Lecture 7 - Racial Inequality Flashcards
What does race commonly refer to in society?
- Nationality
- Region
- Religion
- Skin colour
- Thought to be biological, but it’s a social construct*
- Race is unstable, unreliable, creates cultural division, has no biological purpose*
Define race.
Category of ppl. who are perceived to share distinct physical characteristics that are deemed socially significant
- Classification is learned
- Categorizing by ascriptive traits
- Used to justify diff. treatment
Define ethnicity.
Shared cultural heritage/nationality
- More abt. identity
- Based on language, family structures + roles, religion, diet, artistic expression, national origin, the origin of parents/ancestors
What are the differences between race and ethnicity?
- Both are socially defined, derived from history
- Race is less fluid, harder to hide
- Race is more based on other’s perceptions (ethnicity is based on one’s own identification)
Define immigration.
Movement of pp. into a country from another
- Based on push/pull factors
Why has immigration become a bigger political issue?
- Increasing # of immigrants due to them being accepted legally VS illegally
- Needed due to lower birth rates (3.98 in 1960, 1.47 now, 2.1 replacement rate) –> bc of higher education, double income household, cost of raising kids, etc.
- Economically, the population needs to be retained, so reliance on immigrants is needed to be sustainable economically
Define racism.
The belief that race is a fundamental detriment of human traits + capacities, racial differences = superiority of one race)
Define prejudice.
Preconceived feeling/opinion formed w/o knowledge/reason/thought that prevents objective consideration of an idea/individual/group/thing
Why is immigration opposed?
- Ties to racism + prejudice
- Mostly white immigrants in the 60s, but not it’s from Asia/Middle East
- Combined w/ decline bias (tendency to compare past to present, leading to the conclusion that things are worse bc of change)
Define scapegoating.
Act of blaming a person/group for something bad, even if they aren’t at fault
Define assimilation.
Groups absorbed into the dominant culture (Melting Pot)
- Preferred over pluralism
Define pluralism.
Mixing of cultures, but each culture retains its unique identity (Cultural Mosaic)
Why is there a slight shift to negative views of immigration?
- False perceptions are created through echo chambers, creating a skewed view of current immigration
Does immigration hurt Canada?
- Immigrants contribute more in tax revenue than they take in gov’t benefits
- Low unemployment rates compared to Canadian-born workers
- Less likely to be arrested/convicted of a crime
- Better health, less illness/disability
- Children of immigrants have higher average rates of education
Define brain drain.
Emigration of highly trained/intelligent ppl. from a particular country (value of traits like health, education)
- Benefits host country, hurts developing countries
