Racism Flashcards
Symbolic racism
Sears and Henry characterize symbolic racism as the expression or endorsement of four specific themes or beliefs
Blacks no longer face much prejudice or discrimination.
The failure of blacks to progress results from their unwillingness to work hard enough.
Blacks are demanding too much too fast.
Blacks have gotten more than they deserve.
Symbolic racism is a form of modern racism, as it is more subtle and indirect than more overt forms of racism,such as those characterized in Jim Crow Laws. As symbolic racism develops through socialization and its processes occur without conscious awareness,an individual with symbolic racist beliefs may genuinely oppose racism and believe he is not racist.Symbolic racism is perhaps the most prevalent racial attitude today.
Jim Crow laws
Jim Crow laws were state and local laws enforcing racial segregation in the Southern United States. Enacted after the Reconstruction period, these laws continued in force until 1965. They mandated de jure racial segregation in all public facilities in the states of the former Confederate States of America, starting in 1890 with a “separate but equal” status for African Americans. Facilities for African Americans were consistently inferior and underfunded compared to those available to European Americans; sometimes they did not exist at all. This body of law institutionalized a number of economic, educational, and social disadvantages.
Regressive racism
Basically, it’s where people who might have always thought they were not racist reach a level of frustration and anger and resort to racist behavior and speech to deal with their problems.
“Zawadzki (1948) explains the “scapegoat” theory as a possible explanation as why minority groups may be the target of aggression. According to this theory, people confront situations everyday where they become frustrated and want to vent, but they have no person to blame directly for their frustrations. Often it is minority groups, not single people who will serve as the displacement for the undeserved aggression. The aggressor may not be consciously aware of why he dislikes the minority group, but he rationalizes in his mind why the minority is at fault for making him angry to begin with, in this way he has “good” and justifiable reasons for not liking the minority group member.”
Aversive racism
Aversive racism is a theory proposed by Samuel L. Gaertner & John F. Dovidio (1986), according to which negative evaluations of racial/ethnic minorities are realized by a persistent avoidance of interaction with other racial and ethnic groups.
Modern racism
Modern racism has evolved from an aggressive prejudicial behavior to a more subtle prejudicial behavior. This type of subtle prejudicial behavior has advanced to a degree that is much more difficult to see, yet is regarded as more severe. This modern form of racism has entered the workplace. Although many companies promise an equal opportunity, there is little doubt that everyone is treated equally within their place of work. Subtle, modern racism is believed to create an image that seems more politically correct. The politically correct way to discriminate is through a “polite” form of racism. In the past racism was easily defined and institutional.
Ambivalent racism
Katz (1981) Ambivalent racists experience an emotional conflict between positive and negative feelings toward stigmatized racial The notion of ambivalent racism (McConahay, 1986) is similar. Individuals with ambivalent racism experience much conflict between their beliefs in equality and sympathy for those who are oppressed and their beliefs that individuals are responsible for what happens to them. As a result, many white Americans are willing to praise successful black Americans, but have poor opinions of black Americans who appear unwilling to work hard.
Stereotypes
Definition: A stereotype is “…a fixed, over generalized belief about a particular group or class of people.” (Cardwell, 1996).
For example, a “hells angel” biker dresses in leather.
One advantage of a stereotype is that it enables us to respond rapidly to situations because we may have had a similar experience before.
One disadvantage is that it makes us ignore differences between individuals; therefore we think things about people that might not be true (i.e. make generalizations).
