Part 2: Weeks 8–9 — Ideology and Racial Inequality

ideology

A system of beliefs and values that explains and justifies the existing social order or inequalities.

Thomas Jefferson

U.S. founder who helped craft the ideology of equality while owning enslaved people

Antonio Gramsci

Italian Marxist who developed the concept of cultural hegemony

cultural hegemony

The dominance of a ruling class’s worldview so that it becomes accepted as common sense.

"The Story We Tell" (Race—The Power of Illusion)

Documentary showing how American ideas of race were socially constructed to justify slavery and inequality.

origins of American racial ideologies

Stemmed from the need to justify slavery and colonization despite the belief that “all men are created equal.”

ideology of biological racial difference

The false belief that racial differences are natural and biological

changing ideologies about Native Americans

Shifted from seeing them as “savages” to “wards” of the state as colonization advanced

race and colonization

Racial beliefs justified conquest and displacement of Indigenous peoples as part of U.S. expansion.

science and media in racial ideology

Pseudoscience and mass media reinforced racial stereotypes and myths of difference.

race

A socially constructed category based on perceived physical traits that have social significance.

ethnicity

Shared cultural traits such as language

racism

A system of beliefs and practices that creates and maintains racial hierarchy and discrimination.

institutional discrimination

Systemic inequalities embedded in social institutions that disadvantage certain racial groups.

interpersonal discrimination

Unequal treatment based on race in face-to-face interactions.

residential segregation

The physical separation of racial groups into different neighborhoods

hypersegregation

Extreme racial isolation where multiple forms of segregation overlap

White flight

The large-scale movement of white residents from racially integrating neighborhoods to predominantly white suburbs.

White fight

Organized resistance by white residents against racial integration in housing or schools.

redlining

A discriminatory practice by banks and insurers denying loans or services to neighborhoods based on racial composition.

resource deserts

Areas lacking access to vital services such as grocery stores

environmental racism

The placement of hazardous industries or waste sites in communities of color.

achievement gaps

Disparities in academic performance between racial or ethnic groups.

tracking

The educational practice of placing students into ability-based groups that often reflect social inequalities.

adultification

The perception of Black children as more mature and less innocent than white children

school-to-prison pipeline

The process through which punitive school policies push marginalized students into the criminal justice system.

mass incarceration

The disproportionate imprisonment of people of color

mass deportation

Large-scale removal of immigrants

cross-institutional advantage and disadvantage

The accumulation of benefits or harms across multiple social institutions based on race.

cumulative advantage and disadvantage

The process by which privilege or marginalization builds up across a lifetime and generations.

intergenerational advantage

The transmission of resources

intergenerational disadvantage

The transmission of poverty or lack of opportunity across generations.

structural violence

Social structures that harm individuals by preventing them from meeting basic needs.

Ibram X. Kendi

Scholar of race and author of How to Be an Antiracist

racism vs. antiracism (Kendi)

Racism supports or ignores racial inequities; antiracism actively works to dismantle them.

racist policy vs. antiracist policy (Kendi)

A racist policy creates or maintains racial inequity; an antiracist policy reduces or eliminates it.

“not racist” problem (Kendi)

Kendi argues that claiming to be “not racist” allows individuals to avoid responsibility for systemic racism.

john a. powell

Legal scholar who examines how geography and institutions reproduce racial inequality through segregation.

residential segregation and Jim Crow

According to powell

"The House We Live In" (Race—The Power of Illusion)

Documentary showing how U.S. housing policies created lasting racial wealth gaps.

Takao Ozawa v. United States (1922)

Supreme Court case denying citizenship to a Japanese immigrant

Bhagat Singh Thind v. United States (1923)

Case denying citizenship to an Indian man by defining whiteness as based on popular perception

Fair Housing Act of 1968

Law prohibiting housing discrimination but weakly enforced

War on Drugs

U.S. policy that disproportionately targeted communities of color

spatial analysis

The study of how geography and location influence social inequality and segregation.

care deserts

Areas with limited access to childcare or eldercare services.

food deserts

Communities without affordable

green deserts

Neighborhoods lacking parks or green spaces

health-care deserts

Regions with inadequate access to medical services.

service deserts

Areas lacking essential businesses and community services.

transit deserts

Communities underserved by public transportation