Patricia Collins developed the matrix of domination. She used ideas of social constructionalism to come up with this concept. This concept explains that there are corresponding systems of inequality that are interconnected. The foundation for this theory is the ideology of inequality. When talking about social class this theory says: wealthy are worthy of what they have and the poor are deserving of their plight. When talking about race, this means that whites are worthy and minorities deserve their plight. We talked about different areas of inequality when it comes to race. In education there might be an unequal distribution of talented teachers and resources. The media may focus on stereotypes.
Residential Segregation, Housing and Neighborhood Conditions
It is estimated that at least 1.9 million Americans are of Arab descent. Arab Americans live in all 50 states. Two thirds of Arab Americans are concentrated in ten states. One third of this total live in California, New York and Michigan. I think that all of the Arab Americans being concentrated to one area creates a barrier between them and other Americans. Many Arab American families consist of married parents and children living at home. “The average family and household size for Arab Americans increased between 2000 and 2007 and remained larger than the average American family and household” (“Demographics,” 2013). Most Arab Americans settle in urban cities. This segregation between Arab Americans and other citizens creates conflict. They do not get to know one another and many stereotypes are created as a cause.
Demographics. (2013). Retrieved from http://www.aaiusa.org/pages/demographics/
The work place/ environment contributes to the Matrix of Domination for minorities. If you live in a poor neighborhood you might have an increased likelihood of being exposed to environmental hazards. Where you live and work influences many other aspects of your life. Many times when people in urban environments, they do not get a say in what gets put in their neighborhoods. “Unequal interests and unequal power arrangements have allowed poisons of the rich to be offered as short-term remedies for poverty of the poor” (Bullard). The workplace also contributes to the Matrix of minorities. One of the difficult aspects of racial discrimination at work is that it can be hard to detect. Unless an employer specifically admits otherwise, no one be certain why they made a particular decision to hire a certain individual or give someone a promotion. “Most researchers agree that skill differences such as education (including its quality) and language account for sizable shares of wage gaps by race and ethnicity, with the sharper dispute whether gaps in these and other skills (such as those captured in test scores fully explain these wage gaps or whether discrimination contributes as well” (Hellerstein & Neumark, 2005). The employer could offer many reasons for why he did not hire someone even if it was really because of their race. It also seems that it difficult for minorities to get higher paying jobs. “A 2007 study conducted by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, a government agency responsible for enforcing anti-discrimination law, found that only 20 percent of minorities are midlevel managers, despite the fact that they account for 34 percent of the total workforce. Moreover, only 24 percent are white-collar professionals and 17 percent are executive or senior-level officials. At the highest levels of corporate governance, these numbers are even smaller. A survey released last year by the Senate Democratic Hispanic Task Force found that just 14.5 percent of directors on corporate boards are people of color” (Romero, Alexis, Fuentes, Salgado, Schmidt & Banzhaf, 2011). I think it is true that many minorities do not get the same chances in the workplace. They are seeing as being worth less than whites.
Bullard, R. (n.d.). Poverty, pollution and environmental racism: Strategies for building healthy and sustainable communitites. Retrieved from http://www.ejrc.cau.edu/PovpolEj.html
Hellerstein, J., & Neumark, D. (2005, August). Workplace segregation in the united states: Race, ethnicity, and skill. Retrieved from http://www.nber.org/papers/w11599.pdf?new_window=1
Romero, H., Alexis, V., Fuentes, C., Salgado, M., Schmidt, A., & Banzhaf, E. (2011, September 1). Assessing urban environmental segregation (ues). Retrieved from http://civdes.uchile.cl/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Romero-et-al-2012_ECOLIND-1.pdf
Criminal justice system influences the Matrix for Arab Americans. Since the attacks of September 11, 2011, Arab Americans have been viewed as dangerous by the criminal justice system. There is a lot of suspicion surrounding them. “Racial profiling occurs when race is used by law enforcement or private security officials, to any degree, as a basis for criminal suspicion in non-suspect specific investigations” (Christensen, 2010). I feel that this is an area that definitely influences other areas of life. For example, if Arab Americans are seen as dangerous by the criminal justice system, they will have a more difficult time finding housing. People will not want them in their neighborhoods because of incorrect assumptions they may have. They might not get a house in a certain neighborhood so as not to alarm other residents of the neighborhoods. This could also influence their workplace environment. Employers might be resistant to hiring someone of Arab descent. For this reason, they may only be able to find lower class jobs regardless of their skill level.
Residential Segregation, Housing and Neighborhood Conditions
It is estimated that at least 1.9 million Americans are of Arab descent. Arab Americans live in all 50 states. Two thirds of Arab Americans are concentrated in ten states. One third of this total live in California, New York and Michigan. I think that all of the Arab Americans being concentrated to one area creates a barrier between them and other Americans. Many Arab American families consist of married parents and children living at home. “The average family and household size for Arab Americans increased between 2000 and 2007 and remained larger than the average American family and household” (“Demographics,” 2013). Most Arab Americans settle in urban cities. This segregation between Arab Americans and other citizens creates conflict. They do not get to know one another and many stereotypes are created as a cause.
Demographics. (2013). Retrieved from http://www.aaiusa.org/pages/demographics/
The work place/ environment contributes to the Matrix of Domination for minorities. If you live in a poor neighborhood you might have an increased likelihood of being exposed to environmental hazards. Where you live and work influences many other aspects of your life. Many times when people in urban environments, they do not get a say in what gets put in their neighborhoods. “Unequal interests and unequal power arrangements have allowed poisons of the rich to be offered as short-term remedies for poverty of the poor” (Bullard). The workplace also contributes to the Matrix of minorities. One of the difficult aspects of racial discrimination at work is that it can be hard to detect. Unless an employer specifically admits otherwise, no one be certain why they made a particular decision to hire a certain individual or give someone a promotion. “Most researchers agree that skill differences such as education (including its quality) and language account for sizable shares of wage gaps by race and ethnicity, with the sharper dispute whether gaps in these and other skills (such as those captured in test scores fully explain these wage gaps or whether discrimination contributes as well” (Hellerstein & Neumark, 2005). The employer could offer many reasons for why he did not hire someone even if it was really because of their race. It also seems that it difficult for minorities to get higher paying jobs. “A 2007 study conducted by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, a government agency responsible for enforcing anti-discrimination law, found that only 20 percent of minorities are midlevel managers, despite the fact that they account for 34 percent of the total workforce. Moreover, only 24 percent are white-collar professionals and 17 percent are executive or senior-level officials. At the highest levels of corporate governance, these numbers are even smaller. A survey released last year by the Senate Democratic Hispanic Task Force found that just 14.5 percent of directors on corporate boards are people of color” (Romero, Alexis, Fuentes, Salgado, Schmidt & Banzhaf, 2011). I think it is true that many minorities do not get the same chances in the workplace. They are seeing as being worth less than whites.
Bullard, R. (n.d.). Poverty, pollution and environmental racism: Strategies for building healthy and sustainable communitites. Retrieved from http://www.ejrc.cau.edu/PovpolEj.html
Hellerstein, J., & Neumark, D. (2005, August). Workplace segregation in the united states: Race, ethnicity, and skill. Retrieved from http://www.nber.org/papers/w11599.pdf?new_window=1
Romero, H., Alexis, V., Fuentes, C., Salgado, M., Schmidt, A., & Banzhaf, E. (2011, September 1). Assessing urban environmental segregation (ues). Retrieved from http://civdes.uchile.cl/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Romero-et-al-2012_ECOLIND-1.pdf
Criminal justice system influences the Matrix for Arab Americans. Since the attacks of September 11, 2011, Arab Americans have been viewed as dangerous by the criminal justice system. There is a lot of suspicion surrounding them. “Racial profiling occurs when race is used by law enforcement or private security officials, to any degree, as a basis for criminal suspicion in non-suspect specific investigations” (Christensen, 2010). I feel that this is an area that definitely influences other areas of life. For example, if Arab Americans are seen as dangerous by the criminal justice system, they will have a more difficult time finding housing. People will not want them in their neighborhoods because of incorrect assumptions they may have. They might not get a house in a certain neighborhood so as not to alarm other residents of the neighborhoods. This could also influence their workplace environment. Employers might be resistant to hiring someone of Arab descent. For this reason, they may only be able to find lower class jobs regardless of their skill level.
“This political cartoon satirizes the first United States Secretary of Homeland Security, who helped devise a color-coded system to indicate terrorism threat level for air travel. In the year after September 11, the Arab-American Anti-discrimination Committee received 80 reports of illegal airline discrimination, and such cases persist” (Christensen, 2010).
Christensen, A. (2010). Issue brief: Arab Americans and criminal justice.
After several incidents that happened around the world, peoples view on Arabs changed. The media played a big role in “the stereotyping of Arabs”. It is one of the main reasons for people to think the way they are about Arabs. Many movies, television shows, newspapers, magazines, radios, internet websites and other types of media were talking about Arabs and Muslims and portrayed them as uneducated, uncivilized, extremists, close-minded people and they even showed them as terrorists. Hollywood; the main movie industry area in the world is mainly controlled by Jewish people. Jews have had unpleasant history with Muslims and a big percentage of Muslims are Arabs. Some of the Jewish publishers still hold a grudge and hatred towards Arabs and Muslims, so they would present them in negative ways and show them as”harm” to society. Many people become ignorant and get highly influenced and judge Arabs by the things they hear or see from the media without knowing the truth or meeting an Arab or actually visiting Arab and Muslim countries. Jokes, movies, cartoons, music, blogs, and videos belittle the Arabs and Muslim cultures, which is very offensive and blunt of them.
Arabs are definitely stereotyped in American media. September 11th changed the lives of Arabs in America. The attacks brought terrorism to the forefront of national attention, in every aspect. The United States started an effort to understand and defeat terrorism. The media begin it’s fascination with the attacks. Citizens of America began to see Arabs as increasingly violent. “The Western media has often projected individuals of Arab descent in a negative manner. Currently, Arabs are seen as terrorists and murderers due to how the media presents them. Newspapers use key words such as extremists, terrorists and fanatics to describe Arabs” (El-Farra, 1996). According to Shaheen 1984, "The present day Arab stereotype parallels the image of Jews in pre-Nazi Germany, where Jews were painted as dark, shifty-eyed, venal and threateningly different people.” This portrayal of Arabs has caused other American citizens to treat Arabs with caution. I feel that this is very unfair to the Arab people. The word “terrorist” does not define an Arab. It is unfair to judge a group of people based on the actions of one person from the group.
El-Farra, N. (1996). Arabs and the medi. Journal of Media Psychology, 2(2), Retrieved from http://www.calstatela.edu/faculty/sfischo/Arabs.html
Shaheen, J. G. (1984). The TV Arab. Ohio: Bowling Green State University Popular Press.
Christensen, A. (2010). Issue brief: Arab Americans and criminal justice.
After several incidents that happened around the world, peoples view on Arabs changed. The media played a big role in “the stereotyping of Arabs”. It is one of the main reasons for people to think the way they are about Arabs. Many movies, television shows, newspapers, magazines, radios, internet websites and other types of media were talking about Arabs and Muslims and portrayed them as uneducated, uncivilized, extremists, close-minded people and they even showed them as terrorists. Hollywood; the main movie industry area in the world is mainly controlled by Jewish people. Jews have had unpleasant history with Muslims and a big percentage of Muslims are Arabs. Some of the Jewish publishers still hold a grudge and hatred towards Arabs and Muslims, so they would present them in negative ways and show them as”harm” to society. Many people become ignorant and get highly influenced and judge Arabs by the things they hear or see from the media without knowing the truth or meeting an Arab or actually visiting Arab and Muslim countries. Jokes, movies, cartoons, music, blogs, and videos belittle the Arabs and Muslim cultures, which is very offensive and blunt of them.
Arabs are definitely stereotyped in American media. September 11th changed the lives of Arabs in America. The attacks brought terrorism to the forefront of national attention, in every aspect. The United States started an effort to understand and defeat terrorism. The media begin it’s fascination with the attacks. Citizens of America began to see Arabs as increasingly violent. “The Western media has often projected individuals of Arab descent in a negative manner. Currently, Arabs are seen as terrorists and murderers due to how the media presents them. Newspapers use key words such as extremists, terrorists and fanatics to describe Arabs” (El-Farra, 1996). According to Shaheen 1984, "The present day Arab stereotype parallels the image of Jews in pre-Nazi Germany, where Jews were painted as dark, shifty-eyed, venal and threateningly different people.” This portrayal of Arabs has caused other American citizens to treat Arabs with caution. I feel that this is very unfair to the Arab people. The word “terrorist” does not define an Arab. It is unfair to judge a group of people based on the actions of one person from the group.
El-Farra, N. (1996). Arabs and the medi. Journal of Media Psychology, 2(2), Retrieved from http://www.calstatela.edu/faculty/sfischo/Arabs.html
Shaheen, J. G. (1984). The TV Arab. Ohio: Bowling Green State University Popular Press.