ch 7- race and ethnicity

Question 1

Race

Answer 1

human beings attempt to identifiy biologically distinct groupings based on physical appearance

Question 2

why are classification systems problematic?

Answer 2

people do not always fit neatly into a single category

Question 3

Race and biology/genetics

Answer 3

• race is NOT a biological category
• physical variations between groups are a product of geographical adapatations
  -all humans are 99.9% genetically identical (race is not a genetic characteristic)

Question 4

why is race considered a social contruct?

Answer 4

• a product of human thought and interaction
• physical characteristics are used to distinguish racial groups and reflect cultural meanings
• the way we think about race varies by time and culture

Question 5

example of how the concept race has changed over time

Answer 5

the “ethically ambiguous” instagram face

Question 6

what is the “instagram face”

Answer 6

filters that mixes features to represent different ethnicities

-represents a shift to more diverse appearances and away from dichotomous thinking about race

Question 7

ethnicity

Answer 7

a learned cultural heritage shared by a category of people that can include common national origin, ancestry, styles of dress, language, dietary habits and ideology

Question 8

ethnic group

Answer 8

a group set apart from others based on its national origin or distinctive cultural patterns

Question 9

characteristics of ethnic groups

Answer 9

• may evolve in history
• may merge in place of migration
• one country/continent may comprise of many different ethnic groups

Question 10

ethnic dress

Answer 10

the dress of a particular group of people indigenous to a particular area, although one need not have lived there to claim ethnic affliation

Question 11

people can demonstrate their ethnic affiliation by

Answer 11

• wearing certain colors, shilouttes, patterns
  -wearing particular garments
• wearing jewelry
• making body modifications

Question 12

cultural authentication

Answer 12

process by which a foreign object (clothing/dress) becomes incorporated into a culture and becomes authetic to that culture

Question 13

4 stages of culture authentication

Answer 13

1. selection- adopting the object
2. characterization- when the culture gives meaning to the new object
3. incorporation- communicating about the object
4. transformation- altering the object for cultural distinctivness

Question 14

example of dress and change

Answer 14

tracthen- 16th century german dress of the Black Forest, still exists in contemporary culture but chaneged overtime to reflect more contemporary societies

Question 15

what is “lived practice” in terms of traditional ethnic dress

Answer 15

dress that evolves with the technology and social patterns of modern life

Question 16

Racism

Answer 16

a set of beliefs about the claimed superiority of one racial group: used to justify inequality and often rooted in the assumption that differences among groups are genetic

Question 17

microaggress

Answer 17

“brief” everyday exchanges that send denigrating messages to certain individuals based on their group memebership

Question 18

characteristics of microaggressions

Answer 18

1. expressed towards marginalized groups
2. can be verbal, non-verbal or behaviorals
3. are constant and consistent experiences of marginalized groups in everyday society
   perpetrators may be unaware that they have been demeaned recepients

Question 19

outcomes of microaggressions

Answer 19

1. lower self esteem
2. produce anger and frustration
3. sap psychic energy
4. diminsh feelings of worthiness
5. create health problems
6. reduce life expectancy
7. deny equal access and opportunity to education, emplyment, and health care

Question 20

racial profiling

Answer 20

the use of race of ethnic appearances by law officers to predict criminal behavior

Question 21

examples of racial profiling

Answer 21

1. searching individuals with an arab/muslim appearance at airports after 9/11
2. identifying asian American youth in CA as potential gang memebers
3. using codenames to flag black customers for in-store survelliance

Question 22

colorism

Answer 22

process of discrimination that privilleges light skinnes poeple of color over their darker counterparts

Question 23

characteristics of colorism

Answer 23

1. rooted in european colonization
2. related to racism, but not the sane
3. empowers people with light skin, so encourages darker skin individuals to partcipate in skin lightening

Question 24

black womens hair in contemporary beauty ideals

Answer 24

many black women in the US feel pressured to change their hair to fit in with white beauty aestheitcs, many natural black hairstyles have been deemed unprofessional and banned in workplaces

Question 25

cultural appreciation

Answer 25

• 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 culturees and using them appropriately

Question 26

positives of cultural appreciation

Answer 26

creates cultural awareness and leads to the appreciation of other cultures

Question 26

cultural appropriation

Answer 26

• adopting part of a culture that is not your own and using it for your own purpose or interest without understanding what it means in the original culture

Question 27

negatives of cultural appropration

Answer 27

can be harmful to those whose culture you are sharing and with those whom you are sharing it with, can create sterotypes of the culutre your are using

Question 28

acculturation

Answer 28

changes individuals under go as they move away from their society of origin to a society of settlement

• where they are a culutrally non-dominant group

Question 29

Barry’s Bi-dimensional model

Answer 29

increasing identifcation with one culutre does not necessitate diminishing identification with another

Question 30

what are the 4 strategies of Barry’s Bi-dimensional model

Answer 30

1. integration- a desire to maintain key features of heritage culture while adopting characteristics of majority group (most adoptive and associated with biculturalism)
2. assimilation- maintenance of heritge culutre is seen as undesirable while adaptive to majority is seen as highly important
3. separation- preference to maintain features of heritage culture while rejecting the culture of the majority group
4. maginalization- reject both heritage culture and majority culture (least adaptive)

Question 31

Latina Immigrants to the us

Answer 31

• individuals struggled to fit in at school based on the lack of access to name brand clothing
• resisted developing a look that would undermine their “true self” or change their culutral identity

Question 32

adolescent immigrant somali girls

Answer 32

• their clothing (headscarf) was perceived as a reason for discrimination
• decison to continue wearing the headscarf portrayed girls self exploration
• strong cultural identity wore headscarf
• those that abandoned their headscarf were more at risk for discrimination or rejection from their own cultural group