SOCL 2505 Chapter : Chapter 5 Notes
Document Summary
Racial-ethnic group: people who share a common identity and whose members think of themselves as distinct from others by virtue of ancestry, culture, and sometimes physical characteristics. Based on socially constructed ideas what it means to be a white/black/asian person has changed over time. Three main components: ancestry, culture, physical characteristics. Constructing racial-ethnic groups: society can redefine groups or create new ones. Great differences in family structure by racial ethnic groups. Only 42% of these listed themselves in specific racial category. Asian american: came from an asian country. No overall asian category in 2000 census. As many variations in family patterns within subgroups as non-hispanics. *umbrella term covers several different locations and groups, religions and cultures; used to quantify to make generalizations. United states is structured around five racial-ethnic groups. Power/privilege with regard to other ethnic groups. Example: in 1800s immigrants from ireland and italy were not considered white because they were poor.
