Question

The author addresses both Robertson’s denial of racism and discrimination and race relations historically. Explain which one social perspective best fits his approach to these issues? Functional Structural which addresses how the phenomenon contributes to social integration or stability, Social Conflict which addresses how the phenomenon generates social conflict as one group endeavors to maintain power over the other, or Symbolic Interaction which addresses how the phenomenon creates individuals’ reality through social interaction.

Answer 1

Persistent racial inequality in employment, housing, and a wide range of other social domains has renewed interest in the possible role of discrimination. And yet, unlike in the pre–civil rights era, when racial prejudice and discrimination were overt and widespread, today discrimination is less readily identifiable, posing problems for social scientific conceptualization and measurement. This article reviews the relevant literature on discrimination, with an emphasis on racial discrimination in employment, housing, credit markets, and consumer interactions. We begin by defining discrimination and discussing relevant methods of measurement. We then provide an overview of major findings from studies of discrimination in each of the four domains; and, finally, we turn to a discussion of the individual, organizational, and structural mechanisms that may underlie contemporary forms of discrimination.