Exam (elaborations)
Introduction to Sociology
- Course
- Social processes
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- Douglas College ( )
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Final Exam Review: Social ProcessesChapter 9: Race and Ethnicity
● Define key concepts and terms related to race and ethnicity
- Race: category or group of people based on phenotypic or observable characteristics
related to appearance and behaviour, like hair, skin colour, eye colour
- Ex: white, black, asian
- Historically, the concept of race has changed across cultures and eras, eventually
becoming less connected with ancestral and familial ties
- Race is a social construct
- Ethnicity: category of people based on cultural traits, like practices, values, and beliefs
- Shared language, religion,tradition
- Ex: ethnic groups, such as Italian and are predominantly in the racial category “white”
● Discuss the social construction of race and ethnicity
- Social construct: An idea that exists because of the understandings discussed and
exchange between members of society (claim makers)
- What we understand as “reality” is the product of claim makers making claims and
audience members assessing these claims (no objective reality, but as a result of human
interaction and because humans say it “exists”
- There is no real biological difference between races, no genes common to different races
- Race is a social construct because it is a set of stories we tell ourselves in order to make
sense of the world and eventually we believe in it and act upon
- Ex: process benefits the oppressor, they define who is privileged and who is not
- We also construct race in everyday life by categorizing others in racial categories and
asserting our own racial identity
- Racial classification: occurs primarily through 2 channels
- Self identification and labelling other by phenotypic characteristics
- Race classification is a subjective process, not biological basis, but it is a social
process based on social assumptions and knowledge (stereotypes)
- Evidence that race is socially constructed by viewing the race categories on the
census, showing differences in how individuals are racially classified
,- Ex: In Canada, an individual is able to accurately choose their racial category,
compared to the US (Just Asian).
● Provide examples of how sociologists study and use the concepts of race and
ethnicity
- Quantitative researchers will study race as an independent variable
- Examined in terms of the “Race effect” - what is the impact of race on any outcome, such
a salary, social interactions, law enforcement, education, power
- Ex: Race impacts much you earn when it comes to job opportunities,
- Impact of race on valued resources, such as wealth, money education, power, status,
quality to food, health care
- Race and ethnicity can be viewed as group cultures as macro level dynamics, which
focuses on different elements that define culture such as beliefs, language, values,
practices, as they all pertain to race
- Ex: gender socialization is highly variable in culture
- Race can also be viewed as individual identities and how race shape individual identity
and experiences in a micro view
- Race becomes a key variable in that shapes individual level experiences
- ex: in healthcare, CJS)
● Describe and provide examples of processes of racialization
- Racialization: process by which racial and ethnic identities are ascribed to groups and
individuals and our understanding of race is based on perceptions
- Process is social, not biological/genetic based and varies across time and space
- more genetic variety within than across different race groups
- Ex: Different racial categories in different countries
- Race does not truly “Exist” from a social construct pov, but it has real consequences
- certain groups become racialized through a social process that marks them for
unequal treatment based on perceived physiological differences
- Ex: Indigienous people experiences in the CJS and Health Care System
- Ex: People with high melanin in their skin may consider themselves “white” if they
enjoy a middle-class lifestyle and someone with low melanin in their skin might be
assigned the identity of “black” if they have little education or money
, ● Compare and contrast racial categorization processes in the U.S. vs. Canada
- We have racial categories because its a just a natural tendency for humans to create
boundaries and see who gets what resources
- Racial categories in Canada: Aboriginal, Arab/West Asian, Black, Chinese, Filipino,
Japanese, Korean, Latin American, S Asian, and SE Asian, White, and other
- Ethnic categories in Canada: Open ended questions based on ethnic and cultural
origins of an individual's ancestors
- Categories in Canada gives people more options to depict their racial/ethnic
identity,which creates less tension
- Racial categories in the US: White, Black/African American, American
Indian/Alaska Native, Asian, Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander
- Ethnic categories in the US: Hispanic, Latino, Spanish origin is the only measure of
ethnicity in the US census, no diverse options
- Census also ask to check one box and asks specific questions for specific groups of
people (hispanics)
● Describe trends and patterns related to visible minority populations in
Canada
- Visible minority groups: persons other than Aborginal, who are non caucaisn
in race and non white in colour and are singled out from others in the society
which they live for differential and unequal treatment
- Subordinate: used interchangeably with “minority,” meaning lack of power
- Dominant: group that holds most power in a given society, majority
- Scapegoat theory: frustration and aggression suggests that the dominant group
will displace their unfocussed aggression onto a subordinate group
- Ex: Hitler used Jewish as a scapegoat for Germany’s social and economic
problems
- Visible minorities make up nearly 25% of Canada’s population and this
proportion is projected to increase
- The three largest visible minority groups are S Asians, Chinese, and blacks
- By 2021, 1 in every 3 canadians will belong to a visible minority group
- In BC, visible minorities are approximately 30% of the population
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