Teaching Against Culturalist Essentialism By Judith Goode: Article Analysis
Omi and Winant’s theories on racial formation are adopted by Kim to apply to his own theories. He uses the conclusions Omi and Winant made to make the basic claim that the concept of race is very fluid and loosely based. Therefore it is an ever-changing social construct. Most people consider race to be a specific category- something that is indefinitely distinguishable. However one of Kim’s main points is that we should strive to push ourselves away from the way of thinking that focuses on the particularities of race.
This simple nine word quotation from Matshona Dhliwayo summarizes much of what Jane Elliot has spent her entire career trying to get people to understand. Watching the film, The Essential Blue Eyed, gave me an entirely new perspective on racism and in truth, showed how ignorant I had been. Jane Elliot is able to give study participants and viewers a completely new perspective on the social construction of race. According to the University of Minnesota, race refers to a category of people that share physical characteristics such as facial features and skin color (UMN 1).
In the article “What We Mean When We Say ‘Race Is a Social Construct’,’’ Ta-Nehisi Coates asserts that the idea of race is not based on someone’s intelligence. People will always have a different opinion on intelligence. It is wrong to make the assumption that “blacks” are not as intelligent as “whites”. Coats says “There is no fixed sense of ‘whiteness’ or ‘blackness’.” He also explains how race is a social construct.
In the reading this week by Smedley and Smedley, the differences between ethnicity and race are discussed and the terms defined. Ethnicity is described as a group of people who have a common cultural trait, share a common language, area of origin, religion, and history (Smedley & Smedley 2005). The culture is learned, and is transferable to other people within the group (Smedley & Smedley 2005). Race is defined as physical features such as skin color or hair texture (Smedley & Smedley 2005). “Ethnicity was recognized as plastic, and transmissible, but race conveyed the notion of differences that could not be transcended” (Smedley & Smedley, 2005, p. 19).
Race only requires some good guys with big guns looking for a reason” (Coates, p. 6). Race is just a social construct and “is an idea, not a
Paine’s book first discusses race and he writes: “If there is a country in the world, where concord, according to common calculation, would be least expected, it is America. Made up, as it is, of people from different nations, accustomed to different forms and habits of government, speaking different languages...” (Paine) Since the beginning of America, immigrants have been coming here to start a new life in a new country. This has resulted in a unique culture because all walks of life have influenced American customs.
Coates explains to the audience that “race is the child of racism, not the father.” This quote, though originally confusing, is the epitome of this idea; race is not a natural or inherent category to define people with, but a tool created through the practices of racism and oppression. For instance, white people “had a ‘race’ before being ‘white’”; they had a culture, a background, and an ethnicity such as Frankish, German, or Italian. However, the grouping and division of race into a black and white issue was created solely from the hatred of one group, African-Americans, and the rising up of another, white people. As Coates expresses, “hate gives identity,” and with the oppression of black individuals being an ongoing issue for centuries in this country, the separation of “black” and “white” as races were the result.
The conceptualization of racial and cultural diversity, has taken
Liu uses this strategy to explain to us why Americans have a hard time pulling away from traditional culture and embracing multiculturalism. This stems from the fact that in the past, politics and media coverage during the beginning of the culture wars put the two in contention. He acknowledges in the article that “The assumption was that multiculturalism sits in polar opposition to a traditional common culture” (Liu 10), in contrast, Liu wants his readers to understand that this is not the case. He also negates the mentality people hold that non whites didn’t play a role in shaping America. He uses Ronald Takaki’s argument that says, “Since well before the formation of the United States, the United States has been shaped by non whites (Liu 11)”.
First, Gravlee explains the cultural perception of race in the United States and how
LEARNING AND CULTURAL THEORIES Name of student Institutional affiliation Date LEARNING AND CULTURAL THEORIES In his book Elijah Anderson tries to describe how life is, living in a black poor community in an American town known as Inner-city. In this area, everyone is struggling financially and seem distant from the rest of America.
29). This highlights the complexities and fluidity of racial and ethnic identity and how it is often imposed upon or assumed about people rather than being fully understood or respected. It also touches on the social and cultural expectations placed on individuals to fit into specific racial or ethnic categories, and how those who do not fit neatly into these categories can be treated as outsiders. Furthermore, it reflects how people's racial or ethnic identities are frequently used to define or label them, rather than being seen as one aspect of their broader identities. Leading Dene to want to reform this inequitable system.
We first meet ShakespeaRE-Told’s head chef, Joe Macbeth, at a stainless steel countertop, where he tenderly carves a pig’s head, each stroke laden with care. “First rule in a kitchen: respect. See this animal? This animal was noble, highly intelligent, feeling… Never forget that.” Meanwhile, in Kurzel’s Macbeth, a flourish of slashing swords presents the film’s hardened protagonist, Macbeth, who stains the verdant battlefield red with each slow-motion-slitting of a throat.
Throughout history social scientists have been trying to examine the different parameters of race in terms of phenotypic characteristics, and cultural behaviors regarding the different groups that society construct’s. legally judges have had different rulings regarding the categorization of different ethnicities and groups within the United States. Many philosophers such as Kwame Appiah, and Scientists such as Dr. James Watson have had opposing arguments on the topic of race and whether it exists or not. In order to do so we need to examine the different definitions of race, and analyze them in order to see how race is a social construct, where people’s notions of race and their interactions with different races determine the way they perceive
Race, nationality and ethnicity Race and ethnicity are seen as form of an individual’s cultural identity. Researchers have linked the concept of “race” to the discourses of social Darwinism that in essence is a categorization of “types” of people, grouping them by biological and physical characteristics, most common one being skin pigmentation. Grouping people based on their physical traits has lead in time to the phenomenon of “racialization” (or race formation), as people began to see race as more of a social construct and not a result or a category of biology.
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