The Changing Face of Racial Discrimination: Hispanics as the Dominant Minority in the USA - a New Application of Power-Threat Theory

Abstract

According to Hubert Blalock's 1967 power-threat theory, the larger the minority group's size the greater the threat to the majority group. Most of Blalock's examples, and much of the subsequent empirical investigation into the power-threat thesis, focus on Anglo and African American relations. Changing demographics will likely alter existing majority-minority relations as Hispanics displace African Americans as the largest minority. This will change the face of racial discrimination in the country. Indeed, this paper suggests that the animosity toward Latinos by both the majority white and minority black populations may be more intense than those shaping contemporary white-black relations. Two key lifestyle features that have not contaminated black-white relations may exacerbate hostility toward Hispanics: their perceived illegal status in the country, and the perception that Hispanics resist learning English. The role of the media in perpetuating these stereotypes and inflaming hostility toward Latinos is also discussed.

Stranger at the Gate: The Effect of the Plaintiff's use of an Interpreter on Juror Decision‐Making

“…As a result, Latinos will face racial hostility from both Whites and Blacks. Indeed, such hostility may be more intense than the forces at work in Black/White interactions because of certain facts that do not obtain in the Black/White context -especially the widespread belief that Latinos fail to learn the English language (Markert, 2010). When this occurs, Latinos can expect the majority group to exercise legal power or control so as to maintain the dominant group's power (Markert, 2010).…”

“…Indeed, such hostility may be more intense than the forces at work in Black/White interactions because of certain facts that do not obtain in the Black/White context -especially the widespread belief that Latinos fail to learn the English language (Markert, 2010). When this occurs, Latinos can expect the majority group to exercise legal power or control so as to maintain the dominant group's power (Markert, 2010). This study is significant in that it begins to shed some light on the validity of this new power-threat theory because the majority showed fairness or leniency toward the Latino Spanish speakers.…”

Assessing Diversity across Cultures: A U.S.-Hispanic Perspective

“…However, given the small size of the sample selected for this study, such inferences should be considered with caution. Plus, there remain additional factors to be taken into account in order to formulate a more definitive understanding of a Hispanic majority-minority, such as generational differences among Hispanics and tensions between Hispanic cultures (Markert, 2010;Tung, 2008). This study provides some insights into further research possibilities, such as assessments of the effects of national cultures in understanding diversity perceptions, which is especially important for diversity initiatives within a "globalized" workforce.…”

Anti-Immigrant Rhetoric, Shifting Ideologies and the Criminalisation of the ‘Other’: An Analysis of Migrant Crime and Threat Discourse in the Norwegian Print Media From 2000 to 2014

“…Perhaps the most newly-examined aspect of group threat theory, especially in relation to influencing perceptions and inciting hostility, is the role of the media, which has always played a pivotal part in drawing attention toward (or away from) an issue by the time and amount of space devoted to the subject, as well as the way in which a particular issue is framed. Moreover, the media has become much more pronounced in its influence in the half-century since Blalock (1967) initially examined race relations, owing in large part to the ubiquity of television, print, and online media today (Gorman & McLean, 2003;Cummins & Gordon, 2006;& Markert, 2010). The media has primarily generated considerable attention from the public, politicians and other members of the hegemonic elite, such as academics, due to its rapid-fire method of delivery of ‗real world' events tends to mask the slant of the story and prevents the viewer from recognising how the story was framed (Barkin, 2003;Kerbel, 1999).…”