Racism

Categorization of People

- Stereotype--a generalized attitude. Categorization based upon some sort
  of similar characteristic, such as physical appearance, religion, or belief.
  (Cognitive Component)
- Prejudice--prejudging. Typically a negative attitude about an individual's
  membership in a group.
  (Evaluative Component)
- Discrimination--negative behavior. Acting upon one's belief about
  another individual on the basis of membership in a group.
  (Behavioral Component)
- Racism--discrimination + power

Racism: Discrimination + Power

Racism is the routine, instititutionalized mistreatment of a person based on
his/her membership in a group on the downside of power.
(Institutional Component)

Effects of Racism

- Economic--keep demands for higher wages & better working
  conditions down.
- Social--segregation, leading to ignorance between groups of people.
- Political--fragmentation, which leads to the impairment of acting
  in unison for the better good.
- Personal--ignorance & fear leads to limitations in personal choice &
  personal growth.

Probability of Being Murdered in the United States
(Hammond & Yung, 1994)

	White	Black
Female	1 in 496	1 in 117
Male	1 in 205	1 in 27

Three Reasons for Stereotyping

- It makes you feel better about yourself.
- It makes you feel connected to others.
- Cognitive economy (cognitive miser).

Cognitive Sources of Prejudice

- Categorization
  Perceived similarities and differences
- Distinctive Stimuli
  Attention
  Vividness
  Illusory correlation
- Attribution
  Ultimate attribution error
  Just world phenomenon

White Privilege (McIntosh, 1988)

- I can avoid spending time with people whom I was trained to mistrust
  and who have learned to mistrust my kind or me.
- I can turn on the television or open to the front page of the paper and
  see people of my race widely and positively represented.
- I can talk with my mouth full and not have people put this down to
  my color.
- I am never asked to speak for all the people of my racial group.
- If my day, week, or year is going badly, I need not ask of each
  negative episode or situation whether it has racisl overtones.

Male Privilege (Mio, 2000)

- I can always assume that my opinion will be listened to and respected.
- I can look at nearly every major company in the world and know that
  my gender will be represented at the very top levels.
- I know that if I am promoted to the top levels of my company, it won't
  be attributed to my company "needing that gender" at the top to show
  progress.
- If I am in a bad mood, I know that people won't attribute it to "that
  time of month."
- If I do any housework at all, I will get credit for being "such a good
  husband," even if it is only 15% of the total work.
- If I do any child rearing at all, see above.

Subtle Effects of Racism

- Claude Steele's (1995, 1997, 2001) Stereotype Threat
- Dovidio's (2001) Aversive Racism
- Pyramid of Success

News Headlines:

  American beats out Michelle Kwan
  (MSNBC, 1998)

  Hughes Good as Gold
  American beats out Kwan, Slutzkaya
  (Seattle Times, February 22, 2002)

Minority Identity Development Model

- PRE-ENCOUNTER STAGE--Individuals are programmed to
   perceive and think of the world as being non-minority or anti-
   minority and act in ways that devalue their minority development.
- ENCOUNTER STAGE--Individuals begin to gain awareness of
   what it means to be minority, and they begin to validate
   themselves in terms of minority identity.
- IMMERSION STAGE--Individuals reject all nonminority values
   and fully immerse themselves in minority culture.
- INTERNALIZATION STAGE--Individuals develop a secure and
   self-confident minority identity and are also comfortable expressing
   preferences and interests for experiences from non-minority cultures.

Majority Identity Devleopment Model

- PRE-EXPOSURE STAGE--Little thought has been given to
   multicultural issues or to one's own role as a majority group member
   in a racist and oppressive society.
- EXPOSURE STAGE--The individual is confronted with the realities
   of racism and prejudice. He or she is forced to examine his or her
   own role as a majority group member. In this examination, it is learned
   how the European-American view has been taken for granted as the
   "proper" (only) view. Anger and guilt arise. Anger because it has always
   been assumed that past ways of conceptualizing the world have been
   thought to be fair and just. Guilt because the person realized his or her
   naive acceptance of the "fairness" view, and that he or she has been
   fostering subtle racism.
- ZEALOT-DEFENSIVE STAGE--One of two reactions: Become a
   zealot for minority causes or become defensive about majority view
   and perhaps even withdraw from finding out about multicultural views
   altogether. In becoming a zealot, the person is reacting to his or her own
   --or the majority culture's collective--guilt. It tends to be other-focused
   rather than self-focused. In becoming defensive, the person either
   attempts to have contact with majority culture individuals, or he or she
   tries to defend majority culture values by pointing out all of the
   "concessions" made by the culture to minority cultures.
- INTEGRATION STAGE--The overly strong feelings of the Zealot-
   Defensive Stage subside, and a more balanced view takes its place.
   Instead, a deeper appreciation of one's own culture allows one to have
   a secure, self-confident identity, allowing for appreciation of other
   cultures. One is able to accept differences both intellectually and
   emotionally.

Cass's (1979) Gay and Lesbian Identity
Development Model

- Stage 1--First awareness. Identity confusion.
- Stage 2--Awareness. Identity comparison. Alienation from others.
- Stage 3--Identity acceptance. Transition from tolerance to acceptance.
- Stage 4--Identity integration. Identity pride and synthesis.

Biracial Identity Development Model (Poston, 1990)

- Stage 1--Personal identity. Identity independent of ethnic background.
- Stage 2--Choice of group categorization. Pushed to choose one group of
   orientation. Factors of influence (from Hall, 1980): (1) status; (2) social
   support; (3) personal.
- Stage 3--Enmeshment/denial. Confusion & guilt over having to choose
   one ethnicity over the other. Self-hate.
- Stage 4--Appreciation. Beginning to appreciate multiple identity &
   broaden their RGO.
- Stage 5--Integration. More fully appreciated multicultural identity and
   existence.

Multiracial/ethnic Identity (Root, 1990)

- Acceptance of the identity society assigns. Passive resolution of identity
   status. May be positive, but often is tenuous.
- Identification with both racial groups. Active resolution of identity status.
   May be idealistic but not available in certain parts of the country.
- Identification with a single racial group. Active resolution of identity status.
   Again, may not be available in certain parts of the country.
- Identification as a new racial group. Strong kinship to other biracial persons.
   positive resolution if the person is not trying to hide or reject any aspect of
   his/her heritage.
- Symbolic identity. Identification with hypodescendent racial group only
  intellectually.

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