Todays Lecture

What is Social Stratification? What is Socioeconomic Status?

Social Mobility
Intersection of Race and Class
A Tale of Two Classes by Watkins

Perception of Social Mobility and Racism

Experiencing Success by Bobb and Clarke

Film: Unnatural Causes: Is Inequality Making Us Sick?

What is Social Stratification?

Social Stratification
Society is arranged into a
More resources, power, or prestige

series of layers or strata.

The layers or strata are

organized based on an unequal distribution of resources, prestige, or power.

The stratum at the top has

Less resources, power, or prestige

the most resource.

Examples of Stratification
Race and Ethnicity
Gender Social Class

Racial Stratification

Sexuality
Age Disability

.. and more!

= the hierarchical pattern in society wherein different racial and ethnic groups have varying opportunities and life chances.

Additive Effects of Minority Statuses

Gendered Racism = oppression of women of color

This is not a new phenomena.

Gender, Race, and Income Comparing the income of similar occupations,

For every one dollar white men earn, White women -- 77 cents African American men -- 75 cents African American women -- 67 cents Latina -- 56 cents Asian and Pacific Islander women -- 84 cents

Socioeconomic Status (SES)

= A persons ranking along several social dimensions, particularly education, occupational prestige, and wealth.

Education Wealth (income and asset) Occupation and Prestige

Education
Number of years of education you completed OR highest degree you

completed
High School Graduation Rates (2002):
78% of Whites 56% of blacks 52% of Latino/Latina

Among all who attain BA degree:

70% Whites 8.7% Blacks 6.3% Hispanics

6.2% Asians

U.S. Racial and Ethnic Composition 63.7% non-Hispanic whites 12.2% blacks/African Americans 16.3% Latino/Latina 4.7% Asians

At the same educational attainment level, African Americans are twice more likely to experience unemployment than Whites.

Wealth
ASSET (OR WEALTH) INCOME
Median Household Income

Asian $66,103 White $54,920 Latino $38,679 Black $33,916

The Rich: Households with Incomes over $250,000

White 87% Latino 6% Asian 4.5% Black 4.5%

Family Wealth

1st Gen.

Family Wealth

Inherited Wealth 2nd Gen.

Inherited Wealth

Family Wealth

Family Wealth

Inherited Inherited Wealth 3rd Sedimentation of InequalityWealth Gen. = the longer groups have been near the bottom of the social class Family Wealth

hierarchy, the harder it is to advance. Family Wealth

A consequence of institutional racism and institutional discrimination

industrial economy postindustrial economy

Occupational Prestige
Kind of job you do AND how prestigious the job is.
Among all lawyers:

89.2% Whites 3.9% Blacks 2.9% Latino/Latina 2.7% Asians Among all physicians and surgeons: 73.5% Whites 14.7% Asians 5.3% Latino/Latina 4.4% Blacks

Prestige
= The honor associated with an occupation or other position in a social system.

Status Consistency

Social Mobility
Intragenerational Mobility Intergenerational Mobility

Horizontal Mobility

mobility from one position to another of about the same rank mobility from one position to another of different rank (upward OR downward)

Vertical Mobility

Structural Mobility

Intersection of Race and Class

A Tale of Two Classes by Watkins
The income gap between blacks and whites decreasing,

while the large wealth gap still existing.

Widening socioeconomic gap within the African-

American community

William Julius Wilson (1978) Declining Significance of Race Life chances of individual African Americans have more to do with their economic class positions than their day-to-day encounters with racism.

Forces Driving the Gap

Before World War II After 1950s

Civil Rights Movement, Affirmative Actions, and expansion of labor market facilitated the expansion of working- and middle-classes in African American populations. Blacks with relatively higher educational attainment and more resources were able to move to the suburbs and accumulate further education, better jobs, and more resources.

Perpetuation of the Underclass

the underclass = the urban poor who resides in an impoverished neighborhood where job opportunities are scarce, socially isolation is high, and resources and educational opportunities are very limited. -- truly disadvantaged.

stereotypes class-based tension

Toward the Future

Share resources, especially social network, through

families, churches, and other community organization.

There must be fundamental acceptance among black

people of their own diversity.

Get involved in political and economic debates that

shape the future society.

Perception of Social Mobility and Racism

Experiencing Success by Bobb and Clarke

illustrated how first-generation and second-generation West Indians viewed upward social mobility in the U.S.

Main findings:

Both first- and second-generation West Indians perceived education as important factor in upward social mobility. Both recognized that there is racism in the U.S.

Perception of Social Mobility and Racism

Main Findings (contd):

Generational differences in the degree to which racism would be a barrier in attaining higher socioeconomic status.

They had different social experiences. Thus, the reference point is different. They also perceived attitudes toward West Indians in this country differently.

Assignments
Read Part VII. Race, Class, and Inequality

Introduction, 32, and 33 Introduction, 34, 35, 36, and 50

Part VIII. Institutional Segregation and Inequality