Chapter+11-+Race+and+Ethnicity

Chapter 11: Race and Ethnicity

Stereotype- a simplified description applied to every person in some category Ethnicity- a shared cultural heritage Segregation- the physical and social seperation of categories of people Discrimination- unequal treatment of various categories of people
 * Jocks are popular and have good atheltic talent
 * The characters share a common language of english in the movie and most of the characters also share the common religion of christianity with one another.
 * Olive and her friends are set apart from the rest of her peers when they find out she has lost her virginity and is sleeping with most of the school
 * Brandon is treated unequally by his peers because he is homosexual and that is frowned upon to most people in that society.



Minority- any category of people distinguished by physical or cultural difference that a society sets apart and subordinates Institutional prejudice and discrimination- bias built into the operation of society’s institutions Assimilation- the process by which minorities gradually adopt patterns of the dominant culture Authoritarian personalities- rigidly conform to conventional cultural values and see moral issues as clear-cut matters of right and wrong
 * Olive's brother is a minority in their family because he is black.
 * In school Brandon being gay is weird to other kids, so they discriminate against him by not hanging out with him.
 * Brandon pretends to sleep with Olive so he will fit in with the dominant culture.
 * The Cross Your Heart group leader Marianne sees sleeping with someone as wrong and staying a virgin as right. She sees no in-between.

**race:** a socially constructed category of people who share biologically transmitted traits that members of a society consider important
 * Olive’s adopted brother is African-American. Since her brother is too young to understand the difference between races, Olive’s family does not tell him that he is adopted. However, eventually someone at school explains to him that he is not his parent’s biological son because he has different skin color.

**prejudice:** a rigid and unfair generalization about an entire category of people (belief NOT action)
 * At the beginning of the movie, Brandon is punched by a group of classmates because he is gay. Many of his peers are homophobes and hold unfair beliefs about people who are gay.

**scapegoat:** a person or category of people, typcially with little power, whom other people unfairly blame their own troubles **pluralism:** a state in which people of all races and ethnicities are distinct but have equal social standing
 * Olive agrees to be Mrs. Griffith’s scapegoat when she pretends to give an STD to Micah. Mrs. Griffith has more power and an important reputation to protect, so Olive takes the blame to save her job and marriage.
 * Olive’s family reflects the concept of pluralism. For instance, Olive’s parents adopted an African-American boy. Although he is not biologically their son, they treat him the same way as Olive and give him the same opportunities. In addition, Olive treats him as if he were her biological brother, even though he is African-American and she is Caucasian.