In what ways does ones race/ethnicity shape ones...

Our lives are shaped by who we are and what we are and where we come from. What race or ethnic group we belong to determines our life chances in contemporary society. Ethnicity is the cultural background of a group of people who share a belief in common ancestry. According to Max Weber, ethnic groups are formed by colonisation and immigration. Ethnicity is something we all have but in Australia and in many parts of the world, ethnicity is often applied on minority groups to highlight dominant groups of people on the bases of physical appearance, race, origins or culture. Being part of a dominant group provides prestige, power and control over the running of societies. The term ethnic comes from ancient Greek to mean gentile or non†¦show more content†¦An example of this is how estate agents in America deliberately encourage individuals to certain neighbourhood to reflect their ethnicity. The third form of discrimination in the housing sector is state racism. An example of state racism is the segregation tax in America. African American homes are valued 30 per cent less per every dollar compared to White American homes. This is known as the segregation tax (Summit on Racism: 2005). These three forms of discrimination usually occur together demonstrating that the issue of race and ethnicity determines ones life opportunities and how people and their property are valued by local and private agencies. This is evident in other areas like health and social services. Aboriginal health in Australia for example is consisted shocking and at the level of a Third World nation in a First World country (Siewert: 2006). Government policies have always been discriminatory whether rightfully or wrongfully, it has widened the gap between Aborigines and other Australian (Hughes 2007:181). The Aboriginal life expectancy is 21 years less for men and 19 years less for women compared to non-Aborigines (Henry et al 2004:517). Suicide rates among Aborigines were unknownShow MoreRelatedSocial Stratification2712 Words   |  11 PagesSocial Stratification A. What is Social Stratification? 1. Social stratification is defined as a system by which society ranks categories of people in a hierarchy a. There are four fundamental principles of stratification: †¢ Social stratification is a characteristic of society -- not just due to individual differences †¢ Social stratification persists over generations †¢ Yet, most societies allow some sort of social mobility or changes in people s position in a system of social stratificationRead MoreEthnic Differences Between The United Kingdom And America3747 Words   |  15 Pagesresearchers presume that race and ethnicity are a biological or a social characteristic. To overcome this problem, throughout this paper, I will use the term ‘racial or ethnic minority’ to refer to any group of people who are exposed to unfavourable treatment because of their ‘national origins, shared social histories, or religion’ as outlined in the works of Bartley (2004: 151). Until recent years there has not been a huge amount of literature exploring the patterns between ethnicity and health statusRead MoreS New Zealand/Aotearoa a Classless Society?4186 Words   |  17 PagesIntroduction to Sociology and Community Development CSTU 5110-2167 Lecturer: Dr Denys Delany ESSAY IS NEW ZEALAND/AOTEAROA A CLASSLESS SOCIETY? DISCUSS – IF SO WHAT DEFINES THIS STRUCTURE? – IF NOT WHAT IS THE MAIN BASIS OF SOCIAL STRATIFICATION IN NEW ZEALAND/AOTEAROA? 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There were several culture mentioned in the jokes, such as Irish jokes, Italian jokes, and Jewish jokes. 2.1.3 A Follies ‘girl’ had to have a ‘regular profile’, and most were six feet tall. If a Follies girl is the ideal American girl, who is excluded from the image of ideal America? Mostly others race, such as AsianRead More Racism in the Criminal Justice System Essay6900 Words   |  28 PagesRacism in police treatment of minorities has created great disparities in incarceration amongst the races. Blatant cases of racist law enforcement that are covered in the  news are a testament to the fact that racism within police departments exists from coast to coast. However, these are only the cases that people find out about; there are countless other cases of police racism and brutality that are not reported. A series of reports that have been published in the last few years have shown thatRead MoreSociology Essay20437 Words   |  82 Pagescopyright  © material is reproduced under Class Licence No. CO1 W 0000195 with the permission of the Controller of HMSO and the Queen’s Printer for Scotland; Guardian News and Media Ltd for extracts from Ros Taylor, ‘Classes in non-traditional family life proposed by government’, The Guardian, 12.05.00. Copyright  © Guardian News Media Ltd 2000; Will Woodward, ‘Testing †¦ testing †¦ testing’, The Guardian 20.05.00. Copyright  © Guardian News Media Ltd 2000; ‘Adoption boost for gay couples’, guardian