9-10, Week Class Notes, Race and Ethnicity Ethnic group: a socially constructed category of people who share a common culture (i.e. Japanese Americans, or Shiites and Sunnis in Iraq: they develop due to unique historical and social experience) Race: a group treated as distinct in society based on certain characteristics that have been assigned importance (think of Zerubavel's cheeseburger), often physical markers like skin color Racial formation theory: the process by which a group comes to be defined as a race Emphasizes the importance of institutions in producing and maintaining these understandings, which are then used to justify exploitation Racial clustering reflects an out-group homogeneity effect Salience principle: we categorize people on the basis of what seems initially prominent/obvious/ salient, and norms affect what comes to seem salient Prejudice: the evaluation of a group based on conceptions which are held despite facts that disprove them and involve both and prejudgment misjudgment (learned through socialization) Discrimination: negative and unequal treatment of the members of a group solely because of their membership in that group Racism: the perception and treatment of a racial or ethnic group, or member of that group, as intellectually, socially, and culturally inferior to ones own group A few forms o traditional o aversive o color-blind o institutional o implicit bias The cycle of racism: o physical markers are used to distinguish groups and create social inequality based on race by means of slavery, colonialism, etc. o different social conditions among dominant and subordinated groups create behavioral differences between them (i.e. energetic versus lazy) o perceptions of differences create racial stereotypes that get embedded in culture Contact theory: social interaction can reduce prejudice if 3 conditions are met: 1) interaction on equal ground 2) sustained, long-term contact 3) social norms favoring equality