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The difference between majority groups/minority groups
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In a world where society is mostly driven by our faults, family can be a relative term that brings it all back down to earth. Since societies can be extremely divided at times, it is important to have a back bone and a community that understand your own values, customs, and practices. It has been said that “minority group” families, which in Canada or the United States, could be considered anyone who isn’t Caucasian, are less stable in form and function than families who are a part of the general societal “majority”. Throughout this essay, I would like to discuss how untrue this statement is. From racial and cultural differences, to relying on each other and to growing as a unit, it is evident that minorities can have an even stronger relationship than those from the majority.
First off, we should decide what a “minority group” is. In North America, Arabs or Muslims, African – Americans, and Indians or Sikhs and Hindus and even Asians are some of the more common minority groups you will come in contact with. Based on a study on ethnic minorities, it was found that “This study explored the impact of income status (low-income vs. non-low-income) on family functioning, social support, and quality of life in a community sample of 125 families. The sample identified themselves as 17% Black or African American, 7% Latino, 4% Asian, and 66% White.” (Mansfield, 2013) It seems as though since these minorities used to be so uncommon, that they are now the norm because of how much they have migrated, immigrated or even re-populated other countries than their own. These minority groups used to be so uncommon and misunderstood, that they have in a sense, been forced to be open and understand each other’s racial and cultural differences. When a...
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...ually have to learn to make themselves fit into a community. In Ottawa, it is obvious that the number of Mosques and Synagogues is growing rapidly.
Works Cited
Huijnk, W., Verkuyten, M., & Coenders, M. (2013). Family relations and the attitude towards ethnic minorities as close kin by marriage. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 36(11), 1890-1909.
Mansfield, A., Dealy, J., & Keitner, G. (2013). Family functioning and income: Does low-income status impact family functioning? The Family Journal, 21(3), 297-305.
Comeau, J. (2012). Race/Ethnicity and family contact: Toward a behavioral measure of familialism. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 34(2), 251-268.
Ellison, C., Wolfinger, N., & Ramos-Wada, A. (2013). Attitudes toward marriage, divorce, cohabitation, and casual sex among working-age latinos: Does religion matter? Journal of Family Issues, 34(3), 295-322.
...Many Kinds of Family Structures in Our Communities." . N.p., n.d. Web. 10 May 2014. .
The African-American family is defined as networks of households related by blood, marriage, or function that provide basic instrumental and expressive functions of the family to the members of those networks (Hill, 1999). It is one of the strongest institutions throughout history, and still today. Family strengths are considered to be cultural assets that are transmitted through socialization from generation to generation and not merely adaptations or coping responses to contemporary racial or economic oppression (McDaniel 1994; Hill 1999). This definition is contrary to the belief that the Black family is an adaptation to harsh conditions, instead of an ongoing establishment. Hill (1999) discusses some of the qualities as effective for the survival of black families: strong achievement and work orientation, flexible family roles and strong kinship bonds, and strong religious orientation. These strengths, along with others can be emphasized in schools and used to motivate African-American students to succeed.
A family is a group of people consisting of the parents and their children who live together and they are blood related. The family is always perceived as the basic social units whether they are living together in the same compound or at far distance but are closely related especially by blood. Therefore, the family unit has had a great influence on the growth and the character traits possessed by the children as they grow up and how they perceive the society they live in. the family also shapes the children to be able to relate well with other people that are not part of their family and with a good relationship it impacts to the peace achieved in country. This paper addresses the reasons as to why the family is considered the most important agent of socialization. It’s evident that families have changed over time and they have adopted different ways of living. This paper also tackles on the causes of the dramatic changes to the American family and what the changes are. Different people with different race, gender and preferences make the family unit and this makes the difference in marriages. This will also be discussed in this paper.
As a traditional, collectivistic cultural group, the Latino population is believed to adhere deeply to the value of familismo. (Arditti, 2006; Calzada, 2014). Familism is an emphasis on the importance of the family unit over values of autonomy and individualism”. (Santistaben, 2012). Family is considered to be the top priority in the Latino culture. Comparatively, at times, this isn’t true of our busy, work devoted western culture. In western culture we think of our family in a nuclear sense made up of a: mom, dad, and siblings. Conversely, Hispanic culture focuses on the whole extended family including aunts, uncles, grandparent, and cousins. Their culture believes having close connections with the entire extended family benefits the development of their children. The entire family helps the child by giving them differing levels of social and emotional support. (American Home Resolutions,
Marriage, as an institution, has evolved in the last few decades. As society progresses, the ideas and attitudes about marriage have shifted. Today, individuals are able to choose their partners and are more likely marry for love than convenience. While individuals are guaranteed the right to marry and the freedom to choose their own partners, it has not always been this way. Starting from colonial times up until the late 1960’s, the law in several states prohibited interracial marriages and unions. Fortunately, in 1967, a landmark case deemed such laws as unconstitutional. Currently, as society progresses, racism and social prejudice have decreased and interracial marriages have become, not only legal, but also widely accepted.
Takaki, R. (1999). The myth of the “model minority.” In D. M. Newman (Ed.), Sociology:
The article, “RACE AND ETHNICITY- CHANGING SYMBOL IS OF DOMINANCE AND HIERARCHY IN THE UNITED STATES” by Karen I. Blu is an exceptional work that clearly expounds on the racial and ethnic groups especially in America. Racial and ethnic groupings are gradually becoming popular in the public arena, in which people are shifting their focus on classifying other people on the basis of racial groupings to rather classifying them on the basis of ethnicity. Moreover, race grouping is slowly submerging into ethnic grouping with Black activism being the role player in this (Blu, 1979). The following is a summary of the aforementioned article in how it relates to racial and ethnic groups and response regarding its views.
Zinn, Maxine Baca. Wells, Barbara. “Diversity Within Latino families: New Lessons for Family Social Science” Family in Transition.
A minority group is defined as “a subordinate group whose members have significantly less control or power over their lives than members of a dominant or majority group”(1). Most minority groups are defined by common characteristics such as distinguishing skin colors, language, and are commonly tight-knit and have high amounts of marriages within the group. Members of these groups fall victim to colonialism, the maintenance of power for the long term from one territory by another. Victims of these inequalities are often presented with less opportunities because of their false labels and unfair stereotypes. All of the minority groups are affected by the inequalities in different way socially, politically, and even in the media. In general, there are four basic types of minority groups: Racial, Ethnic, Religious, and Gender. However, the term minority does not necessarily only refer to the numbers of the people among that group. Women make up over half of the population and still are defined as a minority group. (5)
My experience in Sociology this semester was quite unique to say the least. This was the first Sociology class that I have ever taken and honestly, I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect. From day one I found a deep interest in the thoughts and ideas that are associated within the study of sociology. In this specific class the main concepts that we discussed were race and ethnic relations. The first chapter that we discussed this semester was about the general diversity that takes place in the United States. In this unit we learned about what exactly a minority group is and the visible distinguishing traits that set people apart. In the second chapter of this class, the main topics that we covered were assimilation and pluralism. We discussed the distinctive patterns and variations of assimilation and pluralism and the difference between both of these theories. In chapter three, we started to discuss the ideas behind prejudice and discrimination. We talked about hate crimes, the leading causes and trends of prejudice, and why it has persisted through time. In chapter four our main concentration turned to the development of dominant-minority relations in preindustrial America. Throughout this chapter we examined the origins of slavery in the United States, the contact situation, paternalistic relations, and the dimensions of a minority group status. This semester contemporary race and ethnic relations has not only provided me with a vast amount of knowledge that is going to benefit me for future purposes, but it has allowed me to understand things that I might have never thought about before. Learning about society and how people have evolved and treated each other throughout history was extremely interesting. I have always had my o...
Minority group is a term referring to a category of people differentiated from the social majority. Pre ww2 and during Europe was diverse in minority groups. The minority groups that consisted in Europe pre ww2 were non-Jewish Soviet people, Jews, Soviet prisoners of war, Non-Jewish Poles, gypsies, disabled people, homosexuals, Jehovah’s Witnesses. According to various reliable sources the total number of national minority populations in Europe was estimated at 105 million people, or 14% of 770 million Europeans. Many of these minority groups were captured and later unfortunately killed in concentration camps. In conclusion Europe was diverse in minority group’s pre and during ww2.
Studies have usually been underrepresented samples, such as college campuses students or personal observations. These studies often have unreported or low response rates. The few published studies of Hispanics’ prejudice toward others are about their prejudice toward Whites. The research conducted by Weaver compared Hispanics’ attitudes toward themselves and their attitudes toward other racial and ethnic groups. It is Weavers hypothesis that Hispanics will rate their own kind significantly more when comparing themselves to Blacks, Asians, Jews, and Whites, as well as more favorably for marriage to a close relative and as neighbors.
According to Lee and Edmonston (2005), a Gallop poll showed “...85 percent of Black, 79 percent of Hispanics, and 66 percent of White respondents would accept a child or grandchild marrying someone of a different race” (p.1). Many people are accepting of interfaith/interracial marriage nowadays. This means that most people do not have to worry about their family’s opinions when choosing a mate or spouse. If a person’s family cared about family purity and did not want them to have an interracial marriage, this could eliminate many great potential mates for this particular person. The article “Interracial Marriage”, (2014) covers the topic of interfaith marriage when it states, “In 1970 Black-White marriages in the United States totaled about 65,000.
Generally speaking, there are many contradictions towards my claim that minority groups are fundamental to the countries development. At this point, many will probably disagree on the grounds that colleges close doors on the minority students. I know many may think students close doors on themselves. However, all the stereotypes, discrimination attacks, and poor education provided by teachers are factors that lead to reason students do bad in there educational career and as well leads to many school closing there doors for them. Additionally, many employers might want to question whether minority groups unemployment is do to discrimination rather than lack of education or proficiency. Although it is true many minority group workers lack education,
A minority or subordinate group can be identified by analyzing five properties: first, experiencing unequal treatment; second, having physical or cultural characteristics that distinguish them from the dominant group; third, involuntary membership in said group; fourth, an awareness of their group's subordinate status which forges a deeper sense of group solidarity; finally, a high rate of in group marriage (Pg. 5) As we are all aware, diversity in the United States and a lack of acceptance allows for the presence of various minority groups, the most common being of racial, ethnic, and religious backgrounds. However, there are other minority groups such as the aged, the disabled, and those of LGBT community (lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, transgender).