Ethnic Studies

1038 Words3 Pages

According to Omi and Winant, the term race can be defined as “a concept which signifies and symbolizes social conflicts and interests by referring to different types of human bodies.” From their framework of racial formation and concept of racial projects, Omi and Winant asserts that race is a matter of social structure and cultural representation that has been intertwined to shape the nature of racism. Racism has been seen since the events of early English colonization of the indigenous people and the racialization of African Americans through slavery, all in which the United States is molded upon as a nation. Thus, this social structure of domination has caused European colonials and American revolutionists to create racialized representations, policies, and structures in order to oppress indigenous and black populations in their respective eras. The structure of a society is based on the concept of superiority and power which both “allocates resources and creates boundaries” between factors such as class, race, and gender (Mendes, Lecture, 09/28/11). This social structure can be seen in Andrea Smith’s framework of the “Three Pillars of White Supremacy.” The first pillar of white supremacy is the logic of slavery and capitalism. In a capitalist system of slavery, “one’s own person becomes a commodity that one must sell in the labor market while the profits of one’s work are taken by someone else” (Smith 67). From this idea of viewing slavery as a means of capitalism, Blacks were subjected to the bottom of a racial hierarchy and were treated nothing more than a property and commodity that is used for someone else’s benefit. The second pillar involves the logic of genocide and colonialism. With genocide, “Non-Native peoples th... ... middle of paper ... ... was imposed on the Indians. Finally, Edward Countryman foregrounds the significance of the American Revolution and its impact on the making of the U.S. as a nation. Racial formation can be defined as “the sociohistorical process by which racial categories are created, inhabited, transformed, and destroyed” (Omi and Winant 55). Both Indians and African Americans were subject to this categorization of race. From Andrea Smith’s racial hierarchy system to Edward Countryman’s examination of projects of colonialism and slavery, the oppression of races, which connects both racialization and colonization, can be seen as the ideal in which the nation is built upon. The creation of racial representation, policies, and social structures seek to undermine other races as inferior, all the while justifying the acts of cruelty and deception in which the nation is founded on.

Show More
Related

  • Analysis Of Michael Omi And Howard Winant's Racial Formation In The United States

    1161 Words  | 3 Pages

    From Michael Omi and Howard Winant’s piece Racial Formation in the United States, they argue that “race” starts with a look at historical “racial formations” that is the “sociohistorical process by which racial categories are created, inhabited, transformed, and destroyed” (21). This occurs through racial projects that link the representation and social structure of racial dynamics through ideology. This means the creation and reproduction of structures of domination based on essentialist categories of race, which is racism. Two groups to examine from the nineteenth century of the United States for the process of “racial formation” would be the Irish and the Chinese.

    Read More

  • Ethnic Myth Chapter Summary

    655 Words  | 2 Pages

    In reading chapter 1, of the “Ethnic Myth”, by Stephen Steinberg, explains how the U.S. has a dominant society. In the U.S. class structures, unequal distributions of wealth, and political power vary between certain racial and ethnic groups. A main idea in this reading is ethnic pluralism which is defined as a particularly diverse racial or ethnic group that maintains their traditional culture within a broader more common civilization. Throughout history, race and ethnicity have caused conflict and the struggle of dominance over land. In reading chapter 2, of Drawing the Color Line, by Howard Zinn, explains how early in history inferior statuses of races which lead to mistreatment lead to racism. The very start of slavery began when african american slaves were brought to the north american colony called Jamestown.

    Read More

  • Ethnic Studies Issues And Approaches Summary

    617 Words  | 2 Pages

    Reading Chapter four of Ethnic Studies Issues and Approaches, by Philip Q. Yang, one receives a profound understanding of ethnic stratification. First of all, Yang describes ethnic stratification as a “institutionalized ethnic inequality” (61). This definition means the system of ethnic/social rules allowing certain ethnic groups to have access to more wealth and resources, which is unfair to the minority groups. There is a division between majority and minority groups, this is based on who is given more power, wealth and resources not because of a larger number of an ethnicity group. According to Yang, White people are the majority in the United States, but they are called majority for their share of wealth/power unlike the minority group.

    Read More

  • The Case For Reparations By Ta-Neehisi Coates Analysis

    1652 Words  | 4 Pages

    In “The Case for Reparations,” Ta-Nehisi Coates sets out a powerful argument for reparations to blacks for having to thrive through horrific inequity, including slavery, Jim Crowism, Northern violence and racist housing policies. By erecting a slave society, America erected the economic foundation for its great experiment in democracy. And Reparations would mean a revolution of the American consciousness, reconciling of our self-image as the great democratizer with the facts of our history. Paying such a moral debt is such a great matter of justice served rightfully to those who were suppressed from the fundamental roles, white supremacy played in American history.

    Read More

  • Race: The Montgomery Bus Boycott By Agustin Fuentes

    1136 Words  | 3 Pages

    It is an accepted notion that race does not define an individual. However, it is an ideology that people have to deal with due to society’s nature. After the collapse of Jim Crow’s laws, race was not supposed to be a limiting factor on any individual in the United States. It had been widely accepted that it was nothing more than a myth. However, due to past transgressions, measures were put in place to ensure that people of color who had been harmed by segregation policies had easy access to tools that would better their lives. The fact that society believes that race is nothing more than a myth blinds people to the racial injustices that still take place. For instance, black people are six times more likely to be imprisoned than whites are. Moreover, three out of every four white persons do not have black friends. The opposite is true for two out of every three persons of African descent (Stockman). Nonetheless, the term race is slowly losing its meaning. A portion of society believes that being black will get you killed, while the other is of the opinion that it gets you a free pass to college. Despite the fact that that racism is a myth, there is still the unbearable truth that racial issues are present with little change on the

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Jean Baker Miller's 'Domination And Subordination'

    2116 Words  | 5 Pages

    Temporary inequality exists as a means of “improving” a subordinate to the level of a dominant. After the period of inequality is over, the two view each other as equals. The other form of inequality, permanent inequality, exists solely because of an ascription of inferiority to a subordinate that is inherent and unchangeable. Unlike temporary inequality, there is no possibility of improvement for the subordinate; they are, in the eyes of the dominant, inferior and impossible to “fix.” The dominants, who view themselves naturally superior to the subordinates, begin to take advantage of the subordinates. “Out of the total range of human possibilities, the activities most highly valued in any particular culture will tend to be enclosed within the domain of the dominant group; less valued functions are relegated to the subordinates” (Rothenberg, 112). Moreover, the subordinates, who by this point are under the total control of the dominant group, may begin to internalize the value of the dominants. “[Subordinates’] incapacities are ascribed to innate defects or deficiencies of mind or body…More importantly, subordinates themselves can come to find it difficult to believe in their own ability” (112). This theory of domination and subordination are clearly mirrored in race relations in the United States. Whites, who are the dominant group, make all of the fallacious errors involved in race-based thinking; they are prone to, like Miller describes, hoarding superior roles in society and practicing systematic cruelty towards the subordinates due to their sincere belief that the subordinates are inherently incapable of rising to the level of the dominant. This internalized belief on the part of the dominants, that the subordinates

    Read More

  • The Wages Of Whiteness: Race And The Making Of The American Working Class By David Roediger

    1000 Words  | 2 Pages

    There is an inextricable relationship between race, capitalism, and property and how it perpetuates the notion of whiteness through the exploitation of Africans and Native Americans. Property is a relationship of a person and an object; slaves were considered as objects. Race is constructed and produced from white workers’ ideology of whiteness and labor wage. Racism has been long constructed through the production of race and its relations to property, and we can see it through the notion of capitalism and the idea of whiteness.

    Read More

  • History of American Race and Racism

    804 Words  | 2 Pages

    Racism, and discrimination, remains very predominate in America today. There are many authors who addressed this subject matter but the three chosen to discuss are W.E.B. Du Bois, Richard Wright, and Gunnar Myrdal. Their interpretations of the subject matter in America are similar in some ways and vary in other ways. The first author, Du Bois, indicated how the facts of American history in the last half century have been falsified because the nation was ashamed of its actions. The second, Richard Wright, depicted the interactions between white and black people, and the third, Gunnar Myrdal, discussed the essential points of race relations in America. All of these writers discuss their perspectives on the history of American race. The study of the American race has been ongoing many years. Even though some factors have changed, there is still an underlying division in America.

    Read More

  • Interpreting Choy's and Taylor's Short Stories: Issues of Modern Racism and Prejudice

    1382 Words  | 3 Pages

    people of different ethnicities. Such harm is observed in the history of North America when the Europeans were establishing settlements on the North American continent. Because of European expansion on the North American continent, the first nations already established on the continent were forced to leave their homes by the Europeans, violating the rights and freedoms of the first nations and targeting them with discrimination; furthermore, in the history of the United States of America, dark skinned individuals were used as slaves for manual labour and were stripped of their rights and freedoms by the Americans because of the racist attitudes that were present in America. Although racist and prejudice attitudes have weakened over the decades, they persist in modern societies. To examine a modern perspective of prejudice and racism, Wayson Choy’s “I’m a Banana and Proud of it” and Drew Hayden Taylor’s “Pretty Like a White Boy: The Adventures of a Blue-Eye Ojibway” both address the issues of prejudice and racism; however, the authors extend each others thoughts about the issues because of their different definitions, perspectives, experiences and realities.

    Read More

  • Analysis of Black Awakening by Robert L. Allen

    1871 Words  | 4 Pages

    Before entering into the main body of his writing, Allen describes to readers the nature of the “semicolony”, domestic colonialism, and neocolonialism ideas to which he refers to throughout the bulk of his book. Priming the reader for his coming argument, Allen introduces these concepts and how they fit into the white imperialist regime, and how the very nature of this system is designed to exploit the native population (in this case, transplanted native population). He also describes the “illusion” of black political influence, and the ineffectiveness (or for the purposes of the white power structure, extreme effectiveness) of a black “elite”, composed of middle and upper class black Americans.

    Read More

  • Racism in America - Past and Present

    2883 Words  | 6 Pages

    Racist and racism are provocative words in American society. To some, they become curse words. They are descriptive words of reality that cannot be denied. Some people believe that race is the primary determinant of human abilities and capacities and behave as if racial differences produce inherent superiorities. People of color are often injured by these judgements and actions whether they are directly or indirectly racist. Just as individuals can act in racist ways, so can institutions. Institutions can be overtly or inherently racist. Institutions can also injure people. The outcome is nonetheless racist, if not intentional (Randall).

    Read More

  • Racism in the US Foreign Policy

    2165 Words  | 5 Pages

    Racism, it is defined as the belief that all members of each race possess characteristics, abilities, or qualities specific to that race, especially so as to distinguish it as inferior or superior to another race or races (Oxford Dictionary, n.d.). In layman’s term, it is an idea wherein one group treats another in a negative way leading to the outcasting of one form to another. One of the major basis of racism is the physical appearance of a person that trends to be a discrimination in the society. Not only the physical aspects are being judged but also the culture, tradition and practices are been after for. In racism, it is always viewed as the barrier between the black and white in terms of who is being more civilized. The perception of the majority is that if you are black, you are in a low level but if you are white then you are of higher rank than that of the other (Fredrickson, 1934). Racism in the U.S. Foreign Policy is evident; supposedly it aims to serve and create a bridge between different races of international community for democratic, secure, and thriving world. The concept of racism is said to originate during the past 500 – 1000 years. It started when the Non-Westerners were dominated by the Western powers that had bigger impact on history; an example would be the slavery started by the Westerners in which Africans were enslaved. The root cause was the racist belief that Black Africans were less fully humans than the white Europeans and their descendants. Racism has existed throughout human history up to this date. It was able to influence wars, slavery, and the division and formation of different nations.

    Read More

  • The Thomas Race Theory

    1053 Words  | 3 Pages

    Omi and Winant (1986) stated that Racial categories often consolidate its meaning by the particular social relations and history context(p.19). Bonilla-Silva(2003) purported that the early colonizer from the Europe named the people in the land which they invaded as “negro” and “Indian” to distinguish them from the noble European (p.34) In the early stages of United State, the race introduced as the tool for the slaveholder and other white class to legitimized the practice of slavery and disenfranchised the natural rights of African Americans. Even the other white immigrants were considered as an individual race when they first migrate to the United State. Thus the meaning of race are constantly shifting within the change of social relation and political background. For example, in the article written by M.Lee, the 1900 census has only five race categories comparing to the 1990 census which has more than ten race option, which means the conception of race are continuously shifting(p.4). Beside the social relations, we also discern race through the preemptive notion of what each racial groups looks like. The African American are generally portrayed as the people who have thick lips and black skin. An Asian American usually have small eyes and feeble physique. Those stereotypes about the people 's physical appearance forge the content of race and become the common way which we utilize to confirm one 's race

    Read More

  • The Abolition Of Slavery In The 18th Century

    1430 Words  | 3 Pages

    Debates over the preservation or abolition of the slave trade were fundamental in establishing discussions on the nature of race. The majority of modern scholars agree that “race” is a

    Read More

  • Societal Discrimination Essay

    1166 Words  | 3 Pages

    There are commonly believed to be four major races on Earth, but over the course of history, one race almost always holds power and privilege. Race is a completely socio-historical concept that society has created based on the way that people look, meaning that the power and privilege is based on merely perceived differences. Since the “discovery” of America, racism has been a prevalent part of society. Whether it be the slaughter of the native people, the enslavement of Africans, the resistance toward the civil rights movement, or even the ongoing issues of police brutality, it is undeniable that Americans have used power and privilege to oppress other groups, most often racially. Individual, institutional, and societal oppression are the

    Read More

More about Ethnic Studies

Open Document