Institutional Patterns in Racial Steering
"Gatekeepers and Homeseekers: Institutional Patterns in Racial Steering", is an informative article that touches upon many of the key points gone over in class. This article deals with the difference in the way blacks and whites were and are treated, past and present, by real estate agents when shopping for a new home. In the study, one can see that blacks were not treated as fairly as white people in the real estate market were. Many times the potential black homebuyers were discouraged from purchasing homes in the same areas that the agent would readily show a white homebuyer. The real estate agent played a very peculiar role in doing this. They were, in essence, the racist gatekeepers of a seemingly non-racist neighborhood. The study further goes into this issue by giving explanations and interpretation of this behavior that is seen all over the United States. From thorough examination of the article, one can come to the conclusion that the author, Diana M. Pearce, is following the "interactionist" perspective to sociology. In sociology, the interactionist perspective tends to use the "micro" approach, where smaller groups of individuals are studied. The interactionist perspective views society as countless
How is society experienced? In other words, what was the difference between the black and the white experience when shopping for a home? This question can best be answered through generalization rather than through specific quotes because it is so prevalent through the article. Basically, a "black" person is sometimes at the mercy of the beliefs and attitudes of the real estate agent when attempting to move into a predominantly white neighborhood. Past experience, as cited other times earlier in this study, can greatly influence decision making and can also relate to the "mean what you say idea. Demographics and charts have also shown statistically that white people are generally shown more and higher priced houses.(table 2) This table is a useful tool to show this point because it is raw data, not interpretation. The whites, as said earlier, got choice pick generally and found no trouble getting into particular neighborhoods. To answer the question generally, society is experienced through daily activities, which in turn lead to attitudes and perceptions that lead to possibly racism. One can see that through studying the article , the interactionist approach to sociology is clearly used. The above questions are sufficiently answered to show how this approach relates to the article. The subject of the article is a little touchy though. What that means, is, racism by far eclipses the idea of sociology as a science. The average reader sees prejudice and not sociological issues in general. Other than that there is more than enough information in the study to get an understanding of the prevalent questions. Sociology, to me, seems to touch many important aspects of everyday life, including some ugly ones, like those in the article. Do people always mean what they say? According to the interactionist approach to sociology, people do not always mean what they say. Experience can change the views of people who though
Some common words found in the essay are:
Deep South, Diana Pearce, Racial Steering, real estate, real estate agent, estate agent, people mean, interactionist approach sociology, shopping home, interactionist approach, society experienced, approach sociology, white people, interactionist perspective, black white experience, article answers, according interactionist approach, white experience shopping,
Approximate Word count = 1319
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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