Principles Chapter 10

• Prejudice is a negative attitude based on faulty generalizations about members of selected racial and ethnic groups.
• According to the frustration-aggression hypothesis of prejudice, people frustrated in their efforts to achieve a highly desired goal may respond with aggression toward others, who then become scapegoats.
• Another theory of prejudice focuses on the authoritarian personality, marked by excessive conformity, submissiveness to authority, intolerance, insecurity, superstition, and rigid thinking.
• Stereotypes are overgeneralizations about the appearance, behavior, or other characteristics of members of particular categories.

• Assimilation is a process by which members of subordinate racial and ethnic groups become absorbed into the dominate culture.
• Ethnic Pluralism is the coexistence of a variety of distinct racial and ethnic groups within one society.

• Race is a category of people who have been singled out as inferior or superior, often on the basis of physical characteristics such as skin color, hair texture, and eye shape.
• Ethnic Group is a collection of people distinguished, by others or by themselves, primarily on the basis of cultural or nationality characteristics.
• Race and ethnicity take on great social significance because how people act in regard to these terms drastically affects other people�s lives, including what opportunities they have, how they are treated, and even how long they live.

• Symbolic interactionists examine how microlevel contacts between people may produce either greater racial tolerance or increased levels of hostility.
• Symbolic interactionist perspectives make us aware of the importance of intergroup contact and the fact that it may either intensify or reduce racial and ethnic stereotyping and prejudice.

• Native Americans suffered greatly from the actions of European settlers, who seized their lands and made them victims of forced migration and genocide. Today, they lead lives characterized by poverty and lack of opportunity. White Anglo-Saxon Protestants are the most privileged group in the United States, although social class and gender affect their life chances.
• White ethnic Americans, whose ancestors migrated from Southern and Eastern European countries, have gradually made their way into the mainstream of U.S. society. Following the abolishment of slavery through the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, African Americans were still subjected to segregation, discrimination, and lynchings. More recently, despite civil rights legislation and economic and political gains by many African Americans, racial prejudice and discrimination still exist.
• Asian American immigrants as a group have enjoyed considerable upward mobility in U.S. society in recent decades, but many Asian Americans still struggle to survive by working at low-paying jobs and living in urban ethnic enclaves.
• Although some Latinos/as have made substantial political, economic, and professional gains in U.S. society, as a group they still are subjected to anti-immigration sentiments.
• Middle Eastern immigrants to the United States speak a variety of languages and have diverse religious backgrounds. Because they generally come from middle-class backgrounds, they have made inroads into mainstream U.S. society.

• A dominant group is an advantaged group that has superior resources and rights in society.
• A subordinate group is a disadvantaged group whose members are subjected to unequal treatment by the majority group.
• Use of the term dominate and subordinate reflects the importance of power in relationships.

• Robert Merton identified four combinations of attitudes and responses. Unprejudiced nondiscriminators are not personally prejudiced and do not discriminate against others. Ex = two friends of different races
• Unprejudiced discriminators may have no personal prejudice but still engage in discriminatory behavior because of peer group pressure or economic, political, or social interests. Ex = fans only accept a certain percent of people of color on the team.
• Prejudiced nondiscriminators hold personal prejudices but do not discriminate due to peer pressure, legal demands, or a desire for profits. Ex = coach with prejudiced beliefs hires an African American player to enhance team�s ability to win.
• Prejudiced discriminators hold personal prejudices and actively discriminate against others. Ex = umpire personally prejudiced against AA�s calls a play incorrectly based on his prejudice.

• Individual discrimination involves actions by individual members of the dominant group that harm members of subordinate groups of their property.
• Institutional discriminations involves day-to-day practices of organizations and institutions that have a harmful impact on members of subordinate groups.

• Conflict theorists focus on economic stratification and access to power in their analyses of race and ethnic relations. Some emphasize the caste-like nature of raical stratification, others analyze class-based discrimination, and still others examine internal colonialism and gendered racism.
• The caste perspective
• Class perspectives
• Internal colonialism
• The split-labor-market theory

• Native Americans suffered greatly from the actions of European settlers, who seized their lands and made them victims of forced migration and genocide. Today, they lead lives characterized by poverty and lack of opportunity. White Anglo-Saxon Protestants are the most privileged group in the United States, although social class and gender affect their life chances.
• White ethnic Americans, whose ancestors migrated from Southern and Eastern European countries, have gradually made their way into the mainstream of U.S. society. Following the abolishment of slavery through the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, African Americans were still subjected to segregation, discrimination, and lynchings. More recently, despite civil rights legislation and economic and political gains by many African Americans, racial prejudice and discrimination still exist.
• Asian American immigrants as a group have enjoyed considerable upward mobility in U.S. society in recent decades, but many Asian Americans still struggle to survive by working at low-paying jobs and living in urban ethnic enclaves.
• Although some Latinos/as have made substantial political, economic, and professional gains in U.S. society, as a group they still are subjected to anti-immigration sentiments.
• Middle Eastern immigrants to the United States speak a variety of languages and have diverse religious backgrounds. Because they generally come from middle-class backgrounds, they have made inroads into mainstream U.S. society.

Assimilation is functional because it contributes to the stability of society by minimizing group differences that might otherwise result in hostility and violence.

• Throughout the world, many racial and ethnic groups seek self-determination � the right to choose their own way of life. As many nations are currently structured, however, self-determination is impossible.
• The cost of self-determination is the loss of life and property in ethnic warfare.

A category of people who have been singled out as inferior or superior, often on the basis of physical characteristics such as skin color, hair texture, and eye shape.

A collection of people distinguished, by others or by themselves, primarily on the basis of cultural or nationality characteristics.

A group that is advantaged and has superior resources and rights in a society.

A group whose members, because of physical or cultural characteristics, are disadvantaged and subjected to unequal treatment by the dominant group and who regard themselves as objects of collective discrimination.

A negative attitude based on faulty generalizations about members of selected racial and ethnic groups.

Overgeneralizations about the appearance, behavior, or other characteristics of members of particular categories.

A set of attitudes, beliefs, and practices that is used to justify the superior treatment of one racial or ethnic group and the inferior treatment of another racial or ethnic group.

A person or group that is incapable of offering resistance to the hostility or aggression of others.

A personality type characterized by excessive conformity, submissiveness to authority, intolerance, insecurity, a high level of superstition, and rigid, stereotypic thinking.

The extent to which people are willing to interact and establish relationships with members of racial and ethnic groups other than their own.

Actions or practices of dominant-group members (or their representatives) that have a harmful effect on members of a subordinate group.

The deliberate, systematic killing of an entire people or nation.

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

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

A process by which members of subordinate racial and ethnic groups become absorbed into the dominate culture.

The coexistence of a variety of distinct racial and ethnic groups within one society.

The spatial and social separation of categories of people by race, ethnicity, class, gender, and/or religion.

According to conflict theorists, a practice that occurs when members of a racial or ethnic group are conquered or colonized and forcibly placed under the economic and political control of the dominant group.

A term used to describe the division of the economy into two areas of employment, a primary sector or upper tier, composed of higher-paid (usually dominant-group) workers in more-secure jobs, and a secondary sector or lower tier, composed of low-paid (often subordinate-group) workers in jobs with little security and hazardous working conditions.