Dominant-Minority Relations
Corine Lightner
POL 140
Essay #1 (Ch. 3 & 4)
Dominant-Minority Relations In the early years of the United States, dominant-minority relations were shaped by the agrarian technology and the economic need to control land and labor. The agrarian era ended in the 1800s, and the U.S. has gone through two major transformations in subsistence technology since, each of which has transformed dominant-minority relations and required the creation of new structures and processes to maintain racial stratification and white privilege (Healey, p. 131). The early 1800s to the mid-1900s was the industrial revolution, where machines replaced animal and human labor. Today’s society is known as the postindustrial or deindustrialized society which brought even more changes to social organization and new technologies. However, race and ethnicity continue to affect life chances and limit opportunities for minority group members even in the new system.
In Chapter 3, Healey presents two hypotheses that explain the creation of dominant-minority relations. Central to these is the idea that these are shaped by the subsistence technology of a society. According to the Noel hypothesis, the conditions of the contact situation when two groups meet is the single most important factor in the development of dominant-minority relations. This is called the "Contact Situation." The Noel hypothesis shows that the presence of ethnocentrism, the competition, and the power differential between groups at the time of contact will result in some form of racial or ethnic stratification (i.e., dominant-minority relations), (Healey, p. 101). Ethnocentrism tells the dominant group whom to dominate, competition tells the dominant group why it should establish a structure of dominance, and power is how the dominant group’s will is imposed on the minority group (Healey, p. 102). The Blauner hypothesis theorized that minority groups created by colonization will experience more intense prejudice, racism,
POL 140
Essay #1 (Ch. 3 & 4)
Dominant-Minority Relations In the early years of the United States, dominant-minority relations were shaped by the agrarian technology and the economic need to control land and labor. The agrarian era ended in the 1800s, and the U.S. has gone through two major transformations in subsistence technology since, each of which has transformed dominant-minority relations and required the creation of new structures and processes to maintain racial stratification and white privilege (Healey, p. 131). The early 1800s to the mid-1900s was the industrial revolution, where machines replaced animal and human labor. Today’s society is known as the postindustrial or deindustrialized society which brought even more changes to social organization and new technologies. However, race and ethnicity continue to affect life chances and limit opportunities for minority group members even in the new system.
In Chapter 3, Healey presents two hypotheses that explain the creation of dominant-minority relations. Central to these is the idea that these are shaped by the subsistence technology of a society. According to the Noel hypothesis, the conditions of the contact situation when two groups meet is the single most important factor in the development of dominant-minority relations. This is called the "Contact Situation." The Noel hypothesis shows that the presence of ethnocentrism, the competition, and the power differential between groups at the time of contact will result in some form of racial or ethnic stratification (i.e., dominant-minority relations), (Healey, p. 101). Ethnocentrism tells the dominant group whom to dominate, competition tells the dominant group why it should establish a structure of dominance, and power is how the dominant group’s will is imposed on the minority group (Healey, p. 102). The Blauner hypothesis theorized that minority groups created by colonization will experience more intense prejudice, racism,
References: Hacker, A. (1992). Two Nations: Black and White, Separate, Hostile, Unequal. New York: Scribner’s. Healey, Joseph F. Diversity and Society Race, Ethnicity, and Gender. 4th Edition. 2014 SAGE Publications, Inc. 2014. Hoffarth, Glenn. Minority Groups in Pre-industrial America. Copyright 2006. http://instruction.blackhawk.edu/ghoffarth/race/reunit4.htm Skinner, E. Benjamin. A Crime So Monstrous: Face-to-Face with Modern-Day Slavery. New York, NY: Free Press. 2008.