scholarly journals Sociological Perspectives on Racial Discrimination

2020 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 49-67 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mario L. Small ◽  
Devah Pager
Keyword(s):  
Racial Discrimination ◽  
Statistical Discrimination ◽  
Institutional Discrimination ◽  
Interpersonal Discrimination

As in economics, racial discrimination has long been a focus of research in sociology. Yet the disciplines traditionally have differed in how they approach the topic. While some studies in recent years show signs of cross-disciplinary influence, exposing more economists to sociological perspectives on racial discrimination would benefit both fields. We offer six propositions from the sociology of racial discrimination that we believe economists should note. We argue that independent of taste and statistical discrimination, economists should study institutional discrimination; that institutional discrimination can take at least two forms, organizational and legal; that in both forms the decisions of a contemporary actor to discriminate can be immaterial; that institutional discrimination is a vehicle through which past discrimination has contemporary consequences; that minor forms of everyday interpersonal discrimination can be highly consequential; and that whether actors perceive they have experienced discrimination deserves attention in its own right.

scholarly journals Racial Discrimination and Telomere Length in Midlife African American Women: Interactions of Educational Attainment and Employment Status

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marilyn D Thomas ◽  
Saba Sohail ◽  
Rebecca M Mendez ◽  
Leticia Márquez-Magaña ◽  
Amani M Allen
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
Confidence Interval ◽  
Educational Attainment ◽  
African American Women ◽  
Telomere Length ◽  
Racial Discrimination ◽  
Employment Status ◽  
Cellular Aging ◽  
Computer Assisted ◽  
Institutional Discrimination

Abstract Background Over the life course, African American (AA) women have faster telomere attrition, a biological indicator of accelerated aging, than White women. Race, sex, age, and composite socioeconomic status (SES) modify associations of institutional racial discrimination and telomere length. However, interactions with everyday racial discrimination have not been detected in AA women, nor have interactions with individual socioeconomic predictors. Purpose We estimated statistical interaction of institutional and everyday racial discrimination with age, education, employment, poverty, and composite SES on telomere length among midlife AA women. Methods Data are from a cross-section of 140 AA women aged 30–50 years residing in the San Francisco Bay Area. Participants completed questionnaires, computer-assisted self-interviews, physical examinations, and blood draws. Adjusted linear regression estimated bootstrapped racial discrimination–relative telomere length associations with interaction terms. Results Racial discrimination did not interact with age, poverty, or composite SES measures to modify associations with telomere length. Interactions between independent SES variables were nonsignificant for everyday discrimination whereas institutional discrimination interacted with educational attainment and employment status to modify telomere length. After adjusting for covariates, we found that higher institutional discrimination was associated with shorter telomeres among employed women with lower education (β = −0.020; 95% confidence interval = −0.036, −0.003). Among unemployed women with higher education, higher institutional discrimination was associated with longer telomeres (β = 0.017; 95% confidence interval = 0.003, 0.032). Factors related to having a post-high school education may be protective against the negative effects of institutional racism on cellular aging for AA women.

Evidence from Field Experiments in Hiring Shows Substantial Additional Racial Discrimination after the Callback

Social Forces ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 99 (2) ◽  
pp. 732-759 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lincoln Quillian ◽  
John J Lee ◽  
Mariana Oliver
Keyword(s):  
Racial Discrimination ◽  
Field Experiments ◽  
Experimental Studies ◽  
Ethnic Discrimination ◽  
Statistical Discrimination ◽  
Important Method ◽  
Hiring Discrimination ◽  
Hiring Process ◽  
Job Offers

Abstract Field experiments using fictitious applications have become an increasingly important method for assessing hiring discrimination. Most field experiments of hiring, however, only observe whether the applicant receives an invitation to interview, called the “callback.” How adequate is our understanding of discrimination in the hiring process based on an assessment of discrimination in callbacks, when the ultimate subject of interest is discrimination in job offers? To address this question, we examine evidence from all available field experimental studies of racial or ethnic discrimination in hiring that go to the job offer outcome. Our sample includes 12 studies encompassing more than 13,000 job applications. We find considerable additional discrimination in hiring after the callback: majority applicants in our sample receive 53% more callbacks than comparable minority applicants, but majority applicants receive 145% more job offers than comparable minority applicants. The additional discrimination from interview to job offer is weakly correlated (r = 0.21) with the level of discrimination earlier in the hiring process. We discuss the implications of our results for theories of discrimination, including statistical discrimination.

Discrimination and Deterrence with Enforcer Liability

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Murat C Mungan
Keyword(s):  
Adverse Effects ◽  
Racial Discrimination ◽  
Statistical Discrimination ◽  
Success Rates ◽  
Alternative Settings

Abstract Taste-based discrimination (i.e. discrimination due to racist preferences) receives more attention than statistical discrimination in the enforcement literature, because the latter allows enforcers to increase their “success rates.” I show here that when enforcers’ incentives can be altered via liabilities and rewards, all types of discrimination reduce deterrence. Moreover, adverse effects of statistical discrimination on deterrence are more persistent than similar effects due to taste-based discrimination. I identify crime minimizing liabilities and rewards when enforcers engage in racial discrimination and consider the robustness of the analysis in alternative settings.

scholarly journals Racial Discrimination in Grading: Evidence from Brazil

2015 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 37-52 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fernando Botelho ◽  
Ricardo A. Madeira ◽  
Marcos A. Rangel
Keyword(s):  
Racial Discrimination ◽  
Administrative Data ◽  
Statistical Discrimination ◽  
Eighth Grade ◽  
Behavioral Traits ◽  
Eighth Grade Students ◽  
Math Grades

We investigate whether racial discrimination in the form of biased assessment of students is prevalent within Brazilian schools. Evidence is drawn from unique administrative data pertaining to eighth-grade students and educators. Holding constant performance in blindly-scored tests of proficiency and behavioral traits we find that blacks have lower teacher-assigned math grades than their white classmates. Heterogeneity in differentials provides evidence both of robustness with respect to omission biases and of compatibility with predictions from models of statistical discrimination. (JEL I21, I24, J15, O15)

scholarly journals Confronting Institutional Discrimination in a Color-Blind World

2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 84-108 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric O. Silva ◽  
Christopher J. Gillmann ◽  
KeyAnna L. Tate
Keyword(s):  
Native American ◽  
Racial Discrimination ◽  
Race And Ethnicity ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Letters To The Editor ◽  
Institutional Discrimination ◽  
Sports Teams ◽  
The Public ◽  
Color Blind ◽  
The Public Sphere

This article builds on the scholarship on color-blind ideology by examining discourse challenging two cases of institutional discrimination (the criminalization of unauthorized immigrants and sports teams’ use of Native American symbolism). Our research questions are first, what general options do anti-racists have for navigating norms of color-blindness in the public sphere? Second, how does context influence how people confront institutional discrimination? Based on an ethnographic content analysis of 165 letters to the editor published in American newspapers, we find that opponents of institutional discrimination have the choice of addressing one of four laminations. In each lamination, authors acknowledge framings of racial discrimination that are unacknowledged in previous ones. In the abstraction lamination, authors do not recognize race and ethnicity. In the pigmentation lamination, authors identify race and ethnicity, but not discrimination. Authors in the discrimination lamination acknowledge the practice is harmful to a particular racial or ethnic group, and the contextualization lamination lends added dimensionality to the discourse. A comparison of the laminations of pro-immigrant and anti-mascot letters demonstrates varying willingness to acknowledge racial discrimination. Namely, the pro-immigrant discourse was more color-blind than anti-mascot criticism. We consider the potential causes of these findings and offer suggestions for future research in the conclusion

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