48-110 (Foundations of Social Life) - Lesson Objectives
1. Distinguish between race, ethnicity and minority group;
2. Explain what is meant by race as a social construct;
3. Define and give examples of racism in real life and popular culture;
4. Discuss and give examples of White Privilege;
5. Define and discuss pluralism, multiculturalism, and assimilation;
6. Define and give examples of prejudice and discrimination;
7. Recognize and provide examples of racial and ethnic stereotypes;
8. Describe the various forms of ethnic conflict;
9. Discuss the role of race and ethnicity in crime, criminality and criminal justice
2. Race, Ethnicity, Minority GroupsRace, Ethnicity, Minority Groups
Race is a social construct used to distinguish
people in terms of physical markers
considered to be socially significant.
Ethnicity involves grouping people who share
a common cultural, linguistic, or ancestral
heritage.
Minority group is any group of people who
are especially disadvantaged in a given
society.
3. Race as Social ConstructRace as Social Construct
Racialization is the process through which
societies create racial categories into which
individuals are classified.
Racialization is the product of colonialism.
5. Race as Social ConstructRace as Social Construct
• There are no ‘natural’ differences in
conceptualizing race or racial categories
• Physical differences given social meaning
• Base line tends to be whiteness
• People who are not white are commonly
understood to be raced
7. Hollywood’s Race ProblemHollywood’s Race Problem
Underrepresentation
•Long history in the entertainment industry
•Minorities are significantly underrepresented
as lead actors in movies and television series
and among show creators and directors
•PoC are usually typecast into a caricature of
their community or a historic biopic
9. Hollywood’s Race ProblemHollywood’s Race Problem
Whitewashing
•Casting a white actor to play a character of
colour
•Not-so-fun-fact: Finding an Asian actor in an
American film is like playing a game of
Where’s Waldo, even when the film is inspired
by an Asian franchise
12. RacismRacism
Racism refers to an ideology that maintains
that one racial group is inherently superior to
another.
Critical race theory racism is not the
product of conscious decisions made by
individuals but is often the outcome of
common practices that are embedded in
society that advantage some and
disadvantage others.
14. Dealing with Race inDealing with Race in
Entertainment MediaEntertainment Media
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
[clip1] [clip2]
15. Dealing with Race inDealing with Race in
Entertainment MediaEntertainment Media
True Blood imagines a world where vampires have
basically ‘come out of the coffin’ and depicts an
‘interracial’ romance between a human and a vampire.
16. Dealing with Race inDealing with Race in
Entertainment MediaEntertainment Media
Wicked has been aptly called a
“political allegory about racism
and discrimination.”
Elphaba was made wicked after
years of being treated differently
because of her green skin colour.
18. White PrivilegeWhite Privilege
White Privilege refers to the unearned
advantages (social and economic) that
Whites receive because of their skin colour.
Tim Wise: “Being white means not having to think
about it. This offers whites a considerable
advantage in society as they are able to pursue
educational, work and leisure opportunities with
zeal not available to non-whites. Not seeing
oneself has having a race is a privilege only whites
have.”
19. White PrivilegeWhite Privilege
• Many people resist the notion of White
Privilege and deny its existence
• Many people feel wronged to be told that
they may have unearned advantages due
to their skin colour
White Boy Privilege Slam Poem
20. Five Truths about White PrivilegeFive Truths about White Privilege
• Privilege simply is.
• You don’t have to feel your privilege for it to be real.
• Privilege isn’t personal.
• You can have it tough and still be privileged.
• Guilt is the wrong response.
22. “…Blair’s sidekicks have no
personality, no interests, no
real lives other than to take
orders from Blair, reinforcing
the age-old colonial narrative
as normative. Blair treats
these women as slaves,
expecting them to fulfill her
commands and acknowledge
her natural superiority.”
Anita Sarkeesian for Critical Commons
23. Asher: “Am I a racist?”
Wes: “I just think you’re White.”
26. Colin Kaepernick
“…not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a
country that oppresses black people and people of color.”
27. ETHNIC DIVERSITYETHNIC DIVERSITY
• Pluralism people of all ethnicities and
races remain distinct but have social equality
• Canada’s multicultural policy has tended to
emphasize tolerance of ethnic and racial
differences
• Assimilation is the process by which a
minority group adopts the patterns of the
dominant culture
28. Immigrants to CanadaImmigrants to Canada
• New immigrants may attempt to assert an
ethnic identity by bonding with fellow
immigrants
• Immigrants may choose to live in
neighbourhoods where people from similar
cultures live together and assert cultural
distinction ethnic enclaves
• History of ethnic enclaves in Canada
29. Ethnic Groups in CanadaEthnic Groups in Canada
Aboriginal Peoples
Quebecois
30. Prejudice and DiscriminationPrejudice and Discrimination
Prejudice refers to judgmental attitudes based
on preconceived beliefs about groups of
people or cultural practices (attitude).
Discrimination refers to unfair treatment of
people because of their group membership
(behaviour).
33. Prejudice and DiscriminationPrejudice and Discrimination
Many of the film’s characters
hold pre-conceived notions
about people of different races
and nationalities.
The film also displays the fact
that prejudice involves many
shades of grey.
34. Prejudice and DiscriminationPrejudice and Discrimination
Microaggressions are everyday slights, putdowns,
indignities, or invalidations unintentionally directed
toward a marginalized group.
White Person: So where are you from?
Non-White Person: California.
White Person: No, I mean originally.
Non-White Person: Ca-li-for-ni-a.
35. Prejudice and DiscriminationPrejudice and Discrimination
“Microaggressions do not exist. This is just a new technique
to shut down free speech anytime someone disagrees.”
“What a pathetically hypersensitive world political
correctness is creating.”
“Microaggressions: tiny little insignificant things that piss
paper-thinned SJWs off, not to be taken remotely
seriously.”
“Utterly stupid. Who takes this Cultural Marxist claptrap
seriously?”
“This is total quackery and nonsense used by the social
constructivists as a weapon in their push to power.”
36. Racial and Ethnic StereotypesRacial and Ethnic Stereotypes
A stereotype is an exaggerated or distorted
generalization about an entire category of people
that does not acknowledge individual variation.
•Stereotypes often form the basis for prejudice and
discrimination.
•Television and film can have a strong influence on
how we label groups, how we come to understand
reality, and which stereotypes we believe are
accurate.
37. Racial and Ethnic StereotypesRacial and Ethnic Stereotypes
Breaking stereotypes:
•Latina women work as maids
•Latinos are poor and uneducated
•Latinos do not speak English well
39. SegregationSegregation
Segregation is the forced separation of groups
based on race, ethnicity or gender.
Apartheid in South Africa, which existed from
1948 to 1994, is a classical example of
segregation.
Blacks and Whites had separate schools,
neighbourhoods, restaurants, and public
restrooms in the southern United States in the
1960s
40.
41. ExpulsionExpulsion
Expulsion is the forcible removal of a population
from a territory claimed by another population.
Examples:
•Canada’s Aboriginal peoples by European immigrants
•Acadians from the Maritimes by the British in mid-18th
C
•Forced relocation of Native nations from the homelands
42. Genocide and Ethnic CleansingGenocide and Ethnic Cleansing
Genocide is the intentional extermination of a
particular race, ethnicity, religious group or
nationality.
Ethnic cleansing refers to persecution through
imprisonment, expulsion, or murder of members
of an ethnic minority by a majority to achieve
ethnic homogeneity in a majority-controlled
territory.
43. Galactic GenocideGalactic Genocide
Themes of ethnic conflict and genocide have been
perpetuated through many different sci-fi movies
and television series:
•Cardassian Occupation of Bajor (Star Trek)
•Destruction of Alderaan (Star Wars)
•Cylon attack of the 12 colonies (Battlestar Galactica)
•Dalek strive for racial purity and superiority (Doctor
Who)
45. CONNECTION: CriminologyCONNECTION: Criminology
• Wrongful conviction based on racial prejudice
and discrimination
• Donald Marshall, a member of the Mi’kmaq
tribe, served 11 years in prison before new
evidence led to his acquittal in 1983
47. CONNECTION: CriminologyCONNECTION: Criminology
• Hate crimes based on race or ethnicity
• The number of hate crimes against Muslim-
Canadians have more than doubled over a
three year period, even though the total
number of hate crimes seems to have dropped
