Racial Discrimination's Impact on Group Identities

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According to the authors, Shaw et al., discrimination plays a huge role in shaping group identities and their beliefs, where the perception of discrimination among each racial/ethic group is associated with their position in the group-position social order. In table 8.2, where racial/ethnic discrimination was compared among Whites, Blacks, Hispanics and Asians, it was no surprise that Blacks believed that they suffer high levels of discrimination, followed by Hispanics and Asian who feel that they too endure high levels of discrimination. Whites, on the other hand, where found to have experienced the least amount of racial discrimination where they, “see themselves at the top rung of a group-position social order,” (Shaw et al., 2015, p. 246). …show more content…

The Simple Self-Interest Model centers around groups acting in their own self-interest by accepting policies that benefit them. Their refusal to accept policies that do not benefit them emphasize the, “Hostility between members of two racial groups reflects an underlying clash of interest,” (Shaw et al., 2015, p. 246). The Classical Prejudice Model states that hostility is based upon one’s cognitive outlook instead of reality, where racial animosity is based on dogmas formed within groups rather than perspicacity. The last model described is the Principled Objection Model, which is describes interracial enmity as a collision of the, “dominant American belief in individual opportunity,” (Shaw et al., 2015, p. 246).). Each of these models demonstrate how racial/ethic group interest are embedded into their group identity that influence their overall attitude towards racial concerns and impugns, especially regarding public …show more content…

An example of how government trust has varied in history was the implement of the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Right Act of 1986, where the authors stated that it increased Black trust in the government by 70 percent because it demonstrated how the government was trying to conquer the legal barriers that African Americans have suffered for many years, where their rights were constantly being violated and they were regarded as second-class citizens. In recent years the publics view of the government has reached an all time low, where in a recent poll conducted by the Pew Research Center found that “23% of Americans say they trust the federal government to do the right thing at least most of the time,” (Horrigan, 2015) where an increase in government trust in regards to the Hispanic community is associated with the Democratic party supporting causes like the Health Care Reform and the Immigration reformation that were instigated by President Barack Obama, “the association of Democrats with the interest of minorities has helped cement… [the support] that often include working-class and poor... ,” (Bowler & Segura, 2012, p. 54). Which shows that the groups are

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