Racialized Society
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A racialized society is a society where
socioeconomic inequality There are wide varieties of economic inequality, most notably income inequality measured using the distribution of income (the amount of money people are paid) and wealth inequality measured using the distribution of wealth (the amount of we ...
,
residential segregation Residential segregation in the United States is the physical separation of two or more groups into different neighborhoods—a form of segregation that "sorts population groups into various neighborhood contexts and shapes the living environment a ...
and low intermarriage rates are the norm, where humans' definitions of
personal identity Personal identity is the unique numerical identity of a person over time. Discussions regarding personal identity typically aim to determine the necessary and sufficient conditions under which a person at one time and a person at another time can ...
and choices of intimate relationships reveal
racial A race is a categorization of humans based on shared physical or social qualities into groups generally viewed as distinct within a given society. The term came into common usage during the 1500s, when it was used to refer to groups of variou ...
distinctiveness. A racialized society is a society that has undergone strong
racialization In sociology, racialization or ethnicization is a political process of ascribing Ethnic group, ethnic or Race (human classification), racial identities to a relationship, social practice, or group that did not identify itself as such. Racializati ...
, where perceived race matters profoundly for life experiences, opportunities, and
interpersonal relationship The concept of interpersonal relationship involves social associations, connections, or affiliations between two or more people. Interpersonal relationships vary in their degree of intimacy or self-disclosure, but also in their duration, in t ...
s. A racialized society can also be said to be "a society that allocates differential
economic An economy is an area of the Production (economics), production, Distribution (economics), distribution and trade, as well as Consumption (economics), consumption of Goods (economics), goods and Service (economics), services. In general, it is ...
,
political Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies ...
,
social Social organisms, including human(s), live collectively in interacting populations. This interaction is considered social whether they are aware of it or not, and whether the exchange is voluntary or not. Etymology The word "social" derives from ...
, and even
psychological Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries between t ...
rewards to groups along perceived racial lines; lines that are
socially constructed Social constructionism is a theory in sociology, social ontology, and communication theory which proposes that certain ideas about physical reality arise from collaborative consensus, instead of pure observation of said reality. The theory ...
."


United States

It is argued that racial/ethnic identity are not separate or autonomous categories and what is called 'racial categories' in the United States are actually
racialized In sociology, racialization or ethnicization is a political process of ascribing ethnic or racial identities to a relationship, social practice, or group that did not identify itself as such. Racialization or ethnicization often arises out of th ...
ethnic categories. United States society is considered by some a racialized society in which divisions between the racial/ethnic groups are given.
Critical race theory Critical race theory (CRT) is a cross-disciplinary examination, by social and civil-rights scholars and activists, of how laws, social and political movements, and media shape, and are shaped by, social conceptions of race and ethnicity. Goa ...
argues that
racism Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism ...
is normal and is engrained icin the fabric and system of the
American society The society of the United States is based on Western culture, and has been developing since long before the United States became a country with its own unique social and cultural characteristics such as dialect, music, arts, social habits, ...
. There are ongoing racial disparities between races in the United States in employment, housing, religion, and race-conscious institutions. Some scholars argue a "privileged/non-privileged dynamic" exists. This means that
cultural practice Cultural practice is the manifestation of a culture or sub-culture, especially in regard to the traditional and customary practices of a particular ethnic or other cultural groups. The term is gaining in importance due to the increased controver ...
assigns value and assumed competence to people who have certain characteristics or features. The social psychological approach maintains that prejudice socialized early in life feeds racial stereotypes. Contributors are
Lawrence Bobo Lawrence D. Bobo is the W. E. B. Du Bois Professor of the Social Sciences and the Dean of Social Science at Harvard University. His research focuses on the intersection of social psychology, social inequality, politics, and race. Education Bobo ...
, Gretchen C. Crosby, Michael C. Dawson,
Christopher Federico Christopher is the English version of a Europe-wide name derived from the Greek name Χριστόφορος (''Christophoros'' or '' Christoforos''). The constituent parts are Χριστός (''Christós''), "Christ" or "Anointed", and φέρει ...
, P.J. Henry, John J. Hetts, Jennifer L. Hochschild, William G. Howell, Michael Hughes, Donald R. Kinder, Rick Kosterman,
Tali Mendelberg Tali Mendelberg (born 1964) is the John Work Garrett Professor in Politics at Princeton University, and winner of the American Political Science Association (APSA), 2002 Woodrow Wilson Foundation Book Award for her book, '' The Race Card: Campai ...
, Thomas F. Pettigrew, Howard Schuman,
David O. Sears David O’Keefe Sears (born June 24, 1935, in Urbana, Illinois) is an American psychologist who specializes in political psychology. He is a distinguished professor of psychology and political science at the University of California, Los Angeles w ...
, James Sidanius, Pam Singh, Paul M. Sniderman, Marylee C. Taylor, and Steven A. Tuch.
It is often said that social interaction is infused with a privileged / non-privileged dynamic which is defined by racial identity — is very complex issue. Racialization hurts both the privileged and the non-privileged, but hurts the non-privileged most. Until the 1960s there was legal racial
discrimination in the United States Discrimination comprises "base or the basis of class or category without regard to individual merit, especially to show prejudice on the basis of ethnicity, gender, or a similar social factor". This term is used to highlight the difference in t ...
. The end of legal discrimination produced major improvements, but scarcely was successful in wiping the slate clean of the many legacies of more than three centuries of formalized state supported inequality. Even after the era of official social discrimination and segregation the lingering residual practices kept
African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
s in lower-caste status. Racial problems were viewed as the nation's "most important problem" and many observers felt the United States was in a state of racial crisis. Racially related issues, such as welfare, crime, segregation, "permissive judges", affirmative action, group based rights, difference-blind treatment, and government regulation and state neutrality with respect to group, have been the subject of strenuous political debate and legislation in the past three decades. Significant gaps between blacks and whites in most domains that measure the quality of life continue to exist. Effective standards designed to eliminate discrimination, often described as race-conscious remedies, have been intensely debated. Supporters argue that
institutional racism Institutional racism, also known as systemic racism, is a form of racism that is embedded in the laws and regulations of a society or an organization. It manifests as discrimination in areas such as criminal justice, employment, housing, health ...
is so deeply and subtly embedded in the fabric of American society that little would change if more proactive methods of eliminating discrimination had been used.


References

{{reflist Ethnicity Race (human categorization)