Course: Introduction to Sociology (SOC 1) · Silver Oak University (fictional sample) · Prof. Adeyemi
Module: Week 10 of 16 · Fall 2026 · in-person, two 75-minute sessions
Objective covered: Objective 6 — Analyze race and ethnicity as social categories: distinguish prejudice, discrimination, and institutional racism; read demographic data; and apply the three perspectives to documented racial inequality.

This file holds two pieces: (A) the Module 10 Overview page ("Start Here") and (B) the Welcome Announcement that drips out when the module opens. Dates below assume a Tuesday/Thursday session pattern with Week 10 meeting Tue Nov 3 and Thu Nov 5, and end-of-week work due Sunday Nov 8, 11:59 p.m. Adjust the day-of-week and times to match your section.

(A) Module 10 Overview — Start Here

Welcome to Week 10: Race & Ethnicity

This is your home base for the week. Read it first, then work the checklist below from top to bottom. Everything you need is linked inside the module.

This is one of the most important weeks in the course — and one of the most misunderstood topics in everyday life. We'll do something that surprises a lot of students: we'll show, with evidence, that race is a social construction, not a biological fact — and then we'll show that this does not make racial inequality any less real. The categories are made by societies; the measured gaps between groups are documented in data. Holding both of those at once is the whole sociological move this week.

We'll get precise about three words people use loosely and often blur together: prejudice (an attitude), discrimination (an action), and institutional racism (bias built into how organizations and systems normally operate). And we'll meet W. E. B. Du Bois — whom you first saw in Week 1 — in depth, for "the color line" and "double consciousness."

A note on how we'll talk about this. We treat this topic factually, respectfully, and as social scientists. On genuinely contested questions — how much of a gap is caused by what — you'll get the competing interpretations and weigh the evidence. But on the documented facts (race is socially, not biologically, constructed; measurable gaps exist) we don't pretend there are "two sides" — we report the evidence plainly and let you reason about what it means.

The week's big question

"If race isn't biological, why is racial inequality so real — and where does it come from: individual attitudes, or the way our institutions are built?"

By Friday you'll be able to explain why race is a social construction, tell prejudice from discrimination from institutional racism, place Du Bois with his ideas, and read a Census demographic table for what it does — and doesn't — show.

By the end of this week, you can…

Use this as a checklist. If you can do all four out loud, you're ready for the quiz.

• [ ] Explain race as a social construction — that the categories are socially defined and have changed over time, that there is more genetic variation within so-called races than between them, and distinguish race (a social category built on perceived physical traits) from ethnicity (shared culture, language, ancestry).
• [ ] Distinguish prejudice (attitude), discrimination (action), and institutional/systemic racism (bias built into normal institutional practice) — and use Merton's typology of the four prejudice–discrimination combinations.
• [ ] Place Du Bois with "the color line" and "double consciousness," and name the major patterns of intergroup relations (pluralism, assimilation, segregation, and at the extreme, genocide).
• [ ] Read Census/QuickFacts race & ethnicity data — explain that the categories are self-identified, what a population share shows, and what it does not show (within-group diversity; the causes of any gap).

What's due this week, and when

Work these in order — each one gets you ready for the next.

Heads-up on the AI tools: you'll use a chatbot to draft and explain, and then you judge its work. Chatbots routinely garble this week's content — they'll confuse prejudice with discrimination, treat race as if it were biological, blur individual and institutional racism, or invent a demographic statistic. They'll also leap from a population gap to a cause it hasn't shown. Catching the model is the point — and it's the whole skill the Workshops build.

Late policy reminder: 10% off per day late. If life happens, reach out before the deadline — I'd much rather hear from you early.

How to succeed this week

• Lead with the idea, not the jargon. "Race is a social construction" is not a slogan — it's a finding: the boxes are drawn by societies and have changed over time, while genetic variation doesn't line up with them. The vocabulary follows the idea.
• Memorize two tiny hooks. "Prejudice is in the head; discrimination is in the hands; institutional racism is in the rules." And: "Race is constructed — and the inequality is still real."
• Keep "describe" and "interpret" apart. A Census figure or a gap describes a pattern. Why the gap exists is where the perspectives — and the evidence — come in. Don't let a number do an argument's job.
• Hold the both/and. Race being socially constructed and racial inequality being real are not in tension — both are true at once. That's the sophisticated position, not a contradiction.
• Treat the chatbot as a smart intern, not an oracle. It drafts; you check every figure, term, and name. That habit is the whole semester in miniature — and it matters most on a charged topic like this one.

This week asks you to think carefully and humanely about something that shapes everyone's life. Come ready to reason from evidence, to weigh competing explanations fairly, and to be precise with your words. See you Tuesday.

(B) Welcome Announcement — Module 10

Release setting: post on the module's start day (offset = 0 days), i.e., Tue Nov 3, 2026 — not before. If your platform won't preserve the scheduled date on import, post this as a draft labeled "Release: Tue Nov 3."

Subject: Week 10 — race is socially constructed and racial inequality is real (both are true) 🧭

Hi everyone,

Here's the puzzle we open with this week: scientists agree there is more genetic variation within so-called racial groups than between them — race is not a biological category, it's a social construction, and the categories have literally changed over the decades. So why is racial inequality in income, wealth, and representation so persistently, measurably real?

The answer is the heart of Week 10, and it's why sociologists separate three words that everyday speech smushes together: prejudice (an attitude in someone's head), discrimination (an action — treating people unequally), and institutional racism (bias baked into how organizations and systems normally run, even with no prejudiced person in sight). Getting those three straight is the single most useful thing you'll take from this week.

This week — Race & Ethnicity — we tackle the big question: If race isn't biological, why is racial inequality so real, and where does it come from — individual attitudes or the way our institutions are built? You'll also meet W. E. B. Du Bois in depth — "the color line" and "double consciousness" — and you'll learn to read a real Census demographic table for what it shows and what it can't.

Four things not to miss:
1. Lecture Tutorial 10 — work through the week with one approved chatbot (Gemini, Claude, or ChatGPT) and submit the share link. You'll catch its mistakes — it loves to blur prejudice and discrimination, or invent a demographic number. Due Sun Nov 8.
2. Quiz 10, Discussion 10, and Assignment 10 also close Sun Nov 8 — the discussion ("Where Does Racial Inequality Come From?") is a quick AI dialogue you summarize and post, so start early and leave time to reply to classmates.
3. Workshop 10 — "What the Census Counts (and What It Doesn't)" — our signature weekly activity. This week is a data workshop: you'll read real Census race & ethnicity figures, see why the categories are self-identified, and fact-check an AI's numbers. Due Sun Nov 8.
4. Open the Start Here page first — it lays out everything in order with due dates.

One promise about tone: we treat this topic factually and with respect. Where reasonable people genuinely disagree about causes, you'll get the competing views and the evidence. Where the facts are documented — race is constructed, the gaps are real — we'll say so plainly, and spend our energy reasoning about why. Bring your curiosity and your precision.

See you Tuesday,
Prof. Adeyemi