Structural Discrimination Theory Paper

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Structural discrimination theories mainly focuses on the structural view of racism. People who use structural discrimination theories distinguish between individual racism, when someone is prejudice, and institutional racism, which is structural, means that it is focused on a group of people and not their behaviors. Individual racism focuses on individual behavior or the harming of others and their property. Institutional racism focuses on racial advantages built into the structure of society and is viewed as inequality. There are three main points that the textbook states about structural theories of racial inequalities. “First, history is important in determining present conditions and affecting resistance to change.” An example that the textbook stated was, “The United States was founded and its institutions established when Blacks were slaves, uneducated, and different culturally from the dominant Whites.”…show more content…
Biological deficiency is that, “racial inferiority maintains that group inferiority is the outcome of flawed genetic-and therefore hereditary-traits.” An example that the textbook stated was, “The Bell Curve (Herrnstein and Murray 1994) is the latest in a long series of works claiming that Blacks are genetically inferior to Whites and that this inferiority explains differences in the social success of racial groups.” D. Stanley Eitzen, Maxine Baca Zinn, and Kelly Eitzen Smith. Writing New Media: "Racial and Ethnic Inequality." Social Problems. Thirteenth ed. 2014. 193. Cultural deficiency focuses on group-specific cultural traits handed down from generation to generation. Based off of the cultures and behaviors of smaller groups are dysfunctional when they are compared to a larger group. From this, the textbook is stating that smaller groups are disadvantaged because of their heritage and customs. An example the textbook stated is that, “High rates of

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