SYD 4700 Dr Tillman SYD 4700 Race and Minority Group Relations Exam 3 Study Guide The following are topics from the readings and class discussion that may be covered on the final exam You should be able to find information on all of these topics by going over your class notes and your answers to the reading questions posted on BlackBoard You may also find over heads used in class on BlackBoard under Handouts Overheads Ask if you have questions Be able to define and discuss the following terms Race a group of people generally considered to be physically distinct in some way from others and regarded by themselves or others as a distinct group Ethnicity a group of people who are recognized as a distinct group based on social and cultural characteristics nationality religion language Institutional Discrimination any arrangement or practice within a social institution or its related organizations that tends to favor one racial group usually majority group over another Conflict Perspective basic premise society is made up of groups with conflicting self interests society usually takes on the form that best serves the interests of the dominant group not every one assumptions of how the world works conflict is built into society one group usually be comes dominant consensus is artificial and temporary assumptions value judgments about how the world should work exploitation and domination are undesirable conflict and societal change are desirable because they can bring about greater equality Functionalist Order Perspective basic premise social arrangements exist as they do because they perform some function for society assumptions of how the world works society is made of interdependent parts all elements of society perform some function societies tend toward sta bility and consensus assumptions value judgments about how the world should work consen sus and stability are desirable conflict and societal change are dangerous and should be avoided or minimized Social Distance a preference to avoid certain kinds of contact with minority groups the closer the supposed contact the greater tendency to maintain social distance or avoid contact Ethnocentrism a tendency to view one s group as the norm or standard and to view out groups as not just different but also strange and usually inferior the ways on the in group are seen as natural or the only way of doing things and become a standard against which out groups are judged Ethnic Stratification a pattern under which social inequality falls along the lines of race or eth nicity one or more ethnic groups enjoy an advantage over another group with respect to wealth power prestige and other scarce resources Gary Becker s Theory of Discrimination a employer has a taste for discrimination due to per sonal prejudice or social norms that are prejudice discrimination ends up being dysfunctional for SYD 4700 Dr Tillman an employer and society over time discrimination should disappear as businesses fail discrimi nation benefits white workers inadvertently Split Labor Market Theory employer s best interest is to NOT discriminate but forced or pres sured to by mid level workers white workers discrimination is dysfunctional for employers and society discrimination benefits white workers purposely Marxist Theory employers discriminate to divide and conquer workers discrimination is dys function for all employers discrimination benefits employers where more discrimination and racial inequality exists we tend to see lower wages for all workers Culture of Poverty Theory falls under Order Functionalist Perspective poor people display cul tural characteristics and values that are not held by the non poor these cultural characteristics are predominant among the poor because enable poor to adapt to difficulties of poverty they are ra tional responses to the situation of poverty these cultural characteristics make escape from poverty difficult and cause poverty to be passed on over generations Social inequality in the form of poverty needs to be addressed only if the disadvantaged group is agitating for change or causes too much instability for the overall society This issue is solved if a way is found to change the disadvantaged group s behavior and culture assimilating Wealth the total value of all economic assets that people own minus debts differences in wealth between different racial groups are larger than income differences whites makes nearly 70 000 more than those of a different race Poverty what does the term represent and how is it measured an income level set by the US government for the purpose of counting the poor Index of Dissimilarity used as a measurement of segregation the index score can be interpreted as the percentage of one of the two groups included in the calculation that would have to move to different geographic areas in order to produce a distribution that matches the larger area Restrictive Covenants legal agreements specifying that land could not be owned or occupied by undesirable minorities such as Blacks Jews and Asians Redlining mortgage lending segregation practice refusal to make loans or issue insurance in certain neighborhoods based on the racial composition or average income in the neighborhood may also refer to lending or insurance discrimination against residents of urban neighborhoods based on the racial composition of the neighborhoods Racial Steering real estate segregation practice where real estate agents show white customers houses in all white areas and show black customers houses in all black or racially mixed areas Blockbusting real estate segregation practice where real estate agents or speculators attempt to scare whites into selling their houses at low prices because blacks are supposedly moving into the neighborhood this practice exploits black and white homeowners and encourages racial seg regation and rapid racial turnover in urban neighborhoods SYD 4700 Dr Tillman White flight real estate segregation practice suburban marketing to whites 1968 Fair Housing Act provided equal housing opportunities regardless of race ethnic or na tional origin and made it a federal crime and made housing segregation practices illegal helped reduce segregation during the Civil Rights Era along with changes in racial attitudes and the growth of black middle class Cultural Bias conflict theory the problem is found in the schools according to this view the reason for low achievement is a school s demand for certain values attitudes