Sociology 1
Essay Assignment
INSTRUCTIONS
In no more than five pages of work, please respond to the following prompt. Please be thorough and specific, and work closely with the course readings. Use any format you like for in-text citations and include a formatted references page. Your essay should be well organized and reflect a clear understanding of the readings you refer to.
DUE SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 20
Question:
Please discuss different aspects of social structure in terms of theory, institutions, and inequality. Please make sure to address the following issues (in no particular order):
What is social structure and how can a sociological imagination help us better understand it?
What are social constructs, how do we learn them and how do they shape us as individuals?
Discuss formal institutions as a type of social structure, such as capitalism and democracy. How do these institutions shape our lives?
How can we understand social inequality in terms of race, gender, and social class, based on what youve said about social structure?
561306
research-article2014
SREXXX10.1177/2332649214561306Sociology of Race and EthnicityAnderson
Race, Space, Integration, and Inclusion?
Sociology of Race and Ethnicity
2015, Vol. 1(1) 1021
© American Sociological Association 2014
DOI: 10.1177/2332649214561306
sre.sagepub.com
The White Space
Elijah Anderson1
Abstract
Since the end of the Civil Rights Movement, large numbers of black people have made their way into
settings previously occupied only by whites, though their reception has been mixed. Overwhelmingly white
neighborhoods, schools, workplaces, restaurants, and other public spaces remain. Blacks perceive such
settings as the white space, which they often consider to be informally off limits for people like them.
Meanwhile, despite the growth of an enormous black middle class, many whites assume that the natural
black space is that destitute and fearsome locality so commonly featured in the public media, including
popular books, music and videos, and the TV newsthe iconic ghetto. White people typically avoid black
space, but black people are required to navigate the white space as a condition of their existence.
