...economically and politically without understanding that most of the privileges they have historically received are solely due to their race and/or gender. The purpose of this review is to analyze the social construction of whiteness from a theoretical perspective, whites understanding themselves and their social status, in addition to the evolution of whiteness. Many studies have been undertaken on the social construction of whiteness. These studies shed a lot of light on the different perceptions on whiteness, gaps in research, areas of highest research interest, strengths and weaknesses of the various methodologies, and direction for future studies. In the study done by Hartmann, Gerteis, and Croll, the focus was on the theoretical aspects of whiteness studies. The findings led the researchers to estimate that in the United States, 15% of the population exhibit what may be called ‘categorical whiteness’ (404). The study by Hartmann, et.al, was carried out using data obtained during a recent national survey, which helped provide an empirical assessment of the theoretical underpinnings of whiteness studies (Hartmann, et.al 404). Three propositions regarding the awareness and conception of whites about their own racial status were analyzed. The propositions included: the understanding of racial privileges, the invisibility of the white identity, and adherence to individualistic and color-blind ideals. The findings turned out to be consistent with those previously spelled out...
Words: 3906 - Pages: 16
...Anonymous Race and Identity 512 17 February 2013 Short Paper: 2 One of the main social and political tasks of 1830’s America was to define what it was to be a free American. Challenged by reformist ideals “purifying” the land and the Industrial Revolution cementing capitalism into the framework of the nation’s economy, Black people and Indians found themselves pushed out of the national identity. Much of this struggle can be witnessed through an analysis of American theater at the time. Stereotypical portrayals of Black Americans through Black Face Minstrelsy and of American Indians in Indian Plays highlight how White Americans invented social constructs to dehumanize or ridicule “other’ races and protect an imagined White American identity with no static definition. The basis for arguing in defense of a singular definition or identity begins with the denial of all others. In the case of White Americans, this was accomplished by dehumanizing all “other” races. With the advent of abolition and its ideals permeating society, Black slaves had the hope that freedom was attainable, and free White’s adopted fears of a common people class developing in the future with “unthinkable” consequences like widespread amalgamation. Slavery would no longer be the precondition for separatism. The void was filled in part by theories of racial science as developed by scientists like Craniologist Samuel Morton. According to his studies, races could be determined by the size and shape of their...
Words: 1122 - Pages: 5
...Powerless Colors An Analysis of Sherman Alexie’s “The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven” and Langston Hughes’ “On the Road” Alice Walker stated, “the most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any.” Power is a mental attribute. Many people put boundaries around themselves. These self-imposed boundaries result in anguish, despair, pity, and ultimately a sense of powerlessness. Sometimes these boundaries are not only self-imposed, but society-imposed. The protagonists in Sherman Alexie’s “The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven” and Langston Hughes’ “One the Road both suffer through a state of powerlessness imposed on them by a racial prejudice society. This state of powerlessness provides both a physical and mental effect upon the protagonists. Victor, the protagonist in “The Long Ranger,” is a Native-American man that lives in Seattle, Washington. He lives with his girlfriend (who is a white woman) and drinks frequently. He is unemployed and eventually moves back to his reservation. Sargeant, the protagonist in “On the Road,” is a Black-American man. He is unemployed and looks for salvation at a church. The church refuses his pleas. He acts in rage, and subsequently, he is arrested and jailed. Racism in America has a long-standing tradition from the “March of Tears” to “Bloody Sunday.” Racism is “the belief that all members of each race possess characteristics or abilities specific to that race, especially so as to...
Words: 910 - Pages: 4
...March 14, 2014 Intro to Poetry 116w The Role of Race in Determining the Canonicity of Phillis Wheatley’s Works Over the years, the types of literary works considered to be part of the cannon have varied greatly but the criterion for selecting a canonical work seems to have stayed the same. According to American literary critic Northrop Frye, the canonicity of a work represents the admission of the work unto a “unified scheme” that is also “in accord with a permanent structure of ideas” (Hilton, 140). While poet Phillis Wheatley certainly focused upon the “permanent structure of ideas” that is most significant in our society- religion, freedom, integrity- she was fairly unsuccessful at achieving a canonical status for most if not all of her works. Wheatley’s achievements were undoubtedly impressive, yet much attention was paid to her race rather than her talent. While a canonical work by definition creates a powerful literary legacy, after her initial fame Phillis Wheatley was “no longer a revelation, unable to successfully commodify herself again, she died penniless and forgotten” (Flanzbaum, 79). Much of the controversy surrounding Wheatley’s work was brought on by accusations made by critics that she held a misguided racial identity, in which she identifies more with her white, privileged readers than her black peers. Even decades later, many critics of Wheatley’s work are still unable to see past skin color to see her work for what it truly is. It cannot be said for certain...
Words: 2651 - Pages: 11
...Comparing and Contrasting Essentialist Approaches to Social Psychology with Social Constructionist Approaches to Social Psychology. A widely recognised definition of social psychology is “an effort to understand and explain how the thought, feeling, and behaviour of individuals are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others” (Allport, 1985). However, how to measure this, the research methods to be used and what constitutes useful evidence has caused much debate in the history of social psychology. This essay will compare and contrast the two epistemologies of essentialist and social constructionist approaches to social psychology and the research methods of quantitative and qualitative used in each approach. Essentialists’ view of the world is that the properties possessed by a group are universal in that group and do not depend on context. However, a member of a group may possess other characteristics that are not required to include it as a group member but, it must not have characteristics that preclude it from being a member of the group (Burr, 1995). For example, essentialists believe that personality consists of a number of traits and personality of an individual is established by the level of each of these traits. Essentialists also believe that these traits remain more or less stable over time and it is our personality that influences behaviour (Maltby, 2010). As essentialists are able to classify groups as such, they use quantitative research...
Words: 3936 - Pages: 16
...Intersectionality was a concept introduced by Kimberlé Crenshaw an American civil rights advocate, professor and leading scholar of Critical Race Theory. The concept of “intersectionality” came from a metaphor coined by Crenshaw to explain how race oppression and gender oppression operate in the lives of black women. Crenshaw’s concept of intersectionality is the theory of how different types of discrimination interact. “The theory seeks to examine how social and cultural categories such as gender, race, class, sexual orientation, religion, and other axioms of identity interact on multiple levels.” In her widely read essay, Mapping the margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence against Women of Color, Crenshaw highlights...
Words: 342 - Pages: 2
...without the prior permission of the copyright owner. ISBN (10): 1-4438-0593-9, ISBN (13): 978-1-4438-0593-3 TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgments ..................................................................................... vii Chapter One................................................................................................. 1 Introduction Jopi Nyman Part I: Crossing Racial Boundaries Chapter Two ................................................................................................ 8 Between Camps: Paul Gilroy and the Dilemma of “Race” Tuire Valkeakari Chapter Three ............................................................................................ 30 Breaking the Apartheid: Blocking Actors of Color in Globalized Multicultural Theatre Baron Kelly Chapter Four.............................................................................................. 47 Transcending the Boundaries of Race and Sexuality: James Baldwin’s Vision of Postcategorical Utopia Pekka Kilpeläinen Part II: Encounters with Whiteness Chapter Five .............................................................................................. 64 Are...
Words: 8908 - Pages: 36
...Free-Colored Militia in Colonial Mexico. Ben Vinson expresses how New Mexico was known to be white man’s’ land also known as Spanish Land. In the contrary, different races erupted in New Mexico as a result of her occupants. He highlights examples of the races that came to existence in the Spanish land. These races include Pardos, Mulatos and Morenos as well as the whites. In his analysis, Ben comes up with a conclusion that the different races led to discrimination. Ben outlines how the Spanish were forced by circumstances to accept race differences irrespective of their attitude towards the black. Many people elaborate how racial Mexico evolved and the potential effects of the despised race. Ben Vinson III wanted to understand racial differences in the people. He suggested a single mainframe to carry out his study. The suggestion was a...
Words: 682 - Pages: 3
...Distinguish between the concepts of race and racism. Do you agree that the concept of race is socially constructed? Can you use the conceptual framework for understanding identity to understand racial discrimination? ……………………………………………….....………………………………………………………………………………………… ….………………………..………………………………………………………………………….......................................................... To answer the following question, we would go through a re-interpretation of the word race. Followed by the biological, historical and social aspects of race from where race becomes racism (idea of social construction which in itself contains the notion of Identity). When we claim the view of race on identity, we are slowly drifted to the currents of Ethnicity. Race is a modern concept. The English language didn‟t even have the word „Race‟ until 1508 when William Dunbar referred race to a lineage of Kings in his poem. Historical records show that neither the idea nor ideologies of race existed before the seventeenth century. We will now randomly take up a definition of Race, keep it as a base for understanding and then reinterpret it if required. According to “Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy”, the concept of race has historically signified the division of humanity into small number of groups based on five categories. i. Races reflect some type of biological foundations. ii. This biological foundation creates discrete racial groupings such that all people of the same group share the same biological characteristics...
Words: 2224 - Pages: 9
...When considering the issue of multiple discrimination, it is worth starting from the fact that each person has many aspects of identity. People do not see themselves as just women or men, only people of a certain age, only as heterosexual or homosexual people. People's identities consist of many components, they are functions of belonging and identification with many groups and circles. These are complex, multidimensional integrals, which depending on the situation, some identifications or roles become more important, but never contain the multidimensionality of identity (although we are often perceived by others only through the prism of belonging to one group, which ignores this complexity of identity). This class increased my knowledge of...
Words: 668 - Pages: 3
...and Approaches Hollinsworth, D (1998) Racism: concepts, theories and approaches, Race and Racism in Australia, 2nd edition, Social Science Press, Katoomba, NSW. In this reading, Hollinsworth provides a very detailed analysis of the concept of racism. He explains how theorists have constructed different ideas about racism in relation to ethnicity, social history, class and gender. The theorists have made a very important point in that although social culture rejects the idea of racism, it does still exist, sometimes in very similar ways. An example is the similarity between ethnocentrism and ideological racism. Both of these believe that their ethnic culture is superior and other cultures are biologically, intellectually or culturally inferior. The two tie in together as the basis for prejudice. Institutional racism is also explained. This is a complex subject, but usually occurs within an institution setting such as government bodies and the private sector. Some ethnic groups have an advantage in this situation whereas others are disadvantaged and discriminated against. Hollinsworth also explores the Marxist and feminist perspectives on racism. In the Marxist approach, the main focus is on race in the context of class. The feminist view however concentrates on the impact that ethnic and racial discrimination have on gender. The concept of identity politics is then explored which is a theory that specific ethnic groups unite in order to...
Words: 469 - Pages: 2
...An analysis of the representations of Afro-Peruvians in national television Introduction Despite the ethnic and cultural diversity that exists in Peru, the establishment of racial ideologies have influenced the ways in which these minorities are located in society and the levels of discrimination and systematic exclusion that they have suffered through time. This discrimination has affected them at a social level, but also at an institutional level, since they have been systematically marginalized and denied of their basic human rights. Although racial and ethnic discrimination might be manifested in multiple ways, the current research proposal will focus on the Afro-Peruvian population , one of the groups that are most vulnerable to experience racism and discrimination, and that has been invisible both to society and to the Peruvian government for decades. Because of it, the proposal will analyze the ways in which this...
Words: 1730 - Pages: 7
...To counteract some of the oppression of intersecting identities, intersectionality analysis can be utilized in the formation of governmental or private organizational assistance programs, such as, college tuition assistance programs. Intersectionality analysis can identify the oppressed identity combinations that would allow for better resource allocation in order to rectify inequalities and improve the position of women. This analytical tool can help empower women facing discrimination from multiple directions by giving them educational opportunities that may otherwise be out of reach because of economic injustices. In order to direct the resource allocation of college assistance funds, government programs or private organizations can limit...
Words: 368 - Pages: 2
...her death from an open window just before her husband is about to confront her with his discovery of her black roots. Passing can be related more to Nella Larsen's actual life; she was also a light-skinned women who dominated the black intellectual etablishments and because of her color could have and may have at some points in her life passed for a white woman. I don't think Nella Larsen wanted to cease being black and become white, but she wanted to have equality in part because she was partially white, and in part because she wanted blacks and whites to have equal rights. http://www.library.csi.cuny.edu/dept/his… "Passing," of course, alludes to the crossing of the color line that was once so familiar in American narratives of "race," but in Larsen's novel the word also...
Words: 855 - Pages: 4
...Intersectionality has been lauded by some as the “new orthodoxy” (Grewal & Kaplan, 507) but what does a statement like that mean and how should we critically analyze such a claim? Intersectionality emerged as a way to engage with the intersections between an individual’s multiple identities and the complimentary and interlocking oppressions that result from the product of these identities working in conjunction. Race, class, gender, and sexuality merge together to create a unique experience for individuals affected by multiple oppressed identities at once. In Harriet Jacobs’ retelling of her experiences, she succinctly explains in a short anecdote the reason that intersectionality emerged: “the fair child scarcely [had] one day of her life...
Words: 1284 - Pages: 6
