2. Although race is promoted as a biological concept, what are some of the social consequences it has had?…
How does the social concept of race relate to each group? What prejudice has each group faced?…
In my understanding of term "structure violence" is what Farmer has described through the Kidder book to explain how people living in other parts of the world (Haiti) with different social structure or political and economic system that essentially harm people by preventing them from getting their basic needs such as medical care and disease prevention. Typically word of structure means in a sense of some systematic physical forms, but in the Kidders book, it means also social arrangements that is embedded in the typical social activities like relationship between human, dynamics and possibly some rules, and that's why structure violence is relatively subtle in terms of visibility, and it is difficult to find a responsible person or group, but it is rather our social structure itself could be the problem.…
RACE Definitions/Concepts Racial Formation: idea of how race is created. Race: socially constructed categorization process that describes phenotype, not genotype. Ethnicity: nationality/origin. Whiteness: ideology tied to social status, provides privilege for those labeled white; process by which non-white “other” created for benefit of whites. Racism: about structural advantages/disadvantages placed on people based on perceptions of their race. Can be individual or institutional. Covert: not hiring someone due to skin color. Overt: designated drinking fountains/bathrooms. Ex: Federal Housing Agency in ‘50s, Freddie May/Freddie Mac loans through GI Bill, media/local community demonizes young black men. Larger system that influences individual actions (structure vs agency). Privilege: special advantage/benefit. Can be based on: race, gender, ethnicity, class, ability, sexual orientation, religion. Race as a social construction: changes based on political, economic, cultural, and historical events. No taxonomic significance; rely on “folk” taxonomy: unscientific notion that you can identify someone’s raced based on stereotypical physical features. Ex. Sammy Sosa: black in the US, mulatto (mixed) in Dom Rep, white in Haiti, Taino (indig.) in Puerto Rico. Ex. One Drop Rule: created b/c white slaveowners had children w/ their slaves, wanted them to be slaves (economic purpose). How race impacts people’s outcomes? 2 examples. Takaki Origin of slavery = class conflict. Uprisings, rebellions solidarity among land/slave owners. How white/white class conflict generated led to institutionalization of slavery and a new racial order: many English settlers came as indentured servants. Freemen enacted legislation to lengthen time of servitude, made it harder for servants to become landowners. “Giddy multitude”: discontented class of indentured servants, slaves, landless freemen (white and black). Bacon’s Rebellion exposed volatility of class tensions, accelerated process.…
Race is a factor of life that is constantly being judged by society. Society has created individuals who judge others on skin color, and ethnicity; spawning hate and spreading acceptance of different set of standards to each race. “Largely about what wealthy… white men wear in silicon valley and wall street” (Sengupta 228). Race is part of the identity, most of the time it determines how you are treated by others, how one’s life is lived, and which stereotypes are carried. “... from racist people who think all Asians look the same! or ...Why on earth would you say something like that?” (Chung para. 9). Race is the…
Race is a very controversial term and is used in a variety of ways. When a person’s race is talked about, there is a mutual understanding that they are also talking about common genetic characteristics and features that they share. For example, one may use someone’s skin color to assume their race, when that is not the case at all, it’s just a stereotype. Racism appears all over the world and any race is susceptible to it. Institutional racism has appeared many times in history and is still appearing in the world today.…
Society constructs race and ethnicity by giving labels to different groups based on various characteristics. History has shown that these labels can have disastrous effects. Racial and ethnic labels can be considered a social problem. This is because it is a condition or behaviour a large enough section of society consider negative or harmful, therefore it requires remedy or attention. When considering racial and ethnic labels, this is a problem for society because of the negative treatment that can occur to these groups in society, such as racism, prejudice and discrimination.…
When sociologist say that race is a social construction they mean most racial issues are a result of how society perceives a certain race. Since humans are 99.9% percent identical when it comes to genes, you can say that we are all similar. However, a lot of people focus on the differences between other races. All over America lately, you have seen people being discriminated against and feel that they are treated unfairly just because of their race. A person's race does not define who they are as a person. Of course a person's race may have something to do with how a person is raised but it definitely doesn't define who they are. If you have been watching the news in the last couple of years you will have seen many incidents where a person's race has led to a…
The social construction of race is a perspective that in which society creates racial categories. This goes past the biological aspects because we are all the same in terms of biologically. Each different kinds of culture and society characterizes each race differently. It could be skin color, the way a certain type of race talks, eye color, hair color, etc. A symbolic interactionist would view at the different synergies between individuals of different races. They would try to see how these individuals would act according to skin color, language, etc. The concept of social construction of race can be applied in terms of multiple identities. Americans, such as Tiger Woods and Barack Obama, come from multiple racial backgrounds and are breaking barriers and creating new racial categories. This shows that races are becoming very…
Race is defined as a group of people who share similar characteristics both physical and nonphysical. Those who share common physical traits are believed to share at the same bloodline. There are many reasons sociologist see that race is a social construction. We are all the same people and throughout time we have found ways to put people into categories based on traits that some find undesirable. These categories or groups are created through laws and various other social groups. With the formation of these groups comes racism and these are the people placing "people with undesirable characteristics" into these groups. This occurs all around the world and has for hundreds of years.…
The institutions and how each race interacts with them much affect the racial construction of society. Society changed from viewing Jews as the lesser race to viewing people of color as the lesser race, and now our society views racial discrimination this…
When people think about race and the different social groups that surround them, you also have to think of the stereotypes that go along with them. Assume that the world’s definition of race is “an idea or scheme recognizing that the human population divides into several distinct groups, the members of which have traits and skills in common with each other that they do not share with members of other such groups.” There are problems with this definition in many different ways philosophically, biologically, etc.…
Michelle Alexander described the history of race in the United States as one that created and then sustained a “caste system” through the present in the form of “mass incarceration.” Race is social construct that leads to the oppression of groups. The history of race is not pleasant. In fact, it is horrible and should not exist, as race should not be something that divides the human race. Of course race can be something that is celebrated for its diversity, but it should not be something that causes strife to a particular group of people.…
Although not conventional violence, structural violence can be its driving force due to laws in place and the oppression it afflicts upon individuals. Structural violence is “systematic ways in which social structures harm or otherwise disadvantage individuals” and is often invisible1. On January 12, 2010 the magnitude 7.0 earthquake that demolished Haiti left thousands of people struggling to survive. Several monetary international responses were delayed due to the exaggerated corruption of the Haitian government. Because of current power structures, the suffering of the victims was unequal and would be a challenge to address.…
interaction among various factors plays an important part in creating the climate for violence. In such a climate, aggressive acts can frequently be the reaction to stressful life situations and demands, especially if support systems are lacking.…