Children and Prejudice
What a person first needs to know in order to fully understand the various factors that influence racial / ethnic stereotypes is what being Caucasian truly means in our society. In other words, what does "whiteness" mean for a Caucasian child? What does whiteness mean to a child who is African-American -- or to a child that is Latino, or Native American? The authors (Derman-Sparks, et al., 2005) delve into this and other important issues that relate to not just ethnicity but to social power and influence.
What is Racism -- this is important to know -- in America? According to the authors it is important to understand that racism is not just an attitude that one person has towards another. In fact racism in American is an "…institutionalized system of power" that makes the determination as to what groups are "advantaged" and what groups are "disadvantaged"...
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