Question

Answer the following questions:

1. What causes the variations in skin colors among humans?
2. What does it mean to say that race is a socially constructed concept? How is the concept of “race” understood presently by almost all social scientists?
3. What is the difference between a race and an ethnic group, and what do the two concepts have in common? Give 3 examples of each
4. What is institutional racism and why is it important? In your opinion, based on the lecture’s example on institutional racism is it possible for minorities to be “racist.”
5. What are the problems with describing the United States as just a “nation of immigrants”?
6. Briefly discuss push and pull factors and how they shape migration.                        
7. What is the difference between prejudice, discrimination, and racism?
8. Discuss the term stereotypes and the problems with both positive and negative stereotypes. How do stereotypes and prejudices maintain racial and ethnic discrimination?
9. Do you feel that racial images and stereotypes in the media are changing over time?  How are they changing?
10. Briefly discuss the different types of assimilation. In your opinion, which types can be detrimental to an ethnic group/ racial identity; and which types are necessary in order to adapt to and succeed in a given society.

            

Answer 1

• What causes the variations in skin colors among humans?

The variations in skin colors among humans because of melanin is a natural skin pigment. Hair, skin, and eye color in people and animals mostly depends on the type and amount of melanin they have. Special skin cells called melanocytes make melanin. Everyone has the same number of melanocytes, but some people make more melanin than others.

People have different skin colors mainly because their melanocytes produce different amount and kinds of melanin. The genetic mechanism behind human skin color is mainly regulated by the enzyme tyrosinase, which creates the color of the skin, eyes, and hair shades.

• What does it mean to say that race is a socially constructed concept? How is the concept of “race” understood presently by almost all social scientists?

Race is not biological. It is a social construct. There is no gene or cluster of genes common to all blacks or all whites. Were race “real” in the genetic sense, racial classifications for individuals would remain constant across boundaries.

The term race refers to groups of people who have differences and similarities in biological traits deemed by society to be socially significant, meaning that people treat other people differently because of them. Racism, then, is prejudice based on socially significant physical features.

• What is the difference between a race and an ethnic group, and what do the two concepts have in common? Give 3 examples of each

“Race” is usually associated with biology and linked with physical characteristics such as skin color or hair texture. “Ethnicity” is linked with cultural expression and identification. However, both are social constructs used to categorize and characterize seemingly distinct populations.

Race and ethnicity are two concepts related to human ancestry. Race is defined as “a category of humankind that shares certain distinctive physical traits.” The term ethnicities is more broadly defined as “large groups of people classed according to common racial, national, tribal, religious, linguistic, or cultural origin or background.”

An example of race is brown, white, or black skin (all from various parts of the world), while an example of ethnicity is German or Spanish ancestry (regardless of race) or Han Chinese. Your race is determined by how you look while your ethnicity is determined based on the social and cultural groups you belong to.

Examples of Race

While racial identity is variable when it comes to governments, it is typically broken down by biological region of origin or skin color. A few examples of racial identifiers or categories include:

• White or Caucasian - British, French, German, etc.

• Black, African American or Coloured People - Kenyan, Nigerian, Somalian, biracial, etc.

• American Indian or Alaska Native - Iroquois, Cherokee, Navajo, Haida, etc.

• Latino or Hispanic - Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, etc.

• Asian - Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Cambodian, etc.

• Pacific Islander or Hawaiian - Samoan, Tongan, Maori, Tahitian, etc.

While these categories can be broken up by descent, they can also be broken down by physical characteristics as well. For example, a person who identifies as "white" might do so based on skin color regardless of ancestral history.

Ethnicity Examples

The waters of ethnicity can get muddy because there are several subcategories and cross-cultural influences. While you might be of German ethnicity, you can also be of Afro-German ethnicity or Sorbs. Some major examples of ethnicity include:

1. Arabs - Populate such countries as Algeria, Sudan, Iraq and Saudi Arabia, mostly Muslim

2. Jewish - Judaism religion, languages like Yiddish and Hebrew, originated from Israelites

3. Irish - Catholic religion, traditions like St. Patrick's Day and Celtic music

4. Han Chinese - Largest ethnic group in China and worldwide

5. French - Unique traditions like All Souls' Day and St. Catherine's Day

6. Italian - Largest ethnic group in Italy covering 96%, Italian cuisine is popular in world food culture

7. Russian - Celebrate Orthodox and pagan traditions, including Maslenitsa

• What is institutional racism and why is it important? In your opinion, based on the lecture’s example on institutional racism is it possible for minorities to be “racist.”

Institutional racism (also known as systemic racism) racism expressed in the practice of social and political institutions. It can lead to such issues as discrimination in criminal justice, employment, housing, health care, political power and education, among other issues.

Institutional racism is distinguished from the explicit attitudes or racial bias of individuals by the existence of systematic policies or laws and practices that provide differential access to goods, services and opportunities of society by race. Institutional racism results in data showing racial gaps across every system. For children and families it affects where they live, the quality of the education they receive, their income, types of food they have access to, their exposure to pollutants, whether they have access to clean air, clean water or adequate medical treatment, and the types of interactions they have with the criminal justice system.

• What are the problems with describing the United States as just a “nation of immigrants”?

The United States prides itself on being a nation of immigrants, and the country has a long history of successfully absorbing people from across the globe. The integration of immigrants and their children contributes to our economic vitality and our vibrant and ever changing culture. We have offered opportunities to immigrants and their children to better themselves and to be fully incorporated into our society and in exchange immigrants have become Americans - embracing an American identity and citizenship, protecting our country through service in our military, fostering technological innovation, harvesting its crops, and enriching everything from the nation's cuisine to its universities, music, and art.

Today, the 41 million immigrants in the United States represent 13.1 percent of the U.S. population. The U.S.-born children of immigrants, the second generation, represent another 37.1 million people, or 12 percent of the population. Thus, together the first and second generations account for one out of four members of the U.S. population

• Briefly discuss push and pull factors and how they shape migration.   

People migrate for a number of reasons. These reasons may fall under these four areas: Environmental, Economic, Cultural and Socio-political. Within that, the reasons may also be ‘push’ or ‘pull’ factors.

Push Factors
Push factors are those that force the individual to move voluntarily, and in many cases, they are forced because the individual risk something if they stay. Push factors may include conflict, drought, famine, or extreme religious activity.

Poor economic activity and lack of job opportunities are also strong push factors for migration. Other strong push factors include race and discriminating cultures, political intolerance and persecution of people who question the status quo.         

Pull Factors
Pull factors are those factors in the destination country that attract the individual or group to leave their home. Those factors are known as place utility, which is the desirability of a place that attracts people. Better economic opportunities, more jobs, and the promise of a better life often pull people into new locations.

Sometimes individuals have ideas and perceptions about places that are not necessarily correct, but are strong pull factors for that individual. As people grow older and retire, many look for places with warm weather, peaceful and comfortable locations to spend their retirement after a lifetime of hard work and savings. Such ideal places are pull factors too.            

• What is the difference between prejudice, discrimination, and racism?

Prejudice refers to irrational or unjustifiable negative emotions or evaluations toward persons from other social groups, and it is a primary determinant of discriminatory behavior.

Discrimination refers to inappropriate treatment of people because of their actual or perceived group membership and may include both overt and covert behaviors, including microaggressions, or indirect or subtle behaviors (e.g., comments) that reflect negative attitudes or beliefs about a nonmajority group.

Racism refers to prejudice or discrimination against individuals or groups based on beliefs about one’s own racial superiority or the belief that race reflects inherent differences in attributes and capabilities. Racism is the basis for social stratification and differential treatment that advantage the dominant group. It can take many forms, including explicit racial prejudice and discrimination by individuals and institutions (e.g., Jim Crow laws after the Reconstruction) as well as structural or environmental racism in policies or practices that foster discrimination and mutually reinforcing social inequalities (e.g., attendance policies that favor a majority group). Racism can also take the form of unconscious beliefs, stereotypes, and attitudes toward racial groups in the form of implicit bias (e.g., assuming limited ability when students speak non-standard English; fearful responses to verbal or physical behavior of non-White students). Other forms of racism are modern symbolic racism in which individuals deny the continued existence of racial inequality while contributing to discrimination and aversive racism through ingroup favoritism for the dominant racial group.

• Discuss the term stereotypes and the problems with both positive and negative stereotypes. How do stereotypes and prejudices maintain racial and ethnic discrimination?

A stereotype is an over-generalized belief about a particular category of people. It is an expectation that people might have about every person of a particular group. The type of expectation can vary; it can be, for example, an expectation about the group's personality, preferences, or ability.

A positive stereotype refers to a subjectively favourable belief held about a social group. Common examples of positive stereotypes are Asians with better math ability, African Americans with greater athletic ability, and women with being warmer and more communal. As opposed to negative stereotypes, positive stereotypes represent a "positive" evaluation of a group that typically signals an advantage over another group. As such, positive stereotypes may be considered a form of compliment or praise. However, positive stereotypes can have a positive or negative effect on targets of positive stereotypes. The positive or negative influence of positive stereotypes on targets depends on three factors: (1) how the positive stereotype is stated, (2) who is stating the positive stereotype, (3) in what culture the positive stereotype is presented (e.g., Western contexts vs. East Asian contexts).

Negative stereotypes are traits and characteristics, negatively valenced and attributed to a social group and to its individual members.

• Do you feel that racial images and stereotypes in the media are changing over time?  How are they changing?

Mass media have huge reach in society and are a key filter through which people learn about each other, yet countless studies demonstrate that these media continue to reproduce ethnic and racial stereotypes, with often harmful effects. In various mediums – news, drama, and gaming – ethnic minority groups are typically marginalized and overlooked. Very often, when they are represented, they are shown only in narrowly stereotyped roles, such as the model Asian migrant or the exotic Latina, or depicted negatively as the problematic “other,” disproportionately represented as violent or criminal, and “less than” dominant groups (i.e., less intelligent, less wealthy, less powerful). Ethnic minority media – that is, media produced by and for ethnic minority groups – generally offer more positive representations and a counter narrative to mainstream stereotypes but can also be prone to narrow typecasting and stereotype. The resulting pervasiveness of stereotyped representations across media formats and type is partly the outcome of complex media production processes, norms and values, commercial drivers, and a lack of ethnic minority media producers. Nonetheless, their impact, though hard to measure, is potentially significant. Mass media play a role in shaping collective identities and intergroup attitudes and, by typecasting certain groups, distort the picture that audiences see of different groups. There is evidence to suggest these skewed media representations can not only promote public hostility toward other ethnic groups but also lower ethnic minority individuals’ self-esteem. As a result, research into ways to combat stereotypes and promote more positive representations in the media is critical.

• Briefly discuss the different types of assimilation. In your opinion, which types can be detrimental to an ethnic group/ racial identity; and which types are necessary in order to adapt to and succeed in a given society.

Assimilation describes the process of social, cultural, and political integration of a minority into a dominant culture and society.

Assimilation describes the process by which a minority integrates socially, culturally, and/or politically into a larger, dominant culture and society. The term assimilation is often used in reference to immigrants and ethnic groups settling in a new land. Immigrants acquire new customs and attitudes through contact and communication with a new society, while they also introduce some of their own cultural traits to that society.

Assimilation usually involves a gradual change of varying degree. Full assimilation occurs when new members of a society become indistinguishable from native members.