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INEQUALITY

INEQUALITY. How do you make sense of our differences?. WHY DO SOME GROUPS RISE TO POWER?. Freedom and Genes. Smarter and more innovative at making choices. Stronger and better able to adapt to their environment.

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INEQUALITY

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  1. INEQUALITY How do you make sense of our differences?

  2. WHY DO SOME GROUPS RISETO POWER?

  3. Freedom and Genes Smarter and more innovative at making choices Stronger and better able to adapt to their environment

  4. Some of these children are smarter and more innovative than the kids many of you will have.

  5. Luck of Birth and Sociological Factors and Forces Geographic terrain is loaded with resources Actions of ancestors give people advantages

  6. This land does not produce many millionaires!

  7. Luck of Birth Geographic Terrain Actions of Ancestors

  8. Let’s play “King of the Mountain”

  9. HOW DO DOMINANT GROUPS KEEP THEIR POWER?

  10. The dominant group controls ideology (i.e., the explanation for cause and effect in the world) • FREEDOM: • DETERMINISM:

  11. 1. The dominant group controls ideology (i.e., the explanation for cause and effect in the world) FREE WILL PROPONENTS: Everyone is free to be on top and whoever gets there must be the fittest and should have the strongest voice. DETERMINISTS: The rich manipulate how people think – what is taught in schools, what is aired on TV, etc.

  12. 2. The dominant group controls resources • FREEDOM: • DETERMINISM:

  13. 2. The dominant groups controls resources • FREEDOM: Because of their own deliberate (and free) actions they managed to get to the top and now control resources • DETERMINISM: Because of luck (e.g., they happened to be at the right place at the right time) or because they had assistance in some way • and now they use manipulation and force to maintain power

  14. Basic Sociology of Social Reproduction Once one group controls resources and ideology, it is difficult to dislodge them. Like “King of the Mountain”

  15. How do you see the “King of the Mountain” formulation operating in the world?

  16. Some differences are “natural”- So some inequality is “natural” But systematic patterns of unequal resource distribution are “unnatural” • This implies discrimination

  17. How does “King of the Mountain” explain why white people are on top?

  18. Post Civil War United States: • No redistribution of land and resources • Whites controlled jobs and restricted travel/movement • Lack of a vote What happened to urban areas? Slave plantation - 1862

  19. Affirmative Action for Whites? • New York – New Jersey area: • 67,000 low interest (GI Bill) mortgages were given to WWII Vets • Virtually no proof of eligibility was needed aside from being a vet • Virtually no down payment was needed • 100 of these went to veterans of color • 12 percent of veterans were of color • That is, about 7,000 loans were not received by people who should have received them in a fair world

  20. Wealth in the U.S. - 2002(per capita) • Whites: with home = $79,400 without home = $22,566 • Blacks: with home = $7,500 without home = $1,166 • Latino/as: with home = $9,750 without home = $1,850 • All Households: with home = $55,000 without home = $13,473

  21. Starting Line White Asian Black & Hispanic Am. Indian

  22. How would sociology explain why some people attend college and others don’t?

  23. Which explanation do you draw on to answer the question: “Why do some people go to college?” FREE-WILL: people choose the majority of their actions & thoughtsvs.DETERMINISM: people’s actions & thoughts are shaped by factors and forces largely outside of their control

  24. FAMILY INCOME Above $85,000 = 51.3% $61K – 85K = 26.8% 35K – 61K = 12.7% Below $35K = 6% 21-24 yr. olds Graduating From College -- 2002

  25. Nationwide, nine in 10 high school graduates from families earning more than $80,000 a year take college classes by age 24.VS.Six in 10 high school graduates from families earning less than $33,000 a year take college classes by age 24.

  26. At the nation's 146 most selective colleges, only 3% of students come from the lowest socioeconomic quarter. By contrast, 74% come from the top quarter.

  27. State and local money account for more than 90 percent of all education spending.High poverty districts typically receive less per student when compared to low poverty districts.(Illinois: $2,026 less!)

  28. So how is ancestryrelated to SAT scores?

  29. Which explanation do you draw on to answer the question: “Why do some people go to college while others do not?” FREE WILL ~ or ~ DETERMINISM

  30. Is the United States founded upon an exaggerated claim?

  31. IDEOLOGY-RESOURCE CONTROL EXAMPLE“WEALTH AND POWER”Why do we fail to notice how the more powerful classes make decisions that keep them powerful?

  32. Henry Paulson74thU.S. Secretary of the Treasury • Dartmouth College, B.A. • Harvard University, M.A. • Joined Goldman Sachs in 1974 as an investment banker • Current net worth: about $700 million

  33. Who’s going to end up on top? Merritt Paulson Fathers are not famous bankers

  34. Timothy F. Geithner75thU.S. Secretary of the Treasury • Grandfather – Advisor to President Dwight Eisenhower, V.P. of Ford Motor Company • Father – Director of Asia program at the Ford Foundation • T.F.G. spent most of his childhood living abroad and attending International schools • Dartmouth College, B.A. • Johns Hopkins, M.A.

  35. Political Lobbyists and Their Power Lobbyists and Power

  36. Lobbying Expenditures: Who has access to the decision-makers? Percent of lobbying money is spent by these organizations: 56 percent: Business 22 percent: Trade 9 percent: Nonprofit/citizen groups 7 percent: Professional associations 3 percent: Unions 1.3 percent: Other

  37. You can’t have five wolves and one sheep voting on what to have for supper.

  38. How many people believe…? • We’re free to be “whoever” we want to be in the U.S. • We could all be rich if we work hard enough. • The U.S. is the greatest country on the planet…ever. • Americans are peace-loving, moral and ethical people—more so than most other people.

  39. Achievement Ideology and Race “Success is mostly a result of hard work!” • 69% of whites agree • 66% of blacks agree • 66% of Hispanics agree • 70% of Asians agree • 71% of Muslims agree

  40. Achievement Ideology and Race “Success is mostly a result of hard work!” • 71% of high school grads agree • 66% of college grads agree • 61% of post college grads agree ** Others maintain that luck or help from others is instrumental

  41. What are some ways in which embracing only “achievement ideology” or “strong determinism”: • advances your interests 2. works against you

  42. Does racism exist in our criminal justice system?

  43. Federal Prison inmates - 2008 Black - 39.4 percent White – 57.1 percent Native American – 1.8 percent Asian – 1.7 percent Hispanic – 32.0 percent (but usually classified as “white”) * Federal Bureau of Prisons

  44. 2003 State Prisoners All Offenses • White – 34.5% • Hispanic – 19.1% • Black – 44.5% • Asian – 1% • Native American – 1% * National Corrections Reporting Program

  45. State and Federal Prisoners by Race/Ethnicity: Percent of males between ages 25-29 • White – 1.2% • Hispanic/Latino – 2.5% • Black – 8.4% • Asian – ?% • Native American – ?% * Bureau of Justice Statistics

  46. Inmates in Local Jails – 2008(and percent of the total U.S. population) • Black – 39.2% (12.1%) • White – 42.3% (65.8%) • Asian – 1% (4.3%) • American Indian – 1% (1%) • Hispanic (any race) – 16.4% (15%) From: Bureau of Justice Statistics

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