What are social distance measures, such as the The Bogardus Scale, supposed to tell us? Are they useful measurements for studying social progress in terms of race relations?

Social Distance
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Abstract
Social distance embodies the social nature of interactions among different communities. Race relations are necessary for peace and development in each nation. USA, Canada, and Australia are the most diverse countries, with sophisticated race relations than any other country. Genocides and atrocities meted on the minority such as the Jews, Tutsi and Armenians illustrate the adverse impact of discrimination in the society. Prejudicial feelings in the society have led to the majority groups branding other as lazy while stereotyping intimate that others are inferior to others. Discriminatory behavior in the society has been depicted after ISIS and Boko Haram killed Christians in Asia and Africa respectively. Bogardus measure of social distance uses scores to identify social interactions in the society and divisions between races. The scale ensures that policymakers make sound decisions regarding social relations and solutions to divisions between ethnic groups. The importance of social distance scale in unrivaled especially in multiethnic societies.
The relations between different races and ethnic communities are often affected by prejudice, discrimination, and stereotypes. Multiethnic countries such as USA, Australia, and Canada face various sociological challenges than other nations (Marger, 2015). Trump’s rhetoric on immigration has also been a major concern in Australia. The Nazi’s led by Hitler killed thousands of Jews; Turks killed Armenians while the Rwandan genocide demonstrates the discord among different ethnic and racial groups in the society.

The atrocities were done based on prejudice, stereotyping and discrimination. Different have enacted laws against discriminatory conduct, though most cases go unreported. Social distance postulates the distance between two groups based on their social interactions. Sociologists intimate that such social relations include sexuality, social class, and ethnicity. The social scale supposes the existence of social distances under three distinct concepts; affective, interactive and normative. Affective, social distance is depicted through sympathetic actions between people of different groups; interactive social distance is depicted through the regularity and the strength of interactions while normative social distance is concerned on the closeness between people of different groups. Today, it is easier to measure social distance through route planning, social drawing, observation, and questionnaires. The essay evaluates the importance of social distance measures to measure the relations between different groups.
Stereotypes
Stereotypes are inflexible, over generalized and overstated viewpoints used by a whole social group. Scholars believe that every nation has a form of stereotyping in their way of life. Whites in the USA have always regarded blacks as lazy and typically ought not to receive welfare support from the government, while whites receiving welfare support are classified as needy. The belief reflects the whites oversimplified understanding of the blacks, yet the society has numerous examples of hardworking and successful blacks. Sociologists believe that such beliefs were formed after individual events and are diverse and existent in every nation (Goff, Steele & Davies, 2008). The Jews were considered mercenary and shrewd while the Germans were depicted as industrious by transforming their economy after the war. Dominant groups have used stereotypes to represent minority groups as greedy, as was the case of the Nazi, depicting the Jews. However, mass media has considerably contributed to the advancement of stereotyping in the society.
Prejudice
Prejudice entails conflicting or positive feelings on other social groups. People are emotionally influenced to view others differently. Prejudice makes people have biased attitudes against others especially in the form of racism. Donald Trump’s continuous rhetoric questioning the citizenship of Obama illustrates biased judgment of the individual against another. Companies had in the past employed females as secretaries while easily depict one as gay, using one’s actions, implying prejudice is common in the society. Prejudice can occur in various forms through social class, age, gender, disability, ethnic and immigrants. People are construed to believe that disabled people are also mentally disabled, while viewing immigrants are thieves or terrorists as in the case of the USA. Prejudiced attitudes can lead to hatred among social groups, dividing nations and ultimately leading to violence as in the case of Rwanda.
Discrimination
Discrimination implies actions taken by the dominant social group against minority groups, to ensure the social standards are maintained. Social aggression is now common in the society, with Trump calling for the deportation of individual races, ISIS killing Christians and white migrants in South Africa denying blacks their economic rights. The Jews were shuttled to different countries, unwanted; the Jews were forced to fight and annex Israel. Perceptively, micro discrimination occurs very often in the society, as more people are biased to act otherwise. Judges have been accused of imposing harsh judgments on blacks, while some employers decline to employ Muslims in the US. Frustration-aggression theory has confirmed that people are likely to discriminate against others due to their frustrations. Trump’s election has been described as the whites’ declaration to take their country back from immigrants, approving the tenets of the theory.
Social Distance Measures
The measures use social responses to measures the interactions between individuals or groups. Pollsters have in the recent past indicated that the views of the people are neither innate nor real beliefs of the person. People during interviews may give supposed right things about a subject but are prejudiced to believe otherwise (Brown & Langer, 2016). Borgadus developed the Bogardus scale to measure social interactions between different groups, by asking respondents to indicate their response or willingness to interact with neighbors, citizens, and visitors. The scale gives a score to various groups and ranks each group according to their interactions nationally. The scale describes how different groups interact and why others groups entrench against each other. The scale further explains the reasons why people live in certain areas and vote in certain ways.
Importance of Social Distance Measures in Studying Social Progress
Social distance measures enable policymakers to enhance social progress by ensuring better relation between races. The findings of the measures help policymakers empower the minority though better education and health care, ensuring each race has to access the resources. The success of African scholars such as Ben Carson has successfully changed stereotypes in the society; ensuring races can unite in the society. Furthermore, the creation of cosmopolitan cities ensures people of different races can live peacefully. Conclusively, social distance measures help in ensuring cohesive race relations.
References
Brown, G. K., & Langer, A. (2016). A General Class of Social Distance Measures. Political
Analysis, 24(2), 211-225.
Goff, P. A., Steele, C. M., & Davies, P. G. (2008). The space between us: stereotype threat and
distance in interracial contexts. Journal of personality and social psychology, 94(1), 91.
Marger, M. (2015). Race and ethnic relations : American and global perspectives. Stamford, CT, USA: Cengage Learning.