Studied by 11 peopleWhat is violence?
-“Violence permeates all segments of society and supports hierarchies” -Du Bois
-Racial hierarchies require violence
-Gender hierarchies violence
-Class hierarchies violence
-Sexuality hierarchies violence
What are problems with traditional notions of violence?
-Viewing violence as lying outside of hierarchy power arrangements
-Who gets to frame/define violence
-Assumptions (Individualism and equal protection under law)
-All questions of power
Sociological Remedy?
-Putting violence in a social context that deconstructs liberal notions of individuals and conceives of violence as a part of social hierarchies.
Logics of Contextualizing Violence
-The relationship between linking actions to works
-Traditionally conceived, speech can never be violent. It can only provoke violence.
-Everyday social practices
“The vampire that hovers over North Carolina” 1898
-A painting during Reconstruction- post slavery time period
-Fear that black people are getting too much power (racial panic because of the fear that white people are loosing power)
-A response to that was a dramatic increase in lynching in the U.S 1877-1950
Lynching Patterns
-Lynchings in the U.S increased after the civil war in the late 1800s, following the civil war
-Lynchings were routinely recorded into the 1960s
-Most frequently targeted black men and women in the south
-Often starting with large mob actions attended by hundred or thousands of watchers, lynching in the 20th century began to be conducted secretly by small groups of men
-Lynchings were also common in the West, where Native Americans, Mexican Americans, and Chinese were the primary victims
-Lynchings enforced white supremacy and intimidated blacks by racial terrorism
-Sociologists show that lynchings in the south have been strongly associated with white economics strains and or black economic and political gains
How Many?
-There is no count of recorded lynchings which claims to be precise, and the numbers vary depending on the source, years considered. -The Tuskegee Institute has recorded 3,446 Blacks and 1,297 Whites being lunched between 1882-1968, with the annual peak occurring in the 1890s. -A five-year study published in 2015 by the Equal Justice Initiative found that nearly 3,959 Black men, women, and children were lynched in the twelve Southern states between 1877 and 1950. -Over this period Georgias 586 lynchings led all states.
Violence is not just about harm, it is about control
Anti-Lynching Legislation
-From 1882 to 1968
-Nearly 200 anti-lynching bills were introduced in Congress
-3 of these passed the house
Justice for Lynching Act
-On December 19th the Senate unanimously passed legislation that made lynching a federal crime in 2018
-The Justice for Lynching Act classifies as lynching, “the ultimate expression of racism in the United States” as a hate crime
-In its findings, the bill states that at least 4,742 people, most African Americans, were lynched in the United States between 1882 and 1968
-Congress has considered nearly 200 anti-lynchings bills
Ida B. Wells
-Owned newspaper called Free Speech and wrote numerous articles that condemned the mistreatment of blacks
-After an attack on a friend in Memphis she wrote an editorial attacking the practice of lynching in the south
-Local witness responses to Wells editorial by running her out of town
-She wrote three pamphlets aimed at awakening the nation to what she described as the “Southern Horrors” of legalized murder
-“Having lost my paper, had a price put on my life, and been made an exile from home for hitting at the truth, I felt I owed it to myself and to my race to tell the whole truth”
-“The way to right wrongs is to turn the light of truth upon them” (This was her motto).
Wells and Miscegenation Laws
-Linked laws to the perpetuation of Black women’s rape and lynching
-“The miscegenation laws of the south only operate against the legitimate union of the races; they leave the white man free to seduce all the colored girls he can, but it is death to the colored man who yields to the force and advances of a similar attraction to white women. “ (pg. 4)
Jessie Daniel Ames (1883-1972)
-Founder and Executive Director of the Association of Southern Women for the Prevention of Lynching (It was founded in 1903)
-This campaign was so important because she was a white women
-ASEPL was convinced that lynchings were sanctioned murder and the result of “false chivalry” the use by white men of white women virtues as an excuse for racially motivated violence against blacks.
Three Point Agreement
-First, all the resources of the council of the association were to be directed toward the development and promotion of educational programs against lynching, leaving the field of political action to other groups. -Second, emphasis at all times was ti be placed in the repudiation of the claim that lynching is necessary to the protection of white women -Third, the association of southern women to the prevention of lynching would be limited in organization to a central council and a state council in each of the thirteen southern states. -Although its structure remembered that of many black anti-lynching organizations, the ASWPL rejected participation by blacks in its activities because its leaders believed that only white women could influence other white women
Race, Rape, and the Rope
What is the “unholy” trinity of race, rape, and the rope?
What does the trinity symbolize?
-Oppression, the fear of black men raping white women
-Perpetrators had little reason to fear the law. In 1921 Harlows Weekly, an Oklahoma publication wrote, “In Oklahoma among thousand of people it is not considered a crime for a mob to kill a negro”
“Old Negro v. New Negro”
-Who or what was the “New Negro” and how did the “New Negro” differ from the “Old Negro”
-The “Old Negro” was happy, didn’t mind working for white people during slavery.
-The “New Negro” was the malevolent counterpart of the “Old Negro” whom Whites invented during slavery and later…
Ben “Pitchform” Tillman
-Born 1827
- Died 1918
-Governor of South Carolina
-US Senator 1895-1918
-During his campaign he bragged about killing blacks
-He has a statue at the State House
-From a sociology perspective it shows that violence is a form that keeps certain groups of people in place
-he invoked the image that would haunt and obsess his region
Riot Patterns
-Each riot was unique, but they followed a similar pattern.
-As blacks asserted their rights, restive whites grew alarmed.
-Then some catalyst, often a newspaper article tapping into sexual fears, would trigger a furious response by whites.
Mob Justice
What was the history of “mob justice in Oklahoma?” -The media would report on black crime but not white crime.
-Black crime was no higher than white crime during this time period.
-This fed into the fear of black violence even though their was not a higher rate of black crime to white crime.
-How did the media implicated in “mob justice?”
-How were the police implicated in “mob justice?”
Who was the first known person lynched in Tulsa?
-Roy Belton (a white, eighteen year old implicated in a carjacking and attempted murder case)
-Lynching did not start off as being related to race, that started to evolve over time.
-How did state officials, the law, and the media respond to this lynching?
What was the Tulsa Race Riot?
-On May 31 and June 1, 1921, a white mob started the Tulsa race riot, attacking residents and businesses of the African
- American community of Greenwood in Tulsa, Oklahoma -Considered the worst incident of racial violence in the United States history. -The attack, carried out on the ground and by air, destroyed more than 35 blocks of the district, at the time the wealthiest black community in the nation. -More than 6,000 black residents were arrested -The black community had a lot of money in Tulsa -A women said she was rapped in an elevator by a black man, but they were seen to be in a relationship
Black Wall Street
-They had 600 black owned businesses, 30 grocery stores, 21 churches, 21 restaurants, 6 private airplanes, 2 movie theaters -Segregation told them this was their land, so they made it the best part of town given all the money they had. -Tulsa was almost completely independent from the city and state government. Almost operated as an independent city.
How did it Start?
-A young black man was accused of raping a white women. Research says they were in a relationship or at least knew each other. -The mob comes, takes the man and lynches him, and then they started to harm other black people. As a result the black community came with guns to stop this from happening.
-Typically, when a mob was coming the black community left. This time was different because they showed up with guns to confront the police and the mob.
-The national guard came in and started to bomb and attacked the black residents who were protecting themself from the white mob.
-Their were air strikes because the U.S government came from the sky because they were not winning from the ground
Why is the date of the Riot Significant?
-During this time their were huge debates about who should be considered white -Mass immigration from eastern Europe trying to change definitions of whiteness
Wilmington Riot, 1898
-Atlanta Race Riot, 1906
-Corbin Race Riot, October 1919 (Happened in Kentucky)
-The black community had less money and power than the community in Tulsa.
-In Corbin it started by a man being mugged by other men (that is how the riot started)
-A key difference is that not many people died in the Corbin Riot (In the Tulsa Race Riot many people died) In the Corbin Riot the black community was sent on a train to Knoxville, Tennessee. Some went to London, Kentucky.
The Big Four
-National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Founded in 1909
-Congress of Racial Equality (CORE)- founded in 1942
-Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)- founded in 1957
-Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)- founded in 1960; ended in 1976
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)
-Founded in 1909 in response to the Race Riot of 1908 in Springfield, Illinois and the increase in lynchings -An explicitly “bi-racial” organization to “ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights of all persons and to eliminate racial hatred and racial discrimination”
William Edward Burghardt Du Bois
-One of the primary founding fathers of NAACP
Congress of Racial Equality (CORE)
-Founded in 1942
-Of the 50 original members 28 were men and 22 were women, roughly one third of them were black and two thirds were white
-Bayard Rustin was active supporter of CORE -A pacifist group, rooted its non-violent resistance strategy after Mahatma Gandhi
Bayard Rustin
-One of the key leaders of CORE -The “unknown hero of the civil rights movement” -A leading strategists of the civil rights movement from 1955-1968 -He was the lead organizer of the 1963 March on Washington -After the passage of the 1964-65 civil rights legislation he became the head of the AFL-CIO -He was in all the pictures with MLK but nobody knew who he was because he was openly gay
Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)
-Founded in January 1957, after the Montgomery bus boycott -Martin Luther King Jr consulted with Bayard Rustin, Ella Baker, and others -MLK was the first president
Relationships between the big 4
-Because of its dedication to nonviolent direct action protests, civil disobedience, and mobilizing mass participation in boycotts and marches, SCLC was considered more “radical” than the NAACP, which favored lawsuits, legislative lobbying, and education campaigns conducted by professionals, and usually opposed civil disobedience -SCLC was less radical -SNCC began moving away from nonviolence and integration in the late 1960s. Over time SCLC and SNCC took different strategic paths with SCLC focusing on large scale campaigns such as Birmingham and Selma to win national legislation, and SNCC focused on community-organizing to build political power on the local level. -In many communities, there was tension between SCLC and SNCC because SCLC’s base was the minister-led BLACk churches, and SNCC was trying to build rival community organizations led by the poor.
The women who led the movement: Frankie Lou Hamer
-October 6, 1917- March 14, 1977 -American voting rights activist, a leader in the Civil Rights Movement -Philanthropist who worked primarily in Mississippi -Co-organized Mississippi Freedom Summer for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee -1964 Important Date
Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)
-One of the most important Civil Rights Movement organizations -Emerged out of a student meeting organized by Ella Baker in 1960 -Baker despised top down leadership, SNCC followed suit -Had full time SNCC workers -Organized many sit-ins and freedom rides -Had a leading role in : 1963 March on Washington, Mississippi Freedom Summer, and Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, and voter registration
Freedom Summer (aka Mississippi Summer Project) 1964
-A Black voter registration campaign started in June 1964 -In 1962 only 5.3% of Blacks registered to vote in MS due to many state barriers -Mostly organized and financed by SNCC also established….
Summer Freedom Schools-which educated over 3,500 Black students and besides taught Black History and constitutional rights Freedom Libraries-approximately 15, some had only a few hundred volumes, others over 20,000 volumes Freedom Houses- communal living for volunteers
How were age old fears of interracial sex and Black male on White female rape threaten the aims of Freedom Summer?
-They were afraid of black men and white men being on the same buses -White supporters who were in favor of Freedom Summer ironically wanted segregated spaces. How did the public telling of sexual abuse and violence against women in Southern jails shape the civil rights movement?
Standing Our Ground
-Although non-violence was crucial to the gains made by the freedom struggle of the 1950s and 1960s, those gains could not have been achieved without the complementary practice of armed self- defense -The willingness to use deadly force ensured the survival not only of soundless brave men and women, but also of the freedom struggle itself.-Groups of people were prepared to take up violence for the non violent people
Deacons for Self Defense and Justice
-Who were the Deacons for Self-Defense and Justice? What was the relationship between the Deacons and the Civil Rights Movement -In 1964 a small group of African American men in Jonesboro, Louisiana, defied the non-violence policy of the mainstream civil rights movement and formed an armed self-defense organization to protect movement workers from vigilante and police violence. -The group was formed incorporated on January 5, 1965 -The Deacons because a popular symbol of the refer between the nonviolent public space of civil rights
Richard Haley, CORE’s Regional Director
-“The Deacons have the effect of lowering the minimum potential for danger” -he told New York Times. “That is a valuable function that CORE can’t perform.”
Guns, (Non) Violence and King
-After the January 30, 1956 bombing of his home in Montgomery, MLK applied for a concealed weapon permit at the sheriffs office. He was denied. Nonetheless he had firearms in his home. -However, he denounced the Deacons for what he called their “aggressive violence” -King noted that there was a different between using guns for self defense and bringing them to a protest
James Meredith and Merediths March
-He is a civil rights activist who became the first African American to attend the University of Mississippi in 1962 -The compromise was if whites can come to the march then deacons can come to the march
Michael Brown, Ferguson, and the Invisibility of Race
-80% of blacks said that the Michael Brown case raised important issues about race whereas only 37% of whites expressed this opinion -47% of whites felt that race is getting more attention than it deserves in this case whereas only 12% of blacks expressed this opinion -65% of blacks thought the police response had gone too far whereas only 33% of whites felt the same way -68% of democrats thought that this case raises important issues about races whereas only 22% of republicans expressed this opinion -61% of republicans felt that race was getting too much attention with this issue whereas only 22% of democrats felt the same way
Rise in “Justified Killings” of Blacks in the U.S
-SYG= stand your ground states (can use deadly force if feeling threatened) -Stand your ground states have a large increase in justified killings -Stand your Ground Laws tend to track the existing racial disparities in homicide convictions across the U.S -Whites who kill blacks in SYG states are far more likely to be found justified in their killings -In non-SYG states, whites are 250% more likely to be found justified in killing a black person than a white person who kills another white person -In SYG states that number jumps to 354% -Kentucky is a stand your ground state
Police View Black Youth Differently
-“With the average age overestimation for black boys exceeding four-and-a-half years, in some cases, black children may be viewed as adults when they are just 13 years old” -People think that is what happened with Tamir Rice (he had a toy gun at the park but the police shot him thinking he was an adult) -Black people are viewed older than they are
U.S Department of Justice
-Black suspects are killed by police 5 times greater than white suspects -The Department of Justice statistics are unclear on the rate that police kill Asians because Asians are included in the “Other” category in their reporting -Also, the DOJ data Latinas are included in the racial white category
Shooter Simulation Studies
-What are shooter simulation studies? (Video simulation, the player takes the first person perspective) -Why are shooter simulation studies important? (Can control for certain variables such as neighborhood, situations, and context)
Shooter Bias
-A number of studies have shown that college students, community members and police officers are more likely to shoot and have a racial bias in shooter response times towards Blacks as opposed to Whites -This also occurs in participants who express anti racist sentiments -And this pattern holds true fir Blacks. That is, blacks also demonstrate a shooter bias towards blacks (implicit bias)
Shooter Bias in a Multicultural context
-Sadler, Journal of Social Issues, did the first shooter simulation study that included more than just Black and White suspects; also included Latinx and Asians -Conducted two studies; first with college students and a second with law enforcement officers
Findings
-Among college students the authors found a clear racial bias towards black suspects, and black suspects only -Among police officers, the largest racial bias was towards blacks, but also found a significant bias towards Latinos relative to whites and Asians -They also found a racial bias towards whites compared to Asians -In other words, police officers were more likely to shoot Blacks, then Latinos, followed by whites, and last, Asians
-The war on cops started in the same year as Black Lives Matter, founded in 2013 -Mike Brown Protest, Ferguson MO 2014
Founders, Black Lives Matter
-Patrice Cullors, Co-Founder -Alicia Garza, Co-Founder -Opal Tometi, Co-Founder
What is #BlackLivesMatter?
-“Black Lives Matter” if an ideological and political intervention in a world where Black lives are systematically and intentionally targeted for demise. It is an affirmation of Black folks humanity, out contributions to this society, and out resilience in the face of deadly oppression.”
The World is Outraged
-A United Nationals panel citizen the United States for police brutality, motility interrogations and executive use of force -Frances Justice Minister Christian’s Taubira in response to the Grand Jury: “When the sense of frustration is that strong, that deep, that long-lasting and that huge, there is a reason to question whether people trust these institutions.” She added “You realize that somehow it only happens to the same people: Afro-American kids.”
-93% of Black Lives Matter Protest have been peaceful
-The armed conflict location and event data project analyzed more than 7,750 Black Lives Matter demonstrations in all 50 states and Washington DC that took place in the wake of George Floyd’s death between may 26 and august 22.
-Their report states that more than 2,400 locations reported peaceful protest, while fewer than 220 reported “violent demonstrations”
Reaction to Cliven Bundy?
-Governor Brian Sandoval sided with Bundy, saying “no cow justifies the atmosphere of intimidation which currently exists not the limitation of constitutional rights that are sacred to all Nevadans. The BLM (Bureau of Land Management) needs to reconsider its approach to this matter and act accordingly.”
Bundy Supporters
-On April 15, 2014 a group of Republican state legislators from Arizona, including representatives traveled to Mesquite, Nevada, to support Bundy in his standoff.
Oregon Siege, North Dakota Protest (2016)
Sociology of Families or Family Sociology
-Families as institutions (regulated, laws, routine) -Inequalities -Socialization
What is the racial self and how is it formed?
-The self is a social construction -We come to know ourselves through our expierences with others -The question of racial self cannot be anything but a social problem -They are working together but they leave and go their separate ways (the whites and blacks who work in the coal mines are on a more equal playing field) -How is it socially constructed?
Racialization
-According to Brown: “Central to the conceptualization of the veil is that is precedes these material manifestations of racialization…” (p.79)
How did racial segregation shape the racial self?
-Being segregated forms your own perception of the racial self because the racial self is your experiences with other people.
-She is saying something is happening differently in Appalachia
The Spectrum of Whiteness
-How was the spectrum of whiteness reinforced in Harlan Country?
-How does this spectrum of whiteness and its reinforcement compare to the other readings we had on whiteness and how white people became white?
-The coal miners didn’t just bring in black people they brought in white immigrants. They had housing for black people and white immigrants together. There was even segregation amongst the whites. Immigrants are Eastern Europeans who are darker than the other whites. The darker white people are being housed together.
-“They would go in every day as equals, and if they were lucky enough to come out at all, they came out Black. Yet the enterence to the bathhouse was a threshold of subjecthood; with one step those men would transform to miners”
What did the spectrum of whiteness mean for black kids?
-“Real white people” -Geography: where did the “real white people” live versus the “asset” white people? -Possibility of mutual recognition across racial lines, especially between Hungarians and Blacks
Making Reproduction a Crime: What is Dorothy Robert’s arguing?
-Lot of white people use drugs during pregnancy but crack is targeted specifically because crack is used primarily by black people.
-She is making a argument that the punishment for crack is worse than cocaine and is targeted for a particular reason.
-Is crack more dangerous to a fetus than other drugs? No, it is not any more dangerous What do recent studies about the long term impact of crack on babies suggest?
-Same impact as drugs or smoking. When you compare poor crack users to wealthy crack users is that it is not crack that has a bad impact its poverty (its the level of health care that you have) The outcome is likely to be better if you have better health care. The media gave crack its reputation.
Committees
Welfare Reform Committee- conservative, focus on fiscal issues, “family values”controlling birth rates. Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Kevin McaCarthy are members of this group
National Welfare Group- this group is liberal NOT radical, focus on leveling the playing field”
National Organization of Women- focus on “group implications for gender oppression”
National Action Network-
The State of Black LGBT People and Their Families
-Sociologists approach families as an institution -Approximately 3.7% of all African Americans identify as LGBT, with 84,000 African Americans living in same sex couples and roughly a third of those couples raising children, -Black individuals who identify as LGBT are disproportionally young and disproportionately female: 58% Black LGBT people are women. -Washington DC has the highest percentage of black LGBT individuals and couples -More than a quarter of Black LGBT folk live in Georgia, New York, Maryland, and North Carolina -The top tens state include: Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Alabama (The south has more strict LGBT laws) This is because the cost of living is higher on the coast and a lot of them argue that it is easier to deal with homophobia in the south than racism on the coast. This has a lot to do with class.
Where do Black LGBT People Live?
-Washington DC has the highest percentage of Black LGBT people
Black LGBT Family Demographics
-Same sex couples of color are more likely to have children or to be foster parents than white same-sex couples -32% of children being raised by black male gay couples live in poverty, compared to 13% of children being raised by married heterosexual black parents and just 7 percent being raised by married heterosexual white parents. -The median income for a heterosexual black couple is 2,000 more than a black same sex couple -However, the median income difference between black gay men and black lesbians is approximately 20,000 -The average income different between black gay men and black lesbians is almost 30,000
Intersectionality, Cognition, Disclosure and Black LGBT Views on Civil Rights and Marriage Equality
-Predicability of those that are fully disclosed? Not disclosed? -Variance in social cognition among those with similar identity constellations? -Those who were non disclosed thought they were not related at all (2 different movements) -The ones that are openly out have to identify with it more -How did they feel about racism in relation to property?
What are the biggest challenges and the greatest strengths about addressing the needs of transgender Americans?
-Challenge- being LGBT and black. Black LGBT youth are highly vulnerable to homelessness (comprise approximately 20% of all homelessness youth) A lot of disparity in health and wellness, which makes it harder to access resources so they are likely to suffer from more chronic diseases. High unemployment and poverty rates suggest a lot of discrimination in the workplace
Nondiscrimination laws that prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in shelters, renting, and housing are critical to help create stable living conditions for black gay and transgender individuals and their families
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