9 Race and Ethnicity

Race and Ethnicity

The Social Significance of Raceand EthnicityRacial Classifications and the Meaning of Race Dominant and SubordinateGroups

Prejudice

Stereotypes Racism Theoriesof Prejudice

DiscriminationSociological Perspectives on Race andEthnic Relations

SymbolicInteractionistPerspectives Functionalist PerspectivesConflict Perspectives An Alternative Perspective:Critical Race Theory

Racial and Ethnic Groupsin the United States

Native Americans WhiteAnglo-SaxonProtestants (British Americans)Af rican AmericansWhite Ethnic AmericansAsianAmericans Latinos/ as(Hispanic Americans) Middle Eastern Americans

Global Racial and Ethnic Inequalityin the Future

Worldwide Racial andEthnicStruggles Growing Racial andEthnicDiversity in the United States

T

he problem is [Jeff Kent] doesn'tk now how to dealwith African American people. I think that's what's causingeverything. It's a pattern ofthings that havebeen saidoffthe cuff that I don'tinterpret as funny. It maybefunny to him,but it's not funnyto Milton Bradley. But I don't takeof f ense to that becausewealljoke about race in [thelock er room]. MebeinganAfrican American isthe most importantthing to me, more important than baseball.White people never want to see racewith anything.Butthere's raceinvolvedinbaseball. That's whythere's less than 9 percent African Americanrepresentation in thegame.I'm one of the f ew Af rican Americans thatstarts [for the Los Angeles Dodgers]. Growingupin [LosAngeles], I k now how to deal with all typesofpeople, and I do iton an everyday basis. Butsome peopledon't deal withall different types ofpeopleevery day,and therefore don't know howtohandle situations whenthey arise.

-Ma jorLeague baseball playerMiltonBradley(thenwiththe LosAngeles Dodgersandnow with the Oakland Athletics),accusingteammate Jef f Kentof makingraciallyinsensitive remarks about Bradley'sperf ormance

(AB C News ,2005)

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•What is the new international division of labor theory?

The new international division of labor theoryisbased on the assumption that commodity production is split into fragments that can be assigned towhichever part of the world can provide the mostprofitable combination of capital andlabor.This division of labor has changed the pattern of geographic

• Key Terms

core nations 245dependency theory 244specialization between countries, whereby high-income countries have become dependent on low- income countries for labor.The low-income countries provide transnational corporations with a situation inwhich they can pay lower wages and taxes, and facefewer regulations regarding workplace conditions andenvironmental protection.global stratif ication 228 modernization theory 240 peripheral nations 245semiperipheral nations 245

Questions for Critical Thinking

1. You have decided to study global wealthand poverty. How would you approach your study?What research methods would provide thebest data fot analysis? What might you find if you com-pared your research data with popular presenta- tions-such as films and advertising-of everyday life in low-and middle-income countries? 2.How would you compare the lives of poor people living in the low-income nations of the worldwith those in central cities and rural areas of the United States? In what ways are their lives similar? Inwhatways are they different?

The Kendall Companion Website

http://thomsonedu.com/sociology/kendall

Supplement your review of this chapter by goingto the companion website to take one of the tutorialquizzes, use the flash cards to master key terms, and check out the many other study aids you'll find 3. Should U.S. foreign policy include provisions for reducing poverty in other nations of the world?Should U.S. domestic policy include provisionsfor reducing poverty in the United States? Howare these issues similar? How are they different?4. Using the theories discussed in this chapter, devisea plan to alleviate global poverty.Assume thatyou have the necessary wealth, political power,andother resources necessary to reduce the problem.Share your plan with others in your class, and cre-ate a consolidated plan that represents the bestideas and suggestions presented.there. You'll also find special features such as GSSData and Census 2000 information that will putdata and resources at your fingertips to help you withthat special project or help you do some research onyour own.

In response to Bradley's comments, Jeff Kent told sports re-porters the following:

M

iltonBradley can go ahead and saythose types ofthings, and it comesfrom an incident that he still doesn't get.And that's a shame.Ifyou think that I've gota problem with AfricanAmericans, then go talk to Dusty Baker. Gotalk to Dave Winfield, whotook me under his wing.Gotalk to Joe Carter-all the guys that Iidolized in this gameand all the veteranplayers who taught mehow to play this game[referring to variousAfrican Americanplayers]. That's ashame, and I takeoffense to that.... (ABCNews,2005)

Sporting eventsmay bringout the best ortheworst in some people. Major League Baseball player MiltonBradley accused teammate Jeff Kent of making racially insensitive remarks about Bradley,creating much controversy among fansand the media.Dowe have a responsibilitytobe thoughtful aboutwhatwe say to and about others?

M

anypeople think verbal feuds betweenathletes such as Milton Bradley andJeff Kent are nothing more than sensa- tionalist "jock talk" hyped by the media to drawlarger audiences and generate more gate

revenues.

Clearly, Bradley thought that Kent had maderacially disparaging remarks about his capabilitiesas a baseball player, and he was not pleased. How-

ever,

Kent believed that he had done no such thingand that Bradley was the problem. More recently,Kent remained with the Dodgers, and Bradley joined the Athletics, telling reporters that he wanted to "go with the flow" (ESPN.com, 2006).Ironically, when public attention and the mediaspotlight are focused on fights

over