perpetuate a racialized social order.