Racism And Racial Prejudice

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What is race? What is ethnicity? These are questions that may be simple on the surface but in reality it is quite complex. From my understanding as an eighteen-year old, American born person that has been raised in a “normal” upbringing, the term race has some connection to being black, white, Latino/na, and Asian. But in fact, after further research and watching the core concept videos I have learned that according to sociologists’, race is not a biological product but actually a social construct. There is no such thing as race. It was the result of institutional process and laws that created the idea of races. One of the videos stated that races again is a social construct. This was most apparent in the mid nineteen hundreds during the civil …show more content…
Prejudice is essentially a negative attitude towards others based on faulty assumptions about them or their culture. This negative attitude can range from uncomfortableness and dislike to outward hostility. Racism is the ability and will to turn this attitude into public policy. To simplify this comparison, prejudice is an attitude and racism is the action. Racial prejudice is a hostile attitude directed toward others because of negative assumptions about their group and culture. But racism involves the ability to turn this hostility into public policy. Racism also must be distinguished from individual racial discrimination-i.e., unequal, hostile treatment by persons. For racism is systemic and involves power and force, ideology and …show more content…
The categories dominant and subordinate are preferred to majority and minority. First, because the terms majority and minority can give the impression that this refers to numbers as the defining feature of this ranking rather than power. In fact, there are societies where the “majority” in number is still the “minority” in power, i.e., California, where people of color outnumber Whites, but are still referred to as “minorities.” Second, the use if the terms dominant and subordinate best expresses the fact that power is the defining feature of this ranking. Indeed, the ruling group establishes itself as the dominant group through its power-economic, political and cultural power. Thus a dominant group is a group which has the greatest share of wealth, power and status and thus exercises control over other groups in society. This group may be defined by race, class, gender, or other characteristics. Likewise, a subordinate group which may be ranked by race, class, gender, and other “defining’ characteristics is a group whose members have less control and power over their lives than the dominant group and thus, experience unequal treatment, access and opportunities in
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