CHAPTER 4

SOCIETAL TRENDS IN PREJUDICE AND DISCRIMINATION

 

Overview

 

The recent apparent declines in overt, traditional prejudice are examined and documented with survey data. Three strategies for reducing prejudice are presented and analyzed as possible explanations for this observed reduction. The emphasis is on the equal status contact hypothesis. The chapter ends with the concept of modern racism and the suggestion that prejudice in the U.S. has not so much declined as it has changed forms.

 

 

Learning Goals

 

1.      Students will understand that prejudice is on the decline in the United States.  Part of the reduction in prejudice may be explained by the rising level of education in the U.S.--the more educated people are the less prejudiced they tend to be.

2.      Students will understand that some of the decline in prejudice may be more apparent than real because some people may just be less willing to admit their prejudices openly.

3.      Students will understand that persuasion is not generally an effective means to reduce prejudice.  However, contact across group lines (i.e., "equal-status contact hypothesis") may be the most effective way to reduce prejudice.

4.      Students will understand that there are many causes of prejudice and discrimination.  No one solution will eliminate all types of prejudice and discrimination.  Moreover, they will understand that individual prejudice will persist as long as U.S. society is racially and economically stratified. 

5.      Students will understand that although traditional prejudice appears to be declining, modern racism may be increasing. 

6.      Students will understand that hate crimes represent the persistence of some extreme forms of prejudice and discrimination.

7.      Students will understand recent trends in intergroup contact.

8.      Students will understand key concepts related to prejudice and discrimination including but not limited to:  persuasion, selective perception, equal status contact hypothesis, modern racism and modern sexism.

9.      Students will examine the issue of modern sexism.  They will understand how modern sexism compares with the concept of modern racism. 

10.  Students will explore current debates about racial equality in the U.S. from three different perspectives.  Specifically they will examine the question, "Why are Black Americans still not equal members of society?"

 

 

Outline

 

I.                    Chapter Overview

II.                 The Decline of Prejudice

A.     Since World War II there has been a dramatic decline in support for prejudiced statements.

B.     A small percentage of the white population in the U.S. continues to endorse highly

                  prejudicial opinions.

III.               Efforts to Reduce Prejudice and Discrimination

A.     Persuasion and the Mass Media.

1.      Persuasion is communication intended to sway opinions and attitudes.

2.      Research suggests that media are less persuasive than previously thought.  People can filter out disconcerting information that allows them to maintain their views in face of persuasion to the contrary. This is called selective perception.   People also can avoid communications that disturb them.

3.      Although mass media are more balanced in their portrayal of minority groups than they have been in the past, it is unlikely that this could account for the decline in prejudicial attitudes in the U.S.

B.     Education.

1.      Education is neutral and objective and has the goal of enlightenment.  Some believe it is the single most effective means for reducing prejudice.

2.      Education is negatively correlated with prejudicial attitudes--the higher one's education, the less prejudice one tends to have.

C.     Contact Between Groups.

1.      Like education, contact and increased communication between groups have been suggested to reduce prejudice and discrimination.

2.      Contact by itself is not an automatic antidote for prejudice.  Rather, depending on the situation, contact may yield different outcomes.

3.      The equal status contact hypothesis suggests that prejudice will decline when members of different groups with equal status and common goals are brought together to pursue noncompetitive tasks with the support of authority figures, laws, or customs.

D.     Prospects for Reducing Prejudice Further.

1.      Different strategies are appropriate for reducing different kinds of prejudice.  No one strategy will work all the time.

2.      Personality-based prejudice will be relative unaffected by persuasion.

3.      Culture-based prejudice can be as extreme as personality-based prejudice.  It differs only in the extent to which it is resistant to change.  The reduction in overt prejudice over the last 50 years probably reflects a decline in culture-based prejudice.

4.      Intergroup conflict produces extreme prejudice and discrimination.  The key to reducing this type of prejudice is to reduce the likelihood of clashes between groups.  Intergroup rivalries are more likely to be encouraged by inequality (i.e., unequal distribution of resources).

5.      Until ethnic and racial stratification declines in the U.S., prejudice will persist.

IV.              Modern Racism

A.     Modern racism, also known as symbolic racism, is a more subtle, complex, and indirect way to express negative feelings toward minority groups or opposition to change in dominant-minority relations.

B.     People affected by modern racism have negative feelings toward minority groups but reject ideas of biological inferiority and do not think in traditional stereotypes.

C.     Modern racism assumes there is no longer any important discrimination in U.S. society and that any remaining inequality is the fault of minority group members.  Thus, those affected by modern racism see affirmative action as unjustified.

V.                 Hate Crimes:  A Resurgence of Prejudice

A.     Vicious hate crimes motivated by group membership of the victims may have increased in the past 25 years. 

B.     Current data about hate crimes are not very trustworthy. 

C.     Modern-day hate crimes have new aspects. 

1.      Members of the gay community are now targets.

2.      Contemporary white supremacist groups use modern communications technology such as the Internet to communicate their ideas.

D.     Hate crimes may involve scapegoating.

VI.              Current Debates:  Why are Black Americans still not equal members of society?"

VII.            Main Points of the Chapter

VIII.         Further Reading and Internet Research

 

 

Classroom Activities and Suggestions for Discussion

 

1.      Use value lines to generate discussion about the chapter topics.  Have students line up according to how strongly they agree or disagree with a proposition you pose to the class.  For example, you might ask a question related to the text debate, "Why are Black Americans still not equal members of society?"  Sort students into discussion groups by according to their answers.  Strive to create groups with at least one student choosing different answers (e.g., modern racism, the black community creates its own obstacles, the white community).  Ask students to listen to differing viewpoints in their groups and to paraphrase opposing positions fairly.  Sometimes it is helpful to have students reflect others' thoughts before they are allowed to add to the discussion.  This makes students listen to each other, helps find areas of common ground, and also prevents misunderstandings between students' viewpoints.  On what areas can students agree?  Can they also agree to disagree?  How do students differing opinions affect their ideas about policy regarding African Americans, for example?

 

2.      Ask students to enact various scenarios that illustrate different kinds of hate crimes (e.g., defacing a Jewish cemetery, attacking a gay person, throwing a brick through the windows of a mosque).  Discuss what makes each scenario a hate crime--or if, indeed, it constitutes a hate crime.  What areas should be covered under hate crimes legislation? (e.g., mental and physical disability?  Sexual orientation?  Political affiliation?)  What could be done to reduce these types of hate crimes at the individual, organizational, and societal level?

 

3.      Have students role-play as if they were Shelby Steele, Andrew Hacker, and Lawrence Bobo. What would they say about the inequality experienced by African Americans? (NOTE:  If you are going to assign role playing activities, it's best to give your students some advance warning so they can prepare key ideas.)

 

4.      Have students watch the film, Hate.com (HBO), Boys Don't Cry (20th Century Fox) or Not In Our Town (The Working Group).  What are the similarities and differences in the stories?  How do the stories illustrate concepts and theories presented in Chapter 4?

 

5.      Investigate hate crimes in your area or nationally using, for example, FBI Uniform Crime Reports Summary of Hate Crime Statistics.  What do students find and how do they make sense of these findings?  How can they support those who have been victimized if they feel it is appropriate to do so (e.g., hold a unity rally, express their opinions regarding legislation to politicians)?