John Kennedy, An African American Law Professor At Harvard

In 1971, William E. Cross, Jr., Ph.D., a Black psychologist and prominent researcher (specializing in Black psychology) developed a framework for assessing how black Americans come to understand what it means to be Black. Dr. Cross introduced his ideologies as the “Nigrescence Model of Racial Identity Development“. He asserts that every black American must undergo a series of identity stages to develop a healthy and balanced understanding of the Black experience and become well-rounded in our global society. This model encompasses five stages of identity development, which Dr. Cross emphasizes, must be performed in order to successfully accomplish this goal.

Race can be defined as a generally constructed way of categorizing people, according to phonotypical characteristics that are determined genetically but not always consistent. Kwame Anthony Appiah defined race to be the same as all other major forms of identification which are central to identity politics (45). Identity provides us with a sense of belonging. Our families, our cultural backgrounds, where we live and the type of work we do all contribute to our sense of identity. Malcolm X’s shift in identity we can say came when he adopted “X” as his last name saying, since he was the descendant of slaves stolen from Africa, Little was actually a slave name - as slaves were often given the last name of their owners.

It’s evident that identity politics is nothing more than labeling as described in the case of Susie Guillory Phipps. She sued the Bureau of vital record for declaring her negro according to the state of Louisiana anyone with one-third-second would be labeled black. The government began to label the different ethnic groups and according to them it was all in the name of science. According to them the reason for the record keeping was for the prevention of genetic diseases. Before the nineteenth century there was no labeling for sexual preference. Since the beginning we follow the example of Adam and Eve assuming that is the normal and anything else unnatural and abnormal. The “normal” became so powerful that no one would question one could say

When I joined the NAACP, I never could have imagined Thurgood Marshall, the head Special Counsel ("Thurgood Marshall"), would bring me into the biggest case of my career. In my times at Northeastern University Law School, I had written countless papers on the Supreme Court decisions preceding Brown v. Board of Education; and now I would be collaborating with the greatest attorneys the NAACP had to offer.

In the essay Why Obama Should Not Have Checked “Black” On His Census Form, the author Elizabeth Chang informs the readers of the importance of racial labels. Chang was disappointed that Obama put African American on his census form when he had the chance to put anything he wanted. Obama affects the rest of the country, and Chang believes that Obama could have changed society’s opinion on multiracial people. The reason Chang believes Obama should have put something other than black on his census form, is because he is a person people look up to.

Mark Lilla’s argument in The End of Identity Liberalism definitely recognizes the underlying problem in the “success story” (Lilla 1) of the American diversity: a lack of unifying force (Lilla 1). However, it seems to be too arbitrary to deduce from the defects of identity liberalism that the possible solution is only an either-or choice: the necessity of a unifying force should predicate the end of identity liberalism. The end of identity liberalism will come at some time, but today must not be the time. The end of identity liberalism should be based upon universally equal acceptance and representation of different individuals, a point that is ignored by Lilla in his argument.

The article mainly touches on the issues of racial pride and racial kinship. Randall Kennedy does not believe in racial pride because race is inherited and he believes pride should be more about accomplishment, rather than something you are born. Kennedy also does not believe in racial kinship because he believes it can lead to too many burdens, such as the expectation to give back to the black community.Kennedy also believes that kinship standards should be equal between every race, so there is no favoring of certain racial groups in situations.

Overcoming the challenges of black racism is difficult, considering the fact that most blacks have accepted their low state. The white skin intimidates most blacks, therefore putting in minimal efforts to ensure that they are recognized as American citizens. Significant strategies that Du Bois uses to explain the issue of African Americans is the two-ness identity. Each day, African-Americans have to struggle with the fact that they are Americans with an African identity. The two-ness identity puts them in awkward situations whereby they have to serve the country as their own, and at the same time, be cautious about their actions.

In the year of 1619, the largest oppressive legal structure in American History came about, the institution of slavery. Although slavery was abolished in the year of 1865, African Americans are still enslaved by intuitional racism. There are systems in place to keep minorities at a disadvantage. This system of oppression is carried by a number of factors such as; the segregation of black people in urban areas referred to as ghettos, mass incarceration rate for people of color, large educational gaps and killing of innocent lives with no justice. This system of oppression continues the frustrating living conditions for black people, and continues to make being black in America a constant struggle. Culture impacts circumstance and circumstance influences identity which can be either beneficial or detrimental. Ones’ overcoming of their circumstance will lead them to be identified as a conqueror. This can be detrimental because it gives an incorrect scope of ones true identity. The focus of this paper will be on the lives and identity of African American. In todays society what does it mean to be black? To be identified as African American. What does it mean to be black in America? How does culture impact circumstance and influence identity? In order to understand and answer these questions one must go back to the early 16th century when the first African slaves were bought to America.

Just as power can, and often does, influence the construction of individual identities, defining acceptable and unacceptable social traits, so too does power influence the construction of group identities. Within large communities, even as large as a nation, the power balance, or imbalance, between individuals and subgroups often, and unfairly, preferences one representative, group or individual, with greater control in defining the group’s identity, including drawing the group boundaries and including or excluding individuals or groups within the larger group’s membership. Even when a group includes several sub-groups, issues of power may prevent certain sub-groups or individuals from full membership with the privileges and rights granted to other members. Prior to the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, African Americans were consider American citizens but denied access to many resources and prevented from participating in any activities, such as politics as representatives or voters, which determined the shape of the group identity, national identity, and its

Modern society’s understanding of race and racism developed as a socially constructed concept. Race arises as a form of self-identity, and it must be appropriated or denied. It becomes a type of personal responsibility because it is the individual’s decision to accept or reject the identity that society deems adequate. Similarly, racism is another socially constructed concept. However, racism differs because it is a form of social identification. This identification stems from society’s invention because it forces blacks to band together against the supposed superior whites. It is a form of social responsibility because society has created an environment that promotes this systemic racism. Our government produces policies that latently oppress

Race is a particularly salient socially-constructed identity in American society. To describe race as socially constructed is not to reduce the concept to being “made up”, i.e. fictional; rather, social construction is the intentional assignment of social meaning to some characteristic that carries no intrinsic meaning. The construction of blackness and whiteness occurred in tandem, but blackness was defined in terms of what whiteness is not, while whiteness itself remained undefined in an explicit sense. Instead, whiteness provided the racial standard against which other groups were defined [as inferior] (McDermott & Samson 2005; Swidler 1986, on

Since the conception of Identity politics; it has caused great distortion within the political realm. The use of identity within politics imposes segregation

People on different ends of the political spectrum have differing opinions on the impact that identity politics has on our society. Those on the left (Liberal) tend to be more progressive and use identity politics to prejudge people on their

Identity politics is an undeniable twenty first century paradigm among minority groups, sparking discourse across political and social spheres. According to philosopher Cressida Heyes, identity politics is the range of political activity founded in the shared experiences of injustice of members of certain social groups. Members of this group assert their distinctiveness, challenging dominant oppressive characterizations of a white hierarchy in order to gain political support. This paper will argue that identity politics is a detrimental ideology to the American political sphere. While identity politics seemingly allows for traditionally marginalized groups to voice their concerns, it actually serves to further limit minority groups by ignoring intersectionality and promoting an “us against them” mentality. The motto of the United States has always been E. Plurbis Unum, or “out of many, one,” describing America as a melding of many cultures and peoples into one identity--American. Recent times, however, show social and political progression, as evidenced by identity politics, to “many, out of one.”