Race and Ethnicity

Angie Andriot
Lecture 7
Last Time,

We:
What is social class?
 Sociological models of
social class
 Consequences of social

class
 Social mobility

 Poverty
Race
OR
Black (#000000) and white)
are opposite colors,
because they have opposite
RGB values.

#FFFFFF

#000000
#F
FF
FF
F
00
0000
#
 RACE
A group of people with
inherited physical
characteristics that
distinguish it from another
group
Based on perceived biological differences

Black the way we create racial categories

White from this data is socially constructed
Asian
Native American
Pacific Islander
“Perceived Biological
Differences”
Socially Constructed
Categories
Race is Social: Social
A modern idea:
No genetic basis
Human subspecies don’t exist
Skin color is only skin deep
Most variation is within, not
between, races
 Multiraciality:
Multiraciality
:
2000 census: finally people get
to check more than one box
“racial spies”
hybrid vigor myth
Post-raciality:
Post-raciality
: baggage
So if these racial categories
have so much
attached to them, why not
just stop using them?
Race
OR
 Ethnicity
A group of people with a
shared cultural
background that distinguish
it from another group
Hispanic Based on perceived cultural differences

Irish
Ethnicity is more easily achieved, while
Scottish
race is typically ascribed
German
Jewish
 Ethnic
Identity
Strength of identification influenced by:
 Relative size
 Power
 Appearance
 Discrimination
Ethnic work – the
way people
construct their
ethnicity