Chapter two explores various theories about the root causes of racial and ethnic inequality, Iceland highlights important aspects about human capital and social capital theories, cultural theories, assimilation theory and theories that emphasize the role of racism and discrimination. Let's say a little about each of these and define a few terms so that we develop a context for understanding the patterns and trends in inequality discussed in the rest of the chapters in Islands' book. Human capital refers to people's knowledge, skills, personality and experiences that help them attain good jobs and move ahead in their careers, Iceland tells us that most studies using this theoretical approach focus on the importance of education. According to sociologist Pierre Badoo and the liquid social capital is defined as the sum of resources, actual or virtual, that accrue to an individual or a group by virtue of possessing a durable network of more or less institutionalized relationships, a mutual acquaintance or recognition. Although that's a lot more. Simply put, social capital refers to the resources people have due to their social networks. Next, Iceland very generally defines what he means by culture. Sociologists typically define culture as the beliefs, values, customs, behaviors and other characteristics that are shared by a group of people. You should know that the connection between culture and racial inequality is hotly debated, sometimes culture is used to blame poor people for being poor. Empirically, though, this claim doesn't pan out. Several ethnographies are used as examples to illustrate the use of cultural theories. Please read about those on your own. Another term you should know is cultural capital. This term has been defined by peer Bajur as widely shared, legitimate culture made up of high status cultural signals like attitudes, preferences, behaviors and goods used in direct or indirect social exclusion. Assimilation refers to the reduction of differences between ethnic groups over time. More to the point, assimilation has traditionally thought to occur when immigrant groups adopt mainstream attitudes, culture and educational and work experiences. The work of Richard Alba and Victor Ni and their use of assimilation theory is discussed in the chapter, please be sure to take a look at that. Finally, we consider the role of racism and discrimination. The United States has a very disturbing history of racism and discrimination. For example, the annexation of American Indians land, the institution of slavery and its legacy, the annexation of Mexico's land, Jim Crow oppression and the internment of a hundred thousand or more Japanese citizens during World War Two. Several more important terms are discussed in this section of the chapter. The term racism refers to the linking of groups with alleged biological abilities and behaviors to assert the superiority of one racial group over another. Racism goes hand in hand with prejudice, which can be defined as an attitudinal system of negative beliefs, feelings and action orientations regarding a certain group or groups of people. You should know that prejudice is different from discrimination. How so? Prejudice is an attitude, and to discriminate is an act, something people do. So discrimination goes beyond attitudes and beliefs and into action. It is differential and unequal treatment of other groups based on observable traits such as race and ethnicity, but also gender, sexual orientation and religious beliefs, among other possible characteristics. Iceland also discusses color blind privilege and the problem with color blind ideology in this chapter. What do these terms mean? Colorblind privilege is a theoretical perspective that contends that we live in a society that celebrates a colorblind ideology where race is skin deep, people of all use and backgrounds should be treated equally. And racism is an individual problem in that discrimination is a product of the actions of misguided individuals. What's the problem with this ideology? Iceland tells us that blind ideology masks deep rooted racial inequalities in society. It maintains white privilege, but it also may keep racialized minorities from struggling against their marginalized status by accepting the status quo. In this short video, I have tried to impress upon you the importance of understanding social theory as it relates to racial and ethnic inequality. We've laid out some of the foundational terms that we'll see again and again in this course, including some of the most important theories explaining race and ethnicity in our country. I really liked how Iceland used people like Tiger Woods, Trayvon Martin and Louis C.K. to illustrate different points in the chapter. It makes a lot more interesting to read in the next few chapters of Iceland's book. We'll discuss empirical patterns and trends in racial and ethnic inequality to shed some light on the explanatory power of the theoretical perspectives we've covered in Chapter two. We'll start with Chapter three with black white inequality. See you next time.
