KINE 1000 - RACE, RACIALIZATION, AND IDENTITIES LECTURE / READINGS

RACE can be defined as what 2 things?

• (1) BIOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS

• (2) SOCIAL CONSTRUCTS

What are the BIOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS that defines race?

• PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS (e.g., skin, eyes, hair, etc)

• Creates a common identity based on inheritance (weber)

• Colonialism and science

What is Webers theory on COMMON IDENTITY BASED ON INHERITANCE?

Social groups form and maintain a shared identity based on a belief of common descent or inheritance

What is RACISM?

Belief that human behaviour results from BIOLOGICAL DIFFERENCES

• Race becomes a vehicle for privilege / benefit at the expense of someone else

• “Since race is a big part of who people are…. it MUST accounts for the way individuals behave”

What are the SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIONS that define race?

• INEQUALITIES between racial groups are NOT due to their biology but rather social, economic, educational, and political circumstances

• Definition of race can be different / change when we look at different time / space / societies

  • Race is NOT ascribed (the way we are born does not determine who we become)

What was the HUMAN GENOME PROJECT?

• Purpose to IDENTIFY and MAP all human genes

• Found that humans share 99.9% of genetic material

  • Regardless of race, on a GENETIC level we all have more in common than we don’t

• Proves race is a social construct

  • Does NOT account for human behaviours

What was the significance of the CHEDDAR MAN?

• Britian’s oldest complete human skeleton

• Oldest ancestor of present day indigenous english people

• Has darker skin complexion (opposite of what you’d think)

What is RACIALIZATION?

Socially constructed practices and processes

What are the 3 HISTORICAL CAUSES OF RACIALIZATION?

• (1) AFRICAN SLAVES

• (2) INDIAN INDENTURED LABOUR

• (3) SETTLER COLONIALISM

How were AFRICAN SLAVES a form of RACIALIZATION?

• Practices and processes caused Black individuals to be treated with INEQUALITY and OBJECTIFICATION

• Allowed settler colony to gain social and political power over their race

How was INDIAN INDENTURED LABOUR a form of RACIALIZATION?

• Indians taken and sent to different countries to work in British Colonies

  • A form of cheap labour

• Indian populations became integrated with the cultures of these countries causing new racial hierarchies to form

  • Creation of RACIAL HIERARCHIES as a process of radicalization

How was SETTLER COLONIALISM a form of RACIALIZATION?

• Black athletes in sports teams in Canada

• Refugee boats in Canada

• Apartheid in South Africa

How were SPORTS a form of SETTLER COLONIALISM in Canada?

• John Howard, first Black Canadian to compete in Olympics

• Ray Lewis, first Black Canadian athlete to win a medal in the Olympics

• Barbara Howard, first Black women to represent Canada in an international competition

• Tom Longboat, indigenous athlete who won racing competitions

ALL used as PUPPETS… celebrated when they brought their countries medals but also used as a political tool to motivate self assimilation of individuals

What was the significant of TOM LONGBOAT?

• Indigenous racing athlete

• Used in RESIDENTIAL SCHOOLS to make kids “want” to be like him

What was the SS KOMAGATA MARU?

• Boat of Indians that came to Vancouver Canada for a better life

• Were denied at the border because they were Indian

• Resulted in many fatalities

What was the IMMIGRATION POLICY for SOUTH ASIANS in Canada?

South Asians only granted citizenship in Canada in 1947

What is APARTHEID in South Africa?

A system of institutionalized racial segregation and discrimination

• White minorities held more power compared to Black, Coloured, and Indian individuals

How was APARTHEID implemented?

• Racially classified individuals using COLOUR PALETTES

• PENCIL TESTS, put pencils in children’s hair

  • Timed how long it took to call

• Barbers and professionals to testify HAIR TEXTURE

• Touching EAR LOBES (Black people have softer ear lobes)

What is DIFFERENTIAL POWER?

Imbalance of power between individuals

What was the CANADIAN MULTICULTURALISM ACT (1988)?

A federal law that formally recognizes and promotes multiculturalism as a fundamental characteristics of Canadian society

• FIRST country in the world to adopt multiculturalism

• Government assistance in eliminating / overcoming discrimination

Who was SANDRA LAING?

• Afrikaner child born to two WHITE Afrikaner parents

• While parents were white skinned, she had coloured skin

• Childhood spent switching from white schools to coloured schools to black schools

• ATAVISM, which is the reappearance of ancestral traits in an individual that were lost in previous generations

Whats the difference between INDIVIDUAL IDENTITY vs. COLLECTIVE IDENTITY?

INDIVIDUAL IDENTITY, is the unique characteristics or experiences that differentiate a single person from others.

COLLECTIVE IDENTITY, common characteristics that create a shared sense of a group / community.

• EX. BEN JOHNSON

  • INDIVIDUAL identity = celebrated Canadian athlete

  • COLLECTIVE identity = JUST a Jamaican thus must take drugs

What is WHITE PRIVILEGE?

• “Not having to think about race and its role in day-to-day living”

• Depends on your complexion

• Idea of darker skins being dirty, and lighter skins being clean

What is CRITICAL RACE THEORY (CRT)?

Examines ways in which there is privilege for certain groups of society, while others are disadvantaged

Who was FRANTZ FANON?

• Created the theory that RACE is a tool of COLONIAL OPPRESSION

• Trying to fit in…. changing themselves to blend in with society

• Wearing a white mask

  • E.g., changing a cultural name to a “whiter” name

Who was W.E.B DU BOIS?

• Created the theory of DOUBLE CONSCIOUSNESS

• The internal conflict that radicalized people face on a day-to-day basis

• Looking at ones self through other lenses to try to fit in

• Reconcile different world

What 2 LEGISLATIONS maintained APRTHEID?

• (1) The Population Registration Act

• (2) The Group Areas Act

What was THE POPULATION REGISTRATION ACT?

Classified every South African by RACE

• Europoeans, Asiatics, mixed / coloured, and “Natives” (Bantu)

• 30 days to appeal a classification

What was THE GROUP AREAS ACT?

Enforced RACIAL SEGREGATION in living / working places

What did the euphemism “SEPERATE DEVELOPMENT” mean?

• Used by National Party to justify Apartheid system

• Argued that each race must develop SEPARATELY among its natural pathway (mingling was unnatural)

What is a PASSBOOK?

Black South Africans were forced to carry a complication of documents attesting to birth, education, employment history, marriage and other life events

What methods were used to classify individuals RACE using the POPULATION REGISTRATION ACT?

• FORMAL: Census director decided everyones racial classification based on CENSUS DATA

• INFORMAL: Deciding based solely on appearance (not just census director but police and judges as well)

What is CLASSIFICATION TAXONOMY?

• Organizing things into categories based on shared characteristics

• \Race classification based on appearance can only be an APPROXIMATION, no scientific systems

How were MIXED children classified under the 2 Acts?

• Population Registration Act, classified according to the LOWER category (group carrying fewer privileges)

• Group Areas Act, classified according to race of FATHER

How was RECLASSIFICATION determined?

• Mix of APPEARANCE and general ACCEPTANCE

• Had 30 days to appeal classification