Exam 3: Status Section A: Race and Ethnicity

From "Are Emily and Greg More Employable than Lakisha and Jamal? A Field Experiment on Labor Market Discrimination" by Marianne Bertrand and Sendhil Mullainathan The authors conduct a field experiment to determine if stereotypical ethnic and non-ethnic sounding names in resumes as well as return mailing addresses constitutes a perceived proxy for race, and, thus, constitutes racial discrimination in job applicant "callbacks." The authors find it likely that a form of discrimination operates at all occupational levels and credentialing statuses. -The authors' study is intended to determine if there is discrimination in:

"A Threat in the Air: How Stereotypes Shape Intellectual Identity and Performance" by Claude M. Steel Steele discusses the dynamics of "stereotypical threat," which is the internalization of negative stereotypes that pose achievement barriers among women in advanced quantitative areas and blacks in school. The author discusses how identification with school and its subdivisions can produce inferior performance pursuant to societal pressures that make domain-identified students conscious and activate the stenotypes. -One consequence of a "stereotypical threat" is that it causes de-identification.

From "Historical Context and Hazard Waste Facility Siting: Understanding Temporal Patterns in Michigan" by Robin Saha and Paul Mohai The authors provide a changing historical account of the development of public environmental concern about hazardous waste sites, delineating three periods characterized by changing public concern, legal standing/responsibility for the siting of hazardous waste, and political participation in movements to structure the siting of hazardous waste. The authors maintain that varying levels of concern and participation in conjunction with changing legal responsibility for siting and the evolving dynamics of deindustrialization led to racial and class discrimination in the siting of waste. -Which of the following groups have been least successful in mobilizing to keep hazardous sites out of their communities:

From Racism without Racists by Eduardo Bonilla-Silva Bonilla-Silva explicates an ideology of racism--"color-blind racism"--that is widespread in contemporary American society. Based on four frames-- abstract liberalism, naturalization, cultural racism, and minimization of racism--color-blind racism is a way of appearing normal, moral, and reasonable while propagating beliefs that serve to reinforce the legacy of white racial privilege. The hallmarks of color-blind racism are its pliability, seeming sensibility, and fairness in judging minorities and policies that are appropriate to addressing racial inequality in life-chance opportunities. -Bonilla-Silva maintains that color-blind raciam is suited to propagating discrimination in an advanced liberal democracy. Explain what he means by this.

From "Are Emily and Greg More Employable than Lakisha and Jamal? A Field Experiment on Labor Market Discrimination" by Marianne Bertrand and Sendhil Mullainathan The authors conduct a field experiment to determine if stereotypical ethnic and non-ethnic sounding names in resumes as well as return mailing addresses constitutes a perceived proxy for race, and, thus, constitutes racial discrimination in job applicant "callbacks." The authors find it likely that a form of discrimination operates at all occupational levels and credentialing statuses. -The racial gap in callbacks widens as the quality of resumes increases.

From Racism without Racists by Eduardo Bonilla-Silva Bonilla-Silva explicates an ideology of racism--"color-blind racism"--that is widespread in contemporary American society. Based on four frames-- abstract liberalism, naturalization, cultural racism, and minimization of racism--color-blind racism is a way of appearing normal, moral, and reasonable while propagating beliefs that serve to reinforce the legacy of white racial privilege. The hallmarks of color-blind racism are its pliability, seeming sensibility, and fairness in judging minorities and policies that are appropriate to addressing racial inequality in life-chance opportunities. -Describe the minimization of racism frame of color-blind racism.

"The 'Morphing' Properties of Whiteness" by Troy Duster Duster takes up the issue of the biological and cultural basis of race and racial classification in American society. Duster advocates that race is complex, structural, and enduring, and, simultaneously, a social/cultural construct that is fluid and subject to change in which its boundaries may fundamentally alter. -Discuss Duster's critique of race as a biological construct that can be based on genetic interpretations of intelligence.

From The Myth of the Model Minority: Asian Americans Facing Racism by Rosalind S. Chou and Joe R. Feagin Chou and Feagin document that model minorities experience great stress with pressure to conform to white-dominated society in the face of very strong racism and discrimination. Using in-depth interviews, the authors give voice to Asian Americans' experience with discrimination and how they cope with it as a model minority that--in the public consciousness--obscures the pressures and discriminatory experiences of model minorities. -What is a "model minority"?

From "Are Emily and Greg More Employable than Lakisha and Jamal? A Field Experiment on Labor Market Discrimination" by Marianne Bertrand and Sendhil Mullainathan The authors conduct a field experiment to determine if stereotypical ethnic and non-ethnic sounding names in resumes as well as return mailing addresses constitutes a perceived proxy for race, and, thus, constitutes racial discrimination in job applicant "callbacks." The authors find it likely that a form of discrimination operates at all occupational levels and credentialing statuses. -Discuss the limitations of the methodology to identify discrimination employed by the authors.

"Globalism's Discontents" by Joseph E. Stiglitz Stiglitz sorts out the different meanings of globalization. He maintains that globalization has brought large benefits to a few with few benefits to the many. The author further argues that issues of control/management and globalization ideology play crucial roles in determining whether globalization is beneficial or detrimental. -Globalization has had uniform effects in developing countries.

From Multiple Origins, Uncertain Destinies by the National Research Council This chapter from the National Research Council examines four aspects of the Hispanic experience-family and living arrangements, schools and education, employment and economic well-being, and health status and access to care. Overall, trends indicate that Hispanics' integration experiences are as diverse as the eclectic subgroups subsumed under the panethnic identity, but some trends are discernible. Generally, Cubans are in a more stratification-favorable position than either Mexicans or Puerto Ricans. -How are Hispanics disadvantaged across stages of the educational career?

From "Are Emily and Greg More Employable than Lakisha and Jamal? A Field Experiment on Labor Market Discrimination" by Marianne Bertrand and Sendhil Mullainathan The authors conduct a field experiment to determine if stereotypical ethnic and non-ethnic sounding names in resumes as well as return mailing addresses constitutes a perceived proxy for race, and, thus, constitutes racial discrimination in job applicant "callbacks." The authors find it likely that a form of discrimination operates at all occupational levels and credentialing statuses. -In addition to names, the findings also suggest discrimination is taking place on the basis of:

"The Complexities and Processes of Racial Housing Discrimination" by Vincent J. Roscigno, Diana L. Karafin, and Griff Tester Roscigno, Karafin, and Tester explore the dynamics of discrimination in the housing market. Their approach is unusually broad in two ways: 1) they focus on both "exclusionary" and "non-exclusionary practices, and 2) they utilize both quantitative and qualitative analytic techniques to meaningfully discuss the causal mechanisms that underlie discrimination in the housing market. Their approach sheds light on the wide range of causes of discrimination that appear to disproportionately handicap African American women. -What has been a noticeable limitation in previous research on housing discrimination?

From Racism without Racists by Eduardo Bonilla-Silva Bonilla-Silva explicates an ideology of racism--"color-blind racism"--that is widespread in contemporary American society. Based on four frames-- abstract liberalism, naturalization, cultural racism, and minimization of racism--color-blind racism is a way of appearing normal, moral, and reasonable while propagating beliefs that serve to reinforce the legacy of white racial privilege. The hallmarks of color-blind racism are its pliability, seeming sensibility, and fairness in judging minorities and policies that are appropriate to addressing racial inequality in life-chance opportunities. -Describe the cultural racism frame of color-blind racism.

"The 'Morphing' Properties of Whiteness" by Troy Duster Duster takes up the issue of the biological and cultural basis of race and racial classification in American society. Duster advocates that race is complex, structural, and enduring, and, simultaneously, a social/cultural construct that is fluid and subject to change in which its boundaries may fundamentally alter. -Discuss Duster's notions of "arbitrary/whimsical" and "structural/enduring" as competing conceptions of race.

"Globalism's Discontents" by Joseph E. Stiglitz Stiglitz sorts out the different meanings of globalization. He maintains that globalization has brought large benefits to a few with few benefits to the many. The author further argues that issues of control/management and globalization ideology play crucial roles in determining whether globalization is beneficial or detrimental. -Which of the following globalization-based policies does Stiglitz advocate:

"Globalism's Discontents" by Joseph E. Stiglitz Stiglitz sorts out the different meanings of globalization. He maintains that globalization has brought large benefits to a few with few benefits to the many. The author further argues that issues of control/management and globalization ideology play crucial roles in determining whether globalization is beneficial or detrimental. -How does "the governance of globalization" impact on whether it is beneficial or detrimental?

From "Historical Context and Hazard Waste Facility Siting: Understanding Temporal Patterns in Michigan" by Robin Saha and Paul Mohai The authors provide a changing historical account of the development of public environmental concern about hazardous waste sites, delineating three periods characterized by changing public concern, legal standing/responsibility for the siting of hazardous waste, and political participation in movements to structure the siting of hazardous waste. The authors maintain that varying levels of concern and participation in conjunction with changing legal responsibility for siting and the evolving dynamics of deindustrialization led to racial and class discrimination in the siting of waste. -Prior to 1970, the location of hazardous sites had been distributed:

From "Historical Context and Hazard Waste Facility Siting: Understanding Temporal Patterns in Michigan" by Robin Saha and Paul Mohai The authors provide a changing historical account of the development of public environmental concern about hazardous waste sites, delineating three periods characterized by changing public concern, legal standing/responsibility for the siting of hazardous waste, and political participation in movements to structure the siting of hazardous waste. The authors maintain that varying levels of concern and participation in conjunction with changing legal responsibility for siting and the evolving dynamics of deindustrialization led to racial and class discrimination in the siting of waste. -Describe what the authors mean when saying that the siting of hazardous wastes have been determined by a "pattern of least resistance."

From "Are Emily and Greg More Employable than Lakisha and Jamal? A Field Experiment on Labor Market Discrimination" by Marianne Bertrand and Sendhil Mullainathan The authors conduct a field experiment to determine if stereotypical ethnic and non-ethnic sounding names in resumes as well as return mailing addresses constitutes a perceived proxy for race, and, thus, constitutes racial discrimination in job applicant "callbacks." The authors find it likely that a form of discrimination operates at all occupational levels and credentialing statuses. -Discuss findings concerning the racial gap in callbacks: A) across the occupational structure, and B) in "returns" to credentials.