Fluent Essays

From our course readings for this week, both Blumer and Bonilla-Silva claim that racism is not just about ideology or individual feelings. Citing from each of the readings, respond to the following: How do this weeks readings challenge commonsense or popular ideas about racism? This essay must be between 500-600 words blumer__race_prejudice_as_a_sense_of_group_position.pdf bonilla_silva_rethinking_racism.pdf Unformatted Attachment Preview Race Prejudice as a Sense of Group Position Author(s): Herbert Blumer Source: The Pacific Sociological Review, Vol. 1, No. 1 (Spring, 1958), pp. 3-7 Published by: University of California Press Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1388607 Accessed: 09-09-2016 20:12 UTC JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org. Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at http://about.jstor.org/terms University of California Press, Sage Publications, Inc. are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The Pacific Sociological Review This content downloaded from 129.59.122.10 on Fri, 09 Sep 2016 20:12:58 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms Volume 1 Number 1 3e pacic SocitoOgcat Revulew Spring 1958 Official Journal of the Pacific Sociological Society RACE PREJUDICE AS A SENSE OF GROUP POSITION* HERBERT BLUMER University of California, Berkeley In this paper I am proposing an approach to the study ogists, and tends to be predominantly the case in the work sociologists. of race prejudice different from that which dominatesofcontemporary scholarly thought on this topic. My thesis is that Unfortunately, this customary way of viewing race prejrace prejudice exists basically in a sense of group position udice overlooks and obscures the fact that race prejudice is rather than in a set of feelings which members of onefundamentally racial a matter of relationship between racial groups. A little reflective thought should make this very group have toward the members of another racial group. This different way of viewing race prejudice shifts study clear. Race prejudice presupposes, necessarily, that racially and analysis from a preoccupation with feelings as lodged prejudiced individuals think of themselves as belonging to in individuals to a concern with the relationship of racial a given racial group. It means, also, that they assign to groups. It also shifts scholarly treatment away from other indi-racial groups those against whom they are prejudiced. Thus, logically and actually, a scheme of racial idenvidual lines of experience and focuses interest on the collective process by which a racial group comes to define tification and is necessary as a framework for racial prejudice. such identification involves the formation of an redefine another racial group. Such shifts, I believe, Moreover, will yield a more realistic and penetrating understanding image ofor a conception of ones own racial group and of anrace prejudice. other racial group, inevitably in terms of the relationship There can be little question that the rather vast literature of such groups. To fail to see that racial prejudice is a on race prejudice is dominated by the idea that such preju- matter (a) of the racial identification made of oneself and dice exists fundamentally as a feeling or set of feelings of others, and (b) of the way in which the identified groups are conceived in relation to each other, is to miss what is lodged in the individual. It is usually depicted as consisting of feelings such as antipathy, hostility, hatred, intolerance, and aggressiveness. Accordingly, the task of scientific inquiry becomes two-fold. On one hand, there is a need to identify the feelings which make up race prejudice--to see how they fit together and how they are supported by other psychological elements, such as mythical beliefs. On the other hand, there is need of showing how the feeling com- plex has come into being. Thus, some scholars trace the complex feelings back chiefly to innate dispositions; some trace it to personality composition, such as authoritarian personality; and others regard the feelings of prejudice as being formed through social experience. However different may be the contentions regarding the make-up of racial prejudice and the way in which it may come into existence, these contentions are alike in locating prejudice in the realm of individual feeling. This is clearly true of the work of psychologists, psychiatrists, and social psychol* Read at the dedication of the Robert E. Park Building, Fisk University, March, 1956. Spring logically and actually basic. One should keep clearly in mind that people necessarily come to identify themselves as belonging to a racial group; such identification is not spontaneous or inevitable but a result of experience. Further, one must realize that the kind of picture which a racial group forms of itself and the kind of picture which it may form of others are similarly products of experience. Hence, such pictures are variable, just as the lines of experience which produce them are variable. The body of feelings which scholars, today, are so inclined to regard as constituting the substance of race prejudice is actually a resultant of the way in which given racial groups conceive of themselves and of others. A basic un- derstanding of race prejudice must be sought in the process by which racial groups form images of themselves and of others. This process, as I hope to show, is fundamentally a collective process. It operates chiefly through the public media in which individuals who are accepted as the spokesmen of a racial group characterize publicly another racial 1958 This content downloaded from 129.59.122.10 on Fri, 09 Sep 2016 20:12:58 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms 3 group. To characterize another racial group is, by opposition, to define ones own group. This is equivalent to placing the two groups in relation to each other, or defining their positions vis-d-vis each other. It is the sense of social position emerging from this collective process of characterization which provides the basis of race prejudice. The following discussion will consider important facets of this claims is exceedingly strong in race prejudice. Again, however, this feeling even in combination with the feeling of superiority and the feeling of distinctiveness does not explain race prejudice. These three feelings are present fre- quently in societies showing no prejudice, as in certain forms of feudalism, in caste relations, in societies of chiefs and commoners, and under many settled relations of conquerors and conquered. Where claims are solidified into a I would like to begin by discussing several of thestructure impor- which is accepted or respected by all, there seems to be no group prejudice. tant feelings that enter into race prejudice. This discussion will reveal how fundamentally racial feelings point The to and remaining feeling essential to race prejudice is a fear or apprehension that the subordinate racial group is depend on a positional arrangement of the racial groups. In this discussion I will confine myself to such feelings in threatening, or will threaten, the position of the dominant the case of a dominant racial group. group. Thus, acts or suspected acts that are interpreted as an attack There are four basic types of feeling that seem to be on the natural superiority of the dominant group, or group. an intrusion into their sphere of group exclusiveness, or always present in race prejudice in the dominant matter. an encroachment on their area of proprietary claim are They are (1) a feeling of superiority, (2) a feeling that the subordinate race is intrinsically different andcrucial alien, in arousing and fashioning race prejudice. These mean getting out of place. (3) a feeling of proprietary claim to certain areas acts of privshould be clear that these four basic feelings of race ilege and advantage, and (4) a fear and suspicion thatItthe prejudice subordinate race harbors designs on the prerogatives ofdefinitely refer to a positional arrangement of the dominant race. A few words about each of these four the racial groups. The feeling of superiority places the subordinate people below; the feeling of alienation places them feelings will suffice. In race prejudice there is a self-assured feeling on the beyond; the feeling of proprietary claim excludes them from the prerogatives of position; and the fear of encroachpart of the dominant racial group of being naturally supement is an emotional recoil from the endangering of group rior or better. This is commonly shown in a disparagement position. As these features suggest, the positional relaof the qualities of the subordinate racial group. Condemnation of the two racial groups is crucial in race prejutory or debasing traits, such as laziness, dishonesty, greediness, unreliability, stupidity, deceit and immorality, aredice. The dominant group is not concerned with the subordinate group as such but it is deeply concerned with its usually imputed to it. The second feeling, that the subordivis-a-vis the subordinate group. This is epitomized nate race is an alien and fundamentally different stock, position is likewise always present. They are not of our kind isina the key and universal expression that a given race is all right in its place. The sense of group position is the very common way in which this is likely to be expressed. It is heart of the relation of the dominant to the subordinate this feeling that reflects, justifies, and promotes the social group. It supplies the dominant group with its framework exclusion of the subordinate racial group. The combination of perception, its standard of judgment, its patterns of of these two feelings of superiority and of distinctiveness sensitivity, and its emotional proclivities. can easily give rise to feelings of aversion and even antipathy. But in themselves they do not form prejudice. We It is important to recognize that this sense of group position transcends the feelings of the individual members of have to introduce the third and fourth types of feeling. the dominant group, giving such members a common oriThe third feeling, the sense of proprietary claim, is of entation that is not otherwise to be found in separate feelcrucial importance. It is the feeling on the part of the dominant group of being entitled to either exclusive ings or and views. There is likely to be considerable difference between the ways in which the individual members of the prior rights in many important areas of life. The range of such exclusive or prior claims may be wide, covering thedominant group think and feel about the subordinate group. Some may feel bitter and hostile, with strong antipownership of property such as choice lands and sites; the athies, with an exalted sense of superiority and with a lot right to certain jobs, occupations or professions; the claim of spite; others may have charitable and protective feelto certain kinds of industry or lines of business; the claim to certain positions of control and decision-making as inings, marked by a sense of piety and tinctured by benevolence; others may be condescending and reflect mild congovernment and law; the right to exclusive membership in tempt; and others may be disposed to politeness and congiven institutions such as schools, churches and recreasiderateness with no feelings of truculence. These are only tional institutions; the claim to certain positions of social prestige and to the display of the symbols and accoutre-a few of many different patterns of feeling to be found among members of the dominant racial group. What gives ments of these positions; and the claim to certain areas of a common dimension to them is a sense of the social posiintimacy and privacy. The feeling of such proprietary 4 Pacific Sociological Review This content downloaded from 129.59.122.10 on Fri, 09 Sep 2016 20:12:58 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms tion of their group. Whether the members be humane or callous, cultured or unlettered, liberal or reactionary, powerful or impotent, arrogant or humble, rich or poor, hon- given individuals of the subordinate race. The sense of orable or dishonorable-all are led, by virtue of sharing ordinate racial group the unlettered individual with low status in the dominant racial group has a sense of group the sense of group position, to similar individual positions. The sense of group position is a general kind of orienta- group position refers to the position of group to group, not to that of individual to individual. Thus, vis-a-vis the sub- position common to that of the elite of his group. By virtue tion. It is a general feeling without being reducible to spe- of sharing this sense of position such an individual, despite cific feelings like hatred, hostility or antipathy. It is also a general understanding without being composed of any set his low status, feels that members of the subordinate group, of specific beliefs. On the social psychological side it cannot be equated to a sense of social status as ordinarily conceived, for it refers not merely to vertical positioning but to many other lines of position independent of the vertical dimension. Sociologically it is not a mere reflection of the objective relations between racial groups. Rather, it stands for what ought to be rather than for what is. It is a sense of where the two racial groups belong. In its own way, the sense of group position is a norm and imperative-indeed a very powerful one. It guides, incites, cows, and coerces. It should be borne in mind that this sense of group position stands for and involves a fundamental kind of group affiliation for the members of the dominant racial group. To the extent they recognize or feel themselves as belonging to that group they will automatically come under the influence of the sense of position held by that group. Thus, even though given individual members may have personal views and feelings different from the sense of group position, they will have to conjure with the sense of group position held by their racial group. If the sense of position is strong, to act contrary to it is to risk a feeling of self-alienation and to face the possibility of ostracism. I am trying to suggest, accordingly, that the locus of race prejudice is not in the area of individual feeling but in the definition of the respective positions of the racial groups. The source of race prejudice lies in a felt challenge to this sense of group position. The challenge, one must recognize, may come in many different ways. It may be in the form of an affront to feelings of group superiority; it may be in the form of attempts at familiarity or transgressing the boundary line of group exclusiveness; it may be in the form of encroachment at countless points of proprietary claim; it may be a challenge to power and privilege; it may take the form of economic competition. Race prejudice is a defensive reaction to such challenging of the sense of group position. It consists of the disturbed feelings, usually of marked hostility, that are thereby aroused. As such, race prejudice is a protective device. It functions, however short- sightedly, to preserve the integrity and the position of the dominant group. It is crucially important to recognize that the sense of group position is not a mere summation of the feelings of position such as might be developed independently by separate individuals as they come to compare themselves with Spring however distinguished and accomplished, are somehow inferior, alien, and properly restricted in the area of claims. He forms his conception as a representative of the dominant group; he treats individual members of the subordinate group as representative of that group. An analysis of how the sense of group position is formed should start with a clear recognition that it is an historical product. It is set originally by conditions of initial contact. Prestige, power, possession of skill, numbers, original selfconceptions, aims, designs and opportunities are a few of the factors that may fashion the original sense of group position. Subsequent experience in the relation of the two racial groups, especially in the area of claims, opportunities and advantages, may mould the sense of group position in many diverse ways. Further, the sense of group position may be intensified or weakened, brought to sharp focus or dulled. It may be deeply entrenched and tenaciously resist change for long periods of time. Or it may never take root. It may undergo quick growth and vigorous expansion, or it may dwindle away through slow-moving erosion. It may be firm or soft, acute or dull, continuous or intermittent. In short, viewed comparatively, the sense of group position is very variable. However variable its particular career, the sense of group position is clearly formed by a running process in which the dominant racial group is led to define and redefine the subordinate racial group and the relations between them. There are two important aspects of this process of definition that I wish to single out for consideration. First, the process of definition occurs obviously through complex interaction and communication between the mem- bers of the dominant group. Leaders, prestige bearers, officials, group agents, dominant individuals and ordinary laymen present to one another characterizations of the subordinate group and express their feelings and ideas on the relations. Through talk, tales, stories, gossip, anecdotes, messages, pronouncements, news accounts, orations, sermons, preachments and the like definitions are presented and feelings are expressed. In this usually vast and complex interaction separate views run against one another, influence one another, modify each other, incite one another and fuse together in new forms. Correspondingly, feelings which are expressed meet, stimulate each other, feed on each other, intensify each other and emerge in new patterns. Currents of view and currents of feeling come into being; sweeping along to positions of dominance and 1958 This content downloaded from 129.59.122.10 on Fri, 09 Sep 2016 20:12:58 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms 5 serving as polar points for the organization of thought and sentiment. If the interaction becomes increasingly circular and reinforcing, devoid of serious inner opposition, such currents grow, fuse and become strengthened. It is through such a process that a collective image of the subordinate group is formed and a sense of group position is set. The evidence of such a process is glaring when one reviews the history of any racial arrangement marked by prejudice. Such a complex process of mutual interaction with its different lines and degrees of formation gives the lie to the many schemes which would lodge the cause of race prejudice in the make-up of the individual-whether in the form of innate disposition, constitutional make-up, personality structure, or direct personal experience with members of the other race. The collective image and feelings in race prejudice are forged out of a complicated social process in which the individual is himself shaped and organized. group and is felt as the voice and action of the group as such. Second, the definitions that are forged in the public arena center, obviously, about matters that are felt to be of major importance. Thus, we are led to recognize the crucial role of the big event in developing a conception of the subordinate racial group. The happening that seems momentous, that touches deep sentiments, that seems to raise fundamental questions about relations, and that awakens strong feelings of identification with ones racial group is the kind of event that is central in the formation of the racial image. Here, again, we note the relative unimportance of the huge bulk of experiences coming from daily contact with individuals of the sub ... Purchase answer to see full attachment