01:920:101 Chap.9 Race, Ethnicity and Racism
Race, Ethnicity and Racism
The race block of the review sheet moves from definitions to structure. It starts with sociological definitions of race and ethnicity and with biology: genetic differences, and claims about genetics, race and intelligence. The sociological conclusion is that race is a social construction, a category people created and changed, which nonetheless has real consequences. Next come the levels of the problem.
Prejudice is an attitude, a stereotype is an oversimplified belief, discrimination is unequal treatment, and racism is the wider system that advantages some groups. The review sheet lists many forms: overt, institutional, symbolic, internalised, colour-blind and environmental racism, as well as microaggressions, scapegoating and implicit bias. The chapter defines each in one table and labels the level at which it operates.
The heart of the block is structural racism. The review sheet asks how different institutions connect to produce wealth differences between African Americans and White Americans, what structurally racist investment practices look like, and why colour-blind approaches will not undo structural racism. The chapter uses redlining and housing to trace one chain from lending to home equity, school funding and inheritance.
It ends with ways to help dismantle structural racism and a reminder that the lecture also covered the Supreme Court case on affirmative action in admissions, whose outcome students should take from the slides and connect to the colour-blind argument. Race items on Exam 2 test definitions in fine detail, so the many forms of racism need precise one-line versions.
They also test structural reasoning: how institutions such as lending, housing and schooling connect to produce wealth differences, and why colour-blind approaches cannot undo that structure. Prepare one complete causal chain in your notes, because a scenario item can then be answered by locating the link it describes.
What this chapter covers
- 01
Race, ethnicity and the biology question
- 02
Race as a social construction
- 03
Prejudice, stereotypes and discrimination
- 04
Forms of racism from overt to environmental
- 05
Redlining, housing and the racial wealth gap
- 06
Why colour-blindness leaves structure intact
Worked example · free
Separating prejudice from institutional racism
- 1Check the individual level: prejudice and intent are absent.
- 2Check the rule: its effect falls unequally by race.
- 3Link the rule to its history and name the level.
Key terms
- Social construction
- A category that exists because people collectively define and act on it, such as race, rather than because of fixed natural differences.
- Institutional racism
- Racial disadvantage produced by the rules and routine practices of organisations, even without individual prejudice.
- Redlining
- The practice of marking neighbourhoods with many Black residents as risky for lending, so that residents were refused mortgages or charged more.
- Environmental racism
- The concentration of pollution and environmental hazards near communities of colour.
- Implicit bias
- An automatic association that shapes judgement without conscious intent.
- Scapegoat
- A group blamed for problems it did not cause, often during periods of economic hardship.
- Colour-blind racism
- Racial inequality maintained by claiming not to see race while leaving the structures that produce inequality in place.
- Ethnicity
- Shared cultural heritage, such as language, religion, ancestry or customs, that a group recognises as its own.
Race, Ethnicity and Racism FAQ
Why is race called a social construction if it has real effects?
Because the categories were created by societies and have changed across places and time, while human genetic variation does not divide neatly into races. Treating the categories as real still shapes housing, schooling and wealth, so their effects are real.
How does housing connect to the racial wealth gap?
Home equity is the main asset for many families. Groups denied mortgages could not build that equity, their neighbourhoods kept lower values and school funding, and they had less to pass on. The disadvantage compounds across generations.
What is the difference between prejudice and discrimination?
Prejudice is an attitude, a negative prejudgement of a group. Discrimination is behaviour, treating people unequally because of their group. They can occur separately, which is why sociologists study institutional rules as well as individual beliefs.
What is a microaggression?
A microaggression is an everyday comment or action, often unintended, that signals a person's group is lesser or does not belong, such as praising someone's English on the assumption that they are foreign.
Exam move
For each form of racism on the review sheet, write a one-line definition and one example, then mark whether it works through an individual, an interaction or an institution. Add one remedy for each link in your wealth chain.
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