D iversity studies section i with inclass activities 1ed

Section I
Constructing
Categories of Difference
Instructor : Dr. Crystal LC Huang

Experiencing difference
Bridging differences
How differences were/are Constructed and
Ways to Bridge the Differences
Framework IV
Influencing public policy
What can we do? Becoming part of the solution
In defense of rich kids
Uprooting Racism
Personal accounts
Constructionism vs. Essentialism
The meaning of difference
Individual
Framework Essay I
What is race?
What is sex and gender?
What is social class?
What is sexual orientation/identity?
Personal accounts
Framework II
Race and ethnicity; Sex / gender
Sexual orientation/identity
Social class
Disability
Personal accounts
Framework III
Intersectionality
Law, public, and economy
Language
Personal accounts

• Recognize, respect, accept, and value
differences
• Assess the impact of how language
influences thought
• Practice appropriate trans-cultural human
relations and communications skills
• Appreciated one’s own cultural heritage

• Recognize, respect, accept, and value
differences
• Assess the impact of how language
influences thoughts.
• Practice appropriate trans-cultural human
relations and communications skills
• Appreciated one’s own cultural heritage

 Race and Ethnicity
 Sex and Gender
 Social Class
 Disability
 Sexual Orientations
 Religions
 Ageism
 Political Affiliations
 Physicality/Appearance
 Language/accents
Items are
beyond
individual’s
control
Items have
certain
degree of
individual’s
control

Dimension of Diversity

Unit 1:Weeks 1-4 Agenda
1. Share and Discuss Story writings.
Reading#1 with Peer Review. (pp.51-60).
2. Terms/Vocabulary of Framework Essay 1 (FE1 pp.1-44).
3. In-class quizzes or activities
4. Daily Routine:
Save class notes, completed assignments
to your chosen electronic app or device.
Each in-class note has at least 150 words,
a picture/cartoon and a website related to your
notes of covered contents.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kknSsX1S7xI No Labels

Reading#1 (pp.51-60)
Peer reviews and activities
“Race” and the Construction
of Human Identity by Audrey Smedley
Structrual/Institutional Unequal race: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vX_Vzl-r8NY
A brief humorous history of USA: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGYFRzf2Xww
Loving vs. Virginia http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkipqOU8lHs
Monkey equality http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dMoK48QGL8
Roots The 6 episodes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlQKOyiwiHA&list=PLNqwHBvKkXKqkbAFry_5HqKg0xnLuYq3M
Roots the whole movie https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrobxPcmMIs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kknSsX1S7xI
Love
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHyejLRIXhE
Interview

Human Similarities

Human Differences
Natural vs. Man-made

Framework Essay 1- Key Concepts
About Difference
vs.
Creation of difference

Questions for pondering:
1. What is Diversity ?
2. What is Diversity Consciousness?
3. What can this course do for me
to be a better person and expand
my life chances (such as more
job marketable, getting along with people…etc.) ?

What is Diversity?
The concept of diversity encompasses
acceptance and respect.
It means understanding that each
individual is unique, and recognizing our
individual differences.
These can be along the dimensions of
race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation,
socio-economic status/class, age,
physical abilities, religious beliefs,
political beliefs, or other ideologies.

What is diversity-consciousness?

Why is it important to have
diversity consciousness?
 Characteristics that define diversity include
characteristics that are NOT always obvious
to the casual observer.
 With the expanding concept of “diversity”
there is an emerging need for diversity
consciousness.

Valuing diversity involves :
1. Understanding how overlapping and multiple
identities (inter-sectionality) relate to patterns of
socialization and affiliation.
2. These patterns influence the way people understand
and interpret the world.
3. Diversity enhances the intellectual, emotional,
economic, moral, and spiritual life of the community.
4. Achieving a more diverse learning environment is
seen as a way to improve education for all students
while promoting respect for each of us as individuals.
What do people value Diversity?
Circle of life exercise:

About Diversity
 Diversity may be the hardest
thing for a society to live with,
and perhaps the most
dangerous thing for a society
to be without.”
- William Sloane Coffin, Jr. quotes (American Activist
and Clergyman, b.1924)
-
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https://www.facebook.com/artFido/videos/788640311227532/?pnref=story Behind the screen
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHyejLRIXhE Banks’ interview
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5vrNYA_nik Twin studies
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-. S5QYVe0mJY Twin studies

A commitment to understanding and
appreciating differences recognizes that
disparities in social and economic
opportunity among groups often reflect the
continuing impact of racism, classism,
genderism, sexism, and other ideological
forms of prejudice and discrimination.
What do people need to
understand Diversity?

Benefits of
Understanding Diversity
 Personal
 Interpersonal
 Organizational
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHyejLRIXhE Sources of racism Drew and Emily family
Love is no label: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mv-htkf21P0
https://create.kahoot.it/l/#user/1fec8ce0-99cf-4492-a6ee-c48026e7fb29/kahoots/created Kahoot quiz
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2hvibGdg4w in Asia

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHyejLRIXhE Sources of racism Drew and Emily family
Love is no label: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mv-htkf21P0
https://create.kahoot.it/l/#user/1fec8ce0-99cf-4492-a6ee-c48026e7fb29/kahoots/created Kahoot quiz
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2hvibGdg4w in Asia
Game quiz via Kahoot
How to play:
1. Key in http://create.kahoot.it
2. Then type in the code on screen.
3. Play!

Audio-visual clips relate to race, ethnicity, sexual
orientation/gender, social class and disability
Practical Theme- How can business go wrong?
What about diversity issues in other countries?
Examples- Europe; Canada and US
Specific themes
a. Race/Ethnicity- case studies
b. Social Class- who owns USA
c. Sexual Orientation- Got hates fags
d. Language beer; case two cat ; Accent case two
e. Disability http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Um9KsrH377A&feature=related
f. Rental https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84k2iM30vbY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tURJfCDfk38
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=boicG2puD_4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5oRAF00RHA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJllkane5lU
Song

It’s all about
Critical Thinking!!
What ? How…..Instructor : Dr. Crystal LC Huang

What is Critical Thinking? - A Definition
Critical thinking is the ability to apply reasoning
and logic to new or unfamiliar ideas, opinions,
and situations.
Thinking critically involves seeing things in an
open-minded way and examining an idea or
concept from as many angles as possible.
This important skill allows people to look past
their own views of the world and to better
understand the opinions of others.
It is often used in debates, to form more cogent
and well-rounded arguments, and in science.

Men with
the Visual Impairment and an Elephant

Why Critical Thinking?
The Problem
Everyone thinks; it is our nature to do so. But much of
our thinking, left to itself, is biased, distorted, partial,
uninformed or down-right prejudiced.
Yet the quality of our life and that of what we produce,
make, or build depends precisely on the quality of our
thought. Shoddy thinking is costly, both in money and
in quality of life. Excellence in thought, however, must
be systematically cultivated. Instructor : Dr. Crystal LC Huang

The Result
A well cultivated critical thinker:
raises vital questions and problems, formulates them
clearly and precisely, gathers and assesses relevant
information, using abstract ideas to interpret it
effectively comes to well-reasoned conclusions and
solutions, tests them against relevant criteria and
standards, thinks open-mindedly within alternative
systems of thought, recognizes and assesses,
as need be, their assumptions, implications, and
practical consequences, and communicates effectively
with others in figuring out solutions to complex
problems.

The Meaning of Difference
Framework Essay I
Quote of the day:
The most beautiful people we have known are those
who have known defeat, known suffering, known
struggle, known loss, and have found their way out
of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, a
sensitivity and an understanding of life that fills
them with compassions, gentleness, and a deep
loving concern. Beautiful people do not just happen.
- Renowned psychiatrist Elisabeth Kulber-Ross :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elisabeth_K%C3%BCbler-Ross
Textbook: The Meaning of Difference: American Constructions of Race and Ethnicity, Sex and Gender,
Social Class, Sexuality, and Disability, by Rosenblum and Travis

Naming
Creating Categories of People Aggregating and Disaggregating
Dichotomizing;
Dichotomizing Race
Race and Ethnicity
Dichotomizing Sexual Orientation
Dichotomizing Class
Dichotomizing Sex
The Social Construction of Disability
Constructing the “Other”
Sanctioning Those Who
Associate with the “Other”
Constructing “Others” as
Profoundly Different
Stigma
Examples of Stigmatized Master Statuses: Women and the Poor
Stereotypes About Those in Stigmatized Master Statuses
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPBHtjZmSpw M Moore History

Essentialism
The perspective that reality exists independent
of our perception of it, that we perceive the
meaning of the world rather than construct the
meaning.
From a purely essentialist perspective:
Knowledge is regarded as objective and
independent of mind.
Categories of race, sex, sexual orientation,
and social class point up significant,
empirically verifiable differences between
people.
Racial categories exist apart from any
social processes; they are objective
categories of real differences between
people.
A modified essentialist perspective argues
that while an independent, objective reality
exists, it is subject to interpretation.
Constructionism
The perspective that reality cannot be
separated from the way that a culture makes
sense of it, that meaning is constructed
through -- for example – social, political, legal,
religious and scientific practices.
From a constructionist perspective:
Differences between people are created
through social processes.
Difference is created rather than intrinsic
to a phenomenon.
Social processes (political, legal,
economic, scientific, and religious
institutions) create differences; determine
that some differences are more important
than others; and assign particular
meanings to those differences.
The way a society defines difference
among its members tells us more about
the society than about the people who
are being classified.
1+1=2; Arithmetic, Mathematics, Biology,
Statistics, Physics, Chemistry, and
Mechanical Engineering = > Natural phenomena
Ethics, Philosophy, History, Political Science,
Law, Literature, Theology/Religion…etc.
= > Social Phenomena Instructor : Dr. Crystal LC Huang

Terminology: Review - Intro to Soc
Ascribed Status: a social position that
someone receives at birth or assumes
involuntarily later in life.
Achieved Status: a social position that
someone assumes voluntarily and that reflects
personal ability and effort.
Master Status: a status that has
exceptional significance to a person’s social
identity, often shaping a person's entire life.
Ideology: a widely shared belief or idea that has
been constructed and disseminated by the
powerful, primarily reflects their experiences,
and functions for their benefit (p.304)
Natural-law language: something is inevitable,
predetermined, or outside human control
(p.305).

 Constructionism- The perspective that reality cannot be
separated from the way that a culture makes sense of it,
that meaning is constructed through -- for example –
social, political, legal, religious and scientific practices
 Essentialism - The perspective that reality exists
independent of our perception of it, that we perceive the
meaning of the world rather than construct the meaning.
In the academic world, subject matters like Biology, Physics,
Chemistry, and Mathematics, their reality is close to the
perspective of Essentialism.

 Dichotomize- Often, these aggregates
are created as dichotomies, mutually
exclusive and in opposition to each
other.

 Essential Identity - an identity that is treated
as core to a person. Essential identities can be
attributed to people even when they are inconsistent
with actual behavior.

 Heteronormativity-
the presumption that all people
are heterosexual;
the presumption that heterosexuality
is the only acceptable form of sexual expression.
 Inter-sectionality-
Consideration of all the ways
that master statuses interact and
mutually construct one another.

 Other (Othering)- a usage designed to refer to those
considered profoundly unlike oneself.
 Objectification- Treating people as if they were objects,
as if they were nothing more than the attributes they
display

Framework Essay 1- Key Concepts
 Panethnic- an ethnic classification that
has national origin identities.
Asian Americans include
Hmong-Americans, Filipino Americans,
Japanese Americans…etc. (Question- is
there such a term call White Americans
including German-Americans, Iris-
Americans, Italian Americans…and so
on?)

 Race vs. Ethnicity (Ethnic groups) –
Race- is the concept that people can be classified into groups
based on skin color, hair texture, and shape of head, nose, eyes,
lips, and body.
(Classifying people by color is very much like classifying cars by color).
Ethnic groups are categories of people who are distinctive on the basis of
national origin or heritage, language, customs or cultural practices.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fbvquHSPJU 4 horsemen

 Non-race theory is now widely accepted
in physical anthropology and human
genetics. Race is a biological fiction, but a
social face.
Racial categories encompass different ethnic
groups.
 The opposite of “one-drop rule” –
dichotomizes race into black-n-white.

 Sex vs Gender-
Sex refers to females and males and reflects
chromosomal, hormonal, anatomical and physiological
differences. David Reimer
Gender- describes the socially constructed roles associated with
each sex. Gender is learned and is a culturally and historically
specific acting out of “masculinity” and “femininity.” exploring sexual orientation. My
secret self

 Status –a position in society. Individuals occupy multiple
statuses simultaneously, such as occupational, kinship, and
educational statuses.
Ascribed Status: a social position that someone receives at
birth or assumes involuntarily later in life.
Achieved Status: a social position that someone assumes
voluntarily and that reflect personal ability and effort.
Master Status – a status that has a profound effect on one’s life
that dominates or overwhelms the other statuses one occupies.
In contemporary American society, race, sex, sexual
orientation, social class, and ability/disability function as
master statuses, but other statuses-such as religion-do not. For
example, race strongly affects occupational status, income,
health and longevity. Religion many have a similar impact in
other cultures.

 Master Status – a status that has a profound
effect on one’s life that dominates or overwhelms the
other statuses one occupies. In contemporary American
society, race, sex, sexual orientation, social class, and
ability/disability function as master statuses, but other
statuses-such as religion-do not. For example, race
strongly affects occupational status, income, health and
longevity. Religion many have a similar impact in other
cultures.

 Stigma-The term comes from Ancient
Greece, where it meant a bodily sign designed
to expose something unusual and bad about
the moral status of an individual.
 In the extreme, those depicted as “Other” may
be said to be stigmatized.

The Essentialist and Constructionist Orientations
 Essentialism - The perspective that reality exists
independent of our perception of it, that we perceive the
meaning of the world rather than construct the meaning.
 Constructionism- The perspective that reality cannot be
separated from the way that a culture makes sense of it, that
meaning is constructed through -- for example – social,
political, legal, religious and scientific practices
Essentialists are likely to view categories of people as essentially
different in some important way; and ask what causes people to
be different; constructionists are likely to see these differences
as socially created and arbitrary and ask about the origin and
consequence of the categorization system itself.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPhOZzsi_6QThe Sneetches, by Dr. Seuss https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D85yrIgA4Nk
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D85yrIgA4Nk dog cat rat https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcU1OsDMWBQ shaky

The Essentialist Orientations
and Constructionist Orientations
Essentialism
 The perspective that reality exists independent of
our perception of it, that we perceive the meaning
of the world rather than construct the meaning.
 From a purely essentialist perspective:
 Knowledge is regarded as objective and independent of
mind.
 Categories of race, sex, sexual orientation, and social
class point up significant, empirically verifiable
differences between people.
 Racial categories exist apart from any social processes;
they are objective categories of real differences between
people.
 A modified essentialist perspective argues that while an
independent, objective reality exists, it is subject to
interpretation.
E.g. David Reimer Story Example: of shaky

The Essentialist Orientations
and Constructionist Orientations
Constructionism
 The perspective that reality cannot be separated from
the way that a culture makes sense of it, that
meaning is constructed through -- for example –
social, political, legal, religious and scientific
practices.
 From a constructionist perspective:
 Differences between people are created through social
processes.
 Difference is created rather than intrinsic to a phenomenon.
 Social processes (political, legal, economic, scientific, and
religious institutions) create differences; determine that
some differences are more important than others; and
assign particular meanings to those differences.
 The way a society defines difference among its members
tells us more about the society than about the people who
are being classified. Instructor : Dr. Crystal LC Huang

In-class quiz
Identify the following items: Which are
close to Essentialism vs. Constructionism
A. Math
B. Statistics
C. Diversity Studies
D. History
E. Biology
F. Political Science
G. Physics
H. Sociology
I. Philosophy
J. Chemistry
K. Age
L. Ageism
M. Sex
N. Sexism
O. Gender
P. Disability/Ableism
Q. Impairment
R. Race
S. Racism
T. Ethnicity

Constructionists and/or Essentialists?
 Few of us have grown up as
constructionists; most people are unlikely to
be exclusively essentialist or constructionist.
 Both perspectives are evident in social
movements; and those movements sometimes
shift from one perspective to another over
time.
 Essentialists are likely to view categories of people
as “essentially” different in some important way;
 Constructionists are likely to regard these
differences as socially created and arbitrary.
Though the expansiveness of constructionist
approaches would be appealing in more tolerant
areas, either approach can be used to justify
discrimination.

In class quiz –
Short Essay 3 points
Explain why few of us
have grown up as
constructionists ?

In-class quiz 2 points.
 Essentialism means that reality
exists independent of our perception
of it, that we perceive the meaning of
the world rather than construct the
meaning.
According to the above explanation,
 T/F Both sex and gender are realities
independent of our perception,
perceived through Essentialism.

In-class quiz 4 points
 Constructionism means that reality
cannot be separated from the way
that a culture makes sense of it, that
meaning is constructed.
List 4 examples that constructed
social reality (or constructionism).
 ________, _______, ______, _____
and scientific practices.

The difference between the constructionist and essentialist
orientations is illustrated in the tale of the three umpires,
first apparently told by social psychologist Hadley Cantril
who relates the story of three baseball umpires discussing
their profession.
The 1st umpire said, “Some are balls and
some are strikes, and I call them as they
are.”
The 2nd replied, “Some are balls and some’s
strikes, and I call ’em as I sees ’em.”
The 3rd thought about it and said, “Some
are balls and some are strikes, but they
aren’t nothing ’till I calls ’em.” (Henshel and
Silverman, 1975:26)

 Ableism vs. disablism – analogous to racism and sexism, a
system of cultural, institutional and individual decimation again people
with impairments. Disablism is the British term;
disability oppression is synonymous.
Attention! Differences between Impairment (Medical model) vs.
Disability (Social Model)
 Aggregate vs. Disaggreate – combine or lump together;
something composed of different elements; such as Federal
identification policies aggregated or combined various national-origin
groups into 4 categories: Hispanics; White ; Blacks/African-Americans; and Asian
or Native Americans/Pacific Islanders.
Disaggregate: to separate something into its constituent elements.
Such as under the Hispanics there are : Mexican Americans,
Puerto Rican American, and Cuban Americans and the rest.
 -Centrism- Suffix meaning centered around, focused around,
taking the perspective of- such as androcentric means focused around or
taking the perspective of men; heterogenic means taking the perspective of
heterosexuals; and Eurocentric means having a European focus.

Naming
 Creating Categories of People
 Aggregating and Disaggregating

Naming
Creating Categories of People
 Because census data affect the distribution of billions of dollars of
federal aid, undercounting has a significant impact upon low-income
residents of inner cities.
 The Constitution requires a count of all the people in the
United States, not just those who are citizens or legal residents.
 Census data has always been critical to the functioning of
American government: The appointment of seats in the U.S.
House of Representatives and the distribution of federal funding
to states and localities are based on census data.
 By the 1970s information on race was needed to document and
eliminate discrimination. Such data, the newly formed U.S.
Commission on Civil Rights argued, was necessary to monitor
civil rights enforcement in regard to the Voting Rights Act, equal
access in housing, education and employment, and racial
disparities in health, birth and death rates. A remarkable
bipartisan consensus supported these initiatives.

Naming
 Differences are constructed first by naming categories
of people.
Constructionists pay special attention to the ways and
the circumstances under which people name
themselves and others, as well as to those occasions
when people are grouped together or separated out.
 Asserting a change of name involves, to some extent,
the claim of a new identity.
 Asserting a name can create conflict on both a
personal and societal level.
 On both the personal and societal levels, naming can
involve the claim of a particular identity and the
rejection of others ability to impose a name.
 Diversity and illusion

Naming
 Since naming may involve a
redefinition of self – examples:
an assertion of power – examples:
a proclamation of pride – examples: and
a rejection of others’ ability to impose an identity,
social change movements often claim new names,
while opponents may express opposition by
continuing to use the old name.
 Changes in names (such as Negro to black to
African-American, or homosexual to gay) were
first promoted by activists to demonstrate their
resistance to oppression and stigma and
demonstrate their commitment to a new order.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Robert_A_West/List_of_Euphemisms

1. JUN. 1, 2015: Investigation reveals regular Taser use by North Charleston, SC, police officer
Michael T Slager in years leading up to his fatal shooting of Walter L Scott; public records show that
Slager used his Taser stun gun at least 14 times in roughly five years, highlighting issue that has
become subject of controversy, complaints and litigation across country; some credit devices with
saving lives, while researchers argue that they are susceptible to misuse. MORE
2. MAY. 28, 2015: Six Baltimore police officers charged in death of black man Freddie Gray ask
Maryland judge for change of venue for their trial; 85-page motion states officers' case that sense of
racial injustice and suspicions of police misconduct, which have led to widespread unrest in Baltimore,
would make selection of an impartial jury nearly
3. MAY. 22, 2015: Baltimore grand jury indicts police officers Caesar R Goodson Jr, William G Porter,
Brian Rice, Alicia White, Edward M Nero and Garrett E Miller on homicide and assault charges in
death of Freddie Gray. MORE
4. MAY. 13, 2015: Ismael Ozanne, district attorney for Dane County, Wis, says Madison Police Officer
Matt Kenny will not face criminal charges in shooting death of Anthony Robinson Jr in March 2015;
case raised possibility of unrest as Robinson was black and unarmed and Kenny is white; Ozanne
says in press conference shooting was justified due to Robinson's erratic behavior and because he
had assaulted several people, including Officer Kenny. MORE
5. Missouri Ferguson Michael Brown.
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/p/police_brutality_and_misconduct/index.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cases_of_police_brutality_in_the_United_States

Classroom Activities
 Activity #1:
Work individually and share with a peer.
 1. Identify at least 3 of your ascribed statuses
Identify at least 3 of your achieved statuses so far.
2. Differentiate the top 3 desirable and undesirable
ascribed statuses.
Explain how they affect a person’s development
from social, psychological, and economic aspects.
3. Explain why they are desirable or undesirable.
What can be done to improve the least undesirable
ascribed statuses?
 Activities #2:
Point out top 3 positive and negative achieved
statuses from people you know.
Explain how the positive and negative statuses were
achieved.

Naming
 Certain groups can reclaim a name in an attempt
to transform what could be identified as an epithet
into a symbol of pride (e.g., acceptance of the use
of the name “queer” as a demonstration of pride
and resistance for the gay community).
 Public renaming includes gender movements as
well. The use of the term “woman” as a
replacement for “girl’ rejects the connotations of
youth, powerlessness

Naming in positive way – Euphemism
Secretary - executive assistant, personal assistant
School - academy, conservatory
Boss - manager, supervisor, director
Garbage Collector - sanitation worker, waste disposal worker
Janitor - caretaker, custodian, warden
Euphemisms To Speak Politely And Courteously
Fat - chubby, full-figured, plump, voluptuous, overweight, big boned
Remedial - special needs, developmental
Poor - underprivileged, unable to make ends meet, modest, financially embarrassed
Handicapped - physically challenged, disables, differently abled, crippled
Homeless - displaced, dispossessed, adrift
Trailer park - mobile community
Unemployed - between the jobs
Bankrupt - in reduced circumstances
Eliminating people from racial or national backgrounds - ethnic cleansing
Homosexual - batting for the other side
Military Attack - armed intervention, collateral damage
Bathroom - be excused, restroom, public conveniences
Blush - color up
Lying - economical with the truth
Lover - gentleman friend
Illegitimate - the wrong side of the blanket
Drunk - tired and over-emotional Instructor : Dr. Crystal LC Huang

Naming
 While people or groups may assert names
for themselves, governments have the
power to create categories and
classifications of people.
 The recent history of the United States
Census provides evidence of this process.
 Every census since the first, issued in 1790,
has included a question about race.

Naming
 The 1970 census began the practice of allowing
the head of the household to identify the race of
household members. Thus, the decision based on
the appearance of the family began treating race
as primarily a matter of self-identification.
 In 1970 the census also posed the first questions
regarding ethnicity.
 As a way of correcting for the differential
undercount (means that more people are
undercounted in one category than another) of the
Hispanic population, individuals were asked
whether they were of Hispanic or non-Hispanic
ancestry. Instructor : Dr. Crystal LC Huang

Naming
As in previous censuses, undercounting remains
an important fiscal and political issue, given
the disproportionate undercounting of people
of color.
 Since the 1990 census, the form has provided
“unmarried partner” as a possible answer to
the question about how people are related to
one another. Still, gay couples may well be the
most undercounted.

Naming
Despite the fact that many find census counting
objectionable and perceive it to be essentialist, this
data (as this brief history demonstrates) nevertheless
generates policies that provide benefits and
protections and help to eliminate discriminatory
practices; and census categories have been based on
constructionist premises.
Reliable racial statistics help courts and agencies detect
institutional bias to enforce anti-discrimination statutes
and, ultimately, provide a measure of our society’s
progress in regard to racial discrimination and inequality.

Naming
Aggregating and Disaggregating
Data from the 2000 census reveals that the
number of respondents identifying as
“Other/Spanish/Hispanic/Latino” has doubled
from 5 to 10 million since the 1990 census.
Other/Spanish/Hispanic/Latino is now the
fastest growing group in the category.

Naming
 The category of Asian-American is based primarily on
geography rather than any cultural, racial, linguistic, or
religious commonality.
 Collective classifications such as Latino or Asian-
American were not simply the result of federal
classifications. Student activists inspired by the Black
Power and civil rights movements first proposed the terms.
 Panethnicity is the development of bridging organizations
and solidarities among subgroups of ethnic collectivities
that are often seen as homogenous by outsiders.
 Asian-American, Hispanic and Latino are examples of
panethnic terms or classifications that span national-origin
identities. College students coined the identifier Asian
American, for example, in response to “the similarity of
[their] experiences and treatment” (Yen Le Espiritu).

Naming
Federal identification policies aggregated or
combined various national-origin groups into
4 categories (and 1 ethnic group):
Hispanics; Native Americans; Blacks; and
Asian or Pacific Islanders. (For example,
Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, Cubans, and others
from Central and South America were all
labeled as “Hispanic.”)
2010 added - Mixed racial groups.
The groups that are now lumped together have
historically regarded one another as different;
and thus the aggregate category is likely to
disaggregate or fragment into its constituent
national-origin elements.

Naming
 Since difference has historically been created as
“difference from,” it is important to determine from
whose perspective difference is determined, and to ask,
Who has the power to define “difference”?
 Every perspective on the social order springs from a
particular vantage point or social location.
 White culture has historically been the
“unspoken norm”; it is a category that is powerful
enough to define others while itself remaining invisible
or unnamed/unmarked. (Why no White history Month?)
 To some extent, regardless of one’s sex, race, or sexual
orientation, most Americans base their perspectives on
an andro-, Euro-, and heterocentric point of view, since
these are the guiding assumptions of American culture.

Naming
 Panethnicity is a useful concept, however, competition
and historic antagonisms make such alliances unstable.
 The terms Native-American and African-American are
also aggregate classifications, but in these cases they
are a result of conquest and enslavement.
 Conquest made “Indians” out of a heterogeneity of
tribes and nations that had been distinctive on linguistic,
religious and economic grounds.

Naming
 To improve the collection of race data, in the 1970s the
Commission on Civil Rights reviewed the race
categorization practices of federal agencies and concluded
that “while the designations do not refer strictly to race,
color, national or ethnic origin,” the categories were
nonetheless what the general public understood to be
minority groups.
 Minority group status “did not derive from a specific race or
ethnicity per se” but, in a legal sense, from “the treatment of
race and ethnicity to confer a privileged, disadvantaged, or
equitable status and to gauge representation and under-
representation.”
 The aim of data collection was to pinpoint the extent of
discrimination, not to identify all population categories.

Naming
 In 1977, on the recommendation of the Civil Rights
Commission, the Office of Management and Budget issued
Statistical Directive No. 15, which established standard
categories and definitions for all federal agencies including
the Bureau of the Census. Directive No. 15 defined four
racial and one ethnic category: American Indian or
Alaskan Native; Asian or Pacific Islander; Negro or Black;
White; and Hispanic.
 The racial and ethnic diversity of the United States is more
complex now than it was in the 1970s. The most notable
changes in the 2000 census was its recognition that a
person may identify her/himself as being a member of
more than one racial group.

Dichotomizing
Many factors contribute to the construction of aggregate
categories of people. Often, these aggregates are
created as dichotomies, mutually exclusive and in
opposition to each other.
In contemporary American culture, we tend to treat
master status categories such as race, sex, class, and
sexual orientation as if they could be broken down
into two exclusive and opposed groups.
 Dichotomizing Race
 Dichotomizing Sexual Orientation
 Dichotomizing Class
 Dichotomizing Sex
 The Social Construction of Disability

Practice/conduct an Interview:
1. Find a partner.
(Make sure to keep confidentiality).
2. Ask a question-
“ Have you ever been stereotyped,
prejudiced, or retreated
differently based on some
biological/social attributes
(or master statuses) in your life?”
3. Keep your notes.
4. 5 minutes for each interview.

Dichotomizing
Race and Ethnicity
 Race is the concept that people can be classified into
groups based on skin color, hair texture, and shape
of head, nose, eyes, lips, and body.
Jesse Owens
Ethnic groups are categories of people who are
distinctive on the basis of national origin or heritage,
language, customs or cultural practices.
 Racial categories encompass different ethnic groups.
 The term race was first used in the Romance
languages of Europe in the Middle Ages to refer to
breeding stock.
 In the 16th century, the Spanish first used "race" to
refer to New World peoples; and was later adopted by
the English, again in reference to the people of the
New World.

Dichotomizing
 Thus, the primary significance of race is as a social
concept.
 Expecting that it will tell us something significant
about a person, we organize social policy, law, and the
distribution of wealth, power and prestige around it.
 From an essentialist perspective, race is assumed to
exist independently of our expectation of it.
 From the constructionist perspective, race exists
because we have created it as a meaningful category
of difference among people.

Dichotomizing
Race and Ethnicity
 By the late 18th century, “the term ‘race’ was elevated
as one of the major symbol and mode of human group
differentiation employed extensively for non-European
groups and even those in Europe who varied in some
way from the subjective norm” (Smedley).
 Though elevated to the level of science, the concept of
race continued to reflect its origins in animal breeding.
 Just as the selective breeding of animals entailed the
ranking of stock by some criteria, scholarly use of the
concept of race involved the ranking of humans.
 Differences in phenotypes were developed into an
elaborate hierarchy of merit and potential for
“civilization.”

Dichotomizing
Race and Ethnicity
 The idea of race emerged among all European colonial
powers, although their conceptions of it varied;
however, only the British in colonizing North America
and South Africa constructed a system of rigid,
exclusive racial categories and a social order based
on race.
 In the early 20th century, anthropologists looked to
physical features such as height, stature and head
shape to distinguish the races, only to learn that these
are effected by environment and nutrition and that
genetics cannot be correlated with conventional racial
classifications. They discovered that even efforts to
reach a consensus about how many races exist are
problematic.
 The “no-race” theory is now widely accepted in
physical anthropology and human genetics.

Dichotomizing
Dichotomizing Race
Dichotomizing race is clearly illustrated in the
“one-drop rule,” as discussed by F. James Davis
(Reading 1).
Strongly supported by both blacks and whites, American
social practices reflect the informal rule that a person
with any traceable African heritage is classified as
black, while in other cultures people of mixed racial
ancestry might be classified as biracial or multiracial.
(Plessy vs. Ferguson case)
Although various distinctions are made historically and
regionally (e.g., between Anglos and Latinos or Asian-
Americans and whites), the most encompassing and
historic American dichotomization is
between whites and non-whites.

Dichotomizing
Dichotomizing Race
 While 3 racial categories—white, Negro, and Indian—
were identified throughout the 19th century, as Omi
and Winant point out, all were located within the
white/non-white dichotomy.
 The dichotomized racial categories of American/non-
American effectively mean white/non-white.
Historically “American” has meant white; as novelist
Toni Morrison observes, “Deep within the word
‘American’ is its association with race.”
 Since being American is often synonymous with
being “white,” those who are non-white are often not
seen as “real” Americans. (.e.g. MSNBC news report:
Michelle Kwang beat by U.S. figurative skater Tara
Lapiski)

Dichotomizing
Dichotomizing Race
 Although the black/white dichotomy has been abiding
and rigidly enforced, different geographical regions
and historical periods have also produced their own
two-part distinctions.
For example, in the Southwest the divide has been
between Anglos and Latinos; whereas in parts of the
West Coast it is between Asian-Americans and
whites. Each of these variations, however, is an
instance of America’s more encompassing and
historic dichotomization of whites and non-whites.
Perhaps the most dramatic instance of this
dichotomization is the Irish (also Italians), who were
initially treated as non-white but eventually lobbied
successfully for their inclusion in American culture
based upon their white status.

Dichotomizing
Dichotomizing Race
 Despite the increasing number of people who are
bi- and mixed race and the census’ introduction of
the multiple check-off for race, American social
practices apparently remain governed by
“the one-drop rule.”
 In the 2000 census, only 5 percent of African-
Americans identified themselves as being of
multiple races. This compares to the 14 percent
and 40 percent of American Indian and Asian
Americans respondents who classified
themselves as being of more than one race.

Dichotomizing
Dichotomizing Race
 Considering the census, one must look to those
18 or younger for a sign that the one-drop rule is
losing hold. Among the 2.2 million Hispanics who
reported more than one race, for example, 43
percent were under 18 (Jones and Smith).
 The popularity of bi- and multi-racial celebrities
and the emergence of of ethnically ambiguous
advertising (as discussed by Ruth la Ferla) bodes
well for the unraveling of the one-drop rule.

Dichotomizing
Dichotomizing Class
 Social class is not a central category of
cultural discourse in the United States.
 As Michael Zweig notes, social class operates
in ways quite similar to race and sex in that
American culture provides interpretations of
what differences in income, wealth or
employment might mean.
 As in the case of other master status
categories, social class is often dichotomized
into the categories of poor and middle class.

Dichotomizing
Dichotomizing Class
 Since 1970 the distribution of wealth and
income among Americans has become
increasingly unequal (Wiefek).
 Americans construct this poor/middle class
distinction as if it reflected an individual’s merit
as a person, and explain success or failure in
terms of individual merit rather than economic
or social forces. In other words, social class
standing is taken to reveal one’s core worth—a
strikingly essentialist formulation.
 Many talk about social class as if it were the
result of personal values and attitudes, and that
lack of effort by the poor was the principle
reason for poverty. Instructor : Dr. Crystal LC Huang

Dichotomizing
 Dichotomizing Sexual Orientation
 In conclusion, several parallels exist between race and
sexual orientation classifications. In addition to
assuming there are limited possibilities in which to fit
individuals, they suggest that individuals will fit easily
into one or another.
 We treat both race and sexual orientation categories as
encompassing populations that are internally
homogenous and profoundly dissimilar; this
presumption has prompted a wide-ranging search for the
biological distinctiveness of these categories. Different
races and sexual orientations are judged superior and
inferior to one another; and members of each category
historically have been granted unequal legal and social
rights. Finally, we assume that sexual orientation, like
skin color, tells us something meaningful about a
person. Instructor : Dr. Crystal LC Huang

Dichotomizing
Dichotomizing Sexual Orientation
 The conclusion that there is no necessary
correspondence between identity and sexual behavior
was underscored in a1994 survey in which only 2.8
percent of the men and 1.4 percent of the women
identified themselves as gay, but an additional 7.3
percent and 7.2 percent, respectively, reported a
same-sex experience or attraction.
 Like the construction of race, sexual orientation can
function as an essential identity and be assigned to an
individual irrespective of her or his actual behavior.
Because no behavior can ever conclusively prove that
one is not gay, this label is an extremely effective
mechanism of social control.

Dichotomizing
 Not unlike the process of dichotomizing
race into white/non-white, the construction
of sexual orientation is divided into gay or
straight with the assumption that all people
will fit easily into one category or the other.
 While the term “bisexual” has become
increasingly common, the assumption that
individuals are either gay or straight
remains culturally dominant.

Dichotomizing
 Scientists continue to seek biological differences
between gay and straight people just as they have
looked for such differences among the “races.”
 Because sexuality encompasses physical, social and
emotional attraction, as well as fantasies, self-identity
and actual sexual behavior over a lifetime, determining
one’s sexual orientation may involve emphasizing one
of these features over another.
 Based upon his survey of American sexual practices,
Alfred Kinsey suggested that instead of thinking about
“homosexuals” and “heterosexuals” as if these were
two distinct categories of people, we should recognize
that sexual behavior exists along a continuum from
those who are exclusively heterosexual to those who
are exclusively gay.

Dichotomizing
 Dichotomization of sex requires a necessary
distinction between sex and gender.
 Sex refers to females and males and reflects
chromosomal, hormonal, anatomical and
physiological differences.
 Gender describes the socially constructed roles
associated with each sex.
 Gender is learned and is a culturally and historically
specific acting out of “masculinity” and “femininity.”

Dichotomizing
 Like sexual orientation, sex refers to a complex set of
attributes (listed above) that may sometimes be
inconsistent with one another or with an individual’s
sense of her/his own identity.
 Just as with race and sexual orientation, people are
assigned to the categories of female or male
irrespective of inconsistent or ambiguous evidence.
 In order to achieve consistency between the physical
and psychological, some people are propelled into
sex change surgery as they seek to produce a body
consistent with their self-identity; others are will
pursue psychotherapy to find an identity consistent
with their bodies.

The Social Construction of Disability
Ability and disability, two master statuses, are also social
constructions in much the same way as race, sexual
orientation, sex, and social class.
 Rather than treating disability as a defect within an
individual, an approach that has emerged in the
disability rights movement is that disability can be
understood as the result of disabling environments;
and the categories of disability are themselves socially
constructed.
Dichotomizing

The Social Construction of Disability
 While both abled and disabled individuals participate
in the social construction of disability, the process is
not equal. Cultural concepts such as dependence
and independence—which bear heavily on judgments
about what constitutes a disability—are most often
imposed on disabled people by those not so
identified.
 The master statuses of able-bodied and disabled
create the misconception that the nature of ability is
fixed.
 Both physically and conceptually, we create
disability.
Dichotomizing

Sanctioning Those
Who Associate with the “Other”
 There are also penalties for those
who associate with the “Other.”
(Mississippi Burning)
Those who do so are also in danger of being labeled a
member of that category. For example, men who appear
feminine receive strong public criticism and humiliation.
 Family members often shun those who marry outside their
race or who identify as gay.
 Members of racial and ethnic groups often maintain
distance from one another to avoid criticism that might be
leveled by members of their own and other groups.
“Othering” thus becomes a remarkably effective social
control mechanism because all parties continue to enforce
them.

 Aggregation assumes that that those who share a
master status are alike in essential ways, and
ignores the multiple and conflicting statuses an
individual inevitably occupies.
 Dichotomization promotes the image of the
mythical “Other” and yields a vision of “them” as
profoundly different and ultimately results in
stigmatizing those who are less powerful.
 Constructing “Others” as Profoundly Different
 Sanctioning Those Who Associate with the
“Other”

Constructing “Others” as Profoundly Different
 The expectation that “Others” are profoundly different
is seen clearly in the significance attached to sex
differences.
 Biological differences between males and females are
assumed to reflect an extensive range of non-biological
differences in behavior, perception, and personality.
 These differences are used to argue for different legal,
social and economic roles and rights.
 However, few significant differences in behavior,
personality or even physical ability have been found
between men and women. Indeed, there are more
differences within each sex than between the sexes.
 The same expectation that the “Other” differs in
personality and behavior emerges in race, class and
sexual orientation classifications.

Stigma
The term stigma comes from Ancient Greece, where it
meant a bodily sign designed to expose something
unusual and bad about the moral status of an
individual. In the extreme, those depicted as “Other”
may be said to be stigmatized.
 The core assumption behind stigma is that internal
merit is revealed through external features.
 Judgments of worth based on membership in certain
categories have a self-fulfilling potential.
 Stigma involves objectification as well as devaluation.
 Objectification means treating people as objects, as
members of a category rather than possessing
individual characteristics.
 The depersonalized nature of a category
(“homosexual,” “black,” “women”) assumes that no
other noteworthy status or identity exists for such an
individual.

Stigma
5 common stereotypes about individuals
in stigmatized master statuses
1. They are presumed to lack the values the culture holds
dears.
2. Stigmatized people are likely to be seen as a problem
3. People in stigmatized master statuses are often stereotyped
as lacking self-control
4.They are often marked as having too much to too little
intelligence, as tending to deception or criminality
5. They are depicted as both childlike and savagely brutal.

Stigma
Stereotypes About Those in Stigmatized Master Statuses.
They are presumed to lack the values the culture holds dear.
 They are often depicted as simultaneously childlike and
savagely brutal.
 Possibly because people in stigmatized categories are
portrayed as deviant, it appears that those who commit crimes
against them are unlikely to be punished.
 Individuals in stigmatized master statuses are represented as
not only physically distinctive but also the antithesis of the
culture’s desired behaviors and attributes.
 Such characterizations serve to dismiss claims of
discrimination and unfair treatment, affirming that those in
stigmatized categories deserve such treatment and that they
are responsible for their own plights.

Stigma
Stereotypes About Those in Stigmatized Master Statuses.
They are presumed to lack the values the culture holds dear.
 They are often depicted as simultaneously childlike and savagely brutal.
 Possibly because people in stigmatized categories are portrayed as
deviant, it appears that those who commit crimes against them are unlikely
to be punished. For example, most murders in the U.S. are interracial (i.e.
the alleged perpetrator and the victim share the same race), yet of the 845
prisoners executed between 17 January 1977 and 10 April 2003, 53 percent
were whites convicted of killing whites, and 10 percent were blacks
convicted of killing blacks. The conclusion could, therefore, be reached that
stigmatized minority victims are less valued than white victims.
 Individuals in stigmatized master statuses are represented as not only
physically distinctive but also the antithesis of the culture’s desired
behaviors and attributes.
 Such characterizations serve to dismiss claims of discrimination and unfair
treatment, affirming that those in stigmatized categories deserve such
treatment and that they are responsible for their own plights.

Stigma
Stereotypes About Those in Stigmatized Master
Statuses. They are presumed to lack the values
the culture holds dear.
 They are likely to be seen as a problem; this
depiction is, ironically, often accompanied by the
trivialization of those problems.
 They are presumed to lack the values the culture
holds dear.
 They are often depicted as simultaneously childlike
and savagely brutal.
 They are stereotyped as lacking self control, and as
being lustful, immoral and carriers of disease.
 They are marked as having too much or too little
intelligence, and in either case, as tending to
deception or criminality.

Stigma
Examples of Stigmatized Master Statuses: Women and the Poor
 Research has consistently documented that traits associated
with being female in America are generally devalued, while
traits associated with being male are more valued in the
culture as a whole.
 Characteristics associated with women are inconsistent with
core American values.
 While America values achievement, individualism, and
action—all male attributes—women are expected to
subordinate their personal interests to the family and to be
passive and patient. In other words, “women are asked to
become the kind of people that [our] culture does not value.”
 Many of the same stigmas ascribed to women also apply to
the poor. Though it is similarly devalued and objectified, the
category of poor is a much more obviously shameful status
than being female.
 Like women, those who are poor are not expected to display
attributes valued in the culture as a whole.

Stigma
Examples of Stigmatized Master Statuses:
Women and the Poor
 Women are subject to both objectification and
devaluation; as a result, they are discredited and
stigmatized.
 Objectification occurs when members of a category
are thought of as interchangeable or
indistinguishable from one another; e.g., “Let’s get
the women’s point of view on this.”
 Some members of stigmatized categories objectify
themselves in the same ways that they are
objectified by others. Thus women may evaluate
their self-worth in terms of physical appearance.
While physical appearance is also valued for men, it
rarely takes precedence over other qualities.
Rather, men are more likely to be objectified in
terms of wealth and power.

Stigma
 Examples of Stigmatized Master
Statuses: Women and the Poor
 Stereotypes About Those in
Stigmatized Master Statuses

In Class Quiz Name:___ 1 point per question
1. ___The story of Chris Yates fits the diversity theme of
A. Race B. Gender C. Class D. sexual Orientation
2.___ Among Hadley Cantril’s descriptions of 3 baseball
umpires, which one relates to constructionism:
A. The 1st umpire said, “Some are balls and some are
strikes, and I call them as they are.”
B. The 2nd replied, “Some are balls and some’s strikes,
and I call ’em as I sees ’em.”
C. The 3rd thought about it and said, “Some are balls and
some are strikes, but they aren’t nothing ’till I calls ’em.”
D. All of the above
3.___T/F According to the texts, most of us are born
Constructionists.

In Class Quiz Name:___ 2 points per question
4.___ T/F The term RACE first appeared in the Romance
Languages of Europe in the Middle Ages to refer to
breeding stock.
5. ___According to the texts, how many common
stereotypes about individual in stigmatized
master statuses? (A) 3 (B) 4 (C) 5 (D) 6. 6. C. 5 . 2
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6.___ T/F Constructionism has been the basis of probability
theory and statistics.
7.___ T/F All of us are always simultaneously of our master
statues, an idea encompassed by the concept of
intersectionality, which highlights the fact that these
statuses inevitably interact with one another.

8. Give 2 examples of intersectionality (in question#7)
of yours or a person you know
Example 1_____________________________
Example 2_____________________________
9.___ T/F Dichotomization results in stigmatizing those
who are less powerful. It provides the grounds for whole
categories of people to become the objects of contempt.
10.___ T/F From naming, to aggregating, to dichotomizing
and ultimately to stigmatizing, difference has a meaning
for us.
11. ___ T/F One-drop rule is a good example of
Dichotomization of race

12. Aggregation is to _______ as disaggregation is to ________
a. Asian; Cuban b. Asian; Chinese
c. Asian, Latino d. Japanese; white
13. Which of the following is NOT discussed in your text as a
characteristic that we dichotomize?
a. Class. b. Sex. c. Disability. d. Education.
14. Which of the following statements is consistent with
an essentialist approach?
a. A biracial person recognizes that racial identity is complex.
b. A gay person states that sexual identity is something with
which a person is born.
c. A right-wing politician opposes legal protection
status for sexual preference.
d. All of the above.
15. Sex refers to ___________, while gender refers to_________.
a. physiological differences; socially constructed roles
b. sexual orientation; physiological differences
c. nurture; nature d. learning; chromosomes

SECTION I - Discussion Questions
What is Race?
11. What reactions do you think people had to filling out Census 2000? (Reading 3)
12. In what ways does the federal legal definition of determining Indian identity differ
from the manner in which various American Indian groups distinguish between
Indian and non-Indian? (Reading 4)
13. In what ways does the federal legal definition of “blood quantum” resemble the
“one-drop rule” in determining one’s citizenship or social status? How does this
definition promote factionalism? (Reading 4)
14. As Garroutte describes them, what are the various ways that one might be defined
as a “real” Indian? When might these different definitions of “Indianness” conflict?
(Reading 4)
15. Discuss the relevance of physical appearance to participation in certain cultural
activities. (Reading 4)
16. Thinking about June’s description of when her son was refused a drink of water
and her advice about who ought to receive the Indian scholarship, what do you see
as the consistencies or inconsistencies of her approach? (Reading 4)
17. Garroutte notes that turn-of-the century race theorists treated blood as the “vehicle
for transmission of cultural characteristics.” Can you give some specific
examplesof what this might mean? Do you think contemporary American social
practices operate from the same premise? (Reading 4)
18. Discuss the concept of “consistent identities” as opposed to shifts in perception
and valuation in regard to ethnic identity. (Reading 5)

SECTION I -Discussion Questions
19. In what ways can a racially mixed identity be regarded as empowering or a form
of resistance? (Reading 5)
20. What do you think Rodriguez means when she says that for Latinos, race is
primarily “cultural”? (Reading 5)
21. What do you think is the impact of American racial constructions on immigrant
Latino-Americans? Consider specifically the manner in which race is defined in
the United States as opposed to Latin America and the manner in which
immigrants undergo a “racialization process” when they arrive in the United
States. (Reading 5)
22. Discuss the manner in Latinos see race as a continuum as opposed to a
dichotomous variable. (Reading 5)
23. In what ways are Asian-Americans “triangulated” with whites and blacks?
(Reading 5)
24. What does Dalmage mean when she suggests that racial identities are “formed
in large part through our experiences…mediated through language”? (Reading
6)
25. In what ways do multiracial families occupy a unique place in our society?
(Reading 6)
26. Why, according to Dalmage, do most African-Americans prefer not to discuss or
acknowledge their multiracial identities? (Reading 6)

SECTION I -Discussion Questions
27. How do you think the experiences of black/white multiracial families compare to
those of other multiracial families? (Reading 6)
28. Do you think Dalmage’s use of the word “tripping” adequately captures the
experience of multiracial families and multiracial people? (Reading 6)
29. Why are Asian ethnic enclaves declining in number? (Reading 7)
30. Is the term Pan-Asian relevant? (Reading 7)
31. Who is now considered Asian American? (Reading 7)
32. Define ethnic “disidentification.” What was the purpose of “exclusion
movements” during the first part of the twentieth century? (Reading 7)
33. Describe the social and demographic changes experienced by the Asian
population in the United States after 1940. Has this united or separated Asian
Americans? (Reading 7)
34. Discuss the development of Pan-Asian ethnicity. Has this identity helped or
hindered Asian Americans? (Reading 7)
35. Why is whiteness considered to be lacking diversity? (Reading 8)
36. How would you describe the cultural content of whiteness? (Reading 8)
37. Why do some people feel “culture-less”? (Reading 8)
38. Why is whiteness considered an “unmarked” cultural category? (Reading 8)
39. Discuss the statement, “Whiteness served simultaneously to eclipse and
marginalize others (two modes of making the other inessential).” (Reading 8)

What is Sex? What is Gender?
1. Why do you think it has been so important in our culture that individuals be
either male or female? Or, as Fausto-Sterling asks, “Why should we care if
there are people whose biological equipment enables them to have sex
‘naturally’ with both men and women?” (Reading 9)
2. What is meant by the term “intersex”? How does the concept of “five sexes”
more accurately define sex? (Reading 9)
3. If you were the parent of an intersexed infant, what factors would bear on your
decision to subject the child to surgical intervention? (Reading 9)
4. What kind of discrimination results from assuming there are only two sexes?
5. What role has science played in such dichotomization? (Reading 9)
6. What are the defining attributes of the Berdache status? (Reading 10)
7. Describe the significance of the Berdache tradition. How do many Native-
American religions treat human diversity? (Reading 10)
8. What cultural forces or beliefs have supported the Berdache tradition in some
Native-American societies? In what ways are the beliefs of Americans who are
not Native-American supportive or detrimental to the presence of the Berdache
tradition? (Reading 10)

What is Sex? What is Gender?
9. What does Kimmel mean when he states that “the two tasks of gender…are to explain both
difference and inequality”? (Reading 11)
10. Compare the tendency to dichotomize racial identities with the tendency to dichotomize
masculinities. Consider the manner in which gender and race are defined biologically as
opposed to being regarded as constructed concepts. (Reading 11)
11. Discuss the manner in which behavioral scientists use the word “gender” as opposed to “sex”.
12. Discuss Kimmel’s claim that defining gender is not just a system of classification or difference,
it also determines one’s place in the social hierarchy. (Reading 11)
13. What do you understand Kimmel to mean when he says that gender inequality produces gender
difference, and it is through the idea of difference that inequality is legitimated? Can you give an
example?
(Reading 11)
14.What is your reaction to Kimmel’s position that we are engaged in a national debate about
masculinity? (Reading 11)
15. In your own words, explain the “deceptive distinctions” aspect of gender. (Reading 11)
16.What is the significance of the fact that traditionally we tend to stress the importance of gender
in a woman’s life but not in a man’s? (Reading 11)
17. Explain Wilchins’ claim that gender is “a system of meanings and symbols”; and it is “through
the language of gender that we become who we are.” (Reading 12)
18. In what ways are gender identities unstable? (Reading 12)
19. Give an example from your own experience of gender producing meaning. (Reading 12)
20.What was one point in this article that you found most illuminating and one you found most
confusing? (Reading 12)
21. How would you define “genderqueers”? (Reading 12)
22. Would you agree that violators of the gender binary are “vigorously suppressed”? (Reading 12)

What is Sexual Orientation?
1. In your mind, what are the dangers involved in giving a name to sexual attraction?
(Reading 18)
2. Could you provide examples of the scholarly bias regarding defining same-sex erotic
attraction? Consider in particular the manner in which social reality is influenced by
deliberately misnaming. (Reading 18)
3. In what ways has social constructionism (as opposed to medical science) dominated the
field of sexuality? (Reading 18)
4. What groups would you identify as currently in control of the sexual attraction naming
process? How do you judge their relative influence? (Reading 18)
5. In what ways has society created homosexuality as a cultural entity? (Reading 19)
6. What is the difference between a behavior as opposed to a defining characteristic?
(Reading 19)
7. In what ways is the manner in which people express their sexuality embedded in a larger
network of cultural meanings? (Reading 19)
8. What would the authors say were the key factors that turned homosexuality from an
adjective to a noun, at least in Western society? (Reading 19)
9. Do you envision the possibility of homosexuality becoming an adjective again? Why or
why not? (Reading 19)
10. Why is the idea of an exclusive homosexual identity a “cherished American myth”?
(Reading 19)
11. Is it plausible that individuals can drop sexual identity entirely? (Reading 20)
12. Do you agree with Archer that people born since the 1980s are less committed to sexual
identity categories? What evidence would you offer for your position? (Reading 20)
13. In your view, is Archer really just bisexual? (Reading 20)

What is Social Class?
1. In what ways are our individual and personal life chances shaped by our social and
economic class? (Reading 13)
2. How is social class like and also different from race, sex, gender, and sexual orientation?
(Reading 13)
3. Would you agree with Zweig that “without a class analysis, we would have only the most
superficial knowledge of our own lives and the experiences of others”? (Reading 13)
4. What are the key criteria or concepts Zweig is using to define social class? What is your
opinion of his definition of social class? (Reading 13)
5. In your own words, what are McMurrer and Sawhill’s primary conclusions about
social mobility in the United States? (Reading 14)
6. Based on their conclusions, what predictions would you make about the
economic future of your friends relative to their parents? Will the more privileged
of them do better, worse or the same as their parents? And how will the less and
moderately privileged of them do relative to their parents? (Reading 14)
7. Why should economic mobility be taken into consideration when interpreting income
growth statistics? (Reading 14)
8. Has opportunity increased in the United States? What factors affect opportunity?
(Reading 14)
9. How do occupations within families correlate over generations? (Reading 14)
10. Thinking about the economic trends Wiefak describes, how have these developments
affected your life decisions compared to the decisions your parents or grandparents made
at your age? (Reading 15)

What is Social Class?
11. How does the relationship among American workers, employers and the world economy
affect the nature of the workplace? (Reading 15)
12. What do you think are some of the consequences of the contemporary coexistence of
economic growth and job insecurity? (Reading 15)
13. In what ways do particular norms and accepted behaviors develop around particular labor-
market structures? (Reading 15)
14. Why might the poverty of low-wage workers be invisible to America’s middle to upper
classes? (Reading 16)
15. Ehrenreich describes an American culture of “repressive management,” at least in the world
of low-wage work. If you have worked a low-wage job, has that been your experience?
(Reading 16)
16. Did it surprise you when Ehrenreich referred to the tax deduction she receives for the interest
on her mortgage as a “housing subsidy”? Why or why not? (Reading 16)
17. Why is the choice of food as the basis for calculating the official poverty level arbitrary and
misleading? (Reading 16)
18. In what ways has the public sector retreated from its responsibility to the poor? (Reading 16)
19. Is the belief that we earn all of our money by our own effort better described as a myth or an
ideology? (Reading 17)
20. Do you agree that Warren Buffet or Bill Gates owe their wealth to forces outside their control?
Wouldn’t they have succeeded anywhere, for example, in Bangladesh? (Reading 17)
21. Thinking about the jobs you have held, what portion of your earnings would you attribute to
your own “hard earned effort” versus your connections, timing, government investments,
talents and parental efforts? (Reading 17)

Activities: Open the
Critical Thinking Mind-Eyes
We all think. But most of our thinking, if let itself, tends
to be partial, biased, uninformed, distorted, prejudicial
and even discriminatory. But the quality of human life
of what we produce, make or build depends on the
quality of our thoughts. Sallow or ill-informed thought
is costly, both in money and in quality of life. Excellent
in thought must be systematically cultivated. – Paul
and Elder.
Critical Thinking is the art of analyzing
and evaluating thinking with a view to
improving it. Instructor : Dr. Crystal LC Huang

Unreflective thinker -We are unaware of
significant problems in our thinking
Challenged thinker- we are faced with
significant problems in our thinking
Beginning thinker- we try to improve
but without regular practice
Practicing Thinker- we recognize
the need for regular practice
Advanced thinker-we advance
in keeping with our practice
Master thinker-Good habits of
thought are becoming second nature

3 Models of Mental Organization
Expressed in exclusive categories for purposes of theoretical clarity
Admitting to a range of
sophistication
From black-white, simple,
awkward rationalizations to
highly sophisticated, creative,
and intellectually resourceful
egocentric and sociocentric
rationalizations
Admitting to a range of
developmental levels
From the fair-
mindedness that an
individual is able to
exercise to that of the
most profound thinkers
Critical thinking skills
internalized in the
service of balanced
truth, rationality,
autonomy and self
insight
Critical thinking skills
internalized in the service of
one’s vested interests and
desires
No Self-
Awareness
Self-
Awareness
The Self-Serving Critical
Person (Weak Sense)
The Fair-minded Critical
Person( strong sense)
No Self-
Awareness
Self-
Awareness
The Uncritical Person

A General Critical Thinking Method
A General Critical Thinking Method to
examine an ideology/hegemonic ideology
 What is said?
 How it is said?
 Who says so?
 To whom it is said?
 For whose best interest?
 When it is said?
 Where it is said?
Examples:
Inquiries or counterpoints regarding the
definitions or understanding Instructor : Dr. Crystal LC Huang

Apply SEADS critical thinking
model to examine an
ideology/hegemonic ideology
S- Identify sources (reliability, and validity)
E- Evidence (enough? objective?)
A- What are the assumptions
hidden behind that message?
D- What is the definition of the buzz words
or hot button issues in the message?
S- How biased? Slanted?

EDEA Critical Thinking Model to
examine an ideology/hegemonic
ideology (AHEC Model)
1. Examine Assumptions
2. Detect the Hidden values (agenda)
What perspective or bias underlies an
argument.
3. Evaluate Evidence
Is it anecdotal? Correlational?
4. Assess Conclusions
Are there alternative explanations?

1. Functional mind-eyes:
A system of interrelated parts that is
relatively stable because each part
has a particular function in society
as a whole.
Manifest functional mind-eye;
Latent functional mind-eye;
Dysfunctional mind-eye.

2. Conflict Mind-Eyes
Open many smaller miraculous
mind- eyes to see social problems
based on Social inequality
(power/money, resources, opportunities,
privileges…etc.).
Such as opening the miracle eye to see
Race/ethnicity issues (Genetics, history, and
biology etc. will involve)
Such as Such as opening the miracle eye to see
Social Class issues (Economics, population,
urbanization, population etc. will involve)
Such as opening the miracle eye to see
gender, sexual orientations and disability issues
Again, biology, Neuro-genetics, political science,
ecology etc. issues will involve.

Education
Economy
Sport-
Football
Politics
Organization
Religion
Media
Socialization
Cultural, structural
and situational
factors affecting
sport and sport
experiences
Competition/
cooperation,
conflict, social
stratification and
social change
Family
Technology/
Medicine

Practical Theme- How can business go wrong?
What about diversity issues in other countries?
Examples- Europe; Canada and US
Specific themes
a. Race/Ethnicity- case studies (teens and car);
KKK now and then; Raising children to be racists
b. Social Class- who owns USA
c. Sexual Orientation- Got hates fags;
Phelps Westboro; 60 minutes; part 2
d. Languagebeer; case two cat ; Accent; case two (fair
housing)
e. Disability Instructor : Dr. Crystal LC Huang

Socio-biological Forces Shape Who and What We Are
Individual
Internal
forces
External
forces
I and ME/
Individual
Positive
Forces
- push you up
Invisible
social Forces
Negative
Forces
- drag you downVisible
Social Forces
Genetics/
Biology
Environment/
social-culture

Social Forces shape the way we are
Our Background/Genetics and
Circumstances/ Socio-cultural
Environment have influenced
who we are,
but we are responsible for who
we become - and reach
potentials if Background and
Circumstances are improved.

“Men hate each other because they
fear each other, and they fear each
other because they don’t know
each other, and they don’t know
each other because they are often
separated from each other.” -
Martin Luther King, Jr.
“You must be the change you wish
to see in the world.”- Mahatma
Gandhi

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15w0VA6Kjj8&feature=related
This video shows pictures and dated of people who were murdered in hate crimes
against gay people. I think that it somehow makes it more real to see the faces of
people who had to face this awful discrimination and hatred because of the people that
they choose to love. It is unreal the amount of hatred that people have toward people
and concepts that they don't understand.
Things I learned:
1) There are many more murders due to gay hate crimes than I thought
2) Many of the people who are killed because of these hate crimes are very young.
3) More videos like this should be shown to make the hate crimes you read about more
personal and seem more real.
4) There is a lot of hate withing people because when searching "gay hate crimes" there
are more sites about hating gays than about people fighting against it.
5) There are many terribly sad stories on youtube about people who have fallen victum
to hate crimes.

The concept of Differences
 Natural Differences/Inequality:
Natural world: lions, tigers, deer, buffalos, mahogany trees, oak trees,
dandelions, and weeds … etc.
Human world: male/female, black/white/brown/yellow, poor/middle
class, gay/straight, abled/disabled, big/small, young/old…etc.
What is Darwinism vs. Social Darwinism?
 Socially constructed differences(inequality)
E.gs., sexism, racism (such as Neo/Nazi and KKK), ageism, androcentrism,
institutional prejudice and discrimination,Jim Crow Law/ racial/class
segregations, glass ceiling, anti-Semitism, anti-gay/hetrosexualism,
Eurocentrism, imperialism, colonialism, neo-colonialism…etc..
 Fair Game or Fair Chance?
Why do we need/have, such as 13th (1865), 15th (1870) and 19th (1920)
Amendments, American Disability Act (ADA) and many other expanding
liberty and rights?

Review
Some key concepts
from Intro Sociology

Queen and Prime Minister
-Ascribed vs. Achieved?
Queen Elizabeth II ascended the British
Throne in 1953, after her father, King George VI’s
death. Mrs.. Margaret Thatcher was elected the
first female Prime Minister of U.K. In 1979.

A real life story for
pondering:
God Makes Me - a Slave
Fatma Mint Mamadou is a young woman living in North Africa’s Republic of Mauritania.
She has no idea what she was born. All she knows is tending camels, herding sheep,
hauling bags of water, sweeping, and serving tea to her owners. This young woman
is one of perhaps 90,000 slaves in Mauritania. In the central region of this country,
having dark brown skin almost means being a slave to an Arab owner. She always
accepted her situation. She has known nothing else.
She explains in a matter-of-fact voice that she is a slave, as was her mother before
and her grandmother before that. “Just as God created a camel to be a camel, “
she shrugs, “he created me to be a slave.”
In this region, slavery began 500 years ago, abut the time Columbus sailed to the new
World. As Arab and Berber tribes moved across the continent, they raided local
villages and made slaves of the people. In 1905 the French colonial rulers of
Mauritania banned slavery. After the nation gained independence in 1961, the
strong traditions still exist. People like Fatma have no idea what freedom to choose
means.
The next question is more personal:” Are you and other girls ever raped?” Again Fatma
hesitates. With no hint of emotion, she responds," of course, in the night the men
come to breed us. Is that what you mean by rape?”

Cultural Capital
Parents pass down values and other
social resources (both positive and
negative) to their next generations
affecting their children’s social standing

SES status: Wealth, class, power, gender,
race, education, nationality, religion, and
sexual orientation....etc.influence a person’s
position in social hierarchy

Example- India
Caste System
Example- USA
Class System
Example- U.K.
Estate System
Sudra
Vaisya
Untouchable
Kshatriya
Brahman
20%
lower class
30%
working class
40-45%
middleclass
5 %
upper class
5 % : 150 families
nobility/Aristocracy
Clergy
military
officers
layers
honorable
professions
Commoners
Surfs
Social Mobility: change in one’s position in the social hierarchyInstructor : Dr. Crystal LC Huang

Socially desirable
goals - success
Ascribed
status
Achieved
status
Jack
Wasp
Male
Middle
upper
class
Jackie
Wasp
Female
Upper
middle
class
Steve
White
working
or lower
social
class
Steevie
White
female
working
or blue
collar
class
Jose
Hispanic
male
Maria
Hispanic
female
Jordan
Black
male
lower
social
class
Alicia
Black
female
Lower
social
class
John
male
Native
American
Pocahontas
Female
Native
American
with disability
Cultural
Capitals
Cultural
Ideology
and social
mobility
Is the playing field leveled?

Naming
Creating Categories of People Aggregating and Disaggregating
Dichotomizing;
Dichotomizing Race
Race and Ethnicity
Dichotomizing Sexual Orientation
Dichotomizing Class
Dichotomizing Sex
The Social Construction of Disability
Sanctioning Those Who
Associate with the “Other”
Constructing “Others” as
Profoundly Different
Stigma
Examples of Stigmatized Master Statuses: Women and the Poor
Stereotypes About Those in Stigmatized Master Statuses
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPBHtjZmSpw M Moore History

Learning Objectives:
1.Recognize, respect, accept, and
value differences
2.Assess the impact of how language
influences thought
3.Practice appropriate trans-cultural
human relations and communications
skills
4.Appreciated one’s own cultural
heritage

Stigma
Stereotypes About Those in Stigmatized Master
Statuses
 Concluding on a more hopeful note, the
characteristics attributed to stigmatized
groups are similar across a variety of master
statuses.
As a result, there is the relief of impersonality
because the stigmatized characteristics are
not tied to the actual characteristics of any
particular group.
 Second, people who are stigmatized often form
alliances with those who are not stigmatized to
successfully lobby against these attributions.

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2016/04/white-woman-sues-sperm-bankagainafter-getting-black-mans-sperm/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHyejLRIXhE
(Banks)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14
QA4JNsm58
WiseBanks

Martin Luther King’s
‘I Have a Dream’ Speech.
Men hate each other because they fear each other,
and they fear each other because they don’t know
each other, and they don’t know each other
because they are often separated from each other
– MLK Jr.
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cite="https://www.facebook.com/artFido/videos/788640311227532/"><p>This clip is trending worldwide and it's very obvious why!www.artFido.com/popular-art</p>Posted by <a
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QG4MZapWMkY Ex Klan

respect
celebrate
interact
accept
understand
embrace
tolerate

http://www.cnn.com/2015/06/12/us/washington-spokane-naacp-rachel-dolezal-identity/index.htmlhttp://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=bruce+jenner+interview+with+diane+sawyer&qpvt=bruce+jenner+interview+with+diane+sawyer&FORM=VDRE#vi
ew=detail&mid=22BC213523A5C144214F22BC213523A5C144214F
Caitlyn/Bruce Jenner
TransGender
Rachel Dolezal
TransRace?
Https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMSaNcj1zKs history of racism
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TposvnTgmJw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qc6K1RciIeM Hitler
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FmEjDaWqA4 Eugenic movement
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItiXR5m1yAY White like me

Family- The most socialization Agent White like me
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItiXR5m1yAY

https://www.facebook.com/artFido/videos/78864031122753
2/?pnref=story Behind the screen Love has no labels.

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