Aug 28 & Sept 4 Flashcards
culture definition 1
complex whole which includes:
- knowledge
- belief
- art
- morals
- law
- custom
- any other capability/habits
acquired by a member of society
EB Tylor definition of culture
complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom, and any other capability/habits acquired by a member of society
culture other definitions
set of attitudes, values, beliefs, and norms that are shared within a group and transmitted across generations
create MEANING and SYMBOLIC REPRESENTATION
EXTERNAL
ACQUIRED
TRANSMISSIBLE
ethnicity
group of people with COMMON CULTURAL TRAITS
language, place of origin, customs, religion, history, traditions, values, beliefs, food, style of dress…
OPEN, FLEXIBLE, SUBJECT TO CHANGE
race is a… and therefore…
social construction
therefore definition changes across time and context
3 definitions of race
characterization of a group of people believed to share physical characteristics like skin colour, facial features, and other hereditary traits
APA Publication Manual - physical differences that groups and cultures consider socially significant
racial categorization is far more than a simple matter of physical appearance or biology, but rather a dynamic process informed by a number of sociocultural, motivation, and cognitive factors
example of social construction of race
Apartheid in South Africa
Filipinos were considered “non-white”
Japanese, Taiwanese and Koreans were “honorary whites”
privilege
an invisible package of unearned assets that one can count on cashing in each day, but which one is “meant” to remain oblivious
- Peggy McIntosh
discrimination
unfair treatment on basis of some aspect of identity or group membership
- racism
- sexism
- heterosexism
- ableism
- ageism
- xenophobia
bias/prejudice based on perceived group identities can manifest through…
systems
structures
interpersonal acts
can discrimination be both perceived or actual?
yes
ethnic-racial discrimination
the BEHAVIOURAL component of racism
initial definition of racism: systems where certain racial groups are privileged over others
initial definition of racism
systems where certain racial groups are privileged over others
everyday discrimination scale
Williams et al
In your day to day life, how often do any of the following things happen to you?
1. you’re treated with less courtesy than other people are
2. you’re treated with less respect than other people are
3. you receive poorer service than other people at restaurants or stores
4. people act as if they think you’re not smart
5. people act as if they’re afraid of you
…
9. you are threatened or harassed
response options: never, less than once a year, a few times a year, a few times a month, at least once a week, almost everyday
Is Williams’ Everyday Discrimination Scale specific to certain types of discrimination?
no, they’re general
advantage: they can apply to many
disadvantage: they miss some specificity and intersectionality
Scheim & Bauer Intersectional Discrimination Index (InDI)
a measure of discrimination
- because of who you are, has a health care provider ever refused you care?
- …fired or dismissed from a job, or been
- …denied housing
- unable to open a bank account, cash a cheque, or get a loan?
…
- Had someone take, damage, or vandalize your proerty?
response options: never, once, more than once
everyday discrimination scale response options
never, less than once a year, a few times a year, a few times a month, at least once a week, almost everyday
intersectional discrimination index response options
never, once, more than once
everyday discrimination scale versus intersectional discrimination index
InDI = more specific, detailed, concrete, about major life events
microaggressions
brief, everyday exchanges that send denigrating messages to people of colour because they belong to a racial minority group
polite racism
“where are you from?”
“you must be good at math”
classes of racial microaggressions
- alien in own land
- ascription of intelligence
- colour blindness
- criminality/assumptions of criminal status
- denial of individual racism
- myth of meritocracy
- pathologizing cultural values/communication styles
- second-class citizen
- environmental micro-aggressions
alien in own land micro-aggression
when Asian Americans and Latino Americans are assumed to be foreign-born
ie. “where are you from?”
ascription of intelligence micro-aggression
assigning a degree of intelligence to a person of colour on the basis of their race
ie. “you are a credit to your race”, “you are so articulate”
colour blindness micro-aggression
statements which indicate that a White person doesn’t want to acknowledge race
ie. “when I look at you, I don’t see colour”
criminality/assumption of criminal status micro-aggression
a person of colour is presumed to be dangerous, criminal, or deviant on the basis of their race
ie. white person clutching purse/wallet as POC walks by
denial of individual racism micro-aggression
a statement made when Whites renounce their racial biases
ie. “I’m not racist, I have several Black friends”
myth of meritocracy micro-aggression
statements which assert that race doesn’t play a role in succeeding in career advancement or education
ie. “I believe the most qualified person should get the job”
pathologizing cultural values/communication styles micro-aggression
the notion that the values and communication styles of the dominant/White culture are ideal
ie. “why are you so quiet? we want to know want you think” to an Asian person
second-class citizen micro-aggression
occurs when a White person is given preferential treatment as a consumer over a person of colour
ie. person of colour mistaken for a service worker
environmental microagressions
macro-level micro-aggressions, which are more apparent on a systemic level
ie. uni buildings named after White heterosexual upper class males
3 classes of microaggressions
- microinsult
- microassault
- microinvalidation
4 types of microinsult
- ascription of intelligence
- second class citizen
- pathologizing cultural values/communication styles
- assumption of criminal status
microinsult
often unconscious
behavioural/verbal remarks or comments that convey rudeness, insensitivity, and demean a person’s racial heritage or identity
microassault
often conscious
explicit racial derogations characterized primarily by a violent verbal or non-verbal attack meant to hurt the intended victim through:
- name-calling
- avoidant behaviour
- purposeful discriminatory actions
macro level microaggression
environmental micro-aggression
environmental micro-aggression
racial assaults, insults and invalidations which are manifested on systemic and environmental levels
microinvalidation
often unconscious
verbal comments or behaviours that EXCLUDE, NEGATE, or NULLIFY the psychological
4 types of microinvalidations
- alien in own land
- colour blindness
- myth of meritocracy
- denial of individual racism
4 dilemmas created by microaggressions
- clash of racial realities
- invisibility of unintentional expressions of bias
- perceived minimal harm of microaggressions
- catch-22 of responding to microaggressions (“damned if you do, and damned if you don’t”)
clash of racial realities
individuals may differ in their perception of race relations depending on their place in the social hierarchy
a dilemma created by micro-aggressions
2019 example of clash of racial realities
2019 - pre-covid and pre-murder of George Floyd – US data
Whites and Blacks differ widely in views of how Blacks are treated
Blacks rate themselves as being treated less fairly than Whites than Whites think Black people are
ie. in dealing with police, in the criminal justice system, in hiring, pay, promotions
invisibility of unintentional expressions of bias
people not always, but often act with best of intentions
many micro-aggressions are both subtle and unintentional
given this, how can one “prove” a micro-aggression has occurred?
a dilemma created by micro-aggressions
perceived minimal harm of micro-aggressions
mosquito video
White people only get a few mosquito bites, but POC get them all the time
White people don’t get it
a dilemma created by micro-aggressions
damned if you do respond, damned if you don’t
- because of ambiguity, it can be hard to determine if micro-aggression occurred
- victim can connect dots from pattern of past experiences
- perpetrator often can’t - this is isolated event - what will happen if I respond? what are the consequences of not responding?
a dilemma created by micro-aggressions
conflicting evidence of micro-aggression ambiguity’s impact on health
Matheson et al study
survey-based study of 158 Black Canadians (M age 26, range, 16-65)
- ambiguous racism = more related to depressive affect than explicit experiences
experimental study with 112 White and 99 Black Canadians - watched videos hearing Black Canadians explicit and ambiguous racism experiences
- Black and white Canadians tended not to appraise ambiguous events as racist BUT
- in-the-moment distress from hearing accounts related to HIGHER CORTISOL only in BLACK CANADIANS
PART 1 Matheson et al 2021 study - conflicting evidence of micro-aggression ambiguity’s impact on health
study of 158 Black Canadians
ambiguous racism = more related to depressive affect than explicit experiences
PART 2 Matheson et al 2021 study - conflicting evidence of micro-aggression ambiguity’s impact on health
experimental study with 112 White and 99 Black Canadians
watched videos hearing Black Canadians EXPLICIT and AMBIGUOUS racism experiences
Black and White Canadians tended not to appraise ambiguous events as racist, BUT…
in-the-moment distress from hearing accounts related to HIGHER CORTISOL only in Black Canadians
experimental studies show that AMBIGUOUS PREJUDICE causes…
greater COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENT than blatant prej
Lui & Quezada meta-analysis of 72 studies…
showed that MICRO-ASSAULT (least ambiguous) micro-aggressions more strongly associated with adjustment than micro-invalidation or micro-insult
adjustment = wellbeing, psych health, self esteem
conflicting evidence of micro-aggression ambiguity’s impact on health shows that…
more research is needed
jury is out on if micro-assault is more or less harmful than more ambiguous
Pew 2019 data from US - % of each group saying each of the following has happened to them because of their race/ethnicity
same pattern for almost all questions, general order stays similar but slightly different between categories
Whites report least, followed by Asians or Hispanics and Blacks almost always report the most
measures:
- people acted like they were suspicious of them
- people acted like they thought they weren’t smart
prevalence of discrimination in Canada
ranking Black and White peoples’ experience of discrimination in the past 5 years
by reason for discrimination
Blacks report more for almost all reasons (race, skin colour, ethnicity, culture, language, sex, physical appearance, religion)
Whites report more for age, sexual orientation, physical or mental disability, “any other reason”
statscan prevalence of discrimination in Canada
Black people report highest (45.8%)
then “Other group designated as visible minority” (29.9%)
then Indigenous (27.5%)
statscan prevalence of discrimination from 2014-2019
reported experiences of discrimination are going up
increased from 2014-2019
Quebec March 23 2023
MNAs adopt motion saying Quebec is no more racist than elsewhere
“MNAs adopt the motion UNANIMOUSLY and without debate. The vote was 107 in favour…
[the motion] denounces “without nuance” any accusations to the effect that racism is more entrenched in Quebec than elsewhere…
the motion follows publication of new ANGUS REID POLL on ISLAMOPHOBIA in Canada
poll concludes 39% of Canadians outside Quebec hold an unfavourable view of Islam
in Quebec alone, the number is 52%
while 72% of Canadians support the wearing of hijab in public, number in Quebec is 55%
Angus Reid poll
on Islamophobia
released right before Quebec MNAs adopt motion saying Quebec is no more racist than anywhere else
poll concludes:
1. 39% of Canadians outside Quebec hold unfavourable view of Islam but in Quebec alone, the number is 52%
- 72% of Canadians support wearing the hijab in public, but in Quebec number is 55%
lecture summary
- discrimination = behavioural
- many forms ranging in severity
- micro-aggressions - harmful everyday exchanges
- 3 broad categories around diff topic areas
- create dilemmas for victim
- potential effects of ambiguity - interpersonal experiences of discrimination are common across NA
