DISCRIMINATIONDISCRIMINATION

CHAPTER 3CHAPTER 3

Understanding DiscriminationUnderstanding Discrimination• DiscriminationDiscrimination

• The denial of opportunities and equal rights to individuals and groups because of prejudice or for other arbitrary reasons

• Two patterns of deprivation, relative and absolute• Relative DeprivationRelative Deprivation

• The conscious experience of a negative discrepancy between legitimate expectations and present actualities

• Absolute DeprivationAbsolute Deprivation• Implies a fixed standard based on a minimum level of

subsistence below which families should not be expected to exist

Institutional DiscriminationInstitutional Discrimination• The denial of opportunities and equal

rights to individuals and groups that results from the normal operations of a society• Institutional forms of discrimination are

committed collectively against a group• May be unconscious - in that it is

not a function of awareness of discrimination

Examples of Institutional Examples of Institutional DiscriminationDiscrimination

• Standards for assessing credit risks do not work for Hispanics and African Americans

• IQ testing favors middle-class children• The entire criminal justice system, from the patrol officer

to the judge and jury, is dominated by Whites who find it difficult to understand life in poverty areas

• Hiring practices often require several years of experience at jobs only recently opened to members of subordinate groups

• Many jobs automatically eliminate a person with felony records or past drug offenses, which disproportionately reduces employment opportunities for people of color

Low-Wage LaborLow-Wage Labor• Informal Economy Informal Economy

(Irregular/Underground Economy)(Irregular/Underground Economy)• Consists of transfers of money, goods, or services

that are not reported to the government• The regular labor market operates according to the

principles of the conventional labor market• Irregular economy - operates outside the

boundaries of the regular economy as it relates to job stability, wages, working conditions or benefits

• Dual Labor Market ModelDual Labor Market Model• According to this model, minorities have been

relegated to the informal economy• Informal economy offers few safeguards

against fraud or malpractice• Few fringe benefits such as stability, wages,

health insurance, and pension• Criticized for promoting unfair and dangerous

working conditions• Workers are ill prepared to enter the regular

economy permanently

Informal Economy and DiscriminationInformal Economy and Discrimination

• Subordinate groups have often been used as an elastic part of the labor force and relegated to the informal economy

• Because of past discrimination, workers are unable to secure traditional employment

• Many workers driven into such jobs as better-paying jobs move far away or as globalization creates more international trade

Discrimination TodayDiscrimination Today• Discrimination is widespread in the U.S.• Sometimes results from prejudices held by

individuals, but more significantly, is found in institutional discrimination and the presence of the informal economy

• Quantifying discrimination is problematic• 1. Identifying the different treatment of minorities• 2. Determining the cost of discrimination

• Distribution of income as a measure of discrimination

• Double JeopardyDouble Jeopardy• Refers to the combination of two subordinate

statuses, defined as experienced by women of color• Disparity in income between Black women and

White men has remained unchanged for over fifty years

• Direct discrimination in hiring

• Promotion

• Past discrimination

Eliminating DiscriminationEliminating Discrimination• Two major sources for the elimination of

discrimination:• Voluntary associations

• Governmental agencies and policies• Roosevelt’s 1943 and the Fair Employment Practices

Commission (FEPC)

• Supreme court decision - 1954 Brown v. Board of Education1954 Brown v. Board of Education

• State’s RightsState’s Rights• Each state is sovereign in most of its affairs and has the

right to order them without interference from the federal government

• Since 1964, several acts and amendments have been made to the original Civil Rights Act to cover the many areas of discrimination left untouched• Criminal Justice and Housing

• RedliningRedlining• The pattern of discrimination against people The pattern of discrimination against people

trying to buy homes in minority and racially trying to buy homes in minority and racially changing neighborhoodschanging neighborhoods

• Applied to areas other than housing

Wealth Inequality: Wealth Inequality: Discrimination’s LegacyDiscrimination’s Legacy

• Past discrimination carries into the present and future• No inherited wealth is element of the past• Less opportunity of Blacks to accumulate assets

• IncomeIncome• Salaries and wagesSalaries and wages

• WealthWealth• Encompasses all a person’s assets, land, stocks, Encompasses all a person’s assets, land, stocks,

and other types of propertyand other types of property

Environmental JusticeEnvironmental Justice• Refers to the efforts to ensure that hazardous

substances are controlled so that all communities receive protection regardless of race or socioeconomic circumstance

• Executive order (1994)Executive order (1994)• Requires all federal agencies to ensure that low-Requires all federal agencies to ensure that low-

income and minority communities have access to income and minority communities have access to better information about their environment and better information about their environment and have an opportunity in shaping government have an opportunity in shaping government policies that affect their community’s healthpolicies that affect their community’s health

• Issues of environmental justice not limited to metropolitan areas• Abuse of Native American reservation land• Tribal lands regarded as dumping grounds for

toxic waste that go to the highest bidder

• Controversy within the scientific community over potential hazards• Complexity of the issues in terms of social

class and race are apparent

Affirmative ActionAffirmative Action• The positive effort to recruit subordinate-

group members, including women, for jobs, promotions, and educational opportunities• Today, has become a catchall term for racial

preference programs and goals• Lightning rod for opposition to any programs

that suggest special consideration of women and racial minorities

Affirmative Action ExplainedAffirmative Action Explained• Affirmative Action has been viewed as an

important tool for reducing institutional discrimination

• Federal measures aimed at procedures that deny equal opportunities, even if not intended to be overtly discriminatory

• Lack of minority-group or female employees may in itself represent unlawful exclusion

Examples of Affirmative Action and Institutional Examples of Affirmative Action and Institutional DiscriminationDiscrimination

• Height and weight requirements that are unnecessarily geared to the physical proportions of White males

• Seniority rules, when applied to jobs historically held only by white males

• Nepotism-based membership policies• Restrictive employment leave policies• Rules requiring only English be spoken at the

workplace• Standardized academic tests or criteria• Preferences shown by law and medical schools• Credit policies of banks and lending institutions

Reverse DiscriminationReverse Discrimination• An emotional term because it conjures up the

notion that somehow women and minorities will subject White men in the U.S. to the same treatment received by minorities during the last three centuries

• Supporters of affirmative action • As long as businesses rely on informal social

networks, personal recommendations, and family ties, White men will have a distinct advantage built on generations of being in positions of power

The Glass CeilingThe Glass Ceiling• Refers to the barrier that blocks the Refers to the barrier that blocks the

promotion of a qualified worker because of promotion of a qualified worker because of gender or minority membershipgender or minority membership

• Additionally, they face glass walls that block lateral moves to areas from which executives are promoted• Barriers contribute to women not moving into

ultimate decision-making positions in the nation’s corporate giants

• Determinants of the Glass Ceiling• Lack of management commitment to establishing

system, policies, and practices for achieving workplace diversity and upward mobility

• Pay inequities for work of equal or comparable value

• Sex, race, and ethnic-based stereotyping and harassment

• Unfair recruitment practices• Lack of family-friendly workplace policies• “Parent-track” policies• Limited opportunities for advancement to

decision-making positions

• Glass EscalatorGlass Escalator• Refers to the male advantage experienced in Refers to the male advantage experienced in

occupations dominated by womenoccupations dominated by women• Men who chose to enter female-dominated

occupations are often rewarded with promotions and positions of responsibility coveted by their fellow female workers

QuestionsQuestions

• Provide an example each of relative deprivation and absolute deprivation.

• What current issues in American society, that you can think of, demonstrates total discrimination?

• What employment practices, that you can think of, demonstrate the informal economy and dual labor market?

• Why is it difficult to quantify discrimination?

• Based on the numbers provided in Table 3.1, how can the wide gap between Black and Asian income statistics be explained?

• How can Affirmative Action be better utilized so that it protects minority groups from discrimination while protecting the rights of deserving Whites in gaining upward mobility?

• Is reverse discrimination a myth or is it an accurate social phenomenon?

• Provide an example each of the glass ceiling, the glass wall, and the glass escalator?

• Explain Derrick Bell (1994) assertion that “racism is permanent”.