Chapter 9 Lecture notes

1. Sometimes I'm right and I can be wrong
My own beliefs are in my song
The butcher, the banker, the drummer and then
Makes no difference what group I'm in
I am everyday people, yeah yeah
There is a blue one who can't accept the green one
For living with a fat one trying to be a skinny one
And different strokes for different folks
And so on and so on and scooby dooby doo-bee
Oh sha sha - we got to live together
SLY AND THE FAMILY STONE "Everyday People"

2. I am no better and neither are you
We are the same whatever we do
You love me you hate me you know me and then
You can't figure out the bag l'm in
I am everyday people, yeah yeah
There is a long hair that doesn't like the short hair
For bein' such a rich one that will not help the poor one
And different strokes for different folks
And so on and so on and scooby dooby doo-bee
Oh sha sha-we got to live together
There is a yellow one that won't accept the black one
That won't accept the red one that won't accept the white one
And different strokes for different folks

3. SOCIOLOGY 202
Chapter 9 Associations
May 9

4. A COUNTRY OF JOINERS

5. A Country of Joiners
• High number of civic organizations in the United
States
• Gunnar Myrdal called associations the “salt of
American politics”
• A healthy and functioning democracy requires its
citizens to establish communal bonds
• Associations can exclude just as easily as they
can unite

6. THE ORDEAL OF
INTEGRATION
&
THE RISE OF ETHNIC
NATIONALISM

7. A Culture of Segregation
• Rapid rise in number of
organizations both of blacks
and of whites
• Establishment of white
organizations to counter black
successes
• Southerners did not have as
much success in post-war
civic organizing
• One exception was the Ku
Klux Klan, practitioners of
racial terrorism

8. “Membership in the Order is
limited to white male citizens
of the United States … who
believe in the existence of
God”
~ Pamphlet for the Elks society
Elks’ assertions of “Charity,
Justice, Brotherly Love, and
Fidelity” did not pertain to
nonwhites or women
Slie 7

9. Toward Integration
Integrated associations proliferate
- NAACP
- Commission on Interracial Coalition
- Veterans of Foreign Wars
- American Legion
- United Mine Workers
“The man working beside you, be he negro, Jew, or Pollock, is a
working man like yourself. …You work together--fight together.”

10. YMCA
• The Young Women’s Christian Association
(YWCA) began segregated
• In 1920, black women pushed for integration
• They also pushed the YWCA to dedicated itself to
fighting racism
• The YWCA transformed itself into an antiracist,
fully integrated organization
“Eliminating Racism; Empowering Women.”

11. “I realize what you have before you, what you are trying
to do, and . . . most likely all across the country you will
hear people saying, ‘The time is not ripe.’ . . . If the
time is not ripe, then it is your job to ripen it!”
~ Dr. Benjamin Mays to the YWCA, 1946
In what circumstances today have you heard
people saying “the time is not ripe” for change?
In your personal life, have you avoided trying to
make a difference because the time was not ripe?
Why or Why Not?

12. Ethnic Nationalism
• A small but committed cadre of nonwhites fought
against racial integration
• For these nonwhites, racial integration did not lead to
liberation but only to more oppression
• Racial segregation and complete independence from
whites was the only answer
• They championed self-determination, race pride,
separatism, the creation of an independent nation

13. Malcolm X
• Nation of Islam: a small separatist black
sect led by Elijah Muhammad
• Malcolm X converted to the Nation of
Islam in prison
• He urged blacks to cleanse themselves
of thoughts of inferiority
“The purpose of our organization. . . is to
bring about the complete independence
of people of African descent, . . . to bring
about the freedom of these people by
any means necessary.”
Malcolm X on Black Nationalism

14. Legacy of Black Nationalism
Failures Successes
A separate black nation
never came to be
Racial integration became
the widely desired goal
Struck a blow to symbolic
violence
Nurtured pride in blackness
and black history and culture
“Integration has been a material success
but an ideological and spiritual failure.
Black nationalism . . . has been an ideological success
but a material failure.”
~ Norman Kelley

15. CIVIL SOCIETY IN A
MULTIRACIAL DEMOCRACY

16. “Citizens cannot leave politics just to politicians.”
~ Gunter Grass
What does democracy mean to you?
How do you participate in our
democracy?
Are you involved in any political
organizations?

17. Civic Participation
Whites participate in civil
society at higher rates
Why?
• Nonwhites have low
rates of social trust
• They are disillusioned
with civil society
• Economic inequality
limits participation

18. http://www.pbs.org/indepe
ndentlens/blog/green-
book-helped-keep-
african-americans-safe-
on-the-road

19. Civic Participation by Income
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
Earn $75,000 or more
Earn $15,000 or less
Involved in a Affiliated with a
community political
activity organization

20. Immigrants and Civil Society
• The immigrant experience can erect barriers to
civic participation
• Lack of English proficiency: it is harder to
participate if communication is limited
• Time of arrival: more recent immigrants tend to
participate less
• But immigrant enclaves often house many
voluntary organizations

21. Implications
Those who do not participate in civil
society…
 Do not exercise their political power
 Do not act upon their rights
 May feel isolated from broader society
 May grow nihilistic and cynical
How, then, does racial domination thwart
the power of democracy?

22. Homophily
• Associating with people you perceive to be like you
• Associational life today remains racially segregated
You are more likely to associate regularly with
those outside your class, religion, and education level
than people of different racial and ethnic groups

23. Think about your own friendship networks, clubs,
and hang-out spots.
Are they made up primarily of people of your own
race or ethnic group?

24. Boundary Work
• Creating, upholding, traversing boundaries
• Dividing “us” from “them”
• Relational dynamic: whiteness/blackness
• English-only movement
Oklahoma House Approves English-Only Bill -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HT7mUpefbOo

25. Multiculturalism
 Multiculturalism prized by many in this generation
• Racially integrated political organizations
 Multicultural student organizations
As America grows more racially diverse,
do you think our associations
will become more or less segregated?

26. The Decline of Social Capital
Putnam’s thesis of social decapitalization:
decline in social capital in past 50 years
According to Putnam, since the 1960s
Americans have become:
10% to 15% less likely to write
15% to 20% less interested in public affairs
25% less likely to vote
35% less likely to attend public meetings
40% less engaged in party politics

27. New Forms of Association
• Is Putnam’s thesis biased toward older types of
associations?
• Growth of online social networking sites such as
Facebook
Facebook Song -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSnXE2791yg
Putnam on the Importance of Community -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djyw3CIDDks

28. How Has Racial Domination Contributed to
the Decline?
 Suburbanization
privacy, commuting time
 Increased racial diversity
social trust, divisive boundaries
 “Florida Effect”
perceived group competition

29. Identity Politics
• Identity politics: Political action intended to
address unique interests of historically oppressed
groups
• White participation in identity politics: Non-action
on issues of racial equality is a form of identity
politics that supports white majority
• Is identity politics tearing apart civil society?
• Evidence says it is not
• Surprising consensus on core political issues

30. “Political Correctness”
“For the first time in our history, Americans have to be
fearful of what they say, of what they write, and of what
they think. They have to be afraid of using the wrong
word, a word denounced as offensive or insensitive, or
racist, sexist, or homophobic.”
~ Bill Lind, American University, 2000
Who does Mr. Lind have in mind when he references
Americans who, for the first time in history,
have to watch what they say?
What does the use of the term “political correctness”
accomplish?

31. HATE GROUPS

32. Hate Crimes
• Criminal offense committed
based on the offender’s bias
against a race, religion,
ethnic/national origin group
of sexual orientation group
Since the Hate Crimes Statistics Act was
passed in 1990, the FBI has compiled
nationwide data on victims and offenders.
In 2007, the number of hate crimes was
7,624. Of those, about half were motivated
by race; the rest involved religion, sexual
orientation, ethnicity or national origin, or
disability. http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-beliefs17-
2009aug17,0,777181.story

33. The Four Elements of Hate Crime Laws
1. Criminality,
2. Intent,
3. Perception, and
4. Protected statuses.
The logic of hate crime laws is based on the argument that
hate crimes are a form of terrorism, designed to intimidate
large groups of people.

35. Man Convicted Of Assault In Hate Crime
Case
Coy Found Guilty Of Assault In Attack
On Nigerian Student
According to police, Coy and Harris hurled
racial slurs at Nigerian CU student Oluyibi
Ogundipe and his friend Ahmad
Abdulkareem, of Saudi Arabia, around 2:30
a.m. Sept. 18 on Broadway. Police said the
two foreign-born men fled after the verbal
confrontation, but Coy chased them down
and hit Ogundipe in the face, knocking him
unconscious and breaking facial bones.
Posted: 04/21/2011 10:42:08 AM MDT

36. August 30, 2010
Hate Crime Charges in Stabbing of a Cabdriver
By JOHN ELIGON
A film student arrested in the slashing of a Muslim taxi driver in
Manhattan last week was indicted on Monday on charges of
second-degree attempted murder and first-degree assault as
hate crimes.
The taxi driver, Ahmed H. Sharif, 44, said Mr. Enright had first
made small talk with him. After he told Mr. Enright that he was
Muslim, Mr. Sharif said, Mr. Enright responded with an Arabic
greeting, silence and then told him, “This is the checkpoint” and
“I have to bring you down.”
Mr. Enright then slashed Mr. Sharif in the throat, face and arms,
prosecutors said. Mr. Enright, who is being held without bail,
would face up to 25 years in prison if convicted of the attempted
murder charge.

37. 8 Are Charged in Tormenting of Learning-Disabled Man
By NEIL MacFARQUHAR
Published: February 17, 1999
Apparently copying a horror movie, a pack of men and women living
near the New Jersey shore enticed a man with learning disabilities to a
party and then tormented him for almost three hours, the Monmouth
County Prosecutor charged yesterday.
''It was just cruelty,'' said John A. Kaye, the Prosecutor. The abuse
included whipping the 23-year-old, shaving his head and dragging him
into the woods for further beatings, Mr. Kaye said.
Eight men and women were arrested Monday after a two-week
investigation into the incident. Most of the defendants face kidnapping
or assault charges.

38. Speaking Out Against Hate
• Not in Our Town http://video.pbs.org/video/2196486631/#
• http://www.indyarocks.com/videos/What-Would-You-Do--
ABC-News--Would-You-Stop-a-Hate-1697773

39. Organized Racism
• Organized hate groups
• Commanding and institutionalized
• Unified by a philosophy that demonizes “enemies”
• White nationalist groups
• Have fed off recent influx of Hispanic immigration
• Advocate violence
• Use the Internet to recruit and communicate
• Believe race relations a “zero sum game”
martinlutherking.org

40. Between 2003 and 2006
hate crimes against Hispanics
increased by
35%
They doubled in California

41. Who Joins Hate Groups?
 Many members are from middle class homes
 Many have steady jobs and good salaries
 Flourish in areas with high nonwhite population
The environment in which many hate groups are
located is one with high concentrations of
nonwhites and high rates of segregation

42. RELIGIOUS
ASSOCIATIONS

43. America’s Religions
Atheist/
Agnostic
Christian
Jewish Muslim Buddhist Hindu

44. Religious Intolerance
Intolerance against Muslim Americans
• Only 34% of Americans said they would vote for a
Muslim President
• Mosques vandalized; Muslim Americans the
targets of discrimination and prejudice
Suheir Hammad Poem

45. Homophily in Religious Life
Why are most religious organizations composed of one
racial or ethnic group?
• Religious organizations follow homophily principle
• Religious habits unintentionally widen divisions
• Interracial incompetence
1 out of 3 black Protestants
but only
1 out of 25 white Protestants
think racism is a key issue that should concern Christians

46. Religion and Ethnic Identity
• Religious associations
promote ethnic identities
• Immigrant identity
• White suburban identity
• Have historically been sites of
social mobilization
• Civil Rights Movement
• Sanctuary Movement

47. American Promise
• America’s voluntary associations constitute the foremost
safeguard of its freedom
• But the associational field continues to be marred by
profound racial divisions
• To bring out the full democratic potential in associational
life, we must:
• Bridge racial divides in civil society
• Establish a more genuine solidarity in our community
organizations

48. Suggested Material
9500 Liberty
U.S. English Website
Anti-Gay Hate Crimes
Fox News on Anti-Mosque Pig Races
Four hyperlinks:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlZkL_0lZ1Q&feature=pyv&ad=4571584083&k
w=immigration&gclid=CPv4y6_vgJ0CFSENDQod1lLKag, http://www.us-
english.org/,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOqlrHgrSgc&feature=PlayList&p=3CB8914A
97047A2B&index=1,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCcYguk3Gv8&feature=PlayList&p=645D4167
97E75A71&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=104