Discuss the concepts of race and racism as cultural ...

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Discuss the concepts of race and racism as cultural constructions; provide an example of racial stratification and its consequences.
 
  What will be an ideal response?

Question 2

Make an argument that one of the types of groups described in the text is primarily the result of personal agency or personality characteristics.
 
  Using the same or a different group, argue that it is the product of larger forces such as the economy, government, or cultural beliefs.
  What will be an ideal response?

[blakeserpa]

Answer to Question 1

Answer: The ideal answer will include:
1. Racial stratification is a relatively recent development, and much of it derives from European colonial expansion beginning in the sixteenth century.
2. It is typically found where two distinct populations have come to inhabit the same locality after a migration or other kind of population shift at some point in the past.
3. Beliefs supporting racial stratification often claim that behavior and personal characteristics are linked to race.
4. An example was the apartheid system in South Africa. Blacks constituted 90 percent of the population in South Africa but had little political authority and fared much worse than Whites according to every measure of quality of life.

Answer to Question 2

Answer: The ideal answer will include:
1. Friendship is an example of a group that could be said to be the result of individual agency: Membership is voluntary and informal.
2. Youth gangs could be said to be the result of agency according to the findings described in the text that point to members often having a defiant individualist personality type.
3. It could also be argued that youth gangs are the product of economic circumstances that deny the members viable employment.
4. Another example of a group that is the product of forces beyond the control of the individual is India's caste system. A group member is born into a caste and has no ability to change it.

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TYSM

[ghepp]

Excellent