race

Race

a social construct that is about bloodlines; share a set of physical characteristics

Why “white fragility” was coined

many Whites react defensively when confronted with the meaning of White privilege

Caucasian origin

refers to people who lived on slopes of mountains in the country of Georgia

Examples of ancient beliefs associated skin color with geographic/environmental factors

belief about mythological proximity to the sun, ancient Egyptian records, writings of Greek philosopher Hippocrates

Examples of “color-blind” racism

rising numbers of immigrants from different cultures threaten the identity and culture of native-born citizens; race isn’t that important

Old-fashioned racism

based on idea of unchangeable traits making some better than others

New racism/color-blind racism

uses race neutral rhetoric; blames the troubles of minority groups on their different cultures

Formation of Black ghettos

increased competition for jobs, social boundary between Blacks and Whites hardened, property owners and police cooperated to maintain segregated neighborhoods, federal aid to home purchasers favored Whites over Blacks, urban renewal projects forced Blacks to relocate into crime-ridden public housing projects

Effects of “one drop” rule

used to enforce antimiscegenation laws; puts all Blacks on the same side of the racial divide

“One drop” rule

rule in American law declaring “one drop” of Black blood makes one Black; used as a way to support slavery

Institutional racism

a race-neutral policy/social dynamic disadvantages minority groups

Multiraciality

shows that racial categories are always fluid

Latinos

has diverse phenotypical traits

Middle eastern americans

recent immigrants often fleeing political turmoil in home countries

Native Americans

have the lowest average socioeconomic status of all racial-ethnic groups

Asian Americans

the fastest-growing racial-ethnic group in the United States

African Americans

experience the highest rates of incarceration of all racial-ethnic groups

Robert park and Gordon

developed the straight-line model of assimilation

Straight-line model of assimilation order

cultural, structural, marital, identification, attitude reception, behavior reception, civic

Glazer and Moynihan

developed an understanding of ethnicity as a fluid, circumstantial construct, used for social leverage as needed

Isaacs and Geertz

developed the observation that ethnicity is fixed and remains part of the thinking of even well-assimilated groups

Critical race theory

NOT based on a list of eight beliefs shared by all critical race theorists

Foundation of White identity

not thinking about being White (according to Nell Irvin Painter)

Middle Eastern stereotypes in the media

portrayed as terrorist, barbaric, wealth, sex-crazed

Basic tenets of critical race theory

race is a social construction, racism is central to the organization of society, racial identity is intersectional

Racism

the belief that members of separate races possess different and unequal traits

Reasons for census question change

scientific, political and economic pressures

Slavery and race

race did not originate with slavery, slavery not usually based on race

Skin color is based on

sunlight rather than continent

Ideology

justifies routine behaviors without analytical explanation; became institutionalized

Ethnicity vs race

ethnicity- voluntary, nonhierarchical, fluid, cultural; race- imposed by appearance, hierarchical, exclusive, unequal

What DNA tests reveal

what fraction of your ancestry is from certain geographic areas

1790 naturalization act

stipulated that only “whites” could be US citizens

GI Bill and “red lining”

whites benefit and move to the suburbs, segregations in housing opps

1968 Fair Housing Act

helped but didn’t reverse damage of GI Bill and “red lining”