As I started to read Racism Without Racists I became increasingly more uncomfortable. Not because I did not like the book, but because I was afraid that I would recognize Eduardo Bonilla-Silva’s words in myself. That I would have to see the ways in which my white privilege has caused me to spin my words to make myself appear less racist, or somehow pretend to be more marginalized than the minorities around me. I have to admit that when Bonilla-Silva said “I found that young, working-class women are more likely than any other segment of the white community to be racially progressive” (Bonilla-Silva 192), part of me breathed a sigh of relief. I am a young women from a working class family, I guess that means I am progressive right?…
This essay will examine the “New Negro.” New Negro, or Harlem Renaissance, best described as an era of cultural phenomenon in which many high level of education blacks and very talented artists received public recognition. This period of African American was not only about blacks’ literary, but also because of its essential importance to twentieth-century musical, thought and culture. The “New Negro” corresponds with the Jazz Age, Roaring Twenties, Marcus Garvey’s migration movement for black’s unity and freedom. These factors impacted on African American’s community on collective levels as well as the America’s prosperous arts and cultural industries.…
In the reading, “Citizen: An American Lyric,” by Claudia Rankine, she puts you into situations of modern day racism. By using real life situations, she explains how racism fits into all aspects of life, whether it is in the media, at school, in public, or at home. Rankine describes the difference between conscious and subconscious discriminations to relate to the main idea of modern day racism. Rankine uses stories from real-life experiences of people consciously discriminating others. In the video made by a young black man that goes by the name, “Henessy Youngman,” he talks about what it takes to be successful artist if you’re black.…
Under the Influence: Discrimination Since the start of the 21st century, racial diversity has increased and the nation’s minority population has grown substantially. Minorities today are the majority in many parts of the country. Studies predict that if current rates of the national population continue to trend the way it has for the past 20 year, then by 2035, minorities will outnumber non-Hispanic caucasians. There are many benefits and advantages of diversity, however, there are also challenges and barriers. It is important to note that the very communities that are growing are also the ones that are experiencing significant obstacles, disparities and discrimination.…
Based on My Essay 2 work, the comments or feedbacks help me to improve for the next essay which is the Research Paper. It helps me to build my essay into a great one compared to my two essays that I have been done in this course. I learned that I should not stick into one side. For example, in my Essay 2, I should have given pros and cons not just only one side because I mostly give pros and not cons. This is like where I need to balance the arguments between each side.…
People are people are people. All deserve kindness, and kindness is not a weakness. While reading Citizen, I was horrified to find the veil that had been obscuring my vision from the true extent of racism that contaminates our everyday lives and communities. Filled with a burning anger towards such unkind human beings, I wrote out every feeling that correlated with words into a prose.…
In the article “The Good, Racist People,” Ta-Nehisi Coates discusses an event which resulted in Forest Whitaker being accused of shoplifting. What could possibly be a reason to assume Whitaker, a famous actor, had committed shoplifting? From Coates’ point of view, many others want to believe that this encounter was a misunderstanding that had nothing to do with race. Whitaker was accused of shoplifting and then was frisked, based only on his appearance. Coates then goes on to claim that the owner’s apology argued that the incident was a “‘sincere mistake’ and how the worker was a ‘decent man’ who was ‘just doing his job’ ”.…
Glum, Julia. “Hispanics in America: Latinos ' Optimism about Racism Tied To History Could Change In Future” International Business Times. December 17, 2014. Accessed November 16, 2016. http://www.ibtimes.com/hispanics-america-latinos-optimism-about-racism-tied-history-could-change-future-1761697 Vasquez, Tina.…
In Claudia Rankine’s Citizen we are exposed to the harsh reality that racism, though in different forms, is still alive today. Rankine is said to have pushed the form’s of poetry in order to “disarm readers and circumvent our carefully constructed defense mechanisms against the hint of possibly being racist ourselves” (Bass). Her lyric fights against the vicious stigmas that lie with the stereotypes associated with African Americans. She was able to change the meaning of the word that is citizen and in doing so change the mindsets of the people who read Citizen. When we imagine racism it usually stems back to our history lessons on slavery, but today we see racism in a whole new light.…
Structural racism refers to a pattern in societal structure that provides different opportunities and resources to people of different races in a way that systematically disadvantages members of certain races. Structural racism is perpetuated neither through explicitly discriminatory laws nor conscious racial prejudice; instead, it is subtly self-perpetuating. Structural racism is pervasive and entrenched in American society, despite a supposed ‘color-blindness’. As structural racism is necessarily obscured and hidden, it helps to look at specific cases when considering how structural racism continues to harm minorities in the United States. For example, Hurricane Katrina has made structural racism more obvious in New Orleans.…
A weapon is a hazardoustoolthat is used in an act of self-defense; its powers can be misused and put people in jeopardy. Racism is like a weapon’s dark and dangerous sidebecause it is used to hurt others and put them in harm’s way. This obstacle occurs throughout history in various court cases, stories, and everyday life. InA Lesson before Dying, Ernest Gaines shows that racism is an oppressive force that not only hurts people mentally, but it also hurts people physically. He shows how racism is like a weapon through numerous characters and situations.…
The Social construction of Race Race-The Power Of Illusion video describes whether the race is biological myth or socially constructed. It mentions the views of normal people and people who are specialized in the anthropology, genetics or biologist on race. From that video, all research and argues open my eyes about the race construction in our society. I conclude that the racial is rooted in a false believe that it is characterized by the physical appearances like hair color, skin color, eye shape, body shape and so on and these characters are the key points to classify the different races.…
Racism is a very common and serious issue that still takes place in real life and in real time. In the 1950s-1960s racism was at its peak and it reflects in Lorraine Hansberry’s well-known play, A Raisin in the Sun. In the play, Hansberry depicted many of the racial problems that African American families suffered and the impact of…
Back in 1950s anthropologists discovered that race was just a myth. Why should we be divided by race in the first place? When you watched the news you see all these Caucasian cops shooting African Americans that have guns or fighting back with the cops causing a riot over racism, but when the tables are turned around and an African American cop shoots a Caucasian guy that clearly is following the law and has his hands up it doesn't show up on the news because supposedly that is okay and not racism. Race is a "scientific fact" because I believe there is no such thing because we shouldn't be judged on our color, race is supposed to tell us something about our genetic history. In biological terms, race is the process of evolution and the origin of species, it is a part of the formation of the new species and differentiations.…
Since the use of genetic data to define the validity of race erupted in the 1970’s, some scientists have addressed the notion that genetic variation by means of racial differences represents a form of racialization and therefore racism, in healthcare settings and within health spectrums in general. By using race as an indicator of genetic disparities we are acknowledging race as a biologically based enigma rather than a social construct. We allow discrimination to color a picture of embodied inequality among healthcare measures. Just as the anthropological definition of culture defines cultures as static entities defined by geographic boundaries, we cannot perceive race as a biological marker of genetic variation because it to is complex and static. Human biology, no matter what geographic location one hails from, is…