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4.7: End of the Chapter Material

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    Key Takeaways

    • Race is fundamentally a social construct. Ethnicity is a term that describes shared culture and national origin. Minority groups are defined by their lack of power.
    • Stereotypes are oversimplified ideas about groups of people. Prejudice refers to thoughts and feelings, while discrimination refers to actions. Racism refers to the belief that one race is inherently superior or inferior to other races.
    • Functionalist views of race study the role dominant and subordinate groups play to create a stable social structure. Conflict theorists examine power disparities and struggles between various racial and ethnic groups. Interactionists see race and ethnicity as important sources of individual identity and social symbolism. The concept of culture of prejudice recognizes that all people are subject to stereotypes that are ingrained in their culture.
    • Intergroup relations range from a tolerant approach of pluralism to intolerance as severe as genocide. In pluralism, groups retain their own identity. In assimilation, groups conform to the identity of the dominant group. In amalgamation, groups combine to form a new group identity.
    • The history of the U.S. people contains an infinite variety of experiences that sociologist understand follow patterns. From the indigenous people who first inhabited these lands to the waves of immigrants over the past 500 years, migration is an experience with many shared characteristics. Most groups have experienced various degrees of prejudice and discrimination as they have gone through the process of assimilation.

    Exercises

    1. Why do you think the term minority has persisted when the word subordinate is more descriptive?
    2. How do you describe your ethnicity? Do you include your family's country of origin? Do you consider yourself multiethnic? How does your ethnicity compare to that of the people you spend most of your time with?
    3. How do redlining and racial steering contribute to institutionalized racism?
    4. Give an example of stereotyping that you see in everyday life. Explain what would need to happen for this to be eliminated.
    5. Give three examples of White privilege. Do you know people who have experienced this? From what perspective?
    6. What is the worst example of culture of prejudice you can think of? What are your reasons for thinking it is the worst?
    7. Do you believe immigration laws should foster an approach of pluralism, assimilation, or amalgamation? Which perspective do you think is most supported by current U.S. immigration policies?
    8. Which intergroup relation do you think is the most beneficial to the subordinate group? To society as a whole? Why?
    9. In your opinion, which group had the easiest time coming to this country? Which group had the hardest time? Why?
    10. Which group has made the most socioeconomic gains? Why do you think that group has had more success than others?

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