Race & Class In LA

Racial Formation (Omi & Winant)

Race is NOT BIOLOGICAL, but a DYNAMIC SOCIAL CONSTRUCT created by history, politics, and everyday life to shift meanings assigned by society. The crossroads where social structure and cultural representation meet. “Othering” to describe one as inferior Ex: AM Slave trade justification. EX: skulls proved “brain size” and showed which races were the “smartest” (From book “Types of Mankind”)

Toxic Inequality (Shapiro)

An interlocked system of racial and economic inequality that TRAPS FAMILIES IN A CYCLE OF HARDSHIP. Wealth gaps and structural barriers across generations. Wealth provides a window to explore how our past influences the realities of today. Ex: Thomas Shapiro Toxic Inequality describes how a financially prosperous black family is more likely have a huge RACIAL WEALTH GAP…may have relatives to care for, and historically aren’t well-allotted home loans which reduces the likelihood of wealth building…compared to a white family.

Song, Min Hyoung. ("Class.")

Class is not just an economic status, it is a lived experience. "Class" is understood not as a standalone category, but as deeply intertwined with race, gender, and other forms of difference. EX: “low-wages” maybe due intersectional barrier, such as language and immigration status

Intersectionality (Andersen & Collins)

Interlocking/overlapping systems of oppression. Ex: LA women’s suffrage movement excluded black women, No Más Bebés

Settler Colonialism (Hernandez)

Replacing the indigenous society with a permanent settler group. 1. Seize land and profit. 2. Replacement: built new permanent communities, systems, and cultures to assert permanence. 3. Erasure: forced assimilation 4.Violence and laws: incarcerations, war…CARCREAL System of LA evolved to today’s

Racial Projects

an effort to organize and distribute economic, political, and cultural resources along particular racial lines. Link the social structure (race) —> policy and actions.