Race and Ethnic Relations

This chapter explores some of the reasons that racial and ethnic conflicts have been so widespread throughout history. In order to address this issue one must first understand what is meant by race and ethnic group. Besides race and ethnicity, minority groups may be defined on the basis of other ascribed social characteristics such as sex, physical disability, or sexual orientation. Social-structural theories see racial and ethnic inequality as arising from characteristics of societies, not individual attitudes and beliefs. Conflict theorists emphasize competition, economic motives, and unequal power, while functionalists emphasize cultural differences and ethnocentrism. It is probably fair to say that the conflict perspective is the predominant approach today among sociologists specializing in race and ethnic relations. Social psychologists emphasize prejudice in their studies of race and ethnic relations. The United States is one of the most diverse nations of the world in terms of race and ethnicity.