- amalgamation
- the process by which a minority group and a majority group combine to form a new group
- assimilation
- the process by which a minority individual or group takes on the characteristics of the dominant culture
- colorism
- the belief that one type of skin tone is superior or inferior to another within a racial group
- culture of prejudice
- the theory that prejudice is embedded in our culture
- discrimination
- prejudiced action against a group of people
- dominant group
- a group of people who have more power in a society than any of the subordinate groups
- ethnicity
- shared culture, which may include heritage, language, religion, and more
- expulsion
- the act of a dominant group forcing a subordinate group to leave a certain area or even the country
- genocide
- the deliberate annihilation of a targeted (usually subordinate) group
- institutional racism
- racism embedded in social institutions
- intersection theory
- theory that suggests we cannot separate the effects of race, class, gender, sexual orientation, and other attributes
- minority group
- any group of people who are singled out from the others for differential and unequal treatment
- model minority
- the stereotype applied to a minority group that is seen as reaching higher educational, professional, and socioeconomic levels without protest against the majority establishment
- pluralism
- the ideal of the United States as a “salad bowl:” a mixture of different cultures where each culture retains its own identity and yet adds to the “flavor” of the whole
- prejudice
- biased thought based on flawed assumptions about a group of people
- racial profiling
- the use by law enforcement of race alone to determine whether to stop and detain someone
- racial steering
- the act of real estate agents directing prospective homeowners toward or away from certain neighborhoods based on their race
- racism
- a set of attitudes, beliefs, and practices that are used to justify the belief that one racial category is somehow superior or inferior to others
- redlining
- the practice of routinely refusing mortgages for households and business located in predominately minority communities
- scapegoat theory
- a theory that suggests that the dominant group will displace its unfocused aggression onto a subordinate group
- sedimentation of racial inequality
- the intergenerational impact of de facto and de jure racism that limits the abilities of black people to accumulate wealth
- segregation
- the physical separation of two groups, particularly in residence, but also in workplace and social functions
- social construction of race
- the school of thought that race is not biologically identifiable
- stereotypes
- oversimplified ideas about groups of people
- subordinate group
- a group of people who have less power than the dominant group
- white privilege
- the benefits people receive simply by being part of the dominant group