Ethnic Minorities

• Charles Murray was a New Right Theorist. He published a book in 1984 which was titled Losing Ground, which was based on his argument of the USA  having an growing underclass that posed as a serious threat to American society.

• He believed that government policies were encouraging many Americans to become dependent on benefits, which was a huge concern. 

• When Murray visited Britain in 1989, he wrote an article for the Sunday Times where he argued that Britain had also developed an underclass. 

Patterson's host immigrant model is a good example of a Functionalist approach. 

Patterson's theory presented Britain as a stable, homogeneous and orderly society. However, this equilibrium was disrupted by the arrival of immigrants in the 1950's, who subscribed to very different sets of norms and values. 

She claimed that the hosts were not actually racist, just very unsure of how to act towards the newcomers. 

An article in the Guardian by Vikram Dodd (2012) reported that many Muslim women remove hijabs or make names sound more English to beat discrimnation in the labour market.

Black and Asian women complained of being asked during job interviews about their plans for marriage and having children.

Some ethnic minority women were 'deselecting themselves' from the jobs market and deciding not to apply because of the extra barriers they faced. 

The dual labour market theory demonstrates how racial prejudice and discrimination can be seen in the distribution of ethnic minorities in the labour force. 

Barron and Norris distinguished between the primary and secondary labour market consisting of well-paid, secure jobs with good promotional prospects and the secondary labour market consisting of the worst jobs, lowest pay, worse conditions, least job security and very few promotional prospects. 

The legal and political framework supporting black and Asian people is weak. Trade unions are generally White dominated and have been accused of favouring White dominated and have been accused of favouring white workers and being less interested in protecting the rights of black workers.