Race and ethnic inequalities An overview of the

Transcript:Race and ethnic inequalities An overview of the:
Race and ethnic inequalities An overview of the structural forces that promote racialized forms of injustice What is race? Race a social (not biological) construction which has classified people into different groups based on real or alleged physical characteristics (Feagan et al. 1998) Much more genetic difference within any given group, than between them Any two random people from around the globe share about 99.8% of their DNA All humans descend from a common ancestor Classification in the conventional socially constructed ideas of race have valued skin-color over more significant traits like anti malaria traits held in common between many Africans and Northern Europeans Ethnicity Ethnicity People who share common cultural characteristics as well as an ethnic identity and heritage (Curry et al, 2008). Politicized culture. The term has been largely racialized. Sinisa Malesevic (2004: 4) states “Ethnicity is not a thing or a collective asset of a particular group; it is a social relation in which social actors perceive themselves and are perceived by others as being culturally distinct collectivities” Concept of who is considered included in various ethnic categories may fluctuate depending on the origin and ethnic understanding of who is speaking. Definitions for inclusion criteria may vary. Labeling often imprecise, but may be more precise than racialized classifications (Malesevic 2004). Other important definitions Institutional Racism Institutionalized practice that differentially and negatively affect members of a ‘subordinate’ racial group (Feagin and Feagin 2012. 2012) Ideological or individual-level racism “an ideology that considers a group’s unchangeable physical characteristics to be linked in a direct, causal way to psychological or intellectual characteristics, and that in this basis distinguishes between superior and inferior racial groups” (Feagin and Feagin 2012: 6). Stereotype inaccurate and rigid images that summarize a belief applied to people in a particular category; “an overgeneralization associated with a racial or ethnic category that goes beyond existing evidence” (Feagin and Feagin 2012: 15). More Definitions Prejudice “Rigid and unfair generalization about an entire category of people” Macionis 2008) May be either positive or negative generalizations Ethnocentrism Evaluating another culture or ethnic group according to the person’s own cultures norms, values and beliefs Social distance scale How close people are willing to be with people in a particular category (high social distance indicates negative prejudice) Discrimination “Actions carried out by members of dominant groups, or their representatives, that have a differential and harmful effect on members of subordinate groups” (Feagin