Race Implicit Association Test - Sociology Research Paper

The Race IAT test is trying to measure an individuals preference for whites over blacks. I took upon myself to take the test. My results indicated that I have a slight automatic preference for European Americans over African Americans. On the real sense, the results shocked me insignificantly because I prefer every race without bias. However, I can justify that the reason I got those results was that the images of both European and African Americans were slightly similar to devise the differences. Overall, I believe that every race or ethnic background should get equal treatment without prejudice.

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Sociologists Perspectives on Race and Ethnicity

Sociologists define race as apparent physical distinctions that are significant in a particular society. According to Little (n.d), race is not biologically identifiable in the sociological school of thought. As the chapter explains, some groups become racialized through a social process that labels them for unequal treatment based on their supposed physiological differences. The text puts forward that in regards to skin color, the social creation of race distinguishes that the comparative darkness or skin fairness is an evolutionary version to the available sunlight in different geographical locations. More so, names for racial categories change with times in the social construction of race. The chapter adds that race provides a source of identity. It explains that specific labels fall in and out of favor during different social eras. It provides an example of how the name negro emerged in the 1960s, and then fell out and was replaced with the term black Canadian.

Sociologists describe ethnicity as a shared culture in terms of their practices, values, and beliefs of a group. It might include shared language, religion, and traditions (Little, n.d). Most people identify themselves with their common ancestral, social and national experiences. However, the text indicates that there are discrepancies and overlaps in the terms ethnicity and race. For instance, people label whites as ethnic groups such as Irish, Italian American, Russian, and Jewish (Little, n.d). Furthermore, black, white, and Asian, can be of the British ethnic groups. Up to date, individuals still identify people through their ethnic backgrounds when it comes to census, non-discrimination laws, every day relations, and confirmatory action initiatives.

Racism, Prejudice, and Discrimination

Racism is some sort of prejudice that incorporates a set of beliefs about a particular racial group. It justifies the belief that one group is more superior to the other. White supremacist, for example, are racist organizations who regard themselves as superior based on their hate crime and speech over centuries. Little (n.d) points out that it is difficult to eliminate racist attitudes and beliefs than the racist practices.

Prejudice is thoughts of feelings about these racial groups. The basis of prejudice is pre-judgment that does not originate from actual experience. Most people become prejudicial because they are too quick to make judgments upon others without having enough information about them.

Discrimination is the actions towards the racial group. Normally, it is impossible to abolish discrimination through policies (Little, n.d). Discrimination can be categorized as either individual or institutional.

Individual Discrimination

It is the actions towards a particular person. For example, individual discrimination can occur when a homeowner wants only people from a particular race to live in the neighborhood. Additionally, it might occur at work during promotions where the head of that company only promotes people from a certain race.

Institutional Discrimination

Refers to the way states set their laws based on racial characteristics. An example of institutional racism in the US is the black targets of racial profiling because of their ethnic background. Another recent form of institutional discrimination is from the president elect Donald Trump who wanted to pass a law that could deport all immigrants to their home countries.

Minority Groups

Minority groups are the category of people who are singled out from others in the society because of their physical or cultural characteristics (Little, n.d). Usually, these people are treated unfairly, and they consider themselves as objects of discrimination. In sociology, subordinate refers to the minority groups while dominant refers to majority groups. As Little (n.d) notes, in most occasions, larger groups are considered as a minority because they do not have power. The topic of minority groups brings about the term assimilation. The phrase refers to the process by which minority groups give up their identity by taking characteristics of a dominant culture. In the United States, Assimilation has taken place through immigration. Most immigrants who live in the US have lost almost all elements of their heritage. Earlier immigrant studies have attempted to explain how immigrant assimilation came into existence in the US. As Little (n.d) explains, after the end of the American civil war, many black Canadians returned to the US. Millions of people immigrated to the United States between 1880 and 1920. These immigrants began to live in America, educated themselves, learned the English language, and intermarried. Today, they have come to know the US as their home because they have lived there for many years. As well, their mode of life is almost purely American.

Reference

Little W. (n.d). Race and Ethnicity. Chapter 11. Retrieved from

https://opentextbc.ca/introductiontosociology/chapter/chapter11-race-and-ethnicity/