ch 7- race and ehtnicity Flashcards
Race
human beings attempt to identify biologically distinct groupings based on physical appearances
race and biology
- race is NOT a biological category
-physical variations between groups- like skin color- are a product of geographical adaptations
race is a social construction
- a product of human thought and interaction
-physical characteristics used to distinguish racial groupings reflect cultural meanings
ethnicity
a learned culutral heritage shared by a category of people that can include common national origin, ancestry, styles of dress, lanugage, dietary habits and ideology
ethnic group definition
a group set apart from others because of its national origin or distinctive cultural patterns
ethnic dress
the dress of a paricular group of people indigenous to a particular area, although one not need top have lived in that area to claim ethnic affiliation
people can demonstrate ethnic affiliation by:
- wearing certain colors, silhouettes, patterns
-certain gamrents - certain jewelry
-making body modifications
cultural authentication
process by which a foreign object (clothing or dress) becomes incorporated into a culture and becomes authentic to that culture
4 stages of cultural authentication
- selection: adopting the object
- characterization: when the culture gives meaning to the new object
- incorporation: communicating about the object
- transformation: altering the object for cultural distinctiveness
racism
a set of beliefs about the claimed superiority of one racial group; ised to justify inequality and often rooted in the assumption that differences among groups are genetic
microagressions
“brief,” everyday exchanges that send denigrating messages to certain individuals because their group membership
characteristics of microagression
- expressed towards marginalized groups
- can be verbal, nonverbal, behavioral
- are constant and consistent experiences of marginalized groups in everyday society
- perpetrators may be unaware that they have demeaned recipients
outcomes of microagressions
- lower self-esteem
- produce anger and frustration
- sap psychic energy
- diminish feelings of worthiness
- create health problems
- reduce life expectancy
- deny equal access and opportunity to education, employment and health care
colorism
process of discrimination that privileges light skinned people of color over their darker counterparts
cultural appreciation
-when a person tries to understand and learn another culture as a way to expand their perspective and to relate to others cross-culturally
-involves understanding the meaning behind the symbols used from other cultures and using them appropriately
- creates cultural awareness
- leads to appreciation of other cultures
cultural appropriation
- adopting part of a culture that is not your own and using it for your own purpose without understanding what it means in its original culture
-can be harmful to those whose culture you are sharing and with those whom you share it
-can be harmful to the original culture by creating stereotypes
acculturation
changes individuals undergos as they move from their society of origin to a society of settlement, where they are a culturally non-dominant group
berrys bi-dimensional model
increasing identification with one culture does not necessitate diminishing identification with another
4 stages of berry’s bi-dimensional model
- integration: a desire to maintain key feautres of heritage culture while also adopting key feautures of majority culture. most adoptive and associated with biculturalism
- assimilation: maintenance of heritage culture is seen as undesireable while adaptation to majority is seen as highly important
- separation: preference to maintain features of heritage culture while rejecting the culture of the majority group
- marginalization: reject both heritage culture and majority culture. least adaptive
