Sociology Assignment: Culture and Inequality in the Modern World

This essay, focusing on race and ethnicity, examines how media portrayals of culturally diverse groups contribute to social inequalities. The author analyzes how the media, influenced by dominant societal forces, creates cognitive biases against minority groups, particularly immigrants. Drawing upon sociological theories, the essay argues that the media's depiction of cultural differences, often linked with crime and economic disparity, reinforces stereotypes and prejudices. The study explores the impact of these biases on the identity and social standing of minority groups, emphasizing the role of structural-functional and social-conflict approaches in understanding the issue. The essay also addresses gendered aspects of cultural inequality, particularly how media stereotypes affect immigrant men and women, concluding that cultural differences have historically been a root cause of social inequalities. The work includes references to support the arguments presented.

Running Head: CULTURE AND INEQUALITY
Culture and Inequality
Name of Student
Name of University
Author note

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Introduction
The chosen topic for the paper is Race and Ethnicity, covered in the twelfth chapter of the
course. The essay aims to analyze sociologically, the current events of the world that highlight
the racial tensions between specific groups of people or institutions. For a better understanding
of the topic, the essay selects a conceptual focus to establish a link between the issue with
broader sociological themes. The sociological tools provided in Chapter 12 of the book will be
used to back up the arguments made in the thesis statement. After concretizing the thesis
statements with relevant academic theories and key concepts of sociology, the essay concludes
with the reassertion of the statement, summarizing the reasons why culture has traditionally been
a fundamental base of social inequalities.
Body
Immigrants and their media-triggered associations with crime is a widely covered topic in
the contexts of race, ethnicity and cultural inequality. A recent advertisement initiated by
President Trump and company, directly links crime with illegal immigration (Michele: 153).
This has promoted the illusion among average Americans that people belonging from ethnically
different backgrounds are more prone to committing crimes than the ‘indigenous’ mass. Trump
had recently accused the minority immigrant population of stealing the majority of American
jobs, which has furthered the prejudiced attitudes of the Americans towards the minority
cultures.
Thesis statement- The media portrayal of culturally different groups and their economic
position in the foreign land creates a cognitive bias among the natives as they begin to perceive
the ‘other’ group as inferior, unusually distinct and even dangerous. This cognitive bias is a

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constant threat to the identity of the racial minority and augments the social differences between
different races (Bleich et al: 857).
The differences are rooted in the lack of understanding and empathy towards
economically backwards or culturally different groups. Pertaining to the structural-functional
theory of culture, it is a strategy of meeting the needs of all human beings. If people are
immigrating from their native land it is because their basic requirements were no longer met in
their native land and the decision to migrate is therefore solely borne out of the human instinct to
survive with security and adequacy. Following the media circus on immigrants and the ways
they are consistently taking over the job market, many classrooms are witnessing racial tensions
among culture-specific groups. Students belonging from ethnically different backgrounds display
different character traits and belief patterns, which is reflected in their speech and actions. This
difference is unreasonably made on the basis of inequality; with the American students looking
down upon the ethnically different students for having a different take on things. Culture may be
a social construct but it plays a primary role in shaping the mindsets of people and determining
how they will perceive of themselves and the world around them. The cognitive bias of the
majority mass is developed through observing how differently the ethnically diverse people react
to the happenings of the world, their distinct values and the means they employ to preserve them.
The social and economic status of the immigrant population is of central importance to the
discussion of the topic. The reason why media takes the liberties to portray the culturally diverse
crowd in unfavorable colors in because the media is manipulated by the dominant, majority
class. The social-conflict approach reveals the link between culture and inequality, emphasizing
on the fact that the powerful in the society always benefits at the expense of the underprivileged
minority. The wealthy elite of the society who form the majority bulk of the voting population

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(something politicians are deeply concerned with) power the media. The culture of the majority
has a powerful effect on that of the minority and it becomes convenient for the majority-driven
media to distinguish (derogatorily) the minority crowd with different cultural identities, as
potential threats to the well-being and security of the central population. This cognitive bias is
therefore rooted in materialism and the strains of inequality is triggered by unfair media portrayal
(Esses et al: 518).
Cultural inequality is also deeply rooted in gender and a whole lot of biased opinion is
leveled at the media-portrayed ‘violent’ men and ‘compliant’ women among the immigrant
population belonging from culturally different backgrounds. The Feminist Theory of Gender
and Culture suggest that the attributed, stereotyped traits are inherently attached to an individual
being male or female. Media has typically associated the vehement underworld of Mafias and
Drug lords with the culture of East-Europe and some countries in South America. Hollywood has
been making its due contribution in creating the gooney image that is associated with the men
belonging from these cultures (Erigha: 78). The top-notch crime fictions in the industry are based
on culture-specific men, while the women of the same tribe is either unnecessarily fetishized or
depicted as helpless, submissive housewives to powerful men. This has led the ordinary member
of the dominant culture consider these men as uncouth and dangerous, and the women as passive
and inferior.
Conclusion
It can be concluded from the above discussion that cultural differences have been the root
cause of social inequalities since times immemorial. The cognitive-bias of the dominant culture
is constructed socially by the media and other manipulative forces that control the through-
process of the mass. The negative judgment takes place at a sub-conscious level since the media

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keeps feeding the presumptions of the mass with false notions and forged information. The sole
sufferers of the circumstance remain to be the minority belonging from culturally diverse
backgrounds, who, on account of their powerlessness in non-native country have to bear out the
undue burden of their ethnicity and cultural values. Apart from affecting the social and economic
status of the immigrants, the stereotyped ideas associated with a specific cultural group also
tampers with their sense of identity as they struggle to assert their existence in a world that has
denied them one.

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References and Bibliography:
Bleich, Erik, Irene Bloemraad, and Els De Graauw. "Migrants, minorities and the media:
Information, representations and participation in the public sphere." Journal of Ethnic and
Migration Studies 41.6 (2015): 857-873.
Erigha, Maryann. "Race, Gender, Hollywood: Representation in Cultural Production and Digital
Media's Potential for Change." Sociology Compass 9.1 (2015): 78-89.
Esses, Victoria M., Stelian Medianu, and Andrea S. Lawson. "Uncertainty, threat, and the role of
the media in promoting the dehumanization of immigrants and refugees." Journal of Social
Issues 69.3 (2013): 518-536.
Holtzman, Linda, and Leon Sharpe. Media messages: What film, television, and popular music
teach us about race, class, gender, and sexual orientation. Routledge, 2014.
Lamont, Michèle, Bo Yun Park, and Elena Ayala‐Hurtado. "Trump's electoral speeches and his
appeal to the American white working class." The British journal of sociology 68 (2017): S153-
S180.
Lareau, Annette. "Cultural knowledge and social inequality." American Sociological Review 80.1
(2015): 1-27.
Le Espiritu, Yen. "" We don't sleep around like white girls do": Family, culture, and gender in
Filipina American lives." Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society 26.2 (2001): 415-440.