Racism: A Case Study Of Sociology

A Case Study: Sociology
Why do men hold higher positions than women? What is Racism? What is the difference between Race and ethnicity? How can social policies improve society? These are frequently asked questions that many people in today’s society would like to have answered. These are also questions that sociologists strive to discover the answer to everyday. Sociology is a science guided by the basic understanding that one’s life is affected by their place in the social world. There are many different characteristics and views about sociology and society. A majority of those issues are brought to light in Dr. Carl’s textbook Think Sociology. Dr. John D Carl lives in Oklahoma with his wife Keven and daughters, Sara and Caroline. He is …show more content…
Carl’s favorites, to talk about is Racism. Dr. Carl stated that many people confuse racism and prejudice. Racism refers to discrimination based on a person’s race. While prejudice refers to having a negative attitudes towards an entire category of people. However, being prejudice does not just contain race but also other physical characteristics, like someone who wear glasses or has red hair. Prejudices are usually reinforced by stereotypes, which are perceptions people have on an entire group. Such as saying that all black people are violent and all Latinos are illegal immigrants. Dr. Carl also mentioned that famous Graves Theory. This theory states that racism in the United States has relied on certain assumptions that go unchallenged. One of these assumptions is that many people in the United States are too blind to realize that racisms still exists, which is why people do not step up and speak out. Another unchallenged assumption is that races have genetically determined differences in athletic and musical ability. For instance a frequently stated stereotype is that all African Americans are fast and naturally athletic. Dr. Carl noticed that many of his African American students have been asked “are you her on a sports scholarship?” His students told him that questions like that really upset them, because a majority of their peers believe they are only at the university due to their athletic ability and not for their …show more content…
There are many different frameworks study around the world and they are called Paradigms. Dr. Carl said that another goal of his is to help his students discover what paradigm they fall under. The three types of paradigms, which are the main basis of sociology, are Functionalism, Conflict theory, and Symbolic Interactionism. Functionalist believe that everything in the social world exists because it has an intended outcome and unintended outcome. Conflict Theorists believe that inequality exists because of differences between groups with wealth and power. Lastly, Symbolic Interactionism believe that labels are attached to certain individuals. All of these paradigms are mentioned all throughout the text. For instance, when talking about racism one may discuss a functionalist point of view against a symbolic interactionists perspective. Dr. Carl also brought to light that one may be a functionalist when it comes to gender equality but a Conflict Theorists when it comes to dealing with someone’s beliefs regarding overpopulation and such. As one can see there are a tremendous amount of view points in the world of sociology because it is studying the world as a