Throughout the beginning of colonization, race and ethnicity have played a role in being used as a classification to put similar groups together in order create diversities within our society. In the United States, people of all races and ethnic backgrounds help provide insight to the vastly different cultures and upbringings. Despite our distinctions, whether a person is of European descent, of African ancestry, or of Asian lineage, we all come from a racial and ethnic background. Sociologists are fascinated and interested in analyzing the different races and ethnic groups. Sociologists can interpret race and ethnicity through the functionalist perspective, conflict perspective, and symbolic interactionist perspective. According to Kendall, …show more content…
The functionalist perspective views society as “a stable, orderly system” (Kendall, 2014, p. 16). Within the functionalist ideology, there are set beliefs and values within the system in which matters must respond accordingly. Functionalists believe that, in order to achieve the epitome of societal stability, the different races and ethnic groups should assimilate to the dominant culture of that area (Kendall, 2014, p. 270). An example from my personal experiences would be when I transferred to South Sioux City Middle School and aligned myself with the other Mexican students. Due to the fact that I am a part of the Mexican ethnic group, I was clustered with the other students most similar to me. For most of my middle school and high school career, every individual had their own group where they best fit. Functionalists also think that coexisting amongst the different racial and ethnic groups are vital to society. This is also referred to as, ethnic pluralism (Kendall, 2014, p. 271). For instance, within the South Sioux City school system, the school’s administration allowed Muslim students of Islamic faith to take time out of class to go pray during a set time. The administration allowed the activity, due to a certain period of time being significant to their ethnic culture, which required them to pray periodically throughout the day in peace. The students who practiced this religion successfully coexisted with other students of different faiths and the school administration accepted these types of practices amongst the students. Under the functionalist viewpoint, people must integrate and synchronize effectively with people of other
Omi & Winant, Bonilla-Silva, and Loveman all have different approach in understanding the distinction between ethnicity and race. Omi & Winant and Bonilla-silva all made a distinction between ethnicity and race, and study race through the lens of power relation, while Loveman argued that it is important to study these two side by side. DuBois articulate blackness as both race and ethnicity with the approach of “Double-Consciousness”.
Functionalism views society as the stability and assimilation of a range of forces that function within it. While society is a separate entity with a life of its own, there are individual elements contributing to that stability. Functionalism as a sociological theory emphasizes assimilation rather than the dissociation of society. Therefore, the society is seen as a whole that is compromised of parts which give one another their identity and their function. The part, whether that is education, such as a school, or sports, such as a football team, operates in relation to the other parts, and cannot be entirely understood in isolation from the other parts. All the parts are interrelated, and when there is a disturbance in any one of the parts, is when you can see the interdependence. But what is important about this theory is that “there will always be some reorganization and tendency to restore equilibrium” (Wallace and Wolf 17). Functionalist do not believe it’s crucial that the people involved in the society to be aware of this interconnectedness anymore than the brain and heart consciously realize that they work together as an organism.
Despite being a fundamental piece of ethnic studies, the authors mainly focus on the Black Americans and how slavery and consolidation of whiteness produced the modern day race relations in the United States; in other words, they only did far enough to explain the classic dichotomy between the whiteness and blackness. But there is much more to get out from the theory: the societal interactions mentioned by the authors indeed include immigration, since it impacts demographics and race relations among the other races and ethnic categories, such as Latino, Asian, and sub-white
Winant, Howard. 2000 "Race and race theory." Annual review of sociology ():-. Retrieved from http://www.soc.ucsb.edu/faculty/winant/Race_and_Race_Theory.html on Mar 17, 1980
The functionalist paradigm focuses on the integration of society, and how society how its own groups which has their own functions to help improve the peoples lives. Functionalist paradigm fits in the category of macro-sociology, because it focuses on the patterns that shape an entire society. Functionalists believe that society is maintained through the thought of trust and consensus on moral values for ideal behavior. Working together will result in a stable social environment that will create equality. Conflicts or dysfunctions will be view as a disease in the social system. Social conflict paradigm believes that society is divided into many groups that have their own goals, and that certain parts of the world have the luck of benefiting economic dominan...
...and ethnic minorities must assimilate into that society (Andersen and Taylor, 2013). Symbolic interactionism looks at two issues in relation to race and ethnicity. They first look at the role of social interaction and how it reduces racial and ethnic hostility. Second, they look at how race and ethnicity are socially constructed. Finally, conflict theorists present the argument that class-based conflict is an inherent and fundamental part of society (Giddens, 1996). So, the argument would be that racial and ethnic conflict is tied to class conflict and that in order to reduce racial and ethnic conflict, class conflict must first be reduced. For the sake of this study and argument, I will continue with a focus on the conflict and functionalist theorists perspectives because I feel they provide the most modern insightful outlooks into this present form of inequality.
According to Omi and Winant, the term race can be defined as “a concept which signifies and symbolizes social conflicts and interests by referring to different types of human bodies.” From their framework of racial formation and concept of racial projects, Omi and Winant asserts that race is a matter of social structure and cultural representation that has been intertwined to shape the nature of racism. Racism has been seen since the events of early English colonization of the indigenous people and the racialization of African Americans through slavery, all in which the United States is molded upon as a nation. Thus, this social structure of domination has caused European colonials and American revolutionists to create racialized representations, policies, and structures in order to oppress indigenous and black populations in their respective eras.
The connection of race and race relations in the United States was an ongoing issue, and while much progress was made, there are still people who revert back to old and ignorant takes on different races as the white man. This clearly relates to my own history based on the fact that various races are still being discriminated and treated unfairly and looked at as unequal. I can only hope that one day the whole population of the world can do the right thing and look at everyone as equals.
Race has no biological meaning. There is only one human race; there are no subspecies, no single defining characteristic, traits, or even gene, separates one “race” from another. Instead of being a biological concept, race is a social construct, and a relatively modern one at that. It was created to give light-skinned Europeans an advantage by making the white race superior and all others inferior. Throughout its history, the concept of race has served this purpose well.
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.
Functionalism is the oldest and most commonly used theoretical approach used to understand social issues. Functionalism is a macrosociological perspective that presents the idea that society consists of different components working together to help a society function as one. Sociolog...
Understanding your personal racial / ethnic identity is an important aspect of personal development for everyone. This fact is especially true for aspiring social workers who will need to understand themselves before they can understand and help others. This paper will explore different aspects of how I formed my racial / ethnic identity, what beliefs developed along with that identity, and who was most influential in helping to form it. Furthermore this paper will attempt to explain how aspects of how my racial / ethnic identity will affect my interactions with others as a social worker. As well as how I will ensure effective interaction with those who have a different racial / ethnic identity.
In today’s society, it is acknowledgeable to assert that the concepts of race and ethnicity have changed enormously across different countries, cultures, eras, and customs. Even more, they have become less connected and tied with ancestral and familial ties but rather more concerned with superficial physical characteristics. Moreover, a great deal can be discussed the relationship between ethnicity and race. Both race and ethnicity are useful and counterproductive in their ways. To begin, the concept of race is, and its ideas are vital to society because it allows those contemporary nationalist movements which include, racist actions; to become more familiar to members of society. Secondly, it has helped to shape and redefine the meaning of
Race and ethnicity are two terms that are constantly used in today’s society. Understanding these terms can help people to recognize that color of skin or color of hair does not define a person. These terms connect with history, social interaction, and the overall make up of a person. However America is constantly obsessed with labeling people by the way that they look or the way that they act. America seems to encourage the terms race and ethnicity and continue to divide people into categories. It is interesting to comprehend these terms because they are not going to disappear any time soon. Race and ethnicity are apart of America’s history and will be a part of the future.
The human body has many organs that each have certain functions to keep to maintain individuals alive. The heart doesn't just pump blood for its own sake; its “function” is to bring blood to the rest of the systems in a body so that they can stay alive. In the same manner, the lungs don't just process oxygen for their own sake, there “function” is interconnected with the rest of the organs. Similarly, functionalism asserts that the function of all aspects of culture, or the learned behaviors and ideas that are characteristic of a particular people group, is to keep its people and its society successful. For example, from a functionalist perspective, religion is just a man-made part of culture that functions to keep a society together. Therefore, as a part of culture, religion's function, is one of the many institutions that help maintain the society in which it