Premed · Premed · Introductory Sociology
Lecture 11: Race and Ethnicity
Introductory Sociology
Learning Objectives
By the end of this lecture, students will be able to:
- Define race and ethnicity and explain why race is a social construction
- Distinguish between prejudice, discrimination, and racism
- Describe patterns of racial and ethnic interaction (assimilation, pluralism, segregation, genocide)
- Summarize the experiences of major racial and ethnic groups in the United States
- Apply theoretical perspectives to the analysis of race and ethnicity
Lecture Content
I. Race and Ethnicity: Definitions
Race is a socially constructed category based on perceived physical differences such as skin color, facial features, and hair texture. Race has no valid biological basis as a system of classification -- more genetic variation exists within racial groups than between them, and the Human Genome Project confirmed that all humans share 99.9% of their DNA. Nevertheless, race is socially meaningful because people perceive and act on racial categories. Racial categories vary across cultures and change over time: the Irish, Italians, and Jews were not considered "white" in early American history, Brazil uses dozens of racial categories, and the United States historically used a binary Black/white framework.
Ethnicity is a shared cultural heritage based on common ancestry, language, religion, customs, or nationality. Unlike race, ethnic identity is based on cultural characteristics rather than physical appearance. Examples include Hispanic/Latino, Irish American, and Chinese American, and people may identify with multiple ethnic groups.
A minority group is a category of people who are disadvantaged and subject to unequal treatment by the dominant group. Importantly, a minority group is not necessarily a numerical minority -- Black South Africans under apartheid were a majority but constituted a minority group in terms of power. Characteristics of minority groups include distinguishing features, unequal treatment, involuntary membership, awareness of subordination, and endogamy.
II. Prejudice, Discrimination, and Racism
Prejudice consists of rigid and unfair generalizations about a category of people. It involves attitudes and beliefs, not necessarily actions. Stereotypes are exaggerated and oversimplified beliefs about a group that can be positive or negative but in either case reduce individuals to group labels. Sources of prejudice include socialization, media, scapegoating, and ethnocentrism.
Discrimination is unequal treatment of people based on their group membership. Unlike prejudice, it involves actions. Individual discrimination occurs when one person discriminates against another, while institutional (structural) discrimination is discrimination embedded in the policies and practices of social institutions, such as redlining, biased hiring practices, and unequal school funding. Institutional discrimination can operate without intentional prejudice.
Racism is a system of beliefs and practices that produces and maintains racial inequality. It operates at multiple levels: individual racism involves personal attitudes and actions, institutional racism involves racial bias embedded in institutions, and structural racism is the cumulative effect of multiple institutions working together to produce racial inequality. Eduardo Bonilla-Silva's concept of color-blind racism describes the use of seemingly non-racial explanations to justify racial inequality -- the claim "I don't see color" can obscure real patterns of racial disadvantage.
Prejudice and discrimination are related but distinct phenomena. Robert Merton's typology identifies four types: the unprejudiced nondiscriminator (all-weather liberal), the unprejudiced discriminator (fair-weather liberal who discriminates due to social pressure), the prejudiced nondiscriminator (timid bigot who holds prejudice but does not act on it), and the prejudiced discriminator (active bigot).
<image>A 2x2 matrix diagram. The columns are labeled "Does Not Discriminate" and "Discriminates." The rows are labeled "Not Prejudiced" and "Prejudiced." Cell 1 (Not Prejudiced / Does Not Discriminate): "All-weather liberal -- consistent in belief and action." Cell 2 (Not Prejudiced / Discriminates): "Fair-weather liberal -- no personal prejudice but discriminates due to social pressure." Cell 3 (Prejudiced / Does Not Discriminate): "Timid bigot -- holds prejudice but does not act on it due to social norms or laws." Cell 4 (Prejudiced / Discriminates): "Active bigot -- both prejudiced and discriminatory." A caption reads: "Merton's typology shows that prejudice and discrimination are related but distinct phenomena."</image>
III. Patterns of Racial and Ethnic Interaction
Assimilation is the process by which a minority group adopts the culture and social practices of the dominant group. It can be voluntary or forced. Milton Gordon identified stages including cultural assimilation (acculturation), structural assimilation, intermarriage, and identification. Critics argue that assimilation assumes the dominant culture is the standard and may involve loss of cultural identity.
Pluralism (or multiculturalism) is a society in which multiple racial and ethnic groups coexist with equal rights while maintaining their distinct cultural identities. Canada's official multicultural policy exemplifies this ideal of diversity within equality. Segregation is the physical and social separation of groups, either de jure (legally mandated, as with Jim Crow laws) or de facto (resulting from social practices even without legal mandate, as with residential segregation). Segregation persists in housing, education, and social networks in the United States.
Genocide is the systematic killing of a group based on race, ethnicity, religion, or nationality. The Holocaust, the Armenian Genocide, the Rwandan genocide, and the genocide of Indigenous peoples in the Americas are all examples of this most extreme form of racial and ethnic conflict. Population transfer is the forced removal of a group from a territory, as with the Trail of Tears and Japanese American internment. Internal colonialism occurs when the dominant group exploits a subordinate group within the same society, as with the exploitation of Indigenous peoples and their lands.
IV. Racial and Ethnic Groups in the United States
Native Americans and Indigenous peoples experienced genocide, forced relocation, and cultural destruction through reservations, boarding schools, and broken treaties. They continue to face poverty, health disparities, and sovereignty issues.
African Americans endured slavery, Jim Crow segregation, and ongoing structural racism. The Civil Rights Movement achieved landmark victories, including Brown v. Board of Education, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Despite these gains, persistent disparities remain in wealth, income, education, health, and criminal justice. The Black Lives Matter movement has emerged as a response to police violence and systemic racism.
Hispanic and Latino Americans constitute the largest minority group in the United States, with diverse origins in Mexico, Puerto Rico, Cuba, and Central and South America. Key issues include immigration policy, language barriers, educational attainment, and labor exploitation. Asian Americans are an internally diverse group that includes Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, Korean, Indian, Vietnamese, and many other nationalities. Their history includes exclusion (the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882) and internment (Japanese Americans in World War II). The model minority myth -- the stereotype of universal success -- masks internal diversity and ongoing discrimination.
White Americans and European Americans constitute the dominant racial group in terms of power and privilege. The category of "whiteness" has expanded over time to include previously excluded European groups, and Peggy McIntosh's concept of white privilege describes the unearned advantages that accrue based on race.
V. Theoretical Perspectives on Race and Ethnicity
Structural functionalism notes that racial and ethnic categories serve social functions, including group identity and social cohesion, while recognizing that racism is dysfunctional because it disrupts social integration and wastes human potential. From this perspective, assimilation is seen as functional for social stability.
Conflict theory argues that race is used to justify economic exploitation and maintain power. Split labor market theory holds that capitalists use racial divisions to keep workers divided and wages low. Racial inequality is maintained by those who benefit from it, and the criminal justice system, education, and housing markets all perpetuate racial stratification.
Symbolic interactionism views race as a social construction maintained through everyday interactions. Racial identity is negotiated in social encounters, and labeling and stereotyping affect self-concept and life chances through self-fulfilling prophecy. Microaggressions -- subtle, often unintentional expressions of prejudice in daily interaction -- illustrate how racial meaning is constructed at the micro level.
<image>A timeline showing key events in U.S. race relations. Starting from the left: 1619 -- First enslaved Africans brought to Virginia. 1830 -- Indian Removal Act (Trail of Tears). 1863 -- Emancipation Proclamation. 1865 -- 13th Amendment abolishes slavery. 1882 -- Chinese Exclusion Act. 1896 -- Plessy v. Ferguson ("separate but equal"). 1942 -- Japanese American internment. 1954 -- Brown v. Board of Education. 1964 -- Civil Rights Act. 1965 -- Voting Rights Act. 1965 -- Immigration and Nationality Act. 2013 -- Black Lives Matter founded. Each event is marked with an icon and brief description. The timeline uses color coding: red for oppressive policies, green for liberating milestones. A caption reads: "The history of race in America is marked by both systemic oppression and movements for justice."</image>
VI. Race, Ethnicity, and Health
Significant racial and ethnic health disparities exist in the United States. Black Americans have higher rates of hypertension, diabetes, infant mortality, and lower life expectancy. The Latino paradox describes the finding that despite lower socioeconomic status, some health outcomes among Latino Americans are comparable to or better than those of white Americans. Indigenous Americans face high rates of diabetes, substance abuse, and suicide.
The causes of these disparities are structural. Differential access to healthcare and insurance, residential segregation and environmental racism, chronic stress from discrimination (explained by the weathering hypothesis and the concept of allostatic load), and provider bias and unequal treatment in clinical settings all contribute. Historical medical abuse, including the Tuskegee experiments and forced sterilization programs, has created justified distrust of the medical system. For pre-medical students, understanding the social and structural roots of racial health disparities is essential for ethical and effective practice.
