Ethnic Studies Issues And Approaches Summary

617 Words2 Pages

Reading Chapter four of Ethnic Studies Issues and Approaches, by Philip Q. Yang, one receives a profound understanding of ethnic stratification. First of all, Yang describes ethnic stratification as a “institutionalized ethnic inequality” (61). This definition means the system of ethnic/social rules allowing certain ethnic groups to have access to more wealth and resources, which is unfair to the minority groups. There is a division between majority and minority groups, this is based on who is given more power, wealth and resources not because of a larger number of an ethnicity group. According to Yang, White people are the majority in the United States, but they are called majority for their share of wealth/power unlike the minority group. …show more content…

One very important form of ethnic stratification is the colonialization of the Americas, truly the Spaniards destroyed a highly advanced civilization when they took over the lands of the Native Americans. Yang uses the colonization of Puerto Rico to portray how ethnic stratification occurs, when the Puerto Ricans had contact with Americans in 1898 (65). Colonization and ethnic group interactions alone are not enough for ethnic stratification, Yang mentions there are “conditions” that cause stratification. These conditions are the “Social-Darwinian approach, the social-psychological approach, the functionalist approach, the conflict approach, and the Donald Noel hypothesis (66). These theories share what is the conditions causing stratification, though some theories have some holes in them, these are very important in understanding ethnic stratification. Personally, I do not like being called a “minority group” because the title describes what the society thinks of my ethnic group and at the bottom of the hierarchy. People have told me I need to be diligent to succeed in education, implying everyone has an equal opportunity to receive the most benefits from society. I did not realize living in the projects, having a low social class or being a minority group affected your chances of becoming successful, because of people around me who had an abstract-liberism

Show More
Related

  • Difference Between Political And Economic Disempowerment And Apartheid

    1440 Words  | 3 Pages

    History has experienced a distinct separation between the minorities (Latinos, Native Americans, Asian Americans, and African-Americans) and the majority (the whites) in the United States of America. This separation has been brought about by the several models of the exclusion of the minority; these two models are: political and economic disempowerment and apartheid (Forum 2, 1). Apartheid involves the separation of a certain group of people from other parts of the society through legal, political and economic discrimination (Denton 2). Whereas political and economic disempowerment is reducing drastically or taking away the rights previously held by a group, they are taken away to minimize the power of the minorities in the society. Apartheid

    Read More

  • Ethnic Myth Chapter Summary

    655 Words  | 2 Pages

    In reading chapter 1, of the “Ethnic Myth”, by Stephen Steinberg, explains how the U.S. has a dominant society. In the U.S. class structures, unequal distributions of wealth, and political power vary between certain racial and ethnic groups. A main idea in this reading is ethnic pluralism which is defined as a particularly diverse racial or ethnic group that maintains their traditional culture within a broader more common civilization. Throughout history, race and ethnicity have caused conflict and the struggle of dominance over land. In reading chapter 2, of Drawing the Color Line, by Howard Zinn, explains how early in history inferior statuses of races which lead to mistreatment lead to racism. The very start of slavery began when african american slaves were brought to the north american colony called Jamestown.

    Read More

  • Continuing in the Field of Ethnic Studies

    1059 Words  | 3 Pages

    "It is better to die standing up than to live kneeling down.” Emiliana Zapata. It is easy to live life kneeling down, and it is frightening to take the initiative to act against many and to fight for the rights of our community. This quote constantly reminds me of why I need to go to graduate school and further my education in learning about oppressions.

    Read More

  • Functionalism, Conflict Theory, And The Symbolic Interaction Theory In Sociology

    1073 Words  | 3 Pages

    Stratification in general is the formation of classes or categories. “Racial and ethnic stratification refers systems of inequality in which some fixed groups membership, such as race, religion, or national origin is a major criterion for ranking social positions and their differential rewards” (Social Stratification). An example of this would be someone who is African American may not be able

    Read More

  • Race vs. Social Class

    843 Words  | 2 Pages

    "Events in the nineteenth century made it abundantly and irrefutably clear that race as a concept sui generis superseded social class as the dominant mechanism of social division and stratification in North America." (Smedley 219) For many decades people have been using race as a way to classify humans into different social categories. Lower, Middle, and Upper classes were created to divide humans into appropriate categories using their individual lifestyles, financial income, residence, and occupation. People decided to ignore this classifying system and classify one another, simply by the color of their skin. People's skin color says nothing as to what a person does, their beliefs, attitudes, or any of the ideas for creating a fair social classification system. Racial barriers were created that divided people into different groups at work and at home. Race differences in identity and social position were, and are, more important than class differences in American society.

    Read More

  • Racial Inequality Theory Essay

    1081 Words  | 3 Pages

    The other deficiency is the social structure and that states that the inequality is caused by the social structure of the group. The last deficiency theory is cultural and that says the cause of the inequality is in the cultural traits that the minority possess. The next big theory “focus[es] on prejudice and discrimination as the sources of minority inequality”. This theory puts the blame on the majority. One example of this is that white prejudice leads to blacks being discriminated against. The conditions black are left in lead them to make the white prejudice even stronger and this cycle is what keeps the inequality consistent. The other one of this is that “employees have a taste for discrimination”. The third major theory is the structural discrimination and with this inequality is caused by the disadvantage in the social structure. The author also puts forth his own theory and that is internal colonialism. It says that that the dominant group exploits the subordinate group for a gain. He also talks about Marxist theories dealing with inequality like labor markets segmentation and class segmentations. The central issues being discussed are the racial

    Read More

  • The Choice: Ethnic Identity

    1013 Words  | 3 Pages

    A baby boy is born in a clinic within an impoverished village in Thailand. The mother, who had no immediate family and was unwed, deceased during childbirth, leaving her son an orphan. The baby was placed in foster care and soon adopted by an American couple. The couple then raises the boy in their home as their own. He grows up in a suburban neighborhood, learns English, attends public school, lives within an entirely American culture, and embraces it. He is aware that he comes from a different familial background and is of a different nationality than his parents, but he has made the choice to identify himself with the ethnicity that he has grown to love. He believes that his ethnic identity entirely up to him. A Thai boy choosing the ethnicity of an American child as his own goes against the widespread belief that ethnicity is in our DNA, and there is nothing wrong with that. In fact, he is setting the example. Being able to make a meaningful choice in your ethnic identity is something everyone should be allowed to do, no matter the situation. Nobody should be expected or forced to believe in an ethnicity determined by their race or heritage because everyone has their own beliefs. Your personal notions give you the power to decide who you want to be, just like the Thai boy. Ethnicity is the choice everyone can make to be the individual they want to be and the origin of a person’s ethnicity is not inherent or defined by race, it comes from personal beliefs.

    Read More

  • Summary Of Deculturalization And Struggle For Equality

    1080 Words  | 3 Pages

    In Joel Spring’s, “Deculturalization and Struggle for Equality”, he argues that during the construction of the new world (contemporary United States) nonwhite racial groups were created by elitist in order to have them deculturalized and maintain a system of racial superiority. Native Americans, Puerto Ricans, Mexicans, Blacks and Asians were each subject to systematic oppression in regards to racial formation, deculturalization, segregation and nation building. These dominated groups share the struggle of equality in this nation where “All men are equal” brought upon them by educational policies contrary to their socioeconomic interest and appealing to Euro-Americans.

    Read More

  • Ethnic Minorities and Elder Employment

    3106 Words  | 7 Pages

    An ethnic minority is a group of people who differ in race or color or in national, religious, or cultural origin from the dominant group—often the majority population—of the country in which they live. The different identity of an ethnic minority may be displayed in any number of ways, ranging from distinctive customs, lifestyles, language or accent, dress, and food preferences to particular attitudes, moral values, and economic or political beliefs espoused by members of the group. Characteristically the minority is recognized, but it is not necessarily accepted by the larger society in which its members live. The nature of the relationship of the ethnic minority to the larger society will tend to determine whether the minority group will move in the direction of assimilation in the larger society or toward self-segregation. In some cases ethnic minorities have been simply excluded by the majority, a striking example being African Americans in the American South during the late-19th and 20th centuries.

    Read More

  • Evolution of Nationhood and Nationalism in the US

    1018 Words  | 3 Pages

    Various races and ethnicities, while they may feel experience discrimination, don’t experience institutionalized discrimination. - they struggle against one another at times and against majority ethnicities, but there is never a legal hierarchy. The US is an unranked system, where honor and prestige are fluid, which is a key definition in an unranked system according to Horowitz. The United States has a unique quality in that it is made up of so many different types of ethnicities. An American can maintain that national identity without having been born in the United States, and still identify with various ethnicities. The United States is by no means made up of one ethnicity. The United States is accepting of all different types of attributes, categories,and dimensions that various groups may identify with and considers them all American (granted they are legally a citizen). Even though in practice there are certain ethnicities that have historically been ranked higher than others, the ranking has been fought against. Also, Horowitz states that “politics are always an issue and relative group worth is always uncertain,” which is a definite attribute in American society. We did experience segregation and institutionalized racism in the past against native americans, blacks, and the Japanese, but there has been a lot of change and that institutionalized racism was temporary and not something anyone is proud of. This is why I would argue that the United States has an unranked ethnic group system. The ethnicities may have conflicts against each other, but no one stays about the rest. On a side note, it is important to clarify that in the definition of ranked and unranked ethnic systems it states that just because a race or ethnicity is the majority, it does not mean it is ranked above another

    Read More

  • Politics Of Ethnicity Case Study

    1022 Words  | 3 Pages

    Concerns are very important but the Realists perception as described earlier is very important, who believe that internal structure of the state and the government is also important in the development of ethnic politics. The domestic political environment of divided states characterizes the development of ethnic politics.

    Read More

  • The Importance Of Ethnic Studies

    1040 Words  | 3 Pages

    I remember when I was in high school; I encountered a gruesome experience. A young girl was being beat and thrown into a trashcan by two boys and one girl. I hysterically ran to her aid and told the group of people to stop. Minutes later, security arrived and the victim was picked up and driven away. Two days later, our high school principle scheduled a mandatory auditorium student meeting. He said, that the young girl was beaten and bullied because she identified as a homosexual. I couldn’t believe it! I was embarrassed and ashamed that these students did not have any sense of morality. Is our educational system lacking the knowledge that students are constantly being abused and bullied due to sexual orientations, ethnicity and culture? Perhaps

    Read More

  • Racism In The Newman Race

    760 Words  | 2 Pages

    Many sociologists have questioned how race came into existence by examining the concept that race is social created. This another way people divide into a social classes and establish their status in a society. Newman race is defined as “ a category of individuals labeled and treated similar because of common inborn biological traits (pg. 361).” Race inequality is unfair opportunity for people from different racial groups because of their attributed prestige as a race, although can be treated unjust by ethnicity as well. According to Newman ethnicity differs from race because it relates to cultural affiliation, but also can be treated unequally on account of ignorance. Today, racial and ethnic inequality play a major role in society including

    Read More

  • Victor Frankenstein Essay

    847 Words  | 2 Pages

    In our modern society the population is divided by minorities that can be classified by

    Read More

  • Social Stratification in the African American Community

    1003 Words  | 3 Pages

    Social Stratification in the African American community has changed over the years. Social stratification is defined as a rigid subdivision of a society into a hierarchy of layers, differentiated on the basis of power, prestige, and wealth according to Webster’s dictionary. David Newman in Sociology Exploring the Architecture of Everyday Life describes stratification as a ranking system for groups of people that perpetuates unequal rewards and life chances in society. From slavery to the present, the African American community has been seen to have lower status compared to white people. Today, the stratification or hierarchy difference between whites and black are not really noticeable, but it is still present. However, during slavery, the difference in social stratification was noticeable. Whites dominated over the blacks and mulattoes (offspring of a white and black parent). The mulattoes were seen to have a higher stratification than an offspring of black ancestry. Because the mulattoes were related to the whites, they were able to obtain higher education and better occupations than blacks. For example, most slaves of a lighter skin tone worked in the houses and darker slaves worked in the fields. As the people of light skin tone had children, they were able to have advantages too. The advantages have led into the society of today. In this paper I will discuss how stratification has been affected in the African American community over time by skin tone to make mulattoes more privileged than dark skin blacks.

    Read More

More about Ethnic Studies Issues And Approaches Summary

Open Document