November 5, 2012- Raceo “The division of the population into groups based on the perceived significance of biological differences,” Conleyo Race is a social constructiono Even if race isn’t real, it has real consequences- Human Genome Projecto Race is not biological, no genetic or scientific basis- El Salvador, 7 categorieso Two siblings can be two different raceso The wealthier, the whiter. The poorer, the blacker. Regardless of skin color.- US Censuso 1800’s White Negro Mulatto (“all persons having any perceptible trace of negro blood”)- Chinese- Japanese- Indian (Native American)o 1900’s White Negro (white+ any amount= negro) Chinese Japanese Indian (White+ Indian= Community Standard)- Community decides if someone was white or indian Mexicano 2010 “ethinicity” Very specific- Ethnicityo More to do with culture and/or nationo A category of people who are distinguished, by others or themselves, as inferior or superiors primarily on the basis of cultural or nationally characteristicso Dominant groups: a group that is advantaged and has superior resources and rights in a society.o Subordinate Group: a group whose members, because of physical or cultural characteristics, are disadvantages and subjected to unequal treatment by the majority group.o Dominant group has a lot of invisible privilegeo Whiteness is considered both the norm and the superior and there are consequeneso “If men define situations as real, they are real in their consequences.” (Thomas)- Racismo Attitudes, beliefs, and practices to justify superior group- Prejudiceo Negative attitude based on faulty generalization- Stereotypeso Overgeneralizations about all members of a group- Individual discriminationo One-on-one acts by members of the dominant group that harm members of the subordinate group or their property.- Institutional discriminationo Day-to-day practices of organizations and institutions that have a harmful impact on members of subordinate groups- Racism happens on the micro level- individual- Macro level- institutions- Ideology: a system of meaning that helps define and explain the world and that makes value judgments about the world.- Horatio Alger, Jr. o Strive to Succeed- storieso Working class boys, start out with nothing, then succeed. Rags to richeso “Horatio Alger myth” story that really isn’t true- Oprah- rags to riches story.- Paul Krugman: “The Death of Horatio Alger” (2003)o Class mobility over time Late1800’s through 1920’s- social classes were entrenched (born, live, die in same class). 1930’s-1970’s- more social mobility 1980’s- 2000’s- increasing class immobility “America is becoming more like a caste system”- Caste: a form of stratification in which people’s statuses are lifelong conditions after birth- Business Week “Waking up form the American Dream”o More than ¼ of the labor force are “trapped in low wage, dead-end jobs”o The “good economy” of the 90’s increased the wealth of the wealthy, social mobility for everyone else decreased.o A majority of the poor remained poor.o College is out of reach- Social mobility is lower in more unequal countries- What American’s believeo 46% there is more mobility in U.S. than Europeo 40% there is more social mobility today than 30 years agoo 35% say social mobility has not changedo 23% social mobility has decreased- Fixated on American dream so it shapes how we look at America. We see what we want to see.- WASP: White Anglo-Saxon Protestant o They are where they are because of what they were born into- Phippso Raised by nannyo All boys private schoolso Duke- Educationo A formal system of teaching knowledge, skills, and valueso Formal goal: to teach basic skills and impart knowledgeo Informal goal: to teach values and culture- Cultural Capital: Social assets such as values, beliefs, attitudes, and competencies in language and culture that are required for success .o Poor kid’s brains were damaged by: “stressful environments, low socio-economic status:fewer books, games, visits to museums.”- Preschool attendance is correlated with social classo Wealthier families have kids in preschool. Research: children who attend preschool fare better later in school- and even in their future careers.  IQ scores are correlated with social class Better schools are correlated with better schools. IQ tests have cultural biases. - Tracking: sorting students into different programs based on their perceived abilities. - Not all schools are created equalo Poor public schools: rural and urban locations aging facilities resource- poor low paid teachers limited course offerings sorting students into non- academic, vocational trackso Wealthy public schools Suburban Modern facilities Resource-rich Well paid teachers Wide variety of classes Sorting students into college trackso Rural and inner city students attend schools with less than suburan= score lowero Boarding schools Upper class communities Lavish facilities Resource-rich Highly educated, well paid teachers Abundant college- prep course offerings  Alumni networking All tracks lead to Ivy Leagueo U.S. Social Class Ladder Social class and cheating is correlated- Correlated with parents education- stand in for social class- The more education a parent has, the more likely a college student is to cheat.- Least likely to cheat- first gen, freshman- Most likely to cheat- fraternity and sorority students- Jonathon Kozolo Still separate, still unequalo American devalues children based on their birth- America in 2010 Rankingso 14th for readingo 17th for scienceo 25th for math- Teacherso 14% than other professionals with same amount of educationo Salaries have declinedo 62% of teachers work second jobso 46% of teachers quit before their 5th year- Best studentso S. Korea: 1st in reading and math, 3rd in science- S. Korea and Finlando Gov. recruits talented college students to become teacherso Finland pays for training- Differo Less homeworko No standardized testso More creative playo No private schools- What is the sociological imagination and what can it reveal?o Perspective- Johnson’s ideas:- American society: Individualistic perspective- Individualistic perspective conceals the influence of larger social forces (blind spot)- Sociology’s focus on the individual in society offers a corrective to the individualistic modelo C. Wright