Chapter 10: Race and Ethnicity

Table of Contents

1. Race And Ethnicity
2. Components Of Racial And Ethnic Conflict
3. Theoretical Explanations Of Prejudice, Discrimination, And Racism
4. Patterns Of Interaction Between Racial And Ethnic Groups
5. Racial And Ethnic Groups In Canada
6. Racial And Ethnic Diversity In Canada In The Twenty-First Century

I. Race And Ethnicity

1. Race is a category of people who have been singled out as inferior or superior, often on the basis of physical characteristics such as skin colour, hair texture, and eye shape.
   
   
2. An ethnic group is a collection of people distinguished, by others or by themselves, primarily on the basis of cultural or nationality characteristics. Ethnic groups share five main characteristics: (1) unique cultural traits; (2) a sense of community; (3) a feeling of ethnocentrism; (4) ascribed membership from birth; and (5) territoriality.
   
   
3. Social Significance of Race and Ethnicity
   1. According to Augie Fleras and Jean Leonard Elliott, although Canadians may appear ambivalent about race, it continues to provide power and privilege to some groups.
      
      
   2. Race and ethnicity are bases of hierarchical ranking in society; the dominant group holds power over other (subordinate) ethnic groups.
      
      
4. Racial classifications in the most recent Canadian census show the meaning of race has continued to change over the past century in Canada.
   1. Race is defined by perceived skin colour (white and nonwhite), and racial purity is assumed to exist (multiracial Canadians are placed in vague categories such as "other").
      
      
   2. Such classifications are important because they affect people's access to employment, housing, and many other publicly or privately valued goods.
      
      
5. Majority and Minority Groups
   1. A majority (or dominant) group is one that is advantaged and has superior resources and rights in a society.

2. A minority (or subordinate) group is one whose members, because of physical or cultural characteristics, are disadvantaged and subjected to unequal treatment by the dominant group and who regard themselves as objects of collective discrimination.

II. Components Of Racial And Ethnic Conflict

1. Prejudice (a negative attitude based on preconceived ideas about members of selected racial and ethnic groups) often is based on stereotypes (overgeneralizations about the appearance, behaviour, or other characteristics of all members of a category).

2. Discrimination involves actions or practices of dominant group members that have a harmful impact on members of a subordinate group.

   Robert Merton identified four combinations of attitudes and responses:

   1. Unprejudiced nondiscriminators-persons who are not personally prejudiced and do not discriminate against others.
   2. Unprejudiced discriminators-persons who may have no personal prejudice but still engage in discriminatory behaviour because of peer-group prejudice or economic, political, or social interests.
   3. Prejudiced nondiscriminators-persons who hold personal prejudices but do not discriminate due to peer pressure, legal demands, or a desire for profits.

4. Prejudiced discriminators-persons who hold personal prejudices and actively discriminate against others.
3. Racism is an organized set of beliefs about the innate inferiority of some racial groups, combined with the power to transform these ideas into practices that deny or exclude. Fleras and Elliott identified five types of racism:
   1. Rednecked racism-overt racism that may take the form of public statements about the "inferiority" of members of a racial or ethnic group.
   2. Polite racism-involves an attempt to disguise a dislike of others through behaviour that appears to be nonjudgmental.
   3. Subliminal racism-involves an unconscious criticism of minorities.
   4. Institutional racism-is made up of the rules, procedures, and practices that directly or deliberately prevent minorities from equal treatment.
   5. Systemic racism-refers to unintentional organizational practices that have a harmful impact on subordinate group members.

III. Theoretical Explanations Of Prejudice, Discrimination, And Racism

1. The frustration-aggression hypothesis states that people who are frustrated in their efforts to achieve a highly desired goal will respond with a pattern of aggression toward a scapegoat-a person or group that is incapable of offering resistance to the hostility or aggression of others.
   
   
2. According to some interactionists, prejudice results from social learning-behaviour that is learned from observing and imitating significant others, such as parents and peers.
   
   
3. Highly prejudiced individuals may exhibit an authoritarian personality-characterized by excessive conformity, submissiveness to authority, intolerance, insecurity, a high level of superstition, and rigid, stereotypic thinking.

4. Prejudice may be a cultural trait. Based on the work of Emory Bogardus, social distance-the extent to which people are willing to interact and establish relationships with members of racial and ethnic groups other than their own-is used by some sociologists to measure prejudice.
   
   
5. Conflict theorists view prejudice as the product of social conflict among competing groups. Prejudice is used to justify the oppression of minorities.
   1. Split labour market refers to the division of the economy into two areas of employment: a primary sector composed of higher-paid (usually dominant group) workers in more secure jobs, and a secondary sector made up of lower-paid (often subordinate group) workers in jobs with little security and frequently hazardous working conditions. According to this perspective, white workers in the upper tier may use racial discrimination against nonwhites as a means to protect their positions. Throughout North American history, higher-paid workers have responded with racial hostility and joined movements to curtail immigration and thus do away with the source of cheap labour.
      
      
6. Gendered racism refers to the interactive effect of racism and sexism in the exploitation of women from ethnic minority groups.
   1. According to Philomena Essed, women's particular position must be explored within each racial or ethnic group, for their experiences will not have been the same as the men's in each grouping.

2. All workers are not equally exploited by capitalists. Gender and race/ethnicity are important in this exploitation. Historically, the high-paying primary labour market has been monopolized by white men; ethnic minorities and most white women have more often held lower-tier jobs.

IV. Patterns Of Interaction Between Racial And Ethnic Groups

1. Assimilation-a process by which members of subordinate racial and ethnic groups become absorbed into the dominant culture-is functional because it contributes to the stability of society by minimizing differences in groups that otherwise might result in hostility and violence.
   
   
2. Ethnic pluralism is the coexistence of a variety of distinct racial and ethnic groups within one society. Equalitarian pluralism, or accommodation, is a situation in which ethnic groups coexist in equality with each other (e.g., Sweden).
   
   
3. Internal colonialism occurs when members of a racial or ethnic group are conquered, or colonized, and forcibly placed under the economic and political control of the dominant group.
   1. Native peoples in Canada were colonized by Europeans and others who invaded their lands and conquered them.

2. The experiences of internally colonized groups are unique in three ways: (1) they have been forced to exist in a society other than their own; (2) they have been kept out of the economic and political mainstream, so that it is difficult for them to compete with dominant group members; and (3) they have been subjected to severe attacks on their own culture, which may lead to its extinction.

V. Racial And Ethnic Groups In Canada

1. First Nations: Genocide, Forced Migration, and Forced Assimilation
   1. Historically, genocide occurred when Native Americans were killed in massacres or died from European diseases (such as typhoid, smallpox, and measles) and starvation.
      
      
   2. Forced migrations resulted in many deaths and forced relocations; forced assimilation occurred when Native Americans were declared wards of the government and children were placed in residential schools.
      
      
   3. Today, more than one million Native people live in Canada, and about one-quarter live on reserves.
      1. Native peoples are the most disadvantaged racial or ethnic group in Canada in terms of income, employment, housing, nutrition, and health (especially among individuals living on reserves).
         
         
      2. Activism: Many Native peoples continue to resist oppression; the Assembly of First Nations, Native Council of Canada, Native Women's Association of Canada and similar groups have demanded the recovery of Native American lands and reparation for past losses.
         
         
2. White Anglo-Saxon Protestants/British Canadians
   1. Although many English settlers initially were indentured servants or sent here as prisoners, they quickly emerged as the dominant group, creating a core culture to which all other groups were expected to adapt.
      
      
   2. Like other racial and ethnic groups, British Canadians are not all alike; social class and gender affect their life chances and opportunities.
      
      
3. French Canadians
   1. The European colonization of Canada started with the settlement of New France in the early 1600s.
      
      
   2. The defeat of the French in the Seven Years' War placed the French in an inferior position under British control, although they were able to maintain their language, religion, and legal system.
      
      
   3. Between Confederation and World War II, the French struggled to maintain their culture in the face of English domination.
      
      
   4. Quebec nationalism grew significantly in the period known as the Quiet Revolution (1960-1966). During this time French Canadians rejected their Canadian identity in favour of a Québécois identity. Since that time the sovereignist movement has become increasingly popular and influential, with the most recent referendum (1995) resulting in a narrow defeat for the sovereignists of only 1 percent.

5. Today approximately 25 percent of the Canadian population is francophone, and many Québécois continue to regard separation as the ultimate protection against assimilation.
   
   
4. Canada's Immigrants
   1. The term white ethnics was coined to identify immigrants who came from European countries other than England: Ireland, Poland, Italy, Greece, Germany, Yugoslavia, Russia and other former Soviet republics, and so forth. These groups made up the "preferred categories" of immigrants.
      
      
   2. The restrictions placed on Chinese, Japanese, East Indians, and Jews highlight Canada's racist immigration policies.

      Chinese Canadians

      1. The initial wave of Chinese immigration occurred between 1850 and 1880 when Chinese men came to Canada seeking jobs constructing the Canadian Pacific Railway. They were subjected to extreme prejudice and stereotyping; the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1885 was passed because white workers feared for their jobs.
      2. In the 1960s, the objectionable discrimination policies were removed from the Immigration Act and the second and largest wave of Chinese immigration came from Hong Kong and Taiwan.

      
      Japanese Canadians

      1. Japanese immigrants arrived in large numbers after Chinese immigration tapered off. The earliest Japanese immigrants were primarily men who were subjected to similar stereotyping and discrimination. The immigration of Japanese men was curbed in 1908; however, Japanese women were permitted to enter Canada for several more years because of the shortage of women.
      2. Internment: During World War II, when Canada was at war with Japan, nearly 23,000 Japanese were placed in internment camps because they were seen as a security threat; many Japanese Canadians lost all that they owned during the internment.
      3. In spite of the extreme hardship faced as a result of the loss of their businesses and homes during World War II, many Japanese Canadians have been very successful.
         
         

   East Indians

   1. The continuous passage rule of 1908 specified that East Indians could immigrate only if they came directly from India and did not stop at any ports along the way. This law made it virtually impossible for East Indians to immigrate to Canada.
   2. Those that did make it to Canada faced racism, suspicion, and hostility.
      
      

   Jews

   1. Between 1880 and 1920, over 2 million Jewish immigrants arrived in North America. In 1942 Canada closed its doors to Jews fleeing from Nazi Germany.
   2. Jews who did immigrate to Canada experienced widespread discrimination in employment, business, and education.
      
      

   6. In 1967, a points system was introduced that opened the doors to those who had previously been subjected to racist policies. Potential immigrants are rated according to job training, experience, skills, level of education, knowledge of English or French, occupational demand, and job availability. This new system resulted in dramatically altered immigration patterns in Canada.

VI. Racial And Ethnic Diversity In Canada In The Twenty-First Century

1. Racial and ethnic diversity is increasing in Canada: by the year 2001, nearly half of the population of Toronto, two-fifths of the population of Vancouver, and one-tenth of the total population of Canada will be composed of visible minorities.
2. Interethnic tensions may ensue between whites and ethnic minorities; people may continue to employ sincere fictions-personal beliefs that are a reflection of larger societal mythologies, such as "I am not a racist"-even when these are inaccurate perceptions.

3. Some analysts believe that there is reason for cautious optimism; throughout Canadian history subordinate racial and ethnic groups have struggled to gain the freedom and rights that were previously withheld from them, and movements composed of both whites and ethnic minorities will continue to oppose racism in everyday life, to aim at healing divisions among racial groups, and to teach children about racial tolerance.

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