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Sociology: The Core, 6/e

Michael Hughes, Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University
Carolyn J. Kroehler
James W. Vander Zanden, The Ohio State University (Emeritus)

Inequalities of Race and Ethnicity

Internet Exercises

Exercise 1

For a growing number of people, the racial and ethnic categories on census forms and other surveys inadequately describe their racial or ethnic heritage. To learn more about the difficulties faced by multiethnic Americans when they fill out school data questionnaires, census forms, and other questionnaires that ask them to indicate to what one racial or ethnic group they belong, log onto the Association of MultiEthnic Americans Web site (http://www.ameasite.org). Select "Classification Issue"; then, on the right, select "AMEA Testimony Before House Census Subcommittee 6/30/93." Read through the testimony and summarize the issues that arise when a single-race classification system is used in the following arenas:

a. public health

b. public schools

Exercise 2

Visit the Affirmative Action and Diversity Project Web site (http://aad.english.ucsb.edu ). From the list on the left, click on "Changing Definitions of Discrimination"; then "Evolving Understandings of Discrimination." Select Mary P. Rowe's essay entitled "Fostering Diversity: Some Major Hurdles Remain."

a. What recommendations does Rowe make to reduce discrimination and encourage diversity?

b. Does your college campus have any programs or policies that are similar to what Rowe recommends?

Exercise 3

Research discussed in this chapter indicates that subjective racism and prejudiced attitudes have moderated considerably in the United States over the past 50 years. However, extreme prejudice still exists in the United States. Go to the website of the Southern Poverty Law Center, http://www.splcenter.org/. Explore this website for evidence of the existence of ethnocentrism and prejudice in the United States today. On the basis of these investigations and your reading of the current chapter, write a short report on (1) the nature and extent of extreme prejudice in the United States, (2) the causes of such prejudice, and (3) what can be done to eliminate it or reduce its negative effects.

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