Race, Ethnicity, And Social Stratification

Race, Ethnicity and Stratification

Issues revolving around race and ethnicity have a long history in many societies. Historically, it was believed that there was scientific evidence that supported the idea that people from a certain race were inferior to another based on genetics and human cognitive capabilities. Thought processes such as these have led to the marginalization of countless people around the world. However, in recent years, modern science has invalidated such claims about race, using more advance measures to prove that what people consider race is in fact merely the body's adaptation to the amount of sun available based on the region (OpenStax, “Racial, Ethnic, and Minority Groups.”). Nothing about skin tone correlated to a

Social stratification can best be described as, “a society’s categorization of its people into rankings of socioeconomic tiers based on factors like wealth, income, race, education, and power” (OpenStax, "What Is Social Stratification?"). There are two types of stratification systems that societies use to build their communities around. The first system is a closed system, which is when people are permanently fixed in the social position that they were born into. An example of this would be a caste system, such as the one that was present in India, where people were born into a position and will remain there their entire life. In contrast, an open system is one in which people can move and interact between the social positions. An example would be the class system that is present in American culture. While social factors do play a role in an individual’s position in the social hierarchy, individual achievement play a role as well, which makes transitioning between different classes more fluid (OpenStax, "What Is Social Stratification?"). The type of system a society has is more significant than just how it affects individuals; the system in place, “reflect, emphasize, and foster certain cultural values, and shape individual beliefs” (OpenStax, "What Is Social Stratification?"). For example, in cultures such as India who have had a caste system in place, the ideals of a caste system are ingrained into their religion. Concepts that promote ideas of higher power and fate are often present, which helps people conform to the notion that their individual decisions and desires do not play a role in the overall scheme of things. Thus, they must do as is expected of them because it is out of their power to change anything. In class systems, however, more focus is put on the individual rather than the whole. For example, American culture is built on the notion that if someone puts in the