...In the United States, race and racism exist as social systems that causes for those who are white to benefit, and those who appear to be of a race other than white to not benefit. The implementation of racism by Europeans, allowed for them to over time, be put in a position of dominance and benefit from the creation of whiteness that came as a result. The creation of whiteness brought with it certain privileges which can be defined as, “an institutional benefit, enjoyed by those who are empowered through structures of domination.”. These societal benefits that whites receive and people of color do not is called white privilege. White privilege in itself is a system of domination in the U.S that allows whites to have more of an advantage at...
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...In response to the act of violence done towards Trayvon Martin, President Obama explains, “When Trayvon Martin was first shot I said that this could have been my son. Another way of saying that is Trayvon Martin could have been me 35 years ago… I think it’s important to recognize that the African American community is looking at this issue through a set of experiences and a history that doesn’t go away”. The history of the African American community in the United States that President Obama is mentioning is the concept of the construction of whiteness and how that “whiteness” has been used repeatedly against the Black community. Trayvon Martin is not the first nor the last victim of this history and stand your ground culture which Kelly Douglas explains in her book, Stand Your Ground: Black Bodies and the Justice of God. Then the question comes to us when we observe these acts of violence, who or what is responsible for the acts of violence in the world like the murder of Trayvon Martin? Do we blame the murderer, George Zimmerman, who felt that Trayvon Martin was a...
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...Social Construction of Whiteness The concept of whiteness, or white privilege, for centuries has been ignored as a potential area of study because it has been widely accepted as the societal norm. Many whites have benefited socially, 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...
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...Feb. 11, 2016 Ethnic Studies Week 6 *Paper due in 3 weeks Immigration, Eugenics, White Ethnics, Mexican Americans U.S. Immigration Legislation (Tyner, 60) -1907: U.S. Japan Gentlemen’s Agreement -Denied entry to Japanese laborers -1917: Immigration Act -Denied entry to illiterates (meant to exclude Southern and Eastern Europeans) -Designated an “Asiatic Barred Zone” denying entry to people from the lands between India, Australia, and Japan 1924: Johnson-Reed Act (National Origins Act) -Promoted by the American eugenics movement -Designated to maintain national purity and security -America should remain a white, Protestant nation -All others must either assimilate or be relegated to a permanently inferior status. *Eugenics want to keep white/Anglo-Saxon -Product of scientific racism - Applied to Charles Darwin’s “survival of the fittest” theory to modern, industrial civilization (Social Darwinism) -1890s: popular with educated Americans concerned about an imminent “race suicide” due to low Anglo-Saxon birth rates -1903: American Breeders Association founded -1906: its Committee on Eugenics formed “to emphasize the value of superior blood and the menace to society of inferior blood.” -1908: first Eugenics Society (England) -1909: first professorial Chair in Eugenics established (University College, London) -By 1910: emergent international eugenics movement proclaimed itself “the science of human improvement through programs of controlled...
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...Professor E. Avila 8 June 2015 Wiping Away the Scars of Centuries Human slavery is a phenomenon that has been present since the times of the Romans and the Greeks. As a common misconception, many societies, especially those in America tend to believe that slavery was always black. The question to answer here is: when did slavery become black? Throughout a period of enslavement, human beings have again and again treated slavery as an act of the “norm” embedded in human behavior, which they use in order to make a clear distinction between them and us to justify such atrocious and immortal acts. With historical examples of structural forces and cultural practices from the literary works of Harris, Painter, Roediger...
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...The race is not genetically biological because Graves argued that skin color is determined by “only six genes out of the range between 30, 000 and 40,000”. Since the percentage of the gene involved in skin color was extremely small, it could not be used to identify people with differently colored skin as subspecies or new species. In addition, race reflects a population in terms of the lineage that makes people different from the others. Therefore, the race is not genetically biological by its definition. According to George Lipsitz, the “whiteness” is a social identity which represents a prioritized social status for people with “accumulated wealth and power”. In other words, the whiteness is a broader meaning of a social identity...
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...class not because I saw Black and Jewish Americans as having an obvious relationship, but because I was surprised by the connection being made. Likewise, despite living on the edge of Jewish communities which are common in Montgomery County, I was surprised by discussions about Jewish whiteness because I had never considered Jews to be anything but white. Jewish identity was more closely held than other white ethnicities, but I did not perceive Jews to be categorically separate from Italians or the Dutch. This, it is obvious from the readings, would not have been an issue 25 years ago. A couple of decades ago, the...
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...American society. Being White and part of the in-group is something critical race theory takes a look at, and is the other side of the coin of being racist, whether it is consciously or unconsciously. Whites in general are born with opportunities Blacks are not inherently given. It is a choice to be racist, but it is not a choice to choose your race, Michael Jackson excluded. The system of white privilege in North America has been long established, going back to when the Europeans came to this strange continent by accident. When the British and French set up colonies, they fought and oppressed the native americans, establishing dominance that carries on to this day, but not only with Native americans, but any other hyphenated group, ie African-Americans, Asian-Americans, Mexican-Americans, etc. Being in the dominant group does not make you a racist, a student in a study done by Greason (2012) stated “I am white, but does that make me an oppressor by not being able to change the system of white privilege? As an open-minded and fun-loving individual, it seems that my whiteness is a blessing but also a curse, because I know that other people of different race and ethnicity are...
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...and ever changing concept. As the government continuous to define the various divisions of our population, we define and refine ourselves simultaneously. This explains why Mexican American leaders and organizations could move from classifying themselves as racially white during the early stages of the Civil Rights Movement to brown and an ethnic minority during the latter stages. As highlighted in the book, during the late 1950s and the 1960s most Hispanic activists and organizations embraced the idea of appeasement, as using whiteness as a strategy for obtaining first class citizenship. Whiteness, however, eluded most Mexican Americans based on their skin color. For a multitude of reasons such as, culture, language, and class, identifying themselves or being identified by others as white was not a reality for most Mexican Americans, yet it remained a practice. Diving into and studying the complexity and ambiguity of race, and more specifically whiteness, explicitly showed why the African American and Mexican American Civil Rights movements remained so...
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...So, when minorities join the wealthy class, it’s no surprise that they feel secluded from the group. In Patricia Gandara’s article: Overcoming Triple Segregation she reports that colored children are aware of the positive stereotypes of white people and the negative on colored, they also know that whiteness is preferred in society compared to colored where they are less valued, and segregated schools with the majority being racial minorities are often given inadequate teachers and peers. Gadara report suggests that minorities feel inclined to abandon their families since society has shown a negative outlook towards their culture, and since they are joining a higher class where their past is looked down upon, most assimilate to the new...
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...In efforts to abide by the accepted sociological norm of whiteness; despite being from a Latino decent, I have found myself product of the unspoken “normalcy” of white culture. My first example of this is that when I’m entering the main college campus at the University of Rhode Island Kingston Campus, I have found myself either turning down or switching the Spanish radio station to something more “American” or “white” because I fear of how I would fit in or be looked upon. Second, I have noticed that when I tend to go out with some of my friends, especially those who happen to be white, I always have little to no saying on the places we visit; this again, for fear that the places I decide on are not a representation of whiteness. Thirdly, I have found that in connection to my normalcy number two, I tend to order relatively the same foods that my white friends order, instead of ordering something that I really want; my order to the waitress is more on the accepted sociological belief of what whiteness constitutes. (11) – Though it might be strange to think about Racism in two different spectrums or categories, the reality of the matter is that indeed, Racism can be divided into two sections. When we think about racism, the first image that comes to our mind is that of another...
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...this term is mainly in the social inequality context primarily in relation to social class, sexual orientation, race, age, and gender. Several recorded privileged elements show the advantageous that White America has in getting access to better housing, jobs, and education. This paper will explore the issue of White American privileges and how social class status is based on color of your skin and the financial means of your family. In the article by Peggy McIntosh, she defines, “White privileges as a package of unearth assets, invisible in nature and are obvious” (McIntosh 10). There is a comparison of white privilege to an undetectable light knapsack of assurance, maps, tools, guidance, visa, codebooks, clothes, passbooks, emergency gear, blank checks, etc. I concur with Peggy McIntosh analysis since there are several functions brought about by white privileges. These functions include provisions of “perks” specifically for white people. These benefits put all white people at an advantage over the rest of society. White people are exempted from many challenges faced by other races. In addition, there is the shaping of the world by white privileged concepts in which guide how the t interaction affects how the rest of the world views Untied States of America. The History of White American...
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...The Immigration Act of 1924 sparked conversations surrounding whiteness that complemented nativist practices towards Italian immigrants. During and after WWI, the sweeping immigration of Italians was met with white backlash surrounding their ethnic and national backgrounds, with many whites branding Italians as swarthy, illiterate, and ragpickers.” Furthermore, fiction novels of the early twentieth century portrayed Italians as distinctly non-white. While the Immigration Act was well received by white nativists behind such xenophobic actions, heavily biased mathematical engineering behind the quota system inadvertently spurred the consolidation of an Italian ethnic identity through geo-national pride. While the Immigration Act of 1924, influenced...
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...RUNNING HEAD: Pre-Prospectus An Exploration of the Reproduction and Perpetuation of Socio-historical Oppression in U.S. Schools: Pre-prospectus La’Quaria Barton Georgia Southern University Dr. Delores Liston, Dissertation Chair Dr. Daniel E. Chapman, Committee Member Dr. Lorraine S. Gilpin, Committee Member Dr. Robert Yarbrough, Committee Member TENTATIVE CHAPTER OUTLINE Chapter 1: Introduction * Background of the Problem * Statement of the Problem * Purpose of the Study * Research Questions * Importance of the Study * Scope of the Study * Definition of Terms * Limitations Chapter 2: Theoretical Framework Chapter 3: Review of the Literature Chapter 4: Research Methods * The Qualitative Paradigm * Qualitative Methods * The Researcher's Role * Data Sources * Data Collection * Data Analysis * Ethical Considerations Chapter 5: Research Findings Chapter 6: Conclusions, Discussion, and Suggestions for Future Research * Summary * Conclusions * Discussion * Suggestions for Future Research Towards A Phenomenology of Liberation From the very start, I am thus fully endorsing the premise that no account of race can be dissociated from a critique of power and a social historical ontology of ourselves (de Oliveira, 2010, 209). INTRODUCTION I grew up in rural North Carolina. When I was in the third grade, I watched as five of my white peers were pulled from class to attend gifted courses. I always wondered why, I, who had always worked...
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...term racism come into existence. There are several discussions and research in trying to understand how the concept of race prejudice found its way into humans. The Pinder chapters attempt to explain the controversial historical emergence of whiteness, race prejudice and the superiority feeling of the whites over other ethnic groups of color. At some point, race prejudice is thought to have found its way to America as a result of slavery. From my point of view, race prejudice must have been as a result of the whites’ feeling of superiority regarding nature, character, beliefs, culture, religion, ethical values and all other aspects of life that that disregarded or rather disrespected the concept of realism that existed in other ethnic races. The whites than...
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