The state influences the thinking of ordinary people about race by putting barriers around people that are black or have black ancestry. In the article Racial Formations by Michael Omi and Howard Winant, they use the trial of Susie Guillory Phillips as an example of how the state views people that have black descendants. Susie wanted to be classified as white instead of black, but she was denied because of the 1970’s law that declared people black if they had ancestors that were black. This shows that the government is trying to categorize people, and gives a message to society that if someone has dark skin, or has black ancestors that they can’t be anything else. There’s also films that show behaviors, and appearances that they’ve given to