Getting Respect: Responding to Stigma and Discrimination in the United States, Brazil, and Israel

by Michèle Lamont, Graziella Moraes Silva, Jessica Welburn

A comparative look at how discrimination is experienced by stigmatized groups in the United States, Brazil, and Israel

Racism is a common occurrence for members of marginalized groups around the world. Getting Respect illuminates their experiences by comparing three countries with enduring group the United States, Brazil and Israel. The authors delve into what kinds of stigmatizing or discriminatory incidents individuals encounter in each country, how they respond to these occurrences, and what they view as the best strategy―whether individually, collectively, through confrontation, or through self-improvement―for dealing with such events.

This deeply collaborative and integrated study draws on more than four hundred in-depth interviews with middle- and working-class men and women residing in and around multiethnic cities―New York City, Rio de Janeiro, and Tel Aviv―to compare the discriminatory experiences of African Americans, black Brazilians, and Arab Palestinian citizens of Israel, as well as Israeli Ethiopian Jews and Mizrahi (Sephardic) Jews. Detailed analysis reveals significant differences in group Arab Palestinians frequently remain silent due to resignation and cynicism while black Brazilians see more stigmatization by class than by race, and African Americans confront situations with less hesitation than do Ethiopian Jews and Mizrahim, who tend to downplay their exclusion. The authors account for these patterns by considering the extent to which each group is actually a group, the sociohistorical context of intergroup conflict, and the national ideologies and other cultural repertoires that group members rely on.

Getting Respect is a rich and daring book that opens many new perspectives into, and sets a new global agenda for, the comparative analysis of race and ethnicity.

Genres: Nonfiction

400 pages, Hardcover

Published September 20, 2016

About the author

Michèle Lamont is the Robert I. Goldman Professor of European Studies and professor of sociology and African and Africa American Studies at Harvard University.

Reviews

[RYAN PHAM · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dust jacket cover

I am in love with the table ơn page 209. It’s about the three “other groups” in Israeli culture.

Arab Palestinian citizens of Israel are seen as non-Jewish and permanently locked out of the Israeli identity. They are locked out of civil society in a total segregated status, have an identifiable Hebrew accent, and an undeniable tie tô their community. They have a similar position tô Black people in America. Population percentage is 19.0%.

Ethiopian Jews has a small population, are Jewish, but will occasionally contested about their identity. Their socioeconomic status is generally low and live ăn almost total segregated reality. They try to blend in with the Jewish identity and try to down play their blackness. They have a slight accent that differs by generation and class. It sounds like they are trying really hard to assimilate, reminding me of Asian Americans. Population percentage is 1.8%.

The Mizrahim are undeniably seen as Jewish but can go in between groups. It’s kind of permeable. There are so many of them from different classes that there is no longer a singular Mizrahim identity. They try to play down their Mizrahim identity. They remind me of German, Italian, or Irish immigrants in the 20th century. Population percentage is 26.5%.