Catherine Pham

Prof. Prior

SOC 1

9 June 2017

Race: Witt Ch. 13

1. What is racial profiling? Provide examples of how law enforcement, government officials and/or

ordinary citizens use racial profiling in the aftermath of 9/11. (review Arizona case). How might

the contact hypothesis remedy profiling?

Racial profiling is the act of discrimination by law enforcement against an individual

based on their racial or ethnical characteristics than their actions or behavior. The law

enforcements categorization of people based on how they look has increasingly become

apparent within society. Racial profiling has caused some problems and concerns in the past,

such as with Arizona passing an act which requires immigrants to carry legal documents

validating their immigration and gives the law enforcement the ability to inquire and check any

past offenders immigration status based on suspicion that the person is not in the country

legally. These concerns have carried onto impacting how law enforcement, government officials,

and ordinary citizens view Arabs or Muslims after 9/11. The destruction and tragedy the two

terrorists caused during 9/11 has made people regard Arabs and Muslims as suspicious threats

and resulted in the increased monitoring of these particular race of immigrants. The contact

hypothesis may help lessen the prejudice associated with discrimination as it creates a common

ground for racially different individuals to focus on maintaining a cooperative environment,

setting aside their stereotypes of each other, and learning that they were not so different despite

their race.
2. Discuss various ethnocentric practices historically used by those in power that have contributed

to prejudicial attitudes towards racial and minority groups.

Historically, racism and discrimination has been prominent for many years within society

and has shaped how future generations view racial and minority groups. Ethnocentric practices in

history have had a hand in contributing to these prejudicial attitudes such as the Armenian

Genocide or the Hitlers mass extermination of Jews, gays, lesbians, and Romani people. The

usage of such intergroup relations like genocide, expulsion, amalgamation, assimilation,

segregation, and pluralism has enabled such prejudice to carry on into our societal views of

minorities. Expulsion or the purging of a group of people from society has been done by

countless countries like the Chinese from Vietnam and the Croats and Muslims from former

Yugoslavia. The removal of specific groups label them as unwanted by the country and

portraying such racial groups as outsiders. Amalgamation can be seen in the United States as a

melting pot in the 20th century, creating a variety of unique cultural-racial groups occurring

through intermarriage over several generations. While the melting pot suggested that the

amalgamation of racial groups was to unite the people as one, in actuality, however, many

groups were unwilling to involve several minorities (e.g. Native Americans and Blacks) into the

makings of their new group.

3. What is the social construction of race? Provide a symbolic interactionist perspective.

How can this concept (social construction of race) be applied to Americans from multiple racial

backgrounds?

The social construction of race is the concept of ascribing racial or ethnic characteristics

to certain groups, resulting in unequal treatment based on perceived physiological differences.

The concept of race has evolved across cultures and generations with labels for racial groups
 implying to their regions or indicating their skin tones. If viewed through the symbolic

interactionist perspective, race is a social construct that functions based on an individuals

physical appearance. The method of categorizing racial groups through the social construction of

race is not very reliable. When applied to Native Americans or African Americans, Whites

would be considered to be superior in terms of acquiring resources, prestige, and respect socially,

economically, and culturally.

4. Define the term model minority. Discuss which minority group is perceived as living up

to that image. Discuss advantages and disadvantages of being a model minority.

The model minority is considered as the inferior groups (i.e. the subordinate groups)

whom have overcome previous discrimination or prejudice to succeed educationally, socially,

and economically. Asian Americans are often portrayed as the model minority group, having

been successful in bypassing others into getting a higher education and more job opportunities

with stable income. While they are seen as a model minority due to their outstanding abilities in

educational subjects and skills, they are still susceptible to the glass ceiling and the limitations of

diversity the title brings.