PSC 293 Study Guide - Spring 2018, Comprehensive Midterm Notes -
12 Oct 2018
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PSC 293
MIDTERM EXAM
STUDY GUIDE
Fall 2018
Chapter 1
Uneven Roads
Does race still matter?
- Example: african americans make up;
- 13% of monthly drug users
- 55% of all those convicted on drug charges
- 77% of all those who serve drug related prison sentences
-Latinos and Blacks routinely have jobless and unemployment rate twice that of whites.
- race also matters in symbolic ways- through words, symbols, and images that shape societal
attitudes and opinions
The factors of racialization: society, minority communities, and the polity, or the broad
government framework within which political and economic interaction occurs.
Understanding when, why, and how race matters helps us to identify these factors as they occur
and the effects of racialization on a minority group’s outcome on the road to equality.
Race- refers to the macro-categories society assigns to physical distinctions like skin and hair
color and body shapes, as well as cultural differences
- It is a social construction rooted much more in beliefs than science; but society’s widely
differ in how they define it. The US historically has supported racial separation or
assimilation
Ethnicity refers to people distinguished more by their cultural practices or national or regional
ancestries. A connection to a region rather than a specific nation is called a pan-ethnic identity.
Racism occurs when government/society uses race to allocate benefits or sanction to persons
or groups in a way that reinforces an order or racial privilege or ordering
Scientific racism- the incorrect use of empirical methods to justify assumptions of racial
superiority and inferiority. It justified certain groups being labeled as inferior/superior to others.
Government actions matter in the creation of persistent opportunity gaps across racial and
ethnic groups. Information gathered by the US census, including racial/ethnic identification is
oftentimes used to determine status and policies about the population
- Census categories of race/ethnicity involve a process of racialization that suits different
political, scientific, and allocational purposes
- These categories have changed over time and current debate centers around the use of
multiracial categories
It is important to know how to interpret various racial and ethnic differences:
- By 2050, the US will have no absolute racial majority
- hispanics/ latinos are the fast growing minority group in the country and the largest
minority ethnic group.
**multicultural view- argues that various racial and ethnic groups understand what it means to
be an american by maintaining distinct cultural identities, “melting pot”
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
**transcendent view- argues that maintenance of distinct cultural identities diminishes the
common values and beliefs that make americans
Outcomes of racialization:
- Absolute barriers- minorities have no rights
- Decisive- minorities have few rights
- Insufficient- minorities have fundamental rights but inequality persists
- Inconsequential- minorities have equal citizenship
Chapter 2
Native Americans; the Road from Majority to Minority
Three prominent examples of indigenous communities
- Pueblo communities of Southwest
- Five civilized tribes of southeast: cherokee, choctaw, chickasaw, creek, seminole
- Iroquois confederacy of northeast: mohawk, oneida, onondaga, cayuga, seneca
- Diverse communities, sophisticated political confederacies across the continent
European Settlers Arrive
- Both explorers and natives were confident in their cultural superiority
- European perspectives of natives: Indians were not christians and therefore heathens
- Indian perspective of europeans: Potentially useful newcomers
- Europeans used land rather than revered it
- Population decline: smallpox epidemics, warfare with settlers contributed to decline of
native population
** International Law Doctrine devised by the papacy
- Gives rights to unoccupied lands in the new world granted to settlers from catholic
countries (spain, portugal, italy, france)
- The purpose was to convert indians to christianity
- Europeans assumed they had legal rights to the land
- Relationships with natives based on the idea of “christian superiority”
The New United States (1776-1830s)
Westward expansion
- Indians were seen as threat to settlers’ expansion
- Louisiana purchase (from france)
- Thomas jefferson
-civilization program: land acquisition, encouraging natives to adopt american
agricultural lifestyle
- initiated an indian removal policy contradictory to his idea about equality
The Marshall Trilogy of Supreme Court Cases
Johnson v M’intosh (1823)
- Tried to buy land from the piankeshaw tribe
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
55% of all those convicted on drug charges. 77% of all those who serve drug related prison sentences. Latinos and blacks routinely have jobless and unemployment rate twice that of whites. Race also matters in symbolic ways- through words, symbols, and images that shape societal attitudes and opinions. The factors of racialization: society, minority communities, and the polity, or the broad government framework within which political and economic interaction occurs. Understanding when, why, and how race matters helps us to identify these factors as they occur and the effects of racialization on a minority group"s outcome on the road to equality. Race- refers to the macro-categories society assigns to physical distinctions like skin and hair color and body shapes, as well as cultural differences. It is a social construction rooted much more in beliefs than science; but society"s widely differ in how they define it. The us historically has supported racial separation or assimilation.
