Inequality in Contemporary American Society
Professor Timothy Shortell
Sociology Department, Brooklyn College, CUNY.

 

Ethnic
Communities
in New York

The demographic data clearly confirms what we know from our experience of living in New York City: we are a very diverse community. In the U.S. as a whole, 25 percent of the population is not white, and in New York State 33 percent are minorities, whereas in the city, blacks, asians and hispanics comprise about 63 percent of the population. It comes as no surprise, then, that race affects the way that people live in New York.

 

In addition, there is considerable diversity with each of these race categories. Our neighborhoods are defined not only by race, but also by ethnicity. As we discussed, this is a complex social construction having to do with geographic origin (self or ancestors), language, and even religion. Ethnicity is based on a shared sense of identity that refers to patterns of cultural practices and a sense of community. Ethnicity is ordinarily ascribed--a characteristic assigned to individuals by society--though not everyone incorporates the meaning or importance of ethnicity into their individual personality in the same way.

The fact of ethnic diversity, itself, does not constitute a social problem. After all, there are a lot of differences between people in any society. That New Yorkers are different in some ways is, itself, not necessarily of interest to social scientists. But, as we know from experience, ethnic differences are not just any sort of difference. Because ethnicity is related to inequality, it is one of the factors that must be examined in order to understand contemporary American society.

Comptetion over resources is one consequence of ethnic differences in a stratified society. One arena of this conflict is the labor market. The idea of a split, or segmented, labor market suggests that different groups occupy different positions, and rationally, act to perpetuate their advantage, or struggle to improve their condition. Some ethnic groups, the so-called "unmeltable ethnics," have experienced legal and de facto segregation which has prevented them from moving into the primary labor market as some immigrant groups have done. The "immigrant enclave" idea suggests a different process of incorporation into the economy. Based on the a sense of solidarity and a norm of reciprocity, these ethnic groups are able to succeed, often in direct competition with established ethnic groups, despite the disadvantages of being new to American society.

Wilson has argued that race differences are becoming less important, relative to class differences, in contemporary American society. Wilson notes that American blacks have always struggled against both economic and social barriers. The modern Civil Rights movement has help remove some barriers, and a black middle class did develop in the post-war period. Wilson argues, though, that our history of discrimination has created a large black underclass, and changes in the labor market -- namely, the loss of industrial jobs -- make it very difficult for members of this group to climb to higher positions in the class hierarchy.

According to Gans, the racial hierarchy is undergoing a significant transformation. The signal distinction between white-nonwhite, that we inherited from the era of slavery, is changing into a black-nonblack boundary. Gans believes that as diversity increases in the U.S., some immigrant groups, such as asians and white hispanics, may enter into strategic alliances with whites. Access to higher education and, therefore, to the skilled labor sector of the labor market follow from this alliance. Those excluded, then, become stimatized as the new "undeserving class" because, without access to routes of upward mobility, they are stuck in poverty and become the target of hostility toward public assistance.

Finally, Massey & Denton, address the issue of residential segregation and its consequences. There is clear evidence of the extent of residential segregation in the U.S. (Statistics are available from the U.S. Census.) There is much disagreement, though, about what it means. For some, it is simply a manifestation of individual choice -- we tend to want to live in neighborhoods where others are like us. But Massey & Denton argue that there are consequences to this pattern of segregation. Their analysis demonstrates that prolonged exposure to the social conditions of the underclass -- poverty and joblessness, intergenerational public assistance, and high out-of-wedlock birth rates -- makes blacks' chances of eonomic and social success drastically reduced.

Group Exercise

n order to explore the way in which race and ethnicity affect the lives of New Yorkers, we will conduct a study of race, ethnicity and class in New York neighborhoods. Our goal will be to arrive at sociological arguments about how urban communities are affected by race and ethnicity based on demographic analysis of community districts in the five boroughs.

 

In small groups, you will collect population information about a community district. You will be able to gather much of the information you need from the New York City Department of City Planning. You should also consult the online chapters, readings from the book, and additional online resources. In your response, you will use these sources to find at least one additional social fact relevant (in support of or opposition to) the report to which you are responding.

Each member of the group may earn up to 5 points of credit for the report and participation in the discussion.

Go to the New York City site and select "City Planning" from the list of agencies. On the Department of City Planning home page, under the "Reference" section, select "District Profiles." This will show you a map of the city. On the map, click on the CD assigned to your group to get the social background information, including language use, foreign birth, and ancestry data, for your community district.

The CD report is a PDF file, but most browsers can read these files automatically. If not, you can view the report with the free Adobe Acrobat Reader. (Contact me for details, if you do not already have this application.) In the report, you will see various indicators of the population and land use in the community district. Use this information to make a sociological argument about the nature of race, ethnicity and class for this area. You can get additional data for your CD from Infoshare. Infoshare, in particular, has information about immigration. For some CDs, this will be useful to consider. You must cite at least one theoretical source other than the online textbook.

Since the city site and Infoshare both contain some time series, you can discuss how the CD has changed over time. Remember, though, that the group report is only 500 words, so it is better to write a concise essay with data supporting a specific argument than it is to throw lots of data in without much explanation.

Links:
Iceland, J., 2002, Beyond Black and White

Feagin, J. R. & C. B. Feagin, 2003, Race and Ethnic Relations, 7th edition, chapter 1.

Alba, R., et al., 2000, The Changing Neighborhood Contexts of the Immigrant Metropolis, Social Forces. *

Chevan, A. & R. Stokes, 2000, Growth in Family Inequality, 1970-1990, Demography. *

Quillian, L., 1999, Migration Patterns and the Growth of High-Poverty Neighborhoods, 1970-1990, American Journal of Sociology. *

(* Indicates the article is accessible from the campus network. Remember to site any sources you use in your essay.)

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