种族、族裔和社会结构

Objectives
::目标目标目标和目标目标目标目标目标

Analyze the nature by which sociologist define the race, ethnicity, and minority group.
::分析社会学家界定种族、族裔和少数群体的性质。

Describe the characteristics that distinguish one minority group from another.
::描述区分一个少数群体和另一个少数群体的特点。

Explain how race and ethnicity play a role in the American society.
::解释种族和族裔如何在美国社会中发挥作用。

Universal Generalizations
::普遍化

American society consists of people of different cultural backgrounds.
::美国社会由不同文化背景的人组成。

Resources and rewards found in society are limited.
::社会上的资源和回报有限。

Socioeconomic class affects every aspect of a person’s life in the United States.
::社会经济阶层影响到一个人在美国生活的方方面面。

Guiding Questions
::问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问

In what ways does socioeconomic status affect your life?
::社会经济地位如何影响你的生活?

What is the difference between race and ethnicity?
::种族和族裔之间有什么区别?

What role does race and ethnicity play in our society?
::种族和族裔在我们社会中起什么作用?

Explain the characteristics that distinguish minority groups from other groups in society.
::解释将少数群体与社会中其他群体区别开来的特点。

RACE, ETHNICITY, AND THE SOCIAL STRUCTURE
::种族主义、种族、宗教和社会结构

While many students first entering a sociology classroom are accustomed to conflating the terms “race,” “ethnicity,” and “minority group,” these three terms have distinct meanings for sociologists. The idea of race refers to superficial physical differences that a particular society considers significant, while ethnicity is a term that describes shared culture. And minority groups describe groups that are subordinate, or lacking power in society regardless of skin color or country of origin. For example, in modern U.S. history, the elderly might be considered a minority group due to a diminished status resulting from popular prejudice and discrimination against them. The World Health Organization’s research on elderly maltreatment shows that 10 percent of nursing home staff admit to physically abusing an elderly person in the past year, and 40 percent admit to psychological abuse (2011). As a minority group, the elderly are also subject to economic, social, and workplace discrimination.
::许多先入社会学课堂的学生习惯于将“种族”、“种族”、“种族”和“少数群体”等词混为一谈,但这三个词对于社会学家来说有着不同的含义。 种族观念指的是某一社会认为重要的表面生理差异,而族裔则是一个描述共同文化的术语。 少数群体描述的是处于从属地位或在社会上缺乏权力的群体,而不论其肤色或原籍国如何。 例如,在美国现代历史上,由于民众偏见和歧视老年人,老年人可能被视为少数群体。 世界卫生组织关于虐待老年人的研究表明,10%的养老院工作人员承认在过去一年里虐待老年人,40%的人承认遭受心理虐待(2011年 ) 。 作为一个少数群体,老年人还受到经济、社会和工作场所的歧视。

WHAT IS RACE?
::什么是"铁"?

Race refers to a category of people who share certain inherited physical characteristics, such as skin color, facial features, and stature. A key question about race is whether it is more of a biological category or a social category. Most people think of race in biological terms, and for more than 300 years, or ever since white Europeans began colonizing populations of color elsewhere in the world, race has indeed served as the “premier source of human identity” (Smedley, 1998, p. 690). Smedley, A. (1998). “Race” and the construction of human identity. American Anthropologist, 100 , 690–702.
::种族是指具有某些继承的生理特征(如肤色、面部特征和地位)的一类人。 种族的一个关键问题是种族是否更属于生物类别或社会类别。 大多数人从生物角度思考种族,300多年来,或者自从白人欧洲人开始在世界其他地方将有色人口殖民化以来,种族确实成了“人类身份的最原始来源 ” ( Smedley, 1998, p.690,Smedley, A. (1998 ) 。 “老鼠”和人类身份的构建。 美国人类学家, 100, 690-702, 100, 690-702。

Historically, the concept of race has changed across cultures and eras, eventually becoming less connected with ancestral and familial ties, and more concerned with superficial physical characteristics. In the past, theorists have posited categories of race based on various geographic regions, ethnicities, skin colors, and more. Their labels for racial groups have connoted regions (Mongolia and the Caucus Mountains, for instance) or denoted skin tones (black, white, yellow, and red, for example).
::历史上,种族的概念在不同文化和时代之间发生了变化,最终与祖传和家庭关系的联系越来越少,更关注表面的生理特征。 过去,理论家根据不同的地理区域、民族、肤色等来推论种族类别。 种族团体的标签代表了地区(比如蒙古和Corec山 ) , 或指向皮肤色调(比如黑、白、黄和红 ) 。

However, this typology of race developed during early racial science has fallen into disuse, and the social construction of race is a far more common way of understanding racial categories. According to this school of thought, race is not biologically identifiable. When considering skin color, for example, the social construction of race perspective recognizes that the relative darkness or fairness of skin is an evolutionary adaptation to the available sunlight in different regions of the world. Contemporary conceptions of race, therefore, which tend to be based on socioeconomic assumptions, illuminate how far removed modern race understanding is from biological qualities. In modern society, some people who consider themselves “white” actually have more melanin (a pigment that determines skin color) in their skin than other people who identify as ”black.” Consider the case of the actress Rashida Jones. She is the daughter of a black man (Quincy Jones) but she does not play a black woman in her television or film roles. In some countries, such as Brazil, class is more important than skin color in determining racial categorization. People with high levels of melanin in their skin may consider themselves "white" if they enjoy a middle-class lifestyle. On the other hand, someone with low levels of melanin in their skin might be assigned the identity of "black" if they have little education or money.
::然而,早期种族科学期间形成的这种种族类型在早期种族科学中被淡化了,而种族的社会构造是理解种族类别的一个更常见的方法。根据这一思想,种族在生物学上是无法识别的。例如,考虑到肤色,种族观点的社会构造认识到,相对的黑暗或皮肤公平是适应世界不同地区可利用的阳光的进化。因此,当代的种族概念,往往基于社会经济假设,说明了现代种族理解从生物品质中何等遥远的现代种族特征。在现代社会中,某些认为自己“白色”的人实际上在自己的皮肤中含有更多的美兰素(一种决定肤色的色色色色的色色色),而不是其他确认“黑”的人。想想演员拉希达·琼斯的案例。她是一个黑人男子(昆西·琼斯)的女儿,但是她没有在电视或电影角色中扮演黑人妇女的角色。在某些国家,例如巴西,阶级比肤色在确定种族分类中更重要。在皮肤中具有高层次的美兰人可能认为自己是“白”自己,如果他们享受的是“白”如果他们享有中层的生活方式的话。在另一层次上,如果他们可能具有低层的某人,那么,那么,那么,那么,“低层的某人可能认为自己是“低层的某人”。

Even if we acknowledge that people differ in the physical characteristics we associate with race, modern evolutionary evidence reminds us that we are all, really, of one human race. According to evolutionary theory, the human race began thousands and thousands of years ago in sub-Saharan Africa. As people migrated around the world over the millennia, natural selection took over. It favored dark skin for people living in hot, sunny climates (i.e., near the equator), because the heavy amounts of melanin that produce dark skin protect against severe sunburn, cancer, and other problems. By the same token, natural selection favored light skin for people who migrated farther from the equator to cooler, less sunny climates, because dark skins there would have interfered with the production of vitamin D (Stone & Lurquin, 2007). Stone, L., & Lurquin, P. F. (2007). Genes, culture, and human evolution: A synthesis . Malden, MA: Blackwell. Evolutionary evidence thus reinforces the common humanity of people who differ in the rather superficial ways associated with their appearances: we are one human species composed of people who happen to look different.
::即使我们承认人类与种族有着不同的物理特征,现代进化证据也提醒我们,我们其实都是一个人类。根据进化理论,人类起源于数千年前的撒哈拉以南非洲。当人类在一千年中迁徙到世界各地时,自然选择就接管了。它有利于生活在炎热、阳光明媚的气候(即赤道附近)中的人的黑暗皮肤,因为大量的梅兰宁能产生暗皮肤保护,防止严重的太阳灼伤、癌症和其他问题。同样,自然选择有利于从赤道向更冷的、较不阳光的气候迁移的人的光皮,因为那里的暗皮肤会干扰维生素D的生产(Stone & Lurquin, 2007年)。Stone, L., & Lurquin, P.F.(2007年)。基因、文化和人类进化:合成。Malden, MA:Blackwell。因此,进化证据强化了与外观相关的不同人的共同人性。我们是一个由不同的人组成的人类物种。

The social construction of race is also reflected in the way that names for racial categories change with changing times. It’s worth noting that race, in this sense, is also a system of labeling that provides a source of identity; specific labels fall in and out of favor during different social eras. For example, the category ”negroid,” popular in the 19th century, evolved into the term “negro” by the 1960s, and then this term fell from use and was replaced with “African American.” This latter term was intended to celebrate the multiple identities that a black person might hold, but the word choice is a poor one: it lumps together a large variety of ethnic groups under an umbrella term while excluding others who could accurately be described by the label but who do not meet the spirit of the term. For example, actress Charlize Theron is a blonde-haired, blue-eyed “African American.” She was born in South Africa and later became a U.S. citizen. Is her identity that of an “African American” as most of us understand the term?
::种族的社会结构也反映在种族类别名称随着时代的变化而变化的方式上。 值得指出的是,种族从这个意义上讲,也是一种标签制度,它提供了身份来源;在不同的社会时代,具体的标签在不同的社会时代是偏偏的。 比如,19世纪流行的“Negroid ” 类别在1960年代演变成“negro”一词,1960年代时,这个术语从使用上掉下来,并被“African American”所取代。 后一个术语的用意是庆祝黑人可能持有的多重身份,但这个词的选择却很穷:它把众多的族裔群体放在一个伞式术语之下,而排斥其他可以被标签准确描述但不符合这个词精神的人。 比如,演员Charlize Theron是一个金发蓝眼睛的“African American ” 。 她出生于南非,后来成为美国公民。 她的身份是“Afric African American ” ,我们大部分理解这个术语吗?

WHAT IS ETHNICITY?
::什么是种族?

Ethnicity is a term that describes shared culture—the practices, values, and beliefs of a group. This might include shared language, religion, and traditions, among other commonalities. Like race, the term ethnicity is difficult to describe and its meaning has changed over time. And like race, individuals may be identified or self-identify to ethnicities in complex, even contradictory, ways. For example, ethnic groups such as Irish, Italian American, Russian, Jewish, and Serbian might all be groups whose members are predominantly included in the racial category “white.” Conversely, the ethnic group British includes citizens from a multiplicity of racial backgrounds: black, white, Asian, and more, plus a variety of race combinations. These examples illustrate the complexity and overlap of these identifying terms. Ethnicity, like race, continues to be an identification method that individuals and institutions use today—whether through the census, affirmative action initiatives, non-discrimination laws, or simply in personal day-to-day relations.
::种族是一个描述共同文化——一个群体的做法、价值观和信仰——的术语,其中可能包括共同的语言、宗教和传统,以及其他共同点。与种族一样,族裔一词很难描述,其含义也随着时间的推移发生了变化。与种族一样,个人可以以复杂、甚至相互矛盾的方式被识别或自我识别为族裔。例如,爱尔兰人、意大利人、俄罗斯人、犹太人和塞尔维亚人等族裔群体的成员可能都主要属于“白人”种族类别。相反,英国族裔群体包括来自多种种族背景的公民:黑人、白人、亚洲人和更多的人,加上各种种族组合。这些例子说明了这些识别术语的复杂性和重叠性。种族与种族一样,今天个人和机构仍然使用一种识别方法,无论是通过普查、肯定行动倡议、不歧视法律,还是仅仅通过个人日常关系。

Because of the problems in the meaning of race , many social scientists prefer the term ethnicity in speaking of people of color and others with distinctive cultural heritages. In this context, refers to the shared social, cultural, and historical experiences, stemming from common national or regional backgrounds, that make subgroups of a population different from one another. Similarly, an is a subgroup of a population with a set of shared social, cultural, and historical experiences; with relatively distinctive beliefs, values, and behaviors; and with some sense of identity of belonging to the subgroup. So conceived, the terms ethnicity and ethnic group avoid the biological connotations of the terms race and racial group and the biological differences these terms imply. At the same time, the importance we attach to ethnicity illustrates that it, too, is in many ways a social construction, and our ethnic membership thus has important consequences for how we are treated.
::由于种族含义上的问题,许多社会科学家更喜欢以肤色和具有独特文化遗产的其他人为代名词使用族裔一词,在这方面,提到来自共同国家或区域背景的共同社会、文化和历史经验,使一个人口分组彼此不同;同样,一个人口分组,具有一系列共同的社会、文化和历史经验;具有相对独特的信仰、价值观和行为;具有属于该分组的某种认同感;因此,族裔和族裔群体避免了种族和种族群体这些术语的生物内涵以及这些术语所隐含的生物差异;同时,我们对族裔的重视也表明,族裔在许多方面也是一种社会结构,因此,我们的族裔成员地位对我们受到的待遇有着重要的影响。

The sense of identity many people gain from belonging to an ethnic group is important for reasons both good and bad. Because, one of the most important functions of groups is the identity they give us, ethnic identities can give individuals a sense of belonging and a recognition of the importance of their cultural backgrounds. This sense of belonging is illustrated in , which depicts the answers of General Social Survey respondents to the question, “How close do you feel to your ethnic or racial group?” More than three-fourths said they feel close or very close. The term captures the sense of self-worth that many people derive from their ethnic backgrounds. More generally, if group membership is important for many ways in which members of the group are socialized, ethnicity certainly plays an important role in the socialization of millions of people in the United States and elsewhere in the world today.
::许多人从属于某一族裔群体中获得的认同感出于好坏两方面的原因都很重要,因为族群最重要的功能之一是赋予我们的认同,因此,族裔认同可以赋予个人归属感和对其文化背景重要性的承认,这种归属感在《社会概览》答复者对“你对你的族裔或种族群体感觉如何?”问题的答复中作了说明。 四分之三以上的人说,他们感到亲近或非常接近。 这个词抓住了许多人从其族裔背景产生的自我价值感。 更一般地说,如果群体成员资格对于该群体成员的社会化的多种方式很重要,族裔无疑在美国和当今世界其他地方数百万人的社会化中发挥着重要作用。