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The difference between majority groups/minority groups
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In a world where society is mostly driven by our faults, family can be a relative term that brings it all back down to earth. Since societies can be extremely divided at times, it is important to have a back bone and a community that understand your own values, customs, and practices. It has been said that “minority group” families, which in Canada or the United States, could be considered anyone who isn’t Caucasian, are less stable in form and function than families who are a part of the general societal “majority”. Throughout this essay, I would like to discuss how untrue this statement is. From racial and cultural differences, to relying on each other and to growing as a unit, it is evident that minorities can have an even stronger relationship than those from the majority.
First off, we should decide what a “minority group” is. In North America, Arabs or Muslims, African – Americans, and Indians or Sikhs and Hindus and even Asians are some of the more common minority groups you will come in contact with. Based on a study on ethnic minorities, it was found that “This study explored the impact of income status (low-income vs. non-low-income) on family functioning, social support, and quality of life in a community sample of 125 families. The sample identified themselves as 17% Black or African American, 7% Latino, 4% Asian, and 66% White.” (Mansfield, 2013) It seems as though since these minorities used to be so uncommon, that they are now the norm because of how much they have migrated, immigrated or even re-populated other countries than their own. These minority groups used to be so uncommon and misunderstood, that they have in a sense, been forced to be open and understand each other’s racial and cultural differences. When a...
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...ually have to learn to make themselves fit into a community. In Ottawa, it is obvious that the number of Mosques and Synagogues is growing rapidly.
Works Cited
Huijnk, W., Verkuyten, M., & Coenders, M. (2013). Family relations and the attitude towards ethnic minorities as close kin by marriage. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 36(11), 1890-1909.
Mansfield, A., Dealy, J., & Keitner, G. (2013). Family functioning and income: Does low-income status impact family functioning? The Family Journal, 21(3), 297-305.
Comeau, J. (2012). Race/Ethnicity and family contact: Toward a behavioral measure of familialism. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 34(2), 251-268.
Ellison, C., Wolfinger, N., & Ramos-Wada, A. (2013). Attitudes toward marriage, divorce, cohabitation, and casual sex among working-age latinos: Does religion matter? Journal of Family Issues, 34(3), 295-322.
The novel “The Color of Family Ties”, by Naomi Gerstel and Natalia Sarkisian, through their research they found out that the ratio of disorganized family for Black and Latino/a families are higher than White families. That white families are more nuclear, which means a couple with their dependent children. In contrast, Black and Latino/a families has a high ratio that they often live with their extended families (Naomi and Sarkisian 47). This novel ties in to the “Looking for Work” novel because Gerstel and Sarkisian shows a research regarding how Latino families are disorganized, and the way how Mexican families lives are just like Gary’s family, the extended family. We know that Gary’s family are disorganized, but nevertheless, Gary has extended families members who he lives together with. Gary’s family showed solidarity love by just help each other out and spending time together. “We ran home for my bike and when my sister found out that we were going swimming, she started to cry because she didn’t have fifteen cents but only an empty Coke bottle”(24 Soto). This is Gary’s cousin Debra who needs fifteen cents to go to the swimming pool, of course Gary and his friend helped Debra out. Other time that showed Gary’s family love is that Gary’s mother always let Gary’s play with his friends outside, not because she does not love Gary is because
...Many Kinds of Family Structures in Our Communities." . N.p., n.d. Web. 10 May 2014. .
The African-American family is defined as networks of households related by blood, marriage, or function that provide basic instrumental and expressive functions of the family to the members of those networks (Hill, 1999). It is one of the strongest institutions throughout history, and still today. Family strengths are considered to be cultural assets that are transmitted through socialization from generation to generation and not merely adaptations or coping responses to contemporary racial or economic oppression (McDaniel 1994; Hill 1999). This definition is contrary to the belief that the Black family is an adaptation to harsh conditions, instead of an ongoing establishment. Hill (1999) discusses some of the qualities as effective for the survival of black families: strong achievement and work orientation, flexible family roles and strong kinship bonds, and strong religious orientation. These strengths, along with others can be emphasized in schools and used to motivate African-American students to succeed.
Race and ethnicity is a main factor in the way we identify others and ourselves. The real question here is does race/ethnicity still matter in the U.S.? For some groups race is not a factor that affects them greatly and for others it is a constant occurrence in their mind. But how do people of mix race reacts to this concept, do they feel greatly affected by their race? This is the question we will answer throughout the paper. I will first examine the battle of interracial relationship throughout history and explain how the history greatly explains the importance of being multiracial today. This includes the backlash and cruelty towards interracial couple and their multiracial children. Being part of a multiracial group still contains its impact in today’s society; therefore race still remaining to matter to this group in the U.S. People who place themselves in this category are constantly conflicted with more than one cultural backgrounds and often have difficulty to be accepted.
Marriage, as an institution, has evolved in the last few decades. As society progresses, the ideas and attitudes about marriage have shifted. Today, individuals are able to choose their partners and are more likely marry for love than convenience. While individuals are guaranteed the right to marry and the freedom to choose their own partners, it has not always been this way. Starting from colonial times up until the late 1960’s, the law in several states prohibited interracial marriages and unions. Fortunately, in 1967, a landmark case deemed such laws as unconstitutional. Currently, as society progresses, racism and social prejudice have decreased and interracial marriages have become, not only legal, but also widely accepted.
As a traditional, collectivistic cultural group, the Latino population is believed to adhere deeply to the value of familismo. (Arditti, 2006; Calzada, 2014). Familism is an emphasis on the importance of the family unit over values of autonomy and individualism”. (Santistaben, 2012). Family is considered to be the top priority in the Latino culture. Comparatively, at times, this isn’t true of our busy, work devoted western culture. In western culture we think of our family in a nuclear sense made up of a: mom, dad, and siblings. Conversely, Hispanic culture focuses on the whole extended family including aunts, uncles, grandparent, and cousins. Their culture believes having close connections with the entire extended family benefits the development of their children. The entire family helps the child by giving them differing levels of social and emotional support. (American Home Resolutions,
The trend and patterns of interracial marriages have increased substantially in America over the past few years. Between the early 1970 and late 1980’s after abolishing laws prohibiting interracial unions, the proportion of interracial marriages was under five percent of all married couples in America (Lewis & Robertson, 2010). Although recent surveys indicate that the percentage of interracial marriages is a little over five percent in America, the rate and frequency of occurrence are alarming (Lewis & Robertson, 2010). The American society has become more diverse and much of this diversity has been attributed to the growing number of new immigrants (Qian & Lichter, 2011). Immigration has lead to assimilation of many cultures into the mainstream American culture and as a result narrowing the gap between majority and minority groups. The United States of America Census Bureau show that there has been a dramatic increase in population due to immigration (Qian & Lichter, 2011). For instance, between 1980 and 2007, the Hispanic population in America has doubled while the Asian population has increased by four percent, and the Black population is more or less the same over the same time period (Lewis & Robertson, 2010). The increase in size of the population has resulted in the increase rate of interracial marriages. Interracial unions in the 1980’s represented about three percent of all marriages in America (Lewis & Robertson, 2010). In the year 2000, interracial marriages have only increased approximately by two percent, with marriages between Hispanic and white representing the greatest balance of all interracial marriages (Lewis & Robertson, 2010).
The article, “RACE AND ETHNICITY- CHANGING SYMBOL IS OF DOMINANCE AND HIERARCHY IN THE UNITED STATES” by Karen I. Blu is an exceptional work that clearly expounds on the racial and ethnic groups especially in America. Racial and ethnic groupings are gradually becoming popular in the public arena, in which people are shifting their focus on classifying other people on the basis of racial groupings to rather classifying them on the basis of ethnicity. Moreover, race grouping is slowly submerging into ethnic grouping with Black activism being the role player in this (Blu, 1979). The following is a summary of the aforementioned article in how it relates to racial and ethnic groups and response regarding its views.
My experience in Sociology this semester was quite unique to say the least. This was the first Sociology class that I have ever taken and honestly, I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect. From day one I found a deep interest in the thoughts and ideas that are associated within the study of sociology. In this specific class the main concepts that we discussed were race and ethnic relations. The first chapter that we discussed this semester was about the general diversity that takes place in the United States. In this unit we learned about what exactly a minority group is and the visible distinguishing traits that set people apart. In the second chapter of this class, the main topics that we covered were assimilation and pluralism. We discussed the distinctive patterns and variations of assimilation and pluralism and the difference between both of these theories. In chapter three, we started to discuss the ideas behind prejudice and discrimination. We talked about hate crimes, the leading causes and trends of prejudice, and why it has persisted through time. In chapter four our main concentration turned to the development of dominant-minority relations in preindustrial America. Throughout this chapter we examined the origins of slavery in the United States, the contact situation, paternalistic relations, and the dimensions of a minority group status. This semester contemporary race and ethnic relations has not only provided me with a vast amount of knowledge that is going to benefit me for future purposes, but it has allowed me to understand things that I might have never thought about before. Learning about society and how people have evolved and treated each other throughout history was extremely interesting. I have always had my o...
A minority group is defined as “a subordinate group whose members have significantly less control or power over their lives than members of a dominant or majority group”(1). Most minority groups are defined by common characteristics such as distinguishing skin colors, language, and are commonly tight-knit and have high amounts of marriages within the group. Members of these groups fall victim to colonialism, the maintenance of power for the long term from one territory by another. Victims of these inequalities are often presented with less opportunities because of their false labels and unfair stereotypes. All of the minority groups are affected by the inequalities in different way socially, politically, and even in the media. In general, there are four basic types of minority groups: Racial, Ethnic, Religious, and Gender. However, the term minority does not necessarily only refer to the numbers of the people among that group. Women make up over half of the population and still are defined as a minority group. (5)
Studies have usually been underrepresented samples, such as college campuses students or personal observations. These studies often have unreported or low response rates. The few published studies of Hispanics’ prejudice toward others are about their prejudice toward Whites. The research conducted by Weaver compared Hispanics’ attitudes toward themselves and their attitudes toward other racial and ethnic groups. It is Weavers hypothesis that Hispanics will rate their own kind significantly more when comparing themselves to Blacks, Asians, Jews, and Whites, as well as more favorably for marriage to a close relative and as neighbors.
Minority group is a term referring to a category of people differentiated from the social majority. Pre ww2 and during Europe was diverse in minority groups. The minority groups that consisted in Europe pre ww2 were non-Jewish Soviet people, Jews, Soviet prisoners of war, Non-Jewish Poles, gypsies, disabled people, homosexuals, Jehovah’s Witnesses. According to various reliable sources the total number of national minority populations in Europe was estimated at 105 million people, or 14% of 770 million Europeans. Many of these minority groups were captured and later unfortunately killed in concentration camps. In conclusion Europe was diverse in minority group’s pre and during ww2.
In 2017, “More than 3 million people in the US are interracially married” (Lee & Edmonston, 2005, p.9). Interracial or interfaith marriage is when two people of different races or religions get married, which is also known as intermarriage. Intermarriage is starting to become a trend and a hot topic of discussion. Some people believe that race or religion should matter when choosing a mate or spouse, and others believe race or religion should not matter. Race or religion should not matter when choosing a mate/spouse because it is becoming a trend/accepted, and there are options for interfaith relationships, such as support groups and multi-religion marriage ceremonies.
Generally speaking, there are many contradictions towards my claim that minority groups are fundamental to the countries development. At this point, many will probably disagree on the grounds that colleges close doors on the minority students. I know many may think students close doors on themselves. However, all the stereotypes, discrimination attacks, and poor education provided by teachers are factors that lead to reason students do bad in there educational career and as well leads to many school closing there doors for them. Additionally, many employers might want to question whether minority groups unemployment is do to discrimination rather than lack of education or proficiency. Although it is true many minority group workers lack education,
A minority or subordinate group can be identified by analyzing five properties: first, experiencing unequal treatment; second, having physical or cultural characteristics that distinguish them from the dominant group; third, involuntary membership in said group; fourth, an awareness of their group's subordinate status which forges a deeper sense of group solidarity; finally, a high rate of in group marriage (Pg. 5) As we are all aware, diversity in the United States and a lack of acceptance allows for the presence of various minority groups, the most common being of racial, ethnic, and religious backgrounds. However, there are other minority groups such as the aged, the disabled, and those of LGBT community (lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, transgender).