Chapter 10 Racial and Ethnic Relations

       Everyone is different as individuals. Yet people are brought together by similar physical characteristics or cultural backgrounds. These groups of people can be the “dominant” group of societies and the rest can just be minorities who the dominant group accepts or rejects.

       Race is a category of people who share inherited physical characteristics and whom others see as being a different group. Sociologists don’t really look at these different physical characteristics but see how people react to them. As an opposite we have ethnicity. Rather than physical characteristics, ethnicity is a set of cultural characteristics that distinguish a group. People who share a common cultural background are known as an ethnic group. Race and ethnicity are composed of different characteristics. Race refers to physical characteristics while ethnicity refers to cultural characteristics. Being a member of a certain race or ethnicity can result in being part of a minority group. A minority group is a group who because of their physical or ethnic characteristics are singled out and treated unequally. Historically scholars had placed people in three different categories which were Caucasoid (whites), Mongoloid (Asians) and Negroid (blacks). Yet these categories have many gaps for people can fit into more than one category.

This child would fit in both Negroid and Caucasoid categories because of his dark skina and fair hair.

       Scientifically no particular physical feature or ethnic background is superior. A minority status exists because it has been established by the dominant members of society. Discrimination can range from just being rude to committing violent acts. There are two types of societal discrimination, Legal discrimination which is upheld by law and institutional discrimination which is an outgrowth in the structure of society. Then there is prejudice. Prejudice usually comes with stereotypes (over simplified, exaggerated generalization about a group of people). Racism is the belief that one’s’ own race or ethnic group is superior than others. One of the most accepted explanations for discrimination is scapegoating or blaming an innocent individual or group.

       There are different patterns to which societies treat minorities. One of them is cultural pluralism. This policy allows each group in society to keep its unique cultural identity. Then we have assimilation which is the blending of two or more different cultural groups. Many countries have established legal protection to ensure the rights of the minority groups. Then there are policies that separate a minority group from the dominant group called segregation. Some places engage in subjugation or the maintaining control of a group through force. When the dominant group of society separates from the minority it’s called population transfer. The most extreme response to minorities is extermination also known as genocide.

       The world is full of different cultures with different physical characteristics and ethnicities. It can be very hard to classify physical characteristics because there are so many mixed traits. When a group moves to a new area and becomes a minority group they can either be accepted and integrated or frowned upon and segregating. The truth is that no physical trait or ethnicity is superior than others and that discrimination is just imposed by society.