Race and Ethnicity

Question 1

Ethnic Stratification:

Answer 1

The ordering of ethnic groups into a hierarchy of inequality, where some groups are dominant and hold greater power over other subordinate ethnic groups.

Question 2

Majority & Minority groups

Answer 2

Based on unequal power relations,

not numeric differences

Question 3

Ethnic Group:

Answer 3

A collection of people who, as a result of their shared cultural traits and generally high level of interaction, regard themselves and are regarded as a cultural unit

Question 4

Race:

Answer 4

Refers to the ‘social construction’ of a category of difference between populations of people

Is the result of an arbitrary value system imposed on the facts of biological variations in the human species

Question 5

Key problems with defining race with

physical criteria:

Answer 5

Arbitrary

Characteristics are not ‘clear-cut’

Question 6

It is a fact that in Western societies, physical diversity is used as a means of categorizing & separating people into groups that are then subjected to different kinds of social and economic treatment.

Answer 6

This is where power, stratification and inequality come in

Question 7

‘race’ continues to form the basis of one type of stratification and inequality. It causes:

Answer 7

social consequences’

Question 8

Racism:

Answer 8

Broadly speaking, refers to an organized set of beliefs about a perceived innate inferiority of some group based on ‘race’. This may combine with the power to transform these ideas into practices that deny or exclude equality of treatment.

Question 9

Discrimination can be:

Answer 9

Overt: the blatant act of mistreating one person or a group of people based on a prohibited basis. A prohibited basis would be race, religion, national origin, gender, marital status, age, or mental capability
Systemic/Institutionalized:the unjust and discriminatory mistreatment of an individual or group of individuals by society and its institutions as a whole

Question 10

Prejudice:

Answer 10

A favorable or unfavorable preconceived feeling or opinion formed without knowledge, reason, or thought that prevents objectiveconsideration of an individual or group.

Question 11

Social Distance Scale

Answer 11

I would accept ________ as a resident in my country
I would accept ________ as a resident in my community
I would accept ________ as a member of my school/church
I would accept ________ as my next-door neighbour
I would accept ________ as my close friend
I would accept ________ as a close relative
I would marry ________

Question 12

scapegoat:

Answer 12

a person or category of people, typically with little power, whom people unfairly blame for their own troubles

Question 13

Theories of Prejudice:

Answer 13

Scapegoat theory: prejudice springs from frustration among people who are themselves disadvantaged
Authoritarian personality theory: extreme prejudice a personality trait of certain individuals
Culture theory: prejudice is part of the culture in which we all live and learned
Conflict theory: prejudice is used as a tool by powerful people not only to justify privilege for themselves but also to oppress others

Question 14

assimilation

Answer 14

the process by which minori-ties gradually adopt patterns of the dominant culture

Question 15

genocide:

Answer 15

the systematic killing of one category of people by another

Question 16

multiculturalism

Answer 16

a perspective recognizing the cultural diversity of Canada and promoting equal standing for all cultural traditions