CH-9-10 Global Inequality – Sociology in Modules : Chapter Notes

This Document Contains Chapters 9 to 10 CHAPTER 9 GLOBAL INEQUALITY CHAPTER SUMMARY The “global divide” refers to the gap in quality of life (or standards of living) that exists between the richest and poorest nations around the world. Colonialism is the maintenance of political, social, economic, and cultural domination over a people by a foreign power for an extended period of time. By the 1980s, colonialism had largely disappeared. Neocolonialism is the dependence of former colonies on foreign countries. Drawing on the conflict perspective, Immanuel Wallerstein views the global economic system as divided between nations that control wealth, and those from whom capital is taken. Wallerstein advanced a world systems analysis to describe the unequal economic and political relationships in which core nations exploit periphery nations. Wallerstein’s world systems analysis is the most widely used version of dependency theory. Dependency theory proposes that even as developing countries make economic advances, they remain weak and subservient to core nations and corporations, and this interdependency allows industrialized nations to continue to exploit them. Globalization is the worldwide integration of government policies, cultures, social movements, and financial markets through trade and exchange of ideas. The term multinational corporation refers to commercial organizations that are headquartered in one country but do business throughout the world. Functionalists view multinational corporations as helping developing nations, whereas conflict theorists view multinational corporations as exploiters of a nation’s cheap labor. Modernization refers to the far-reaching process by which peripheral nations move from traditional to more developed societies. Modernization theory, a functionalist approach, proposes that modernization and development will gradually improve the lives of people in developing countries. In contrast, conflict theorists view modernization as a dominating force over core nations, which facilitates further exploitation. The gap between the rich and poor nations is widening. In at least 24 nations around the world, the most affluent 10 percent of the population receives at least 40 percent of all income. Studies of intergenerational mobility in industrialized nations have found substantial similarities in the ways that the stratified position of parents is transmitted to their children. Structural factors and immigration continue to be significant factors in shaping a society’s intergenerational mobility. Mexico has been called a polarized society with enormous gaps between rich and poor, town and country, north and south, and white and brown. The country is divided along lines of class, race, religion, gender, and age. The subordinate status of Mexico’s Indians is a reflection of the nation’s color hierarchy. Women comprise 46 percent of the labor force in Mexico, but are mired in more low paying jobs than their counterparts in industrial nations. The term borderlands refers to the area of common culture along the border of Mexico and the United States. Foreign established companies (maquiladoras) are now experiencing the same type of challenge from global trade as U.S. manufacturing did. Conflict theorists note that unregulated growth allows the owners to exploit the workers. RESOURCE INTEGRATOR Focus Questions Resources 1. In what ways does colonialism continue to impact the economies of nations around the world? IN THE TEXT Key Terms: colonialism, neocolonialism, world systems analysis, dependency theory, globalization, multinational corporations, modernization, modernization theory Boxes: Sociology in the Global Community: Income Inequality: A Global Perspective; Sociology in the Global Community: Stratification in Brazil IN THE INSTRUCTOR’S MANUAL Additional Lecture Ideas: Inequality in Reforming State Socialism (9-1); Political Coalitions and the Poor in Developing Countries (9-2); Modernization: Kenya (9-3); Diffusion into Asia (9-4) Classroom Discussion Topics: Derne’s Research (9-1); Active Learning (9-2); Study Broad (9-4); Globalization and Sociology (9-5); Development (9-6); Anti-Globalism (9-7); Cross-National Studies of Inequality (9-8) Student Research and Assignments: Occupational Prestige in China; Lorenz Curve; Segregation; Social Construction of Class in Brazil; Inequality in Israel; Informal Economy Video Resources: Caste at Birth; The Coffee-Go-Round; From Somewhere to Nowhere; Geraldo’s Brazil; A Question of Rights; Social Stratification 2. Describe patterns of stratification within nations, including Mexico. IN THE TEXT Key Terms: borderlands, remittances, human rights IN THE INSTRUCTOR’S MANUAL Additional Lecture Ideas: Political Coalitions and the Poor in Developing Countries (9-2); Modernization: Kenya (9-3); Diffusion into Asia (9-4); Gaijin (9-5); The Informal Economy (9-6); Female Infanticide (9-7) Classroom Discussion Topics: Globalization and Sociology (9-5); Development (9-6); Anti-Globalism (9-7); Cross-National Studies of Inequality (9-8) Student Research and Assignments: Segregation, Social Construction of Class in Brazil; Inequality in Israel Video Resources: The Coffee-Go-Round; The Dying Rooms; Fighting the Tide; Geraldo’s Brazil; A Global Roll Call; A Question of Rights; Social Stratification; Women’s Rights LECTURE OUTLINE I. The Global Divide • World inequality is significant. Disparities in life chances are so extreme that in some areas of the world, the poorest of the poor may not even be aware of them. • Rising productivity, economic growth, and living standards that began with the Industrial Revolution were not evenly distributed across the world. • The current level of world inequalities is a historical new phenomenon. II. Stratification in the World System A. The Legacy of Colonialism • Colonialism occurs when a foreign power maintains political, social, economic, and cultural domination over a people for an extended period of time. Example: The British Empire in North America and India. • By the 1980s, colonialism had largely disappeared. But, colonial domination had established patterns of economic exploitation that continued after nationhood was achieved. • Neocolonialism is the subservient status of continuing dependence on foreign nations, including former colonial masters. • Immanuel Wallerstein’s world systems analysis describes the domination of industrialized nations (e.g., U.S., Japan, and Germany), and their global corporations over countries with marginal economic status. • Core nations control and exploit developing nations. • Periphery nations are those exploited by the world system. Example: Peripheral nations include Asia, Africa, and Latin America. • The division between core and periphery nations is remarkably stable. • Dependency theory suggests that, as subservient countries make economic advances, they remain weak compared to the core nations. The vast share of their resources is redistributed to core nations. • Globalization is the integration of government policies, cultures, social movements, and financial markets through trade and the exchange of ideas. • Emergence of World Bank and the International Monetary Fund as major players in the global economy. B. Multinational Corporations • Multinational corporations are commercial organizations that are headquartered in one country, but do business throughout the world. • They don’t just buy and sell overseas; they also produce goods all over the world. • The total revenues of multinational businesses are on a par with the total value of the total goods and services exchanged in entire nations. 1. Functionalist View • Multinational corporations help developing nations by bringing jobs and industry. • They provide a combination of skilled technology and management. • They facilitate the exchange of ideas and technology around the world, making the world more interdependent and more cohesive. 2. Conflict View • Multinational corporations exploit local workers to maximize profits. Example: Starbucks. • The pool of cheap labor in the developing world encourages multinationals to move factories out of core countries, destabilizing labor there. • Trade unions are discouraged in the developing world. If labor demands become too threatening, multinationals just move elsewhere. Example: Nike. • Over all, multinationals have a negative social impact on workers in both industrialized and developing nations. • Upper and middle classes benefit the most in developing nations. 3. Worldwide Poverty • In developing countries poverty is so extreme for those at the bottom that their survival is threatened. • United Nations planners estimate that if each developed country gave 0.7 percent of its gross national product in foreign aid, extreme global poverty could be eliminated. • In 2000 only five countries gave at that level. The U.S. did not. 4. Modernization • Term used to describe the far-reaching process by which periphery nations move from traditional modes of production to more advanced (i.e., from less to more developed). • Modern society is more urban, literate, and industrial, and has sophisticated transportation and media systems. • Modernization theory suggests that modernization will gradually improve the lives of people in developing nations. • Conflict theory suggests that modernization perpetuates the dependency of exploited nations and is an example of contemporary neocolonialism. III. Stratification within Nations: A Comparative Perspective • The gap between rich and poor nations is widening, as is the gap between rich and poor within nations. • Foreign investment tends to increase economic inequality. A. Distribution of Wealth and Income • In at least 24 countries, the most affluent 10 percent of the population receives at least 40 percent of all income. • Economic trends vary from region to region, with growing disparity between rural and urban areas. B. Social Mobility 1. Mobility in Industrialized Nations • Studies indicate similarities in the ways that parents’ positions in stratification systems are transmitted to their children. • Influence of structural factors lead to the rise or decline in the social hierarchy. • Immigration continues to be a significant factor. 2. Mobility in Developing Nations • Macro-level social and economic changes often overshadow micro-level movement from one occupation to another. • In large developing nations, the most significant mobility is the movement out of poverty. Example: China and India. 3. Gender Differences and Mobility • Effects of development on women’s social standing and mobility are not necessarily positive. • As a country modernizes, women’s vital role in food production deteriorates, jeopardizing women’s autonomy, material well-being, and status relative to men. (Contributions to survival are critical in the maintenance of social standing or prestige). IV. Case Study: Stratification in Mexico • Colonialism, neocolonialism, and the domination and exploitation of a peripheral developing country can be seen in the history of Mexico. • Comparing Mexico to the U.S.: In 2004, the gross national income per person in the U.S. was $39,710; in Mexico, it was $9,590. In the U.S., about 87 percent of adults have a high school diploma, compared to Mexico’s 13 percent. • The gap between the richest and poorest citizens is one of the widest in the world. A. Race Relations in Mexico: The Color Hierarchy • The subordinate status of Mexico’s Indians is a reflection of the nation’s color hierarchy, which links social class to the appearance of racial purity. • At the top of the hierarchy are the 10 percent of the population who are criollos (white, well educated, with roots in Spain). • In the middle are the large impoverished majority of mestizo, most of whom have brown skin and mixed racial lineage. • At the bottom are the destitute, full-blooded Mexican Indian minority and a small number of Blacks. B. The Status of Women in Mexico • Women constitute 45 percent of Mexico’s labor force, but they are mired in the lowest-paying jobs. • Politically, Mexican women are rarely part of top decision-making processes, although they have increased their representation in the national legislature, to 23 percent. • Even when they work outside the home, they are often are not recognized as active and productive household members, and find it hard to get credit. C. The Borderlands • The area of common culture along the border between Mexico and the U.S. • Day laborers cross border daily to work in the U.S. • Foreign-based companies (maquiladoras) are exempt from Mexican taxes and do not pay benefits for their workers. • Conflict theorists note that maquiladoras have exploited the work force. • In recent years, some companies have begun shifting their operations to China, where labor costs are even lower. • Some suggest that immigration problems in the borderlands are more of a labor market issue than a law enforcement issue. • Many Mexicans who have come to the U.S. send part of their earnings to family members in Mexico. These remittances have been falling in recent years. V. Social Policy and Stratification A. The Issue • Governments in many parts of the world are searching for the right solution to welfare. B. The Setting • In the United States, the government safety net now falls far short of that in Europe, even after recent cutbacks there. Available data indicate that in Great Britain and Sweden, 82 percent of health expenditures are paid for by the government; in Canada, 70 percent; but in the United States, only 46 percent. • Questions governments and citizens find themselves asking include: How much subsidy should they provide? How much responsibility should fall on the shoulders of the poor? C. Sociological Insights • The most common sociological perspective for viewing the debate over welfare reform in industrialized nations from a conflict perspective: the“haves” in positions of policymaking listen to the interests of other “haves,” while the cries of the “have-nots” are drowned out. D. Policy Initiatives • European governments have encountered many of the same citizen demands as in North America: keep our taxes low, even if it means reducing services to the poor. This trend toward declining public assistance has not escaped criticism, as the Occupy Wall Street movements demonstrate. KEY TERMS Borderlands The area of common culture along the border between Mexico and the United States. Colonialism The maintenance of political, social, economic, and cultural domination over a people by a foreign power for an extended period. Dependency theory An approach that contends that industrialized nations continue to exploit developing countries for their own gain. Globalization The worldwide integration of government policies, cultures, social movements, and financial markets through trade and the exchange of ideas. Modernization The far-reaching process by which peripheral nations move from traditional or less developed institutions to those characteristic of more developed societies. Modernization theory A functionalist approach that proposes that modernization and development will gradually improve the lives of people in developing nations. Multinational corporation A commercial organization that is headquartered in one country but does business throughout the world. Neocolonialism Continuing dependence of former colonies on foreign countries. Remittances The monies that immigrants return to their families of origin. Also called migradollars. World systems analysis The global economy as an interdependent system of economically and politically unequal nations. ADDITIONAL LECTURE IDEAS 9-1: Inequality in Reforming State Socialism Fueled by concerns about growing poverty and increasing concentration of wealth, one of the most central pursuits in contemporary sociology has been to understand the mechanisms shaping economic inequalities. Much of our understanding of stratification processes, however, is based on the experience of market economies, especially that of the United States. Comparative research on societies with non-market or transitional economic systems is essential for understanding the basic mechanisms that determine the winners and losers in a social system. The study of Maoist-era China (1949–76) allowed stratification researchers to understand how socialist economic policies influence both the overall distribution of income and wealth, and the significance of assets like education for getting ahead in a non-market economy. Research from this era pointed to two basic contrasts between socialist China and the United States. First, income and other scarce resources (housing, pension benefits, and medical care) in Chinese cities were about 25 percent more equally distributed than is typical in capitalist societies (Whyte and Parish 1984). Second, while educational credentials are key for maximizing one’s income and wealth in capitalist societies, in socialist China the biggest rewards were accrued to those who had political capital (Walder 1986). The more recent, incremental dismantling of socialist institutions in China has opened up fresh opportunities for sociologists to study inequality from a comparative perspective. Beginning in the early 1980s, market reforms have led to heavy foreign investment and the emergence of a thriving private sector in urban areas. Within firms still controlled by the state, budget constraints are much stricter than before, and strong profit incentives are in place. How has such wide-scale institutional change altered opportunity structures for urban businesses and individuals, and how have organizations and social actors responded to these changes? What kinds of personal assets (education, political ties) are valued in new work environments? How, ultimately, does the dismantling of a socialist economy impact access to income, wealth, and other valued resources? Reflecting the importance of these questions to the discipline of sociology, in the past decade a number of studies addressing post-socialist stratification in China and/or other former socialist countries have been published in mainstream sociology journals. Some studies conclude that stratification processes in contemporary China are much the same as they were during the Maoist era, with political actors still able to use their political influence for economic gain in a more marketized environment (Bian and Logan 1996; Xie and Hannum 1996; Zhou, Tuma and Moen 1996). Others conclude just as strongly that marketization has opened up new opportunities for those with educational capital—regardless of their political ties—thus resulting in a stratification system that is closer to those found in capitalist societies (Nee 1989, 1991, 1996). Other analyses emphasize that so many years of incremental market reforms have produced urban environments in which markets and socialism co-exist. In areas of the economy still governed by redistributive principles, the determinants of access to valued resources remain much as they were before post-Mao reforms were implemented. In particular, urban residents with political capital are more frequently given the opportunity to earn higher incomes within publicly owned work organizations. In areas of the urban environment governed by market principles, however, we see a dramatic reversal in the value of personal assets for getting ahead. In privately owned and foreign-invested work organizations, having educational credentials rather than political capital is key for acquiring greater work rewards (Zang 2002). The fact that this shift was initiated by legal changes in property rights and organizational forms points to the importance of legal institutions in shaping inequality processes. For the most part, all of these studies have explored post-socialist change in the determinants of income attainment or job mobility only, giving us just a partial understanding of inequality processes there. In addition to cash income, socialist and post-socialist work organizations typically control access to a number of scarce consumer goods and services as well (e.g., medical care, pension benefits, long-distance travel tickets, housing, transportation, discounted meals). Whether or not an employer provides such goods and services is as important to economic well-being as one’s salary level. Sources used for this essay include: Yanjie Bian and John Logan, “Market Transition and the Persistence of Power,” American Sociological Review 61 (October 1996): 739–58; Victor Nee, “A Theory of Market Transition,” American Sociological Review 54 (October 1989): 663–81; Victor Nee, “Social Inequalities in Reforming State Socialism,” American Sociological Review 56 (June 1991): 267–82; Victor Nee, “The Emergence of a Market Society: Changing Mechanisms of Stratification in China,” American Journal of Sociology 101 (January 1996): 908–49; Andrew G. Walder. Communist Neo-Traditionalism. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1986; Martin K. Whyte and William L. Parish. Urban Life in Contemporary China. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1984; Yu Xie and Emily Hannum, “Regional Variations in Earnings Inequality in Reform-Era Urban China,” American Journal of Sociology 101 (January 1996): 950–92; Xiaowei Zang, “Labor Market Segmentation and Income Inequality in Urban China,” The Sociological Quarterly 43 (Winter 2002): 27–44; Xueguang Zhou, Nancy Brandon Tuma, and Phyllis Moen, “Stratification Dynamics under State Socialism: The Case of Urban China, 1949–1993,” Social Forces 74 (March 1996): 759–796. 9-2: Political Coalitions and the Poor in Developing Countries Bringing about reforms that are intended to reduce poverty is not necessarily a matter of simply pitting the poor against the non-poor. Although many economic policies benefit the rich at the expense of the poor, certain approaches, according to the World Bank, can draw support from coalitions that cut across the poor/non-poor divide. An example of a poor/non-poor coalition can be found in food pricing policies. In many African and Latin American countries, the agricultural sector has long suffered from policies that favor industry and cities. For example, food prices are frequently kept low, which benefits the urban poor, industrial workers, and business owners; but this policy functions at the expense of the entire rural sector, including the poor. In Argentina, Chile, and Peru, the success of tax reforms and other reforms designed to benefit the poor has generally turned on the stance of white-collar workers, professionals, bureaucrats, and small- and medium-size business interests. Redistributive policies have been more likely to succeed when these sectors share in transfers directed primarily to the poor. The same is no doubt true in many other countries. The Maharashtra Employment Guarantee Scheme in India transfers income from the urban non-poor to the rural poor, but it nevertheless enjoys wide political support because the urban non-poor see the reduction of migration to Bombay as a benefit, and landowners may look favorably on the scheme because it helps to stabilize the rural labor force and because it creates infrastructure in the countryside. See World Development Report 1990. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press, 1990, p. 52. 9-3: Modernization: Kenya—A Case Study We can apply the modernization approach to a case study of Kenya, an African nation of 28 million people. Kenya remained a British colony until 1962, and its people exercised little authority as European settlers clung to their privileges and power. For Kenya and most other developing nations, colonialism stimulated the use of modern technology, but it also delayed the development of new leaders. Initially, the impact of technological and institutional changes can be quite unsettling. For example, the introduction of improved health measures in Kenya led to a rise in the birthrate, a decline in the death rate, and an overall increase in population growth. Yet, at first, there were not adequate food supplies or school facilities to cope with the larger population. Upon independence in 1962, Kenyans turned to the charismatic Jomo Kenyatta, longtime organizer against colonial rule, for political leadership. Popularly elected and in office until his death in 1978, Kenyatta maintained a model of harambee, a Swahili term that means “let us all pull together.” This motto symbolized his effort to bring together Kenyans—rural and urban, Black and White—from 43 diverse ethnic and linguistic groups. As one indicator of Kenyatta’s effectiveness, presidential succession occurred peacefully following his death (Carter 1996). However, Kenya remains at the periphery of the global economy. According to the United Nations’ Human Development Index, which combines indicators of real purchasing power, education, and health, Kenya ranked 128 out of 174 nations studied in 1996. While a small, privileged African elite holds disproportionate wealth and power, Kenya’s estimated gross national product per capita is only $260. According to United Nations’ studies, about 30 percent of the nation’s population is malnourished (Barnet 1990; Haub and Yanagishita 1996; Perlez 1991; United Nations Development Programme 1996). The spread of AIDS has posed a new threat to Kenya’s people and economy. An estimated 1 million Kenyans are believed to be carrying the HIV virus, including perhaps as many as one of every seven residents of the capital city of Nairobi. According to projections by the United Nations, life expectancy in Kenya by the year 2005 was 10 years lower than it would have been without AIDS. Moreover, by the same year, labor costs may have risen by as much as 65 percent because of production losses (Carter 1996). The political situation in Kenya had been characterized in the early 1990s as a retreat from democracy. In 1991, Western countries suspended hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to Kenya as a means of forcing economic and political changes. Consequently, in 1992, Kenya held multiparty elections for the first time in 26 years. Nevertheless, as of late 1996, Kenya was experiencing serious unemployment, food shortages, and political turmoil. Opposition political leaders and members of the clergy were demanding a new constitution with a fairer electoral system as well as an end to police attacks on critics of the government (McKinley 1996; Sly 1995; World Resources Institute et al. 1996). From a conflict perspective, modernization in developing countries such as Kenya often perpetuates dependence on and continued exploitation by more industrialized nations. For example, in recent decades Kenya has been the second largest recipient of U.S. assistance in sub-Saharan Africa, owing in good part to Kenya’s anticommunist posture (more of a factor during the cold war) and to a 1980 defense agreement that gives the United States access to its airports and seaports. Conflict theorists view such a continuing dependence on foreign powers as an example of contemporary neocolonialism. In the case of Kenya, however, the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the resulting reduction in cold war tension led to a significant decline in foreign aid from the United States. Sociologist York Bradshaw (1988) has modified Immanuel Wallerstein’s world systems analysis as it relates to Kenya. After examining changes in the economy and the role of foreign capital since 1963, Bradshaw concluded that while multinational corporations obviously find it profitable to invest in Kenya, they do not completely dominate the nation’s economy. These corporations are heavily taxed and are required by law to form joint ventures with local businesspeople. However, as noted earlier, a small, privileged elite benefits from such investment, while most Kenyans gain little from economic development. Sources for this lecture include the following: Richard J. Barnet, “But What about Africa?” Harper’s 280 (May 1990): 43–51; York W. Bradshaw, “Reassessing Economic Dependency and Uneven Development: The Kenyan Experience,” American Sociological Review 53 (October 1988): 693–708; Marion Carter, “Kenya,” Population Today 24 (January 1996): 7; Carl V. Haub and Machiko Yanagishita. World Population Data Sheet, 1996. Washington, DC: Population Reference Bureau; James C. McKinley, Jr., “Kenya’s Leader Keeps Rivals at Bay,” New York Times (September 29, 1996): 14; Jane Perlez, “In Kenya, the Lawyers Lead the Call for Freedom,” New York Times (March 10, 1991): E2; Liz Sly, “Caught in Corruption’s Stranglehold,” Chicago Tribune (November 19, 1995): 1, 20; United Nations Development Programme. Human Development Report 1996, New York: Oxford University Press, 1996; World Resources Institute, United Nation Environment Programme, United Nations Development Programme and World Bank, 1996–1997. New York: Oxford University Press. 9-4: Diffusion into Asia What are the cultural and economic consequences of the diffusion of U.S. styles and tastes throughout the world? Kenichi Ohmae, Asian specialist and advisor to the Malaysian government, has referred to this phenomenon as the “Californiaization” of taste, as global brands of blue jeans and stylish athletic shoes are as much on the mind of the taxi driver in Shanghai as they are in the kitchen or the closet of the schoolteacher in Stockholm or Sâo Paulo. As a recent case example, he points to Avon’s experience in China. In 1993, Avon ran a television commercial in the Guangdong province of China; it featured “Hong Kong Girls” and implied that Chinese girls, if they used the proper lipstick, could become rich and as pretty as the young women who were clad in miniskirts, dancing the go-go, and wearing American styles. After just three years in operation, Avon has mobilized 30,000 door-to-door “Avon ladies” in this one Chinese province. The Avon Corporation thought door-to-door sales were necessary, but demand is so great that the women come right to the distribution points for more products. As a result of such influences, China is undergoing a major social transition as it moves from being a centrally controlled nation-state oriented toward Beijing to being a commonwealth of (reasonably autonomous) region-states. According to Ohmae, the move toward regionalism is not limited to China. He points to similar regions within other nations that are developing their own identity and participating directly in the global economy. In Canada, for example, besides the well-publicized separatist efforts by Quebec, Ohmae notes that British Columbia, Ontario, Alberta, and Manitoba all have their own provincial political parties. Simultaneously, as these parties become more significant in Canada’s politics, the national border with the United States is growing fainter as NAFTA becomes fully implemented. See Kenichi Ohmae. New Perspectives Quarterly 12 (Winter 1995):14–20. 9-5: Gaijin We are familiar with the concepts of out-group and ethnocentrism, but within the culture of Japan those ideas perhaps can be summed up in the concept of gaijin, or “foreigner.” It has long been observed that, in Japan, foreigners are treated as outsiders even after they have lived in the country for a long time. Donald Ritchie, a White American writer who has lived in Japan for more than 40 years, said that, outside of his neighborhood and circle of friends, he is still considered a gaijin. He notes that, “Giggly schoolgirls on the subway will sit and talk about me, thinking I don’t speak Japanese, about how pink I am, how hairy.” He captured the feeling of not being a part of Japan despite having spent a large part of his life there when he wrote “I live in this country as the water insect lives in the pond, skating across the surface, not so much mindful as incapable of seeing the depths” (De Witt, 1995). Because of the feeling of “Gaijin wa dame,” or “No foreigners here,” it is difficult to sort out how much of the prejudice observed in Japan is nationalistic. For example, in 1995 three U.S. servicemen, all African American, were accused and convicted of kidnapping and raping a 12-year-old Japanese girl in Okinawa. The huge negative response by the public in Japan was interpreted by some in the United States as racist in nature, whereas it probably was more that the Japanese saw it as bad enough that the offenders were gaijin. This is not to say the Japanese have not adopted some of the stereotypes found in imported U.S. television and motion pictures. Also, the Japanese seem to distinguish among Asian arrivals, showing typically the greatest respect for the Chinese and the least for the Koreans, a group that is particularly vulnerable historically to ill-treatment in Japan. See Karen De Witt, “In Japan, Blacks as Outsiders,” New York Times (December 10, 1995): E4. Also see Hilary E. MacGregor, “Prejudice Prevalent in Japan, Asian Foreigners Say,” Los Angeles Times (November 19, 1995): A38. 9-6: The Informal Economy Do you know someone who takes in tips and doesn’t report the income? Have you traded services with someone—say, a haircut in exchange for help with a computer problem? These are aspects of an informal economy: the transfer of money, goods, or services that are not reported to the government. Participants in this type of economy avoid taxes, regulations, and minimum wage provisions, as well as expenses incurred for bookkeeping and financial reporting. Anthropologists studying developing nations and preindustrial societies have long acknowledged the existence of informal social networks that make, sell, and trade goods and services. Only recently have these networks been identified as common to all societies. In industrial societies, the informal economy embraces transactions that are individually quite small but that can be quite significant when taken together. One major segment of this economy involves illegal transactions—such as prostitution, sale of illegal drugs, gambling, and bribery—leading some observers to describe it as an “underground economy.” Yet the informal economy also includes unregulated childcare services and the unreported income of craftspeople, street vendors, and employees who receive substantial tips. According to estimates, the informal economy may account for as much as 10 to 20 percent of all economic activity in the United States. Although these informal economic transactions take place in virtually all societies—both capitalist and socialist—the pattern in developing countries differs somewhat from the informal economy of industrialized nations. In the developing world, governments often set up burdensome business regulations that an overworked bureaucracy must administer. When requests for licenses and permits pile up, holding up business projects, legitimate entrepreneurs find they need to “go underground” in order to get anything done. In Latin America, for example, the underground economy is estimated to account for about one third of the gross domestic product of the area. Informal industrial enterprises, such as textile factories and repair shops, tend to be labor-intensive. Underground entrepreneurs cannot rely on advanced machinery, since a firm’s assets can be confiscated for failure to operate within the open economy. Viewed from a functionalist perspective, the bureaucratic regulations have contributed to the rise of an efficient informal economy in certain countries. Nevertheless, these regulatory systems are dysfunctional for overall political and economic well-being. Since informal firms typically operate in remote locations to avoid detection, they cannot easily expand even when they become profitable. Given the limited protection for their property and contractual rights, participants in the informal economy are less likely to save and invest their income. Informal economies have been criticized for promoting highly unfair and dangerous working conditions. A study of the underground economy of Spain found that workers’ incomes were low, there was little job security, and safety and health standards were rarely enforced. Both the Spanish government and the nation’s trade unions seemed to ignore the exploitation of participants in the informal economy. Still, especially in the developing world, the existence of a substantial underground economy simply reflects the absence of an economic system that is accessible to all residents. 9-7: Female Infanticide The phenomenon of female infanticide has very likely accounted for millions of gender-selective deaths throughout history. It remains a critical concern in a number of developing countries today, notably the two most populous countries on earth, China and India. Female infanticide reflects the low status accorded to women in most parts of the world; it is arguably the most brutal and destructive manifestation of the anti-female bias that pervades "patriarchal" societies. It is closely linked to the phenomena of sex-selective abortion, which targets female fetuses almost exclusively, and the general problem of neglect of girl children. Students may research the problem of infanticide through various websites and/or print sources. Have them identify patterns which underlie female infanticide around the world—economic, political, religious, ideological, etc. Students may wish to visit www.gendercide.org, www.infanticide.org, www.now.org, or www.who.org. Instructors may also find useful video presentations on You Tube, although some content may be graphic or disturbing. CLASSROOM DISCUSSION TOPICS 9-1. Derné’s Research: Questions for stimulating a classroom discussion about Steve Derné’s research can include these: What, in your view, are the functions and dysfunctions of increased consumerism in India? What are some of the reasons that India has become such a target for Western businesses? Derné notes that there has been limited research on the impact of globalization in rural areas. What kind of impact might you expect? Derné utilized observation research in his work. What other research methods, if any, might be appropriate for studying the implications of globalization for Indian society? 9-2. Active Learning: Students take on the roles and perspectives of members in a fictional developing country with a strict hierarchical social system in this exercise. See M. Holtzman, “Teaching Sociological Theory Through Active Learning: The Irrigation Exercise,” Teaching Sociology v. 33 no. 2 (April 2005) p. 206-12. 9-3. Using Email to Promote Cross-Cultural Understanding: Hare has United States-born students and international students learn about family systems through email correspondence. However, the same technique could be used to learn about many other areas of sociological interest. See Sara C. Hare, “Using E-Mail to Promote Cross-Cultural Understanding of Families,” Teaching Sociology 27(January 1999):67–73. 9-4. Study Abroad: A great way for students to learn about other cultures is to visit them. Numerous study abroad opportunities exist. See the first referenced article for an example of a successful sociology-based study abroad program and see the second reference for a useful Internet site that provides links to study abroad programs throughout the world: Theodore C. Wagenaar and Janardan Subedi, “Internationalizing the Curriculum: Study in Nepal,” Teaching Sociology 24 (July 1996):272–283. Study Abroad Links website: www.studyabroadlinks.com. 9-5. Globalization and Sociology: In an article that is useful for instructors and that may be assigned to students to generate class discussion about our myopic or ethnocentric view of the world, William G. Martin argues for the need for the globalization of sociology courses. See William G. Martin, “Toward a ‘Global’ Curriculum and Classroom: Contrasting Comparative- and World-Historical Strategies,” Teaching Sociology 24 (April 1996): 135–147. 9-6. Development: Select a developing nation of Asia, Africa (other than Kenya), or Latin America, and trace its emergence as a nation-state. Note the major contributions and dysfunctions of colonialism. What are the social conflicts between traditional value patterns and those associated with industrial societies? What means have been used to promote feelings of nationalism? How has economic development helped or hindered political development? 9-7. Anti-Globalism: The members of the world’s elite have led the march toward globalism, but millions of people see themselves as losers when national barriers fall. See J. Ørstrøm Møller, “The Growing Challenge to Internationalism,” The Futurist 33 (March 1999): 22–27. 9-8. Cross-National Studies of Inequality: Two interesting cross-national discussions of inequality that nicely complement the text material are Björn Gustafsson and Mats Johansson, “In Search of Smoking Guns: What Makes Income Inequality Vary over Time in Different Countries,” American Sociological Review 64 (August 1999): 585–605; and Arthur S. Alderson and François Nielsen, “Income Inequality, Development, and Dependence: A Reconsideration,” American Sociological Review 64 (August 1999): 606–631. TOPICS FOR STUDENT RESEARCH AND CLASSROOM DISCUSSION 1. Ask students to demonstrate various ways the Internet has increased globalization and reduced the size of the world. Answer: Students should demonstrate how the Internet has facilitated globalization by providing examples such as instant communication, global commerce, and the spread of cultural content. Discuss how these factors have reduced the perceived size of the world and increased interconnectedness. 2. Ask students to search for evidence that supports Wallerstein’s world systems theory in which the United States has acted as a “core” nation, and discuss ethnocentrism and its relationship to economic stratification. Answer: Find evidence supporting Wallerstein’s world-systems theory, which positions the U.S. as a “core” nation. Discuss how this core-periphery dynamic contributes to ethnocentrism and economic stratification by privileging certain countries over others. 3. Ask students to search for evidence that supports Wallerstein’s dependency theory in which the United States has acted as a “core” nation, and discuss ethnocentrism and its relationship to economic stratification. Answer: Search for evidence supporting Wallerstein’s dependency theory, which highlights how core nations like the U.S. exploit peripheral nations. Discuss how ethnocentrism informs perceptions of economic disparities and dependency. 4. Ask students to locate examples of modernization that support the functionalist approach to modernization, and discuss the impact of modernization theory on stratification. Answer: Locate examples of modernization that align with the functionalist approach, such as infrastructure development or technological advancements. Discuss how these examples reflect the functionalist view of modernization as beneficial for societal stability and stratification. 5. Ask students to search for any cultural examples in which women have experienced social mobility at a greater pace than men, and discuss the issue of gender and mobility. Answer: Research cultural examples where women have experienced faster social mobility compared to men, and discuss how gender influences mobility patterns. Analyze how these instances challenge or reinforce traditional gender roles and expectations. 6. Ask students to find advertising or periodical articles that illustrate the influence of the United States on Third World countries, and discuss the effects of globalization and multinational corporations on foreign cultures. Answer: Find advertisements or articles showing U.S. influence on Third World countries, such as through multinational corporations. Discuss the effects of globalization on foreign cultures, including cultural homogenization and economic impacts. 7. Ask students to research globalization/multinational expansion trends among three of their favorite (and most patronized) companies, such as those producing clothing, food, coffee, or other items. Answer: Research globalization and expansion trends for three major companies (e.g., clothing, food, coffee) and analyze how these trends reflect multinational strategies and their impact on local and global markets. SERVICE LEARNING ACTIVITY There are countries around the world that redefine poverty as we know it here in America. Many of these third world nations are overlooked because they lack exportable goods. However, the world must be seen as a gigantic community and concern for all on this planet must increase. Haiti recently was rocked by a catastrophic earthquake. That country continues to suffer today. There are many nations that could use support. Giving to these nations is what service learning ,in a global sense, is all about. Have students contribute in the following way. Organize a drive to provide relief for Haiti. Combine with other organizations on campus to increase the gift of giving. Also, students can hold book drives to send to countries in Africa. Check with local bookstores to get more information. Volunteer for other organizations like UNICEF. There are a number of international relief groups that need volunteers. CHAPTER 10 RACIAL AND ETHNIC INEQUALITY CHAPTER SUMMARY Sociologists distinguish among racial, ethnic, and minority groups. The term racial group is used to describe a group that is set apart from others because of obvious physical differences. Ethnic groups are set apart from others primarily because of their national origin or distinctive cultural patterns. A minority group is a subordinate group whose members have significantly less control or power over their own lives than members of a dominant group or majority group. The social construction of race refers to the process by which people come to define a group as a race based in part on physical characteristics, but also on historical, cultural, and economic factors. Racial formation refers to the sociohistorical process in which racial categories are created, changed, and destroyed. As exemplified by Tiger Woods, Mariah Cary, and President Barack Obama, in the U.S. there is a trend towards societal recognition and acceptance of multiple identities. Prejudice is a negative attitude toward an entire category of people. Sometimes prejudice results from ethnocentrism—the tendency to assume that one’s own culture and way of life represent the norm or are superior to all others. Racism is one important and widespread form of prejudice that fosters a belief that one race is supreme and all others are innately inferior. Discrimination is the denial of opportunities and equal rights to individuals and groups based on some type of arbitrary bias. The glass ceiling refers to an invisible barrier that blocks the promotion of qualified people in a work environment based on one’s gender, race, or ethnicity. Dominant groups enjoy privileges at the expense of others. Sociologists are becoming increasingly interested in what it means to be “White,” for White privilege is the other side of the coin of racial discrimination. Institutional discrimination is the denial of opportunities and equal rights to individuals and groups, which results from the normal operations of society. Functionalists observe that racial prejudice and discrimination serve positive functions for dominant groups, whereas conflict theorists see the economic structure as a central factor in the exploitation of minorities. The interactionist view stresses the manner in which everyday contact between people from different racial and ethnic backgrounds contributes to tolerance or leads to hostility. According to the contact hypothesis, in cooperative circumstances, interracial contact between people of equal status will cause them to become less prejudiced and to abandon old stereotypes. There are four identifiable patterns that are used to describe typical intergroup relations. Amalgamation describes the end result of intermarriage over several generations when a majority and a minority group combine to form a new group. Assimilation is the process by which a person forsakes his or her own cultural tradition to become part of a different culture, as is practiced by minorities when conforming to the standards of the dominant group. Segregation refers to the physical separation of two groups of people in terms of residence, workplace, and social functions. Pluralism is based on the mutual respect between various cultural groups within a society. Globalization has had a major impact on immigration patterns. One consequence of global immigration is the emergence of transnationals—people or families who move across borders multiple times in search of better jobs and education. African Americans are the largest racial minority in the United States. One out of every four Blacks in the United States is poor, compared to one out of every 12 Whites. Native Americans represent a diverse array of cultures. There are approximately 2.5 million Native Americans in the United States. Asian Americans are considered an ideal minority group because they have succeeded economically, socially, and educationally without resorting to confrontations with Whites. By some estimates, there are up to 3 million Arab Americans in the United States. Most are not Muslim. Latinos and Hispanics represent the largest minority in the United States. Jewish Americans constitute almost 3 percent of the population of the United States. Like some Asian Americans, many came to this country and became white-collar professionals in spite of prejudice and discrimination. RESOURCE INTEGRATOR Focus Questions Resources 1. Define the terms minority group, race, and ethnic group. IN THE TEXT Key Terms: racial group, ethnic group, minority group, racial formation, stereotypes IN THE INSTRUCTOR’S MANUAL Additional Lecture Ideas: The Complexity of Racial and Ethnic Identity (10-1); The Shared History of Blacks and Irish Americans (10-2); Partial Assimilation (10-4); The New Immigrants (10-5) Classroom Discussion Topics: Asian American Dreams (10-1); Social Construction of Race (10-2); Race and Popular Culture (10-3); Race—Autobiographies (10-5) Student Research and Assignments: Cross-Cultural Race and Ethnicity; White Racism; The Experience of Non-White Ethnics in Europe Video Resources: America’s Multicultural Heritage; Arab Americans; Becoming American: The Chinese Experience; Between the Crack: Vietnamese Americans; Domino; A Question of Race 2. Define prejudice and discrimination give examples of each. IN THE TEXT Key Terms: prejudice, ethnocentrism, racism, hate crime, color-blind racism, discrimination, glass ceiling, White privilege, institutional discrimination, affirmative action Boxes: Taking Sociology to Work: Prudence Hannis, Associate Director, First Nations Post-Secondary Institution, Odanak, Québec IN THE INSTRUCTOR’S MANUAL Additional Lecture Ideas: Interactionist Approach to Reducing Social Conflict (10-3); School Desegregation (10-6) Classroom Discussion Topics: Stereotypes—A Class Activity (10-4); Picturing Stereotypes (10-6); Social Distance Scale (10-8); Discrimination on Television (10-9); Institutional Discrimination (10-10); Implicit Associations (10-11) Student Research and Assignments: White Racism; Comparing the Production of Race, Gender, and Class Inequalities; Institutional Discrimination in Developing Countries; Segregation, Cross-Cultural; Arabs in Israel; Slavery in the United States Video Resources: A Class Divided; The Angry Eye; Invisible Whiteness of Being; Shadow of Hate; Skin Deep; Suspino; Two Towns of Jasper; Where Do We Go From Here? REEL SOCIETY VIDEO Topic Index: Stratification—Race/Ethnicity; Stratification—Religion 3. What are the sociological perspectives on race and ethnicity? IN THE TEXT Key Terms: exploitation theory, racial profiling, contact hypothesis IN THE INSTRUCTOR’S MANUAL Additional Lecture Ideas: Interactionist Approach to Reducing Social Conflict (10-3); School Desegregation and the Hmong Community (10-6); Complexities of Race and Nationality (10-7) Classroom Discussion Topics: Social Construction of Race (10-2); Race and Popular Culture (10-3); Stereotypes—A Class Activity (10-4); Picturing Stereotypes (10-6); Social Distance Scale (10-8) Student Research and Assignments: White Racism; Contact Hypothesis Video Resources: America’s Multicultural Heritage; Becoming American: The Chinese Experience; Domino; Invisible Whiteness of Being; Race and Local TV News; Shadow of Hate; Skin Deep; Understanding Different Cultural Values and Styles; Where Do We Go From Here? 4. What are the major patterns of intergroup relations? IN THE TEXT Key Terms: genocide, amalgamation, assimilation, segregation, apartheid, pluralism IN THE INSTRUCTOR’S MANUAL Additional Lecture Ideas: Interactionist Approach to Reducing Social Conflict (10-3); Partial Assimilation (10-4); School Desegregation and the Hmong Community (10-6); Complexities of Race and Nationality (10-7) Classroom Discussion Topics: Social Distance Scale (10-8) Student Research and Assignments: Segregation, Cross-Cultural Video Resources: A Class Divided; The Angry Eye; Becoming American: The Chinese Experience; Domino; Invisible Whiteness of Being 5. What are the major racial and ethnic groups in the United States? IN THE TEXT Key Terms: Black power, model or ideal minority, anti-Semitism Boxes: Sociology in the Global Community: The Aboriginal People of Australia IN THE INSTRUCTOR’S MANUAL Additional Lecture Ideas: The Complexity of Racial and Ethnic Identity (10-1); The Shared History of Blacks and Irish Americans (10-2); The New Immigrants (10-5) Classroom Discussion Topics: Asian American Dreams (10-1) Student Research and Assignments: Slavery in the United States; Cuban Americans Video Resources: Arab Americans; Becoming American; Between the Cracks; Chicano!; Horizons and Homelands; Invisible Whiteness of Being; Korean Americans in Chicago LECTURE OUTLINE I. Minority, Racial, and Ethnic Groups • A racial group is a group that is set apart from others because of physical differences that have taken on social significance. Examples: Whites, African Americans, and Asian Americans. • Ethnic groups are set apart primarily because of national origin or distinctive cultural patterns. Examples: Jewish Americans or Polish Americans. A. Minority Groups • A numerical minority is a group that makes up less than half of some larger population. • A minority in the sociological sense is a subordinate group whose members have significantly less control or power over their own lives than members of the dominant or majority group have over theirs. • Sociologists have identified five basic properties of minorities groups: (1) members of a minority group experience unequal treatment; (2) minority group members share physical or cultural characteristics different from the dominant group; (3) minority group membership is not voluntary (ascribed); (4) minority members have a strong sense of group solidarity; and (5) minority members generally marry from within the same group. B. Race • Social differentiation based on physical traits. Example: Black, White, and Asian. 1. Social Construction of Race • The social construction of race is the process by which people come to define a group as a race based on physical characteristics, as well as historical, cultural, and economic factors. • Racial formation refers to the sociohistorical process in which racial categories are created, changed, and destroyed. There appears to be a trend in the U.S. towards accepting multiple identities. Examples: Tiger Woods, Mariah Cary, and President Barack Obama. • About 2.9 percent of people in the United States report they are of two or more races. Half of those classified as multiracial are under 18 years. • William I. Thomas suggested that personality could be molded by the “definition of a situation.” • Stereotypes are unreliable generalizations about all members of a group that do not recognize individual differences within the group. C. Ethnicity • Ethnic groups are set apart from others based on national origin or distinctive cultural patterns. • Stratification along racial lines is more resistant to change than stratification along ethnic lines. II. Prejudice and Discrimination A. Prejudice • Prejudice is a negative attitude toward an entire category of people. • Prejudice tends to perpetuate false definitions of individuals and groups. • Ethnocentrism is the tendency to assume one’s own culture and way of life are superior to all others. • Racism is a form of widespread prejudice that fosters a belief that one race is supreme over all others. Example: hate crimes. • The Internet may be allowing race-hate groups to expand their traditional base. B. Color-Blind Racism • Color-blind racism is the use of the principle of race neutrality to defend a racially unequal status quo. • Proponents of race neutrality oppose affirmative action but not policies such as “legacy” status in college admissions. The net result is continued inequality. C. Discriminatory Behavior • Discrimination: denial of opportunities and equal rights to individuals and groups because of prejudice or other arbitrary reasons. Example: hiring practices based on race. • Glass ceiling refers to an invisible barrier that blocks the promotion of a qualified individual because of gender, race, or ethnicity. D. The Privileges of the Dominant • Advantages of being White include not having to feel different from everyone else; being considered financially reliable; race isn’t a negative factor in obtaining a job or buying a home; being able to be seated without difficulty in a restaurant; being able to express an opinion without others assuming it is the opinion of all Whites. E. Institutional Discrimination • Refers to the denial of opportunities and equal rights for individuals and groups which results from the normal operations of society. • Affects some minorities more than others. • Includes rules requiring that only English be spoken at a place of work; admission practices commonly used by law and medical schools; restrictive employment-leave policies. • Passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act (prohibiting discrimination in public accommodations and publicly owned facilities on the basis of race, color, creed, national origin, and gender) was an attempt to eradicate discrimination. • Affirmative action programs are aimed at recruiting minority members for jobs, promotions, and educational opportunities. Some argue that advancing one’s group over another merely shifts the discrimination to another group. III. Studying Race and Ethnicity A. Functionalist Perspective • Manning Nash identified three functions of racially prejudiced beliefs: (1) provides a moral justification for maintaining inequality; (2) discourages subordinate minorities from questioning their lowly status; and (3) an end to discrimination would bring greater poverty to minorities and would lower the majority’s standard of living. • Racial prejudice may also be seen as dysfunctional for a society. Example: Arnold Rose’s four dysfunctions. B. Conflict Perspective • Exploitation theory suggests racial subordination keeps minorities in low-paying jobs, thereby supplying the capitalist ruling class with a pool of cheap labor. By forcing minorities to accept low wages, capitalists can restrict wages of all members of the proletariat. Example: clash over keeping Chinese immigrant labor out of the United States during the latter half of the nineteenth century. C. Interactionist Perspective • Contact hypothesis states that in cooperative circumstances, interracial contact between people of equal status will cause them to become less prejudiced and to abandon previous stereotypes. The trend in U.S. society is toward increasing contact between those from dominant and subordinate groups. • Another possible way to eliminate or reduce stereotyping and prejudice is the establishment of interracial coalitions that would be built on equal roles for all members. IV. Patterns of Intergroup Relations • Genocide is the deliberate, systematic killing of an entire people or nation. • Expulsion is the driving of people from their homes for the purpose of ethnic cleansing. Example: Serbs driving Croats and Muslims from the former Yugoslavia. A. Amalgamation • Majority and minority group combine to form a new group. Example: A+B+C=D. • The term melting pot is not an adequate description of the United States. B. Assimilation • Process by which a person forsakes his or her own cultural tradition to become part of a different culture. Example: A+B+C=A. • Name changing to hide religious or ethnic heritage. C. Segregation • Physical separation of two or more groups in terms of residence, workplace, and social events. Example: apartheid in South Africa. • Residential segregation is still the norm in the United States. The average White lives in an area that is at least 83 percent White; the average African American in a neighborhood that is mostly Black; the average Latino in an area that is 42 percent Hispanic. D. Pluralism • Pluralism is based on mutual respect among various groups. Example: A+B+C=A+B+C. • Pluralism is more of an ideal than a reality in the U.S. • Switzerland exemplifies the modern pluralistic state. V. Race and Ethnicity in the United States A. Racial Groups 1. African Americans • Institutional discrimination and individual prejudice against Blacks is rooted in the history of slavery. • Enslaved Blacks could not own property or pass on the benefits of their labor to children. • End of the Civil War did not bring real freedom and equality. Southern states passed “Jim Crow” laws to enforce official segregation; upheld by Supreme Court as constitutional in 1896. • Informal control forced segregation through vigilante terror. Example: Ku Klux Klan. • Landmark Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education (1954), outlawed segregation of public school students: “Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal.” • During the 1960s, a vast civil rights movement emerged. Examples: Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), founded by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.; National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). • Black power movement rejected the goal of assimilation into White middle-class society and defended the beauty of Black and African cultures. • Blacks represent 6 percent or less of all physicians, engineers, scientists, lawyers, judges, and marketing managers. 2. Native Americans • Today, 2.5 million Native Americans represent a diverse array of cultures, distinguishable by language, family organization, religion, and livelihood. • 554 tribal groups in the United States. • Since 1960, the count of Native Americans has tripled, suggesting Native Americans are no longer concealing their identity. • Introduction of gambling on Indian reservations provokes controversy. 3. Asian Americans • Diverse group, and one of the fastest growing segments of the U.S. population (up 43 percent between 2000 and 2010). • Held as a model or ideal minority group. • Southeast Asians living in the U.S. have the highest rate of welfare dependency of any racial or ethnic group. • Work in the same occupations as Whites but still experience the glass ceiling. a. Vietnamese Americans • Came to U.S. largely after Vietnam War and U.S. withdrawal in 1975. • Have gravitated toward larger urban areas. b. Chinese Americans • Encouraged to immigrate to U.S. from about 1850 to 1880. Thousands were lured by job opportunities created by the discovery of gold. But as competition for jobs grew, they became targets of bitter efforts to limit their numbers and restrict their rights. Example: Chinese Exclusion Act (1882). • Currently, about 3 million live in the U.S. c. Japanese Americans • About 100,000 live in the U.S. The first generation Issei were largely males seeking employment opportunities. • Attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 had severe repercussions. Detention of Japanese Americans in “evacuation” camps caused them severe financial and emotional hardship. • In 1988, the Civil Liberties Act required reparations and apologies from the federal government for interned Japanese Americans. d. Korean Americans • Nearly 1.3 million live in the U.S., exceeding Japanese Americans. • The initial wave of immigration occurred between 1903 and 1910 with laborers going to Hawaii. The second wave occurred following the Korean War. Most were wives of U.S. servicemen and war orphans. The third wave is ongoing, with immigrants holding professional skills. 4. Arab Americans • Immigrants and their descendents from 22 countries in North Africa and the Middle East. • Estimated population of up to 3 million Arab Americans. • The Arab-American population is concentrated in certain areas of the U.S. • For years, especially after 9/11, Arab Americans have been subject to profiling and surveillance by law enforcement. • Most Arab Americans are not Muslims. B. Ethnic Groups 1. Latinos • Represent the largest minority in the U.S. More than 50 million in the U.S. • Rise in Latino populations is due to high birthrates and immigration. • Language barriers contribute to educational problems and low economic status of Hispanics. a. Mexican Americans • The largest of Latino populations in the U.S. – approx. 30 million. • Largely Roman Catholic, which increases conflicts with White Protestants. However, the Church does help many immigrants develop a sense of identity and assimilate into the norms and values of the dominant culture. b. Puerto Ricans • Second-largest segment of Latinos in the U.S. – more than 4 million. Have held American citizen status since 1917. • Many have migrated to New York and other eastern cities. • Those living in the continental U.S. earn barely half the family income of Whites. Reverse migration began in the 1970s, when more Puerto Ricans left for the island than were coming to the mainland. • Statehood discussions have resulted in continuing commonwealth status. c. Cuban Americans • Immigration began to flourish after Castro’s assumption of power in 1959. First wave included many professionals; more recent waves have been less likely to be skilled professionals. • Florida has been largest center of immigrant populations. 2. Jewish Americans • Almost 2 percent of U.S. population. Many became white-collar professionals. • Anti-Semitism refers to a prejudice directed toward Jews. • Today, American Jews are almost as likely to marry a Gentile as a Jew. 3. White Ethnics • 50 million claim at least partial German ancestry, 36 million of Irish ancestry, 18 million of Italian ancestry, and 10 million of Polish ancestry. • Many identify only sporadically with their heritage: Symbolic ethnicity refers to an emphasis on concerns such as ethnic food or political issues rather than on deeper ties to one’s ethnic heritage. VI. Social Policy and Racial and Ethnic Inequality: Global Immigration A. The Issue • Worldwide immigration is at an all-time high, raising questions for the countries to which people immigrate. B. The Setting • People migrate into countries where there is perceived economic opportunity. • Seven countries, including Germany, France, the United Kingdom, and the United States, shelter one-third of the world’s immigrants. Many of these people are transnationals, people who move across borders many times in search of jobs and education. • Entrance policies in the U.S. favor family members and skilled workers. This results in increasing proportion of immigrants from Latin America and Asia. C. Sociological Insights • Immigration is functional. Immigrants adapt to U.S. society and become assets to the economy, alleviate labor shortages, remittances help the country of origin. • Dysfunctions include short-term stress on social services in communities with high concentrations of immigrants and loss of family members, skilled workforce for the sending country. • Conflict theorists note that racial and ethnic hostilities can be hidden in economic arguments. • Feminists note that immigrant women face economic hardship as well as the stress of negotiating the new system on behalf of their children. D. Policy Initiatives • Increased public perception that the U.S. has lost control of its borders has led to increased pressure for immigration control. • Legal consequences of hiring illegal aliens have increased, leading to protests by illegal immigrants, legal immigrants, and other citizens on both sides of the issue. • European Union is struggling with immigration policy. • Terrorist attacks of 2001 caused increased government scrutiny of immigrants as they attempt to travel to many nations. KEY TERMS Affirmative action Positive efforts to recruit minority group members or women for jobs, promotions, and educational opportunities. Amalgamation The process through which a majority group and a minority group combine to form a new group. Anti-Semitism Anti-Jewish prejudice. Apartheid A former policy of the South African government, designed to maintain the separation of Blacks and other non-Whites from the dominant Whites. Assimilation The process through which a person forsakes his or her own cultural tradition to become part of a different culture. Black power A political philosophy promoted by many younger Blacks in the 1960s that supported the creation of Black-controlled political and economic institutions. Color-blind racism The use of race-neutral principles to defend a racially unequal status quo. Contact hypothesis An interactionist perspective which states that in cooperative circumstances, interracial contact between people of equal status will reduce prejudice. Discrimination The denial of opportunities and equal rights to individuals and groups because of prejudice or other arbitrary reasons. Ethnic group A group that is set apart from others primarily because of its national origin or cultural patterns. Ethnocentrism The tendency to assume that one’s own culture and way of life represent the norm or are superior to all others. Exploitation theory A Marxist theory that views racial subordination in the United States as a manifestation of the class system inherent in capitalism. Genocide The deliberate, systematic killing of an entire people or nation. Glass ceiling An invisible barrier that blocks the promotion of a qualified individual in a work environment because of the individual’s gender, race, or ethnicity. Hate crime A criminal offense committed because of the offender’s bias against a race, religion, ethnic group, national origin, or sexual orientation. Institutional discrimination The denial of opportunities and equal rights to individuals and groups that results from the normal operations of a society. Minority group A subordinate group whose members have significantly less control or power over their own lives than the members of a dominant or majority group have over theirs. Model or ideal minority A minority group that, despite past prejudice and discrimination, succeeds economically, socially, and educationally without resorting to confrontations with Whites. Pluralism Mutual respect for one another’s cultures among the various groups in a society, which allows minorities to express their own cultures without experiencing prejudice. Prejudice A negative attitude toward an entire category of people, often an ethnic or racial minority. Racial formation A sociohistorical process in which racial categories are created, inhibited, transformed, and destroyed. Racial group A group that is set apart from others because of obvious physical differences. Racial profiling Any arbitrary action initiated by an authority based on race, ethnicity, or national origin rather than on a person’s behavior. Racism The belief that one race is supreme and all others are innately inferior. Segregation The physical separation of two groups of people in terms of residence, workplace, and social events; often imposed on a minority group by a dominant group. Stereotype An unreliable generalization about all members of a group that does not recognize individual differences within the group. Symbolic ethnicity An ethnic identity that emphasizes such concerns as ethnic food and political issues rather than deeper ties to one’s ethnic heritage. Transnational An immigrant who sustains multiple social relationships that link his or her society of origin with the society of settlement. White privilege Rights or immunities granted to people as a particular benefit or favor simply because they are White. ADDITIONAL LECTURE IDEAS 10-1: The Complexity of Racial and Ethnic Identity Race and ethnicity are not static, biological categories. They are very fluid and socially constructed. The diversity of the United States today has made it more difficult for many people to view themselves clearly on the racial and ethnic landscape. Obviously, the reason is that this “landscape” is not naturally but socially constructed and is therefore subject to change and to different interpretations. While our focus is on the United States, every nation faces the same dilemmas. Within little more than a generation, we have witnessed changes in labeling subordinate groups from Negroes to Blacks to African Americans, from American Indians to Native Americans or Native People. However, more Native Americans prefer the use of their tribal name, such as Seminole, instead of a collective label. The old 1950s statistical term of “people with a Spanish surname” has long been discarded, yet there is disagreement over a new term: Latino or Hispanic. As with Native Americans, Hispanic Americans tend to avoid such global terms and prefer the use of their native names, such as Puerto Ricans or Cubans. People of Mexican ancestry indicate preferences for a variety of names, such as Chicano, Mexican American, or, simply, Mexican. Some advocates for racial and ethnic groups consider names a very important issue with great social significance. If nothing else, others argue, changes in names reflect people taking over the power to name themselves. Still others see this as a nonissue, or as editor Anna Maria Arias of Hispanic magazine termed the debate, “It’s stupid. There are more important issues we should be talking about” (Bennett 1993: A10). In the United States and other multiracial, multiethnic societies, panethnicity has emerged. Panethnicity is the development of solidarity among ethnic subgroups. The coalition of tribal groups as Native Americans or American Indians to confront outside forces, notably the federal government, is one example of panethnicity. Hispanics/Latinos and Asian Americans are other examples of panethnicity. Is panethnicity a convenient label for “outsiders” or is it a term that reflects a mutual identity? Certainly, many people are unable or unwilling to recognize ethnic differences and prefer umbrella terms like “Asian Americans.” For some small groups, combining with others is emerging as a useful way to make themselves heard, but there is always a fear that their own distinctive culture will become submerged. While many Hispanics share the Spanish language and many are united by Roman Catholicism, only one in four native-born people of Mexican, Puerto Rican, or Cuban descent prefers a panethnic label over nationality or ethnic identity. Yet the growth of a variety of panethnic associations among many groups, including Hispanics, continues. There is even less agreement about how to identify oneself in racially conscious America if one is of “mixed ancestry.” Roberto Chong, who immigrated to the United States, has a Chinese father and a Peruvian mother. He considers himself “Hispanic,” but others view him as “Asian” or “Latino Asian American.” Few intermarriages exist in America, and social attitudes discourage them, but such unions are on the increase. Interracial marriages have climbed from 44,598 in 1970 to 54,251 in 1994 and interracial births doubled from 63,700 in 1978 to 133,200 in 1992. In a race-conscious society, how are we going to respond to these multiracial children? As the mother of one such child, Hannah Spangler, noted, how is she to complete the school form as Hannah starts first grade in Washington, DC? Hannah’s father is White and her mother is half Black and half Japanese. We may be slowly recognizing that the United States is a multiracial society, but we are not prepared to respond to such a society. Add to this cultural mix the many peoples with clear social identities who are not yet generally recognized in the United States. Arabs are a rapidly growing segment whose identity is heavily subject to stereotypes or, at best, is still ambiguous. Haitians and Jamaicans affirm they are Black but rarely accept the identity of African Americans. Brazilians, who speak Portuguese, often object to being called Hispanic because of that term’s association with Spain. Similarly, there are White Hispanics and non-White Hispanics, some of the latter being Black, and others, like Robert Chong, Asian. As the future of African-American people in the United States unfolds, one element of the population complicating racial identity, generally unnoticed thus far, may move into prominence. An ever-growing proportion of the Black population consists of people of foreign birth. In the 1980 census, 816,000 foreign-born Blacks were counted, or 3.1 percent of the Black population, the highest ever recorded. Yet by 1994, the number had nearly doubled to 1,596,000, which constituted 5.1 percent of the Black population. Fully 10 percent of the foreign-born population arrived in the preceding four years with the primary sources of the immigration being the island nations of the Caribbean. The numbers are expected to increase, as is the proportion of the African-American population that is foreign-born. Diversity exists to a significant degree within the Black community today, reaffirming the notion that race is socially constructed. Another challenge to identify is marginality, which refers to the status of being between two cultures, as in the case of an individual whose mother is a Jew and whose father is a Christian. Incomplete assimilation, as in a Korean woman’s migrating to the United States, also results in marginality. While she may take on the characteristics of her new host society, she may not be fully accepted and may therefore feel neither Korean nor American. The marginal person finds himself or herself being perceived differently in different environments, with varying expectations. In a family circle, the marginal person’s ethnic heritage is clear, but in the workplace, different labels may be used to identify this person. As we seek to better understand diversity in the United States, we must be mindful that ethnic and racial labels are just that: labels that have been socially constructed. Yet these social constructs can have a powerful impact, whether self-applied or applied by others. Sources used for this essay include the following: Philip Bennet, “Ethnic Labels Fail to Keep Up with Reality,” Cincinnati Enquirer (November 8, 1993): A10; Janet Marcini Bilson, “No Owner of Soil: The Concept of Marginality Revisited on Its Sixtieth Birthday,” International Review of Sociology 18 (Autumn 1988): 183–204; Bureau of the Census. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, p. 55; Rodolfo O. de la Garza, Louis De Sipio, F. Chris Garcia, and Angelo Falcon. Latino Voices: Mexican, Puerto Rican, and Cuban Perspectives on American Politics. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1992; Yen Le Espiritu. Asian American Panethnicity: Bridging Institutions and Identities. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1992; Kristian A. Hansen and Amara Bachu, “The Foreign-Born Population: 1994,” Current Population Reports, ser. p-20, no. 486. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1995; Susan Kalish, “Multiracial Births Increase as U.S. Ponders Racial Definitions,” Population Today 24 (April 1995): 1–2; David Lopez and Yen Espiritu, “Panethnicity in the United States: A Theoretical Framework,” Ethnic and Racial Studies 13 (April 1990): 198–224; Joanne Nagel, “Constructing Ethnicity: Creating and Re-creating Ethnic Identity and Culture,” Social Problems 41 (Spring 1994): 152–176; Michael Omi and Howard Winant. Racial Formation in the United States (2nd ed.). New York: Routledge, 1994; Robert E. Park, “Human Migration and the Marginal Man,” American Journal of Sociology 33 (May 1928): 881–893; Everett V. Stonequist. The Marginal Man: A Study in Personality and Culture Conflict. New York: Scribners, 1937. 10-2: The Shared History of Blacks and Irish Americans Americans’ conceptualization of race, and of how the Irish fit into racial categories, has changed a great deal in the past 150 years. Chronicling the intertwined history of Irish Americans and African Americans is an excellent way to illustrate the social construction of race. Both racially and socio-economically, Blacks and Irish Americans today would seem to be two very distinctive groups. African Americans experience significant racial discrimination, and are impacted by the residual effects of past institutional discrimination. By contrast, Irish Americans are not socially stigmatized for their Irish ancestry, as is suggested by the wide acceptability of intermarriage between Irish Americans and other White ethnics. Irish Americans have also been economically and politically successful, as indicated by the fact that a prominent Irish American (John F. Kennedy) was elected president. In the mid-nineteenth century, however, Irish immigrants and freed Black slaves had far more in common. Like Blacks, Irish immigrants were subject to a great deal of racial discrimination. Although considered White, as Celts they were believed to be racially different from Whites of Anglo-Saxon descent. Descriptions of Irish at the time even gave them physical traits that made them distinct from “other” White people, like a low brow, upturned nose, dark skin, and small physical size (Jacobson 1998). Moreover, free Blacks and Irish immigrants suffered the same racial discrimination and low social status. Both groups were subject to derogatory names that referenced the other group. Blacks were called “smoked Irish,” while Irish were called “niggers turned inside out” (Ignatiev 1995:41). Irish and Blacks often lived together in the same neighborhoods, where the Irish were just as impoverished as the Blacks. One study found a high concentration of both Blacks and Irish in a nineteenth-century neighborhood with the highest mortality rate—and one of the highest crime rates—in all of New York City. Both groups competed for the same jobs, and even lived together in the same homes (Hodges 1996). Not surprisingly, interracial couplings were fairly common as well, both in the United States and in Jamaica, where Black slaves and Irish indentured servants were sent to labor (Blockson 1977; Jamison 2003). The sources listed below—including a website documenting the intertwined history of these two groups—address both the shared history of Blacks and Irish, and the eventual political efforts of Irish Americans to extricate themselves from the association with African Americans. Sources used for this essay include: Charles L. Blockson. Black Genealogy. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1977; Graham Hodges. “‘Desirable Companions and Lovers’: Irish and African Americans in the Sixth Ward, 1830–1870.” Pp. 107–124 in The New York Irish, edited by Ronald H. Bayor and Timothy J. Meagher. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996; Noel Ignatiev. How the Irish Became White. New York: Routledge, 1995; Matthew Frye Jacobson. Whiteness of a Different Color. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1998; S. Lee Jamison, “How Green Was My Surname,” New York Times (March 17, 2003); Tangled Roots website, www.yale.edu/glc/tangledroots. 10-3: Interactionist Approach to Reducing Social Conflict: Robber’s Cave Experiment Social psychologists Muzafer Sherif and Carolyn Sherif and their colleagues created three summer camps for boys (in Connecticut, upstate New York, and Robber’s Cave, Oklahoma) in order to see how group harmony could be established or reestablished. Although somewhat different experiments were conducted at each camp, the central findings were identical. Boys aged 11 or 12 were chosen from different schools to attend what they thought was a typical summer camp. Upon arrival, the boys were separated into two groups: the Eagles and the Rattlers. They were occasionally brought together to compete. As the competition grew fiercer, physical encounters and raids followed. Intergroup conflict, even though experimentally created, clearly led to mutual disrespect between the two groups, just as it does in society. The question of greatest interest to Sherif and Sherif was how to reduce conflict. Appeals to higher values were found to be of limited value, just as “be good to your neighbor” messages do not remake society. Conferences between group leaders did not work; when some boys who were leaders agreed to stop the hostilities, their followers showered them with green apples, feeling that they had given up too much. (White, Black, Hispanic, and American Indian leaders who compromised also encountered antagonism.) When the two groups of campers were brought together in highly pleasant situations, such as meals with special desserts and movies, food and garbage fights took place. (Similarly, in society, when both majority and minority groups interact in rewarding circumstances, such as receiving federal aid, group competition continues.) Sherif and Sherif finally succeeded in reducing conflict by introducing a common task, a superordinate goal that needed to be reached. A superordinate goal is an objective of great significance that overshadows other aims. For example, the experimenters told the boys that the water supply had been “mysteriously” cut off; only if everyone helped could the source of the cutoff be located. A series of such events brought the boys together with no sign of the previous hostility. Interviews with the boys verified that a reduction in intergroup conflict had occurred; instead of selecting their best friends almost exclusively from their own group, Eagles chose Rattlers and Rattlers chose Eagles. Other studies using adults, sometimes in multiracial groups, have had similar results. However, great care has to be taken in generalizing from this type of study. First, Sherif and Sherif note that the goal cannot simply be a common goal that either group could attain on its own. The superordinate goal must be a compelling one for the groups involved and unattainable except by joint effort. Second, it is not enough to manipulate words and make people think that intergroup cooperation is necessary; common efforts and a concerted plan of action are also necessary. Third, the research setting does not make clear what would happen if the superordinate goal were not reached. Research needs to be conducted to see if each group would blame the other, leading to a rise in tension, or if mutual sympathy would improve relations. In terms of the larger society, the Robber’s Cave study cautions us against optimism about the effectiveness of appealing to higher values, holding “brotherhood” conferences, or rewarding everyone equally. Furthermore, the likelihood of positive change is nil so long as Blacks and Whites view life as a “zero-sum game,” a game in which someone’s gain is automatically someone else’s loss. (A federal grant to an Italian neighborhood, for instance, may be seen by Blacks as less money available for them.) In our society, competitiveness is difficult to escape. Superordinate goals would have to be identified and made attractive to everyone. To achieve this would, admittedly, require a restructuring of a society whose very foundations often encourage racism. Sherif and Sherif. Social Psychology. New York: Harper and Row, 1969, pp. 228–266. 10-4: Partial Assimilation—Jews During Christmastime Sociologist Walter M. Gerson has examined the cross-pressures experienced by Jewish-American families at Christmas, pressures that have been termed the “December dilemma” and “coping with Christmas.” The pressures vary by age (the Jewish child versus adult), residence (living in a Jewish or non-Jewish community), type of business, and type of Jewish faith. Gerson details the strain-reducing mechanisms Jewish people use to deal with the difficulties they experience during Christmas. These include: 1. Value hierarchy. Jews can teach their children that Hanukkah is extremely important for Jews, while Christmas is equally important for Christians. 2. Insulation. To some extent, Jews can isolate themselves from Christians during the holiday season by remaining in predominantly Jewish neighborhoods or traveling to areas where many Jews are likely to be on vacation. 3. Compartmentalization. Some Jews, while maintaining their traditional religious beliefs, may “pick and choose” among Christmas festivities in order to resolve cross-pressures. For example, they may decide to send out Christmas cards while refusing to buy Christmas trees. 4. Redefinition. Some Jews view most aspects of the Christmas celebration as social, and not religious, symbols. This may also be true for some Christians because of the development of Christmas as a highly commercialized holiday. 5. Patterned evasions. Jewish families may keep their children home from school when there are classroom Christmas parties. Such actions often have the tacit approval of school officials. 6. Hanukkah. The Jewish festival of Hanukkah, which often occurs shortly before Christmas, may take on greater significance in societies in which Jews live among a Christian majority. Hanukkah can serve as an alternative rationale for exchanging gifts, sending cards, and decorating homes. These adjustments vary with each individual and family and are not the same for all Jewish Americans. Nevertheless, the Christmas season is a time when many Jews feel marginal, or like outsiders, in an overwhelmingly Christian nation. See Walter Gerson, “Jews at Christmas Time: Role-Strain and Strain Reducing Mechanisms.” In Gerson (ed.), Social Problems in a Changing World. New York: Crowell, 1969, pp. 65–76. 10-5: The New Immigrants Not since 1910, at the peak of the last century’s great wave of immigration, has the ratio of newcomers to U.S. citizens been as high as it is today. In particular, those new immigrants who are remaining in the New York City metropolitan area are more diverse, have changed traditional settlement patterns, and have not followed the traditional politics of the earlier immigrants. Classic old ethnic neighborhoods that had successfully resisted change for half a century now belong to no one and to everyone. They are a clashing, colorful, polyglot, multiethnic collection of microcommunities, whose members sometimes come together on neutral ground. The earlier wave of immigrants was largely composed of Italians, Jews, Irish, Polish, and German ethnics, but the new wave includes Koreans, Hmong, Chinese, Ecuadorians and other Latin and South Americans, Indians, various Middle Easterners, West Indians, and Africans from numerous countries. They are oftentimes moving into the same ethnic neighborhoods that housed the earlier immigrants, but the communities are no longer as homogeneous as they once were. For example, in one Queens elementary school, Spanish-speaking children leave for special instruction with a Spanish-speaking teacher in their academic subjects, and in the afternoon the Korean and Chinese children are pulled out of the classroom to study in Korean and Chinese. While those children are gone, other teachers rotate in the class to help those who speak Arabic, Urdu, Bengali, and other languages. The new wave of immigrants has altered traditional settlement patterns. Earlier immigrants settled in relatively homogeneous inner-city communities and did not venture to the suburbs until their second or third generation. However, many new immigrants are moving directly to the suburbs surrounding New York City and bypassing the inner-city enclaves. In addition, these new immigrants are breaking the stereotypes of being poor, uneducated, huddled masses. Many of the new immigrants are economically diverse, equipped with graduate degrees and work visas, and gifted in science and technology. In one middle-class New Jersey suburb of New York City, the Asian population has climbed from 1 percent to 10 percent since 1980. Almost 10 percent of the children in the school system are not native speakers of English, and 41 languages are represented in the community, including 11 from the Indian subcontinent and four from China and Taiwan. One consequence of the changing characteristics of the immigrants and their settlement patterns has been in the area of community politics. Since the new immigrants are more fractured and diverse, it has been more difficult for them to unite into a political movement. For example, Dominicans comprise roughly 6 percent of the New York City population, West Indians about 8 percent, Chinese about 4 percent. Unifying these and many other groups is a politician’s nightmare. Nevertheless, coalitions are forming that are spanning ethnic divides, as the new immigrants realize that they share common problems in the changing political landscape. See Susan Sachs, “From a Babel of Tongues, a Neighborhood,” New York Times (December 26, 1999): 1, 32; also see David Chen, “Asian Middle Class Alters a Rural Enclave,” New York Times (December 27, 1999): 1, B9; also see James Dao, “Immigrant Diversity Slows Traditional Political Climb,” New York Times (December 28, 1999): 1, B11. 10-6: School Desegregation and the Hmong Community Wausau (population 30,060) is a community located in rural Wisconsin best known, perhaps, for the insurance company bearing its name that advertises on television. To sociologists, it is distinctive for its sizeable Hmong population. Wausau finds itself with the greatest percentage of Hmong of any city in Wisconsin. These Southeast Asians are 10 percent of the city’s population and 22 percent of its kindergarten pupils. But because the Hmong are concentrated in the more affordable downtown area, they constitute as much as 62 percent of the students in some schools. The Hmong immigrated to the United States from Laos and Vietnam among the refugees who came following the April 1975 end of the United States involvement in Vietnam. In the view of school officials, progress in teaching the Hmong English in Wausau was stymied because the newcomers associated mainly with each other and spoke only their native tongue. The Wausau school board decided in the fall of 1993 to distribute the Hmong and other poor students more evenly by restructuring its elementary schools in a scheme that requires two-way busing. The desegregation result has divided the city, with residents voting in a 1993 special recall election to decide whether to fire the five board members who backed the plan. “People feel this decision was just stuffed down their throats,” said Peter Beltz, director of Families Approve Neighborhood Schools (FANS), which fielded candidates and gathered the signatures for the recall. Wausau school officials said their plan, which is not federally mandated, is aimed less at achieving a more equitable socioeconomic balance and learning environment. The busing, they say, was begun as a convenience for parents, whose children now travel an average of two miles farther than before. Recalls are rare, but in December 1993, opponents of the busing plan that integrates Asian-American youngsters into mostly White grade schools won a majority on the Wausau school board by ousting five incumbents in a recall election. “Busing and partner schools as envisioned is [sic] over,” Don Langlois, one of the winners, declared after the votes were counted on a Tuesday night. “We plan to have a neighborhood school plan for the fall 1994 school year,” Langlois said. But board president Richard Allen, one of those defeated, said he expected supporters of the busing plan to take the matter to court with a lawsuit claiming that to remove busing would cause segregation. Christopher Ahmuty, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin, said after the successful recall effort that his group was willing to file a lawsuit to stop the school board from overturning the changes. “Where a governmental body by law engages in an intentional act of resegregation, that would violate all kinds of constitutional standards.” See “Victors in Recall Plan to End School Busing,” Chicago Tribune (December 16, 1993): 3; Rogers Worthington, “School Desegregation Efforts Divide Town,” Chicago Tribune (December 13, 1993): 4. Except for Beltz, all quotations are from the December 16 article. 10-7: The Complexities of Race and Nationality: The Case of Peruvian Japanese Miscarriages of justice have frequently befallen some racial groups. As noted in the text, the 1988 Civil Liberties Act authorized payments and a presidential apology to each surviving Japanese-American World War II internee beginning in 1990. Japanese Peruvians in the United States have not received the same positive, though belated, treatment. Approximately 1,800 Japanese Peruvians were brought from South America to the United States during World War II, with the full cooperation and involvement of United States officials, and sent to internment camps. In her book, Years of Infamy, Michi Weglyn speculates that the United States wanted the Japanese Peruvians for potential hostage exchanges with Japan or as a possible “reprisal reserve.” One of the Japanese Peruvian internees, Libia Yamamota of Richmond, California, spoke of her experiences at “day of remembrance” programs in San Francisco and San Jose in 1993. These programs are annual events held in remembrance of the internment. In 1943, Yamamota was only seven and a half years old and lived with her parents and two siblings in Chiclayo in northern Peru. In January 1943, Peruvian authorities took her father into custody. The rest of the family was rounded up in July and sent to the Justice Department’s internment camp at Crystal City, Texas. They were to remain there for four years, until 1947. Their ordeal did not end with the war and the closure of the camps. After 1945, Japanese Peruvians were caught in a complicated legal tangle because Peru would not allow them back, and the United States government, despite having brought the Japanese Peruvians here and holding them in custody, decided that they were in the United States illegally and could not stay. According to a government commission, most were deported to Japan, the only country that would accept them, even though many of them had never been to Japan. After years of legal uncertainty, in 1952 many Japanese Peruvians finally won permanent resident status from the U.S. government. After the Civil Liberties Act was enacted in 1988, Yamamota applied for and was ruled eligible for redress payments. Yet, the Office of Redress Administration (ORA) has ruled that many other Japanese Peruvians are not eligible. The difference is apparently a legal technicality involving whether they were granted permanent resident status retroactive to their date of entry to the United States. The ORA estimates that about 20 percent of the approximately 330 formerly interned Japanese Peruvians who remain in the United States are not eligible for redress payments. “We are all in the same situation,” says Yamamota, referring to the Japanese Peruvian internees. “It’s not fair that some are included [in the redress payments] and some are not” (Ota, p. 20). See John Ota, “50 Years Later, Many Internees from Peru Still Denied Redress,” Asian Week (February 12, 1993): 1, 20; Michi Weglyn. Years of Infamy. New York: Quill, 1976. 10-8: Immigrant Views of the United States Typically, surveys ask adults their views of immigration or their attitudes toward immigrants themselves. However, a 1995 Gallup survey asked a representative nationwide sample of foreign-born adults about their views of the United States. In descending order, the most important reasons for coming to the United States were these: better job, 26 percent; be with family, 23 percent; school, 19 percent; political freedom, 13 percent; marriage, 3 percent; religious freedom, 2 percent. Interestingly, 48 percent felt the “moral values” were better in their homeland, 33 percent said they were better in the United States, and 14 percent of the respondents said they were the same. Immigrants from Asia and Canada were particularly strong in endorsing the moral values of their homeland. Only those who are 65 and older are more likely to believe that U.S. society is morally stronger than their former homelands. Source: “Many Immigrants Believe Moral Values Are Lacking in the United States,” Emerging Trends 17 (November 1995): 5. CLASSROOM DISCUSSION TOPICS 10-1. Asian American Dreams: Questions for stimulating a classroom discussion about this excerpt from Helen Zia’s book could include: Why do we automatically assume that anyone who looks foreign is not a native speaker of English? Why do we not usually feel guilty about stereotyping? Would any of the class members care to share experiences of prejudice, discrimination, or stereotyping they have experienced? What does stereotyping tell us about ethnocentrism and ourselves? 10-2. Social Construction of Race: For activities to help teach how race is socially constructed, see Brian K. Obach, “Demonstrating the Social Construction of Race,” Teaching Sociology 27 (July 1999): 252–257. 10-3. Race and Popular Culture: The author explains the use of top-40 pop, folk, rhythm and blues, new age, and rap music to provoke discussions about race and ethnicity. Similar strategies may be utilized to teach other substantive areas in an introductory sociology course. See Theresa A. Martinez, “Race and Popular Culture: Teaching African American Leadership Styles through Popular Music,” Teaching Sociology 26 (July 1998): 207–214. 10-4. Stereotypes—A Class Activity: Before doing this class activity, stress to students that this is an exercise in stereotyping, and that they should refrain from making comments. List the various ethnic and racial groups that are discussed in the text on the board. Have students take a piece of paper and write down stereotypes they hold about the various groups. Stress to students not to identify themselves in any way. Collect the papers. List some of the stereotypes on the board. This activity will be more effective if you do it toward the end of class. Let students leave the room thinking about the stereotypes the class holds. 10-5. Race—Autobiographies: Linda Marie Fritschner has developed a discussion format that allows students to reveal their impressions about race in the United States, anonymously, and that lets the instructor use these impressions as a means of better understanding the state of past and present race relations in the U.S. Linda Marie Fritschner, “Lessons About Race in Introductory Sociology,” Teaching Sociology 29 (January 2001): 110-115. 10-6. Picturing Stereotypes: Jacqueline Simpson describes an activity through which student-drawn pictures illustrate basic race and gender stereotypes. See James Sikora and Teodora O. Amoloza (eds.), Introductory Sociology Resource Manual (5th ed.). Washington, DC: American Sociological Association, 2000, p. 203. 10-7. Museums as a Useful Tool for Exploring Ethnic Diversity: See Edith W. King, “Using Museums for More Effective Teaching of Ethnic Relations,” Teaching Sociology 20 (April 1992): 114–120. 10-8. Social Distance Scale: See Marietta Morrissey, “Exploring Social Distance in Race and Ethnic Relations Courses,” Teaching Sociology 20 (April 1992): 121–124. 10-9. Discrimination on Television: Does the popular television program Jeopardy! discriminate in its recruitment? Poet Maya Angelou—a self-professed fan of the game show—thought so, and is now working with the program to bring on more African-American contestants. See Lisa Miller and Ileane Rudolph, “Jeopardy! Seeks Answers to Questions of Bias,” TV Guide 44 (February 17, 1996): 46. 10-10. Institutional Discrimination: Use this exercise as an interesting way to illuminate the concept of institutional discrimination. Brian K. Orbuch, “Teaching about Institutional Discrimination and the Controversies of Affirmative Action,” Teaching Sociology 28 (January 2000): 50-55. 10-11. Implicit Associations: Researchers at Harvard University have devised an interesting way to gauge associations between social or demographic variables (such as race, religion, sexual orientation, etc.) and personality or character traits (trustworthiness, for example). In other words, the Implicit Association Test seeks to find the relationship between unconscious thoughts and feelings. The quizzes cover a wide range of possible prejudices, including age, weight, race, and sexual orientation. To take this test, have students visit the implicit association website at https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/. First select “demonstration,” then select “go to the demonstration tests,” then indicate “acceptance” of having read the disclaimer, and then select “Race IAT.” TOPICS FOR STUDENT RESEARCH AND CLASSROOM DISCUSSION 1. Ask students to search for evidence of racial stereotyping in commercials, television shows, and movies. Answer: Students should search for examples of racial stereotyping in commercials, television shows, and movies, analyzing how these portrayals perpetuate stereotypes and affect societal perceptions of different racial groups. 2. Research examples of institutional discrimination on the state, local, or national level. Areas to consider might be real estate, public education, and lending. Answer: Research institutional discrimination in areas such as real estate, public education, and lending. Examine how these practices affect access to resources and opportunities for marginalized groups. 3. Ask students to research Department of Justice statistics on hate crimes for frequency and geographic patterns, and discuss how prejudice leads to discriminatory behaviors. Answer: Analyze Department of Justice statistics on hate crimes, focusing on their frequency and geographic distribution. Discuss how prejudice translates into discriminatory behaviors and impacts targeted communities. 4. Ask students to provide examples of how government officials may try to justify racial profiling in the aftermath of 9/11, and discuss the Social Policy section on racial profiling. Answer: Investigate how government officials have justified racial profiling post-9/11, and discuss the implications of these justifications as detailed in social policy discussions on racial profiling. 5. Ask students to report on any past experiences in which they changed their opinion about a person after working or socializing with them, and discuss the contact hypothesis. Answer: Share personal experiences where opinions about someone changed after direct interaction, and discuss the contact hypothesis, which suggests that increased contact between groups can reduce prejudice and improve intergroup relations. 6. Ask students to identify Black comedians who use racial humor as a base for their routine, and discuss whether Black comedians making fun of Blacks encourages amalgamation, assimilation, segregation, or pluralism. Answer: Identify Black comedians who use racial humor in their routines and discuss whether this humor fosters amalgamation, assimilation, segregation, or pluralism, considering how it impacts racial dynamics and social integration. SERVICE LEARNING ACTIVITIES Another important question to consider is whether America is a nation that is Color Blind or a nation still in a Color Bind? What can average citizens do to help to make this one nation that is indivisible? Race and ethnicity have been important factors since this nation was conceived. Today is no different. Each one must teach one that the color of one’s skin is truly not as important as his/her character. Interacting with one another is how perceptions change and stereotypes are dispelled. Have students interact and contribute in communities other than their own. Remember that “you don’t have to live there to give there.” Serve and learn: Have students volunteer at a Boys and Girls Club, YMCA, or YWCA, etc., located in a neighborhood unlike their own—specifically a neighborhood with a racial make-up that is predominately different from the race/ethnicity of the student volunteer. There are also a number of organizations that work on revitalization projects in minority communities. They clean up playgrounds or paint community centers. These organizations are easy to find. Consult your City Council person for information. Have your students join one of these organizations. These groups are always in need of volunteers. Instructor Manual for Sociology in Modules Richard T. Schaefer 9780078026812, 9780071318419