Majority-Minority Relations

For sophomore/junior level courses in Majority-Minority Relations or Race and Ethnic Relations in departments of sociology and ethnic studies. This text is designed to develop students understanding of the principles and processes that shape the patterns of relations between racial, ethnic, and other groups in society. A wide variety of information is provided about a number of such groups with an emphasis on the relationships between dominant (majority) and subordinate (minority) racial and ethnic groups in the United States and abroad. Organized in a topic by topic approach, this book provides a more integrated sociological look at Majority-Minority relations.* NEW-The latest African-American perspectives-Examines racial differences in reactions to the Million Man and Million Woman Marches; Minister Louis Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam. * Sparks student interest by discussing issues of current and recent interest. * NEW-Seven new boxed features-Presents special-interest profiles on such topics as: * The Census Bureaus decision to allow people to check more than one race in the 2000 census. * The influence of the culture-of-poverty perspective on welfare reform legislation. * Interracial relationships. * Neil Foleys award-winning book The White Scourge. * Hernstein and Murrays The Bell Curve and debates over race, class, intelligence, and educational opportunity. * How diversity programs helped an insurance company become more profitable. * NEW-The rising debate over race/ethnicity and language-Includes the Oakland "Ebonics" debate and the passage of a ballot proposition ending bilingual education in California. * Highlights cultural differences and debates with examples from hot topic areas. Ex. Ch. 12 * NEW-Race/ethnicity in our schools-Updates coverage on the effectiveness of diversity education, school desegregation, and cooperative education in reducing prejudice. Ex. Ch. 3 * Shows students relevance of materials being covered by bringing in current examples. * NEW-Discussion of online hate group activity-Discusses the role played by the Internet in exposing young people to prejudiced messages. * Shows students how hate groups are using todays hottest medium to spread their messages of prejudice. * NEW-Expanded/updated coverage of affirmative action-Includes new research on the effects of affirmative action; coverage of referenda repealing affirmative action preferences in California and Washington state; the Hopwood ruling and its effects on diversity in Texas higher education. * Addresses students strong interest in the hot topic area of affirmative action in a factual and research-based manner. Ex. Ch. 15 * NEW-Analysis of welfare reform legislation-Examines the laws themselves and their likely effects on the minority poor. * Shows students the impact-positive and negative-of governmental legislation on the poor and minorities. Ex. Ch. 11 * NEW-Whiteness as a racial identity-Draws upon Omi and Winants work on racial formation and the growing body of recent theory and research on whiteness. * Addresses white students racial identities, which are often unacknowledged and unrecognized. Ex. Ch. 9 * NEW-Wage and labor laws, minorities, and the growing income gap-Features this new section in coverage of government spending patterns and minorities. * Highlights cultural differences in hot topic areas. Ex. Ch. 11 * NEW-The war on drugs-Discusses the disproportionate effects of the anti-drug movement on minorities. * Highlights racial consequences of policies not overly connected to race relations. Ex. Ch. 11 * Organization by issues rather than by group. * Allows instructors and students to easily locate the issues they want to examine about each minority race without wading through pages of other ancillary material. * Helps students see the "why" of race and ethnic relations, delving into the sociology of intergroup relations rather than merely presenting repetitious facts about different groups. * Emphasis on the role of institutional discrimination-Includes extensive discussion of processes that create or maintain inequality of the political, legal, economic, health care, housing, and educational institutions. * Helps students understand the reality of institutional forms of discrimination, which are often more subtle and harder to see than individual acts of discrimination. * Sociohistorical analysis and functionalist and conflict approaches-Employs these approaches to analyze the causes of different patterns of race and ethnic relations. * Takes students back to the roots of inequality and conflict to gain a deeper understanding of issues that still affect their lives today.

Table of Contents:
(NOTE: Each chapter ends with a Summary and Conclusion.)

 1. Orientation: Basic Terms and Concepts.

I. SOCIAL-PSYCHOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES ON MAJORITY-MINORITY RELATIONS: THE STUDY OF PREJUDICE.

II. SOCIAL-STRUCTURAL PERSPECTIVES ON MAJORITY-MINORITY RELATIONS.

III. MAJORITY-MINORITY RELATIONS IN AMERICA TODAY: THE ROLE OF INSTITUTIONAL DISCRIMINATION.