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Essays over recitation by toni morrison
Basic ideas of critical race theory
Critical race theory tenets
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CRT or Critical Race Theory is used to analyze literature by looking at cultures and races as a whole. It states that racism is intertwined in our society, and that our culture has racist tendencies. Race has to be looked at as a “formation” in which whites have the highest power. Toni Morrison’s short story “Recitatif” is a great example to use the critical race theory lens on. This story is
When the story starts you get an introduction into the lives of two characters by the name of “Roberta” and “Twyla”. Their mothers were unable to take care of them, so they ended up at St. Bonny’s. The first instance where I started to try and assign a race to one of the characters was when Twyla quoted something she remembered her mom telling her “..they
never washed their hair and they smelled funny. Roberta sure did. Smell funny, I mean” (131). I thought that Morrison was suggesting that Roberta was black, but as the story went on I realized it is never revealed which race either of the characters are. You know that one is black and one is white just from the context and hints throughout the story but you never know which one is which. I don’t think Morrison intended for us to know the race of the characters maybe that is why she never just comes out right and says their races, as if she is leaving the decision up to us as an audience. This strategy is called coding and instead of using racial codes, Morrison is using social codes in order to prove a point. The point being that America has a constant urge to label things and or people at any given moment? We as a society like knowing what is happening and being able to explain things. Morrison’s short story wasn’t so easy deciphering in terms of the characters races. This short story was an eye opener in terms of how I view literature from this day on. I never realized how eager I was to do something as assign a race to somebody when it wasn’t there the whole time. As I read through the story I really tried to understand what Morrison was saying. It is my opinion that Morrison used critical race theory to show us how is society tries to assign races to literature. It’s highly unlikely that I was the only one to read the piece and jump straight into trying to figure out the races of the characters. That says something about our society, which I think is negative in nature.
When Twyla and Roberta first meet, there is already a racial divide. This is made evident by their different ethnicities and Twyla’s skepticism brought on by her mother’s comment about their hair “smelling funny (Morrison 31).” Although this misconception might not have directly influenced their friendship, it is stated that Twyla and Roberta did not get along in the beginning and Twyla even comments that her mom would not like the set-up; it was not until they
A Critical Analysis of Racism in Canadian Law and the “Unmapping” of the White Settler Society in “When Place Becomes Race” by Sherene H. Razack
This week’s articles carry a couple related, if not common, themes of imagined, if not artificial, constructs of race and identity. Martha Hodes’ article, “The mercurial Nature and Abiding Power of Race: A Transnational Family Story,” offers a narrative based examination of the malleable terms on which race was defined. To accomplish this she examines the story of Eunice Connolly and her family and social life as a window into understanding the changing dimensions of race in nineteenth-century America and the Caribbean, specifically New England and Grand Cayman. While Hodes’ article examines the construction of race in the Americas, Ali A. Mazrui’s piece, “The Re-Invention of Africa: Edward Sai, V. Y. Mudimbe, and Beyond,” looks at the construction of African identity. Although different in geographic loci, the two articles similarly examine the shaping influences of race and identity and the power held in ‘the Other’ to those ends.
The main aspect of this story is how race should not be someone’s entire identity, and that there are other parts of people that create who they are. Personality has nothing to do with whether someone is black or white, and throughout the story the reader catches themselves making these assumptions and feeding in to these stereotypes. Both Roberta and Twyla find difficulties in determining whether or not Maggie was black or white, and their memories seem to be unreliable. Roberta remembers Maggie being black while Twyla
Race-thinking: what is it? Isn’t the world past the issue of race? Do races even exist and if so, what does it mean to have a racial identity? Is colorblindness possible and how important is it? These are the questions Paul Taylor addresses in the book “Race: A Philosophical Introduction”. Paul Taylor is a self-proclaimed “radical constructionist” who will maintain that race is very real in our world and in the United States as a whole (p. 80). Taylor takes care to ensure he addresses the real needs concerning racial dynamics in the U.S., referencing historical events, prevailing policy affairs, and even pop culture to explain that everyone capable of forming opinions ought to have some sort of grasp of the concept of race-thinking. As Taylor will analyze, race and race-thinking “has shaped and continues to shape private interactions as well as the largest political choices” (p. 8). In other words, race-thinking encompasses everything we do and every interaction we have. In this paper I will attempt to interpret and expound Taylor’s views and definitions of race, concepts associated with race, and input my own interpretations as they are appropriate.
In Caucasia, by Danzy Senna, Birdie spends time in several different racial contexts and, in each one, adjusts the racial definition of herself. Through this process, she discovers much about the conception of race in contemporary American society and achieves the nuanced understanding that race, while merely a construction, is still (operationally) real. This is contrasted by the more dangerous, oversimplified understanding of race – that races are biological rivals, inherently different and unable to coexist without some sort of power structure – embodied by the character of Redbone, who is also a symbol of inauthenticity. This latter aspect of Redbone shows the emptiness inherent in the views he holds about race, an important reason for his inclusion in the novel.
Critical Race Theory (CRT) began in the field of law and has been used as a theoretical framework in educational research for over 15 years (Savas, 2014). Gloria-Ladson-Bilings and William F.Tate IV’s wrote an article, “Toward a Critical Race Theory of Education”, in 1995 and began the use of Critical Race Theory as a lens for future studies in education. The first tenet of CRT looks at race and racism through historical contexts. To explore this tenet, I will take a brief glance back to the beginning of our country and the beginning of white as a superior race.
In America, essentially everyone is classified in terms of race in a way. We are all familiar with terms such as Caucasian, African-American, Asian, etc. Most Americans think of these terms as biological or natural classifications; meaning that all people of a certain race share similarities on their D.N.A. that are different and sets that particular race apart from all the other races. However, recent genetic studies show that there’s no scientific basis for the socially popular idea that race is a valid taxonomy of human biological difference. This means that humans are not divided into different groups through genetics or nature. Contrary to scientific studies, social beliefs are reflected through racial realism. Racial realists believe that being of a particular race does not only have phenotypical values (i.e. skin color, facial features, etc.), but also broadens its effects to moral, intellectual and spiritual characteristics.
Those two events may seem like nothing but it shows how even at the early age of 8, children are taught to spot the differences in race instead of judging people by their character. Directing after this Twyla mentions how her and Roberta “looked like salt and pepper standing there and that’s what the other kids called us sometimes” (202). On the first page of this short story we already have 3 example of race dictating how the characters think and act. With the third one which mentions salt which is white and pepper which is black we understand that one girl is white and one girl is black. The brilliance of this story is that we never get a clear cut answer on which girl is which. Toni Morrison gives us clues and hints but never comes out and says it. This leaves it up to us to figure it out for ourselves. The next example of how race influences our characters is very telling. When Twyla’s mother and Roberta’s mother meeting we see not only race influencing the characters but, how the parents can pass it down to the next generation. This takes places when the mothers come to the orphanage for chapel and Twyla describes to the reader Roberta’s mother being “bigger than any man
Racism is often considered a thing of the past, with its manifestation rarely being acknowledged in the United States today. Race: The Power of an Illusion, is a documentary that addresses the legacy of racism through its significance in the past, and its presence in society today. To understand racism, it is vital to understand the concept of race. Race is a social invention, not a biological truth. This can be observed through the varying classifications of race in different cultures and time periods. For instance, in the United States, race has long been distinguished by skin color. In nineteenth century China, however, race was determined by the amount of body hair an individual had. Someone with a large amount of facial hair, for example,
In relation to the Critical Race Theory, the idea of the “gap between law, politics, economics, and sociological reality of racialized lives” (Critical Race Theory slides). The critical race theory gives us a guide to analyze privileges and hardships that comes across different races and gender. For example, analyzing how and why a “black” or “indigenous” woman may experience more hardships versus not only a “white” man, but a “white”
Race: The Power of an Illusion was an interesting 3 part film. After watching this, it made me questioned if race was really an illusion or not. It is absolutely taboo to think that the one thing that separates people the most may be a myth in itself. “We can 't find any genetic markers that are in everybody of a particular race and in nobody of some other race. We can 't find any genetic markers that define race.” (Adelman and Herbes Sommers 2003). Racism is something created in the U.S made to create supremacy for the creator. Racism is not just the way someone thinks, it is something that has is manifested in our society to separate us and can be traced to our everyday activities.
Critical Race Theory (CRT) comes from the scholarship of Critical Legal Studies (CLS) which has observed the continuing domination and power of some groups such males and whites over some other groups and it has argued that political and social change was necessary (Taylor, 2009). Derrick A. Bell, an African American, was the first who had tried to establish an agenda in which colonialism, race, and racism would have an important role in intellectual legal...
Within the community, racism affects how people's views of beauty and skin can be skewed by other's racist thoughts; sexism shapes everyone in the community's reactions to different forms of rape. Works Cited Morrison, Toni. The Bluest Eye. Afterwards, by Toni Morrison. New York: Penguin, 2004.
Critical race theory gives up a critical view of racism and race from a legal perspective. Critical Race theory stems from Critical Theory. In critical race theory they talk about micro aggressions within its theory. Critical race theory has five premises: Counter Storytelling, the permanence of racism, whiteness as a property, interest convergence, and critique of liberalism. Counter storytelling is method where people tell their racial experience. An example would be when slaves would sing songs in the field while working. The permanence of racism is when race controls different positions within our society. An example of this would be Caucasians running the Senate. Whiteness as property is another word for white privilege. An example would be Slavery and the Indians having their land taking. Interest convergence is basically whites supporting a minority rights when it in their interest also. The Emancipation Proclamation would be an example of that because he did this for his personal gain. Lastly there is critique of liberalism which is colorblindness meaning everyone is equal. An example of this would a society where race and ethnicity didn’t matter. Critical Race Theory helps us understand that race is a very powerful component in our society. People put so much emphasize on your race that they tend to overlook important things. There are