SOCL230 Test 2 Flashcards
Seven Patterns of Racial and Ethnic Relations
Genocide, Expulsion (also called “Population Transfer”), Oppression/Segregation, Anglo-conformity (or _____-conformity), Melting pot, Pluralism (also known, especially in educational contexts, as Multiculturalism), Separatism
Expulsion (also called “Population Transfer”)
In this pattern, a dominant group forcefully moves subordinate groups into specific geographic areas. Example: Native Americans into reservations in the 19th century.
Oppression/Segregation
while they physically coexist in a society, subordinate groups are excluded from economic, political, and social opportunities.
Anglo-conformity (or _____-conformity)
minority group members learn the ways of a majority group to be included into a society.
Melting pot
different groups learn and incorporate the ways of others, creating a mixture that reflects every group.
Pluralism (also known, especially in educational contexts, as Multiculturalism)
Pluralism is a combination of the maintenance of cultural distinctiveness and the provision of equal opportunities in economic and political spheres.
Separatism
a minority group separate completely (politically, economically, culturally) from the dominant group.
Cultural Assimilation
A person or a group learns cultural patterns of a different group. Examples: learning English, wearing clothes prevalent in a society, etc.
What are Milton Gordon’s four dimensions of assimilation?
Cultural Assimilation, Secondary Structural Assimilation, Primary Structural Assimilation, Amalgamation (Marital Assimilation)
Secondary Structural Assimilation
The inclusion of a different group member into organizations on an official formal basis.
Primary Structural Assimilation
The inclusion of a different group member into informal networks (such as friendship).
Amalgamation (Marital Assimilation)
In the context of race and ethnicity, it simply means interracial marriage.
Straight line theory
The level of assimilation(in all 3 dimensions) increases with each succeeding generation
Hansen’s Law (also known as “Third generation return”)
While structural and martial assimilation continues to increase with each succeeding generation, the 3rd generation tends to identify more closely with the first generation’s cultural backgrounds, producing cultural/ethnic revival
Post Racial America
A condition in which America Attains “cosmopolitanism”
Pluralism
- More group-oriented
- While recognizing equality between different racial/ethnic groups, pluralism tends to emphasize the boundaries between groups
Cosmopolitanism
- More individual-oriented
- racial/ethnic identity is a matter of individual choice, thus no racial/ethnic group boundary is maintained
Four strategies used to create/maintain residential segregation
Restrictive covenants, Blockbusting, Racial Steering, Redlining
Restrictive covenants
Contractual agreement that properties will not be sold, leased, or rented to “undesirable” groups.
Blockbusting
The practice by realtors of infusing fear of minorities moving into the neighborhoods, so that they can buy homes cheaply and sell them to minority members for profits
Racial Steering
The practice by realtors of showing clients homes or apartments primarily in neighborhoods with residents racially similar to the clients
Redlining
The deliberate decision by banks to refuse loans to people trying to buy homes in lower-income minority neighborhoods
1954 Brown v. Board of Education
- “Separate is inherently unequal”
- After brown, the issue of separate and the issue of unequal were debated in courts separately
1971 Seranno v. Priest (california sup. court)
Unequal funding resulting from the reliance on local property taxes is unconstitutional.
1973 San Antonio v. Rodriguez
Educational funding is a state matter, not a federal matter
1971 swann v. charlotte-mecklenburg
Promote desegregation by busing students
1974 Milliken v. Bradley
No legal requirement for inter district busing
1991 Oklahoma board of education v. dowel
School districts can be released from court-ordered busing once they have taken all “practicable” steps to eliminate the legacy of segregation
2007 parents v. Seattle school district
The U.S. Supreme Court deemed it unconstitutional to assign students to public schools solely for the purpose of achieving racial integration and declined to recognize racial balancing as a compelling state interest
Basically you can’t use race to determine student placement, it’s unconstitutional.
Affirmative action
A policy designed to end discrimination (past and present) and to ensure equal opportunities for historically disadvantaged groups by giving preferential treatment to equally qualified minorities in employment, school admission, and governmental contracting
Regents of University of California v. Bakke (1978)
- UC Davis Medical School’s set aside of 16 spots (out of 100) must be discontinued
- Race may be used as a factor (after qualifying)
Grutter v. Bollinger (2003)
The goal of diversity in a student body, with race as one factor in that diversity, is constitutional under the Equal Protection Clause. Thus, Race can be used as a factor in the admission process
Gratz V. Bollinger (2003)
Michigan’s Undergraduate division had a point for admitting students, and a minority applicant was given 20 points (possibly 150). The court said that converting race to a pure number resembled a quote far too much, and thus unconstitutional.
Fisher v. Texas (2016)
- June 23, 2016 4 to 3 votes
- Universities may continue to consider race as one factor in ensuring a diverse student body
- This decision kept Bakke and Grutter’s decisions intact
2023 students for fair admissions v. Harvard
On June 29, 2023, the US Supreme court decided that race conscious college admissions processes are unconstitutional under the 14th amendments equal protection clause, ending the policy of affirmative action
Hispanic Crusade
Because they are the fastest-growing voting group, both parties are trying hard to lure Hispanic votes
Hispandering
- Manipulating one’s rhetoric or actions to court Hispanic votes
- Examples: Obama
- Highest annual deportations (approx. 400,000/ yr)
- In 2010, of 393,000 deported, more than half had no criminal record
- In August 2011, Obama was the halt of deportation of those who had not committed a crime.
- Examples: Obama
2013 Shelby County v. Holder
The U.S. Supreme Court decided that “preclearance” by Justice Department, set in 1965 Voting Rights Act, before changing election or voting laws, was no longer required. (More on this case is in “Systemic Inequality and American Democracy.”)
What are three distinctive characteristics of urban Black neighborhoods?
- More homogeneous
- More isolated
- More permanent
Derrick Bell’s Alternative Brown
- “More important than striking down Plessy v. Ferguson is the need to reveal its hypocritical is the need to reveal its full enforcement for all children… Realistic rather than symbolic relief for segregated schools will require a specific judicially monitored plan designed primarily to provide the educational equality long denied under the separate but equal rhetoric.” (Silent Convents, 2004, p. 24)
- To put simply, bell is arguing that, instead of striking down Plessy, the brown decision should have re-affirmed it with the specific introduction to achieve the “equal” part of “separate but equal.”
pros of affirmative action
- Remedy for past and present discrimination
- Diversity has educational benefits
- Practically (better and faster than other measures)
- Race is not the only affirmative action criteria
cons of affirmative action
- Reverse discrimination
- How can we tell what people bring to campus?
- Lower academic quality of student body
- What about white lower class?
- If AA is a temporary measure, how long are we keeping it?
What is the concept of “interest convergence”? Apply the concept of “interest convergence” to Brown decision.
- “The authority recognizes and acts to remedy racial injustices when, and only when, they perceive that such action will benefit the nation’s interests without significantly diminishing their entitlement.”
- Put differently, racial progress only occurs when it benefits the dominant group, and the racial minority groups are accidental beneficiaries.
Voter Suppression Strategies
- More strict voter ID laws (requiring a photo-ID, reducing the number of acceptable IDs)
- DMV closing (predominantly in or adjacent to minority neighborhoods)
- Polling location change (in some cases, for every election)
color-blindness
- Our constitution is colorblind, and neither knows nor tolerates classes among citizens. In respect of civil rights, all citizens are equal before the law. ( from Justice Harlan’s dissent in Plessy v. Ferguson)
- I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. (MLK)
Mendez v. Westminster (1946)
Brown versus Board of Education is famous. But not many people know that eight years earlier the federal courts in California decided another important case called Mendez versus Westminster. The decision in that case allowed Mexican children to go to public school with Caucasian children.
According to Milton Gordon, Which of the following is most difficult to attain?
primary structural assimilation
which of the following best captures the essence of “amalgamation”?
interracial marriage
“A Vietnamese worker is promoted to an executive position in a major corporation for the first time in American History.” This illustrates Milton Gordon’s concept of…
Secondary structural assimilation
Which of the following is NOT among the 3 characteristics of “urban black ghettos” identified by Douglas Massey?
urban black ghettos are more unstable than European ethnic enclaves
according to the documentary “Beyond Brown”, which of the following is the consequence of tracking?
internal segragation within desegragated schools
What is the METCO program in Boston?
A program that allows students in inner- city Boston to attend suburban schools
Which of the following propositions emerged as a reaction to the court order to equalize educational funding in California and is known as “tax revolt”?
proposition 13
Affirmative action, by definition, contains which of the following characteristics?
it is designed to ensure equal opportunities
in the regents of the university of California v. Bakke case, the u.s. supreme court rendered which of the following decisions?
race can be used as a criterion for admission, as long as it is not a decisive factor
in the case of _____, the court ruled that restrictive covenants were unconstitutional
Shelley v. Kramer
in the case of _____, the disparity of educational funding between schools in affluent areas and those in poor areas in California was contested. The California Supreme Court ruled that educational funding system that relies on local sources is unconstitutional.
Serrano v. Priest
in the case of _____, the court ruled that univ. of Michigan’s law school admission process that used as one factor was constitutional
Grutter v. Bollinger
in the case of _____, the court ruled that desegregation needs to be achieved with all deliberate speed.
Brown v. Board of Education II
in the case of _____, the U.S. supreme court ruled that school segregation needed to be remedied by busing children
Swann v. Charlotte - Mecklenburg
In the case of _____, the court ruled that school districts can be released from court- ordered busing as long as they take all the practicable steps to desegregate schools.
Oklahoma board of education v. Dowell
what is Texas 10% policy?
public universities in Texas must admit all applicants whose GPAs were in the top 10% of their high school’s graduating class
which of the following best capture the essence of proposition 2 in Michigan?
it ends affirmative action in public universities in Michigan
William Julius Wilson argues that the misery of black lower classes is not caused by racism, but caused by the transition from manufacturing economy to service economy. His thesis is called “ _____ thesis”
deindustrialization
the deliberate decision by banks to refuse loans to people trying to buy homes in lower-income minority neighborhoods is called _____
redlining
in the 1946 case of _____, the court ruled, in favor of Mexican American families, that California’s state laws that segregated Mexican American children were unconstitutional
Mendez v. Westminster
in the 1946 case of _____, the court ruled that school funding is a state issue, and thus no federal intervention is needed.
San Antonio v. Rodriguez
A practice by realtors of infusing fear of minority moving into the neighborhoods, so that they can buy homes cheaply and sell them to minority members for profits is called
blockbusting
a concept of _____ signifies “ an amount necessary or sufficient to have a significant effect or to achieve a result” (this concept was used at the supreme court in discussion of the benefits of diversity in education, as in class)
critical mass
“the white authority recognizes and acts to remedy racial injustices when, and only when, they perceive that such action will benefit the nation’s interest without significantly diminishing whites’ sense of entitlement.” According to the class lecture, this is conceptualized as _____
interest convergence
What is the “opportunity gap”? Why do authors emphasize it instead of using the term “achievement gap”?
- The opportunity gap is the way that uncontrollable life factors like race, language, economic, and family situations can contribute to lower rates of success in educational achievement, career prospects, and other life aspirations.
- Achievement gaps occur when one group of students (e.g., students grouped by race/ethnicity, gender) outperforms another group and the difference in average scores for the two groups is statistically significant (i.e., larger than the margin of error).
- “opportunity gap,” because it emphasizes differences in opportunities students have had throughout their educational history
What is “tracking”? What are the consequences of tracking?
- tracking is the practice of grouping students and organizing classes, according to the level of difficulty.
- lower track classes tend to have less engaging curricula and lower expectations of student achievement. Combine this with the difficulty of advancing from a lower track to a higher one, and the result is that students who start high school and lower track classes are often less prepared for college or higher paying jobs than their higher track peers.
Understand Mica Pollock’s four myths about race.
First, are the races, truly valid, biological, or genetic subgroups to the human race? No
Second, are some races smarter than others? No
Third, opportunities in America racially equal? No
fourth, our achievement gaps caused by groups, cultural orientations towards education? No
