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Measuring Racial Discrimination (2004) / Chapter Skim
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PART 1: CONCEPTS
Pages 23-24

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From page 23...
... To understand such conditions and fashion appropriate responses, it is important to assess whether and how racial discrimination, along with other factors, may contribute to observed disparities among racial and ethnic groups. Research in social psychology suggests that categorizing individuals on the basis of salient, observable characteristics such as race, gender, age, and even patterns of dress and speech is inevitable, occurs automatically, and activates biases associated with these characteristics (Allport, 1954; Brewer and Brown, 1998; Devine, 1989, 2001; Fiske, 1998)
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From page 24...
... Each component goes beyond a strictly legal definition to include some individual behaviors and organizational processes that may not be unlawful but that have discriminatory effects; that is, they result in adverse consequences for racial groups. We explain why we focus in this report on racial discrimination against disadvantaged groups, and we provide evidence of racial disparities in outcomes across various social and economic domains.
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Key Terms

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  • treatment discrimination
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  • legal concepts

  • organizational processes
  • observed disparities
  • goes beyond
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  • observable characteristics

  • psychology suggests
  • observable physical
  • physical features
  • measurement methods
  • discriminatory effects

  • disparate impact
  • component goes
  • provide evidence
  • socially significant
  • occurs automatically


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