Analysis Of Who Counts As Them By Mich�le Lamont

The controversy surrounding race and racism has continued prosperous for years and will continue for years to come. However, racism has deeper implications than what appears on the surface. As shown in the literary works below, misrepresentation of minority populations and unfair judgment due to popular stereotypes instigate racism that can lead to conflicts in identity.

One common theme throughout the reading is that “…systemic racist attitudes and negative depictions of people of colour by whites persist” (Feagin & Elias, 2013, p. 937). The historical trajectory of research methods are deeply rooted with systemic forms of racism, which is reflected in literature that was published centuries ago and can still be found in current literature today. Some of the articles that were assigned reference opinions and other forms of literature that state that white Americans believe that race and racism are a thing of the past, while others continue

The oppression of certain groups of people is nothing new. These oppressed groups tend to be looked at as different because of their physical features and/or cultural background. Many efforts to improve the lives of the oppressed have been achieved, but there is still a long way to go. These oppressed groups consist of women and different ethnic groups which have had to deal with being pushed around by the white man throughout history. Frantz Fanon deals with his experience as a black man in the French colony of Martinique. Simone de Beauvoir speaks about her experience as a woman in the French mainland. Both authors assert the idea that the man, in particular the white man, sets himself as the superior being that defines what it is to be human and views women and blacks or minorities as the “Other”.

In reading and examining the arguments made by Blauner, Ture and Hamilton and Steinberg, I have come to realize or maybe just acknowledge more so, the many aspects of race, racism and its role within our nation. Not to say that I was oblivious to it (race) before this class, but I had not taken the opportunity before to examine it as closely as we have this semester. Primarily, I had associated race only to the color of one 's skin rather than what it is in actuality; a social construct. Although this social construct / racial hierarchy may change over time with political, economic and historical changes, it has been proven by empirical sociological evidence to be so deeply

On the other hand, the author, Charles M. Blow believes that it is very ignorant of Phil to think of racism as something “without malice” (Blow). The author portrays his upset toward this fact and believes there should be a change to how individuals, like Robertson view racism as something that does not exist in our society. These two perspectives from Phil and one from people with the same perspective as the author create a conflict in which they cannot agree and later becomes another issue for the

Explanations that justify the use of racism directly relates to differential treatment of minority groups and contributes to racism’s existence as an unstoppable social problem. The foundations of these explanations are based on the common misunderstanding of the definition of race. Thus, problems that tend to concentrate in one race are mistakenly judged as “race problems”. This judgement leads to the establishment of a system of inequality between a superior race and inferior races. However, the logic behind these explanations don’t account for the true reasoning behind minority individuals value status. In fact, these explanations contribute to minority individuals’ further struggle in life.

1) Gallagher views color-blind racism as a cheap justification for individuals to continually project racism towards others with no remorse. He brings up the claim that this “color blind” mentality ignores or suppresses the conversation of white privilege while promoting the view of race as a cultural marker. Gallagher believes when a society instills a color-blind society—they are reinforcing their social structure on the hierarchy while failing to acknowledge the racial inequality that exists in the world. As stated, “the new color-blind ideology does not ignore race, it acknowledges race while disregarding social hierarchy.” If we analyze this ideology of color-blind racism, we can understand how it makes it rather difficult for Caucasians to understand racism when they fail to acknowledge the racial inequality that exists. Having white privilege in the United State of America can make it rather difficult for

Racism is a very controversial topic in today’s society. Some might think racism ended when the 15th amendment was passed and black men were able to vote, but some people still face racism in today’s society. With the new presidential leader, minorities are being more and more ostracized. Racism is no longer just “black and white”. Rather, it is a gray area where racism is no longer clear to all people.

The validation of racism as a current problem needs to be brought forth by minority union representatives to help lay the foundation for resistance against racist labor unions. In the 2000s, the downplaying of racism in the unions has alienated many minority members that are not being presented during negotiations. The very fact that racism seems to be disavowed as a problem in the unions is one way in which minorities are actively pursing a more open and transparent debate about racism as a current issue in the 21st century. Oikelome (2006) defines one panel debate on racism in British unions, which exposes these factors through the testimony of Mary

In “Racism Without Racists,” written by Eduardo Bonilla-Silva, Bonilla-Silva argues that racism in the United States is very much alive and well; however, it has taken on a new form he likes to call color-blind racism. Bonilla-Silva focuses his argument around the foundation, and definition of color-blind racism; this is a form of racism where “whites rationalize minorities’ contemporary status as the product of market dynamics, naturally occurring phenomena, and blacks’ imputed cultural limitations” (Bonilla-Silva 2). He explains that this ideology has grown since the 1960s, and furthers his argument by analyzing historical trends that support his claim. Not only does he compare and contrast the post-civil rights era, where blatant racist

The great connotation of racism in American life received dramatic and widely publicized emphasis in the “Report of the national advisory commission on Civil Disorders,” in March 1968 (US Commission of Civil rights, 1970) . Clearly the Americans never believed that they were being racists which again caused a situation that became contentious among the Whites and Blacks and thus proves that, due to being ignorant about this situation with minorities, the minorities have certainly become defiant in harsh

People do not realize that racism still exists in our community, schools, and workplaces. Individuals are not born racist, but, as individuals grow up, they often develop ideas that a certain race is superior than another race, and this way of thinking is the cause of racism. Anger is one of the common causes of racism as well; for example, some unemployed workers might blame immigrants for taking all the good jobs. This type of assumption can be made easily dismissed however, when they realize that in most cases, the best and hardest workers reap the rewards, as businesses must excel in order to stay relevant and profitable. Often, they are targeting a certain race or

In order to gather information about the idea of racism, I conducted a survey in which I asked four simple questions. I asked for the individuals personal definitions of racism, if they believe racism is real, and if so, how. I asked them if race makes a difference in terms of privilege or disadvantage, and if racism has an impact in their personal lives. These questions were asked to five participants of varying race and ethnicity. Three of the participants were Caucasian, one individual was Asian, and the other was Middle Eastern.

Michèle Lamont, a Harvard Scholar, wrote the article “Who Counts as Them?” which talks about racism in France and the United States. In this article, Lamont talks about how racism may be seen through the same lens in both countries. The main purpose of the article is to explain that both the United States (US) and France claim to be non racist and to be leaders for other countries, yet France and the US are both high on the racism charts. Lamont did her research by doing interview surveys with people, both from France and the US. Lamont uses the interviews with people and examples, such as Tony Sansone and Eric Dupuis, to get an answer to the important question of "how do members of different racism groups view one another?" and "Is skin

Race relations are becoming increasingly important in our civilization. Despite this increasing importance, the question, 'Is our society racist?' is commonly debated. After investigating this subject, it is evident to me that American society is racist.