Brooke Barringer

Sociology 2
Project 10
22 April 2016
Project 10
Race and ethnicity are two of the most ascribed statuses to discriminate between from
one group to another. Race is a category of people who share inherited physical characteristic
and can distinguish as a group. Ethnicity is the set of cultural characteristics that differentiate two
groups. Over the course of the years over 200 racial categories have been distinguished.
Typically there are three main groups; Caucasoids, Mongoloids, and Negroids. Caucasoids are
whites, and characterized by the fair skin and straight or wavy hair. Mongoloids are Asians, and
are determined by the yellowish or brown skin and the folds in the eyelids. And the Negroids are
blacks, they are characterized by dark skin and tightly curled hair.
Minority groups are groups of people who, because of physical or cultural traits, are
treated unequally. The term minority does not have anything to do with the amount in the group
but, the unequal standard in their society. Definate characteristics that differentiate minorities
are; identifiable physical or cultural characteristics that are different from the dominant group,
victims of unequal treatment, membership is an ascribed status, a strong bond is held throughout
the group, and endogamy. To be considered a minority, a group must hold all the characteristics.
Two more common factors in minority groups can be related with discrimination and
prejudice. These terms are often put together to the same meaning but actually are completely
separate. Discrimination is the rebuttal of equal treatment to individuals based on their group.
Prejudice is a generalization about a certain category of people. Behavior is correlated with
discrimination, and attitude with prejudice. Legal discrimination is upheld by the law and
institutionalized discrimination is an outgrowth of the structure of a society. First, legal

Brooke Barringer
Sociology 2
Project 10
22 April 2016
discrimination. South Africas apartheid, an elaborate system of laws that define the political,
economic, and legal rights of white and non white South Africans within the county. Another
example can be the discrimination to women until the 20th century. The 19th amendment then
gave them the right to vote. Then institutionalized discrimination. Over time it has become more
and more unequal. This is because of unequal access to the resources to minorities. This now
becomes part of the social structure for years to come. Prejudice can cause stereotypes. This is an
unfavorable generalization of a group of people. This can be that Americans think that they are
all smarter than the Mexicans. If this were told over a period of time, this can eventually make
many Mexicans inferior and eventually believing it. Further into this issue, Robert K. Merton
researched the topic of self-fulfilling prophecy. This is a prediction that results in behavior that
makes the prediction come true. You can combine discrimination and prejudice with; the active
bigot, the timid bigot, the fair-weather liberal, and the all-weather liberal. The active bigot is
prejudice and openly discriminatory. The timid is prejudice but is afraid to discriminate because
of the societal pressures. The fair-weather liberal is not prejudice but discriminates anyways
because of social pressures. And the all-weather liberal is not prejudiced and does not
discriminate.
Racism is the belief that one's own race or ethnic group is naturally superior to others
races or ethnic groups. Sociologists have multiple reasons to why discrimination and prejudice
exist. The sociological explanations are based mostly on the social environment. This can be
embedded into the social norms. Even if it is not in the majority of the society, it can be an
influence on individuals and majority groups. This can also become prejudiced by the

Brooke Barringer
Sociology 2
Project 10
22 April 2016
identification and reference groups that encourage this behavior. Psychological explanations are
individuals behaviors. This is part of their personality described by one sociologist. Theodor
Adorno found that the prejudiced people share certain characteristics. This is called the
authoritarian personality. They are strongly conformists, have a great respect for authority, and
are highly likely to follow orders given by the authority. Another explanation is said to be the
product of frustration and anger. When individuals have have problems but can't express them
they turn to anger on innocent groups. Scapegoating is the practice of placing the blame for one's
troubles on an innocent individual group.
The percentage of African Americans completing four or more years of college is just
more than half of white Americans. These statistics are just few of many that sociologists have
over all the ethnicities against each other. Approximately 31 percent of African Americans 18
years old or younger live below the poverty level. And African American family income
averages about 64 percent of white income.
The conditions of life for minority groups in America. This shows the differences of
lifestyles and the conditions they have compared to the majorities. In the 1900s over 20 million
people entered the U.S. This was groups from Asia, Australia, Mexico, Central and South
America, Africa, and Europe. Over 66.9% are Mexican, 14.3% Central and South American, and
8.6% Puerto Rican.

Research #1

Brooke Barringer
Sociology 2
Project 10
22 April 2016
Pew Research Center surveys finds that majorities of multiracial adults are proud of
their mixed-race background(60%)(Pew). In this survey they also added that 55% of them have
been subjected to racial slurs and discriminative jokes. This makes them feel uncomfortable and
some embarrassed of their backgrounds.
Only 6.9% of Americans have two races in their background. From this only 60% feel
proud of their background, 59 felt more open to more cultures, and 55 have been subjected to the
racial slurs and discriminative jokes. Black-American Indians are 71% more likely to get these
type of slurs and jokes, compared to White American Indians are 15% likely.
Multiracial babies have been on the rise. This has to meet the criteria of both parents
different races, the child identified as multiracial, and be living with both parents. 2013 has been
at 10% of kids and rose from 3% in 1980.

"Multiracial in America." Pew Research Centers Social Demographic Trends Project

RSS. 2015. Web. 28 Apr. 2016.

Research #2
Nearly 60 years after the Brown vs. Board, the US Supreme Court decided to take the
racial segregation of schools into their own hands. 48% of all public school students were poor,
and the majority will be colored. The Civil Rights Project has shown that black students are just

Brooke Barringer
Sociology 2
Project 10
22 April 2016
as segregated today as in the 1960s. Even though the economy is growing and developing the
little contact between the races has boggled many.
Reed Jordan has created a chart based on income and race. The more income the less
segregated, whereas the less income the more segregation. As shown in the chart below the
less populated as well has more races compared to the more populated.

"School Resegregation, Race

and America's Future: Recent
Research - Journalist's
Resource." Journalists
Resource. 2014. Web. 28
Apr. 2016.

Research #3
More Hispanics, black enrolling in college, but lag in bachelors degrees
In a recent study 12.5 million of all races are enrolled in a college. That number has grown from
8.6 million in 1993. 7.2 million White, 2.4 million Hispanics, 1.7 million Black, and 915,000 Asian.
Over the span from 1993 to 2012 all number have grown and some over doubled. The biggest

Brooke Barringer
Sociology 2
Project 10
22 April 2016
jump was in the Hispanics have grown 240%. Hispanics college enrollment growth exceeded
the growth in public high school graduates in the same time period (141%). But the difference is
in the numbers with the student who go to earn a bachelor's degree. 14% of them were Blacks.
And Asians with 11%. The Hispanics made up a small part of the bachelor's degree, but so
many of them attended college compared to the other races.
Also, 20 years ago a poll was taken and out of the stats, it states that out of every four
students three of them are white. In 2012, whites then accounted for 58% of college students.
The 63% to 30% compared white to races who finish a four year degree. This is a large
difference, and a plan is coming to increase the number of black and minority students on
college campuses.

"More Hispanics, Blacks Enrolling in College, but Lag in Bachelors Degrees." Pew Research
Center RSS. 2014. Web. 29 Apr. 2016.