Race Biography

I was always really proud to be from Compton, CA. The rich racial and cultural history of the Hub City has had a major impact on many aspects of my life and is part of my identity. My mother is a Mexican-American, she was born in Tijuana and her family moved to Compton in 1962 when she was five. My dad was born in Colorado and his family settled in Compton in 1961 when he was four. My parents were in the same kindergarten class at Jefferson Elementary school and although they didn’t start dating until they were in their 20’s, they definitely helped each other survive the racial injustices and violence that permeated all facets of their educational experience in Compton

To start off, both of my parents are white Americans. My father’s great grandparents came to america from czechoslovakia in the late 1800’s and same for my mothers German great grandparents. Born and raised in primarily white small towns, my parents are your stereotypical middle class white americans. About 10 years into their relationship when my mom first got pregnant with my oldest brother Dalton (23), they bought a 3 story house that was right outside of a suburban neighborhood on the outskirts of Anoka, Mn. The nearest gas station was about a 8 minute drive, and the nearest restaurant was 10. They had 3 boys together, and took in my oldest cousin Chey when she was 10 because my aunt had passed.

Race is a hot topic in our world. We all think we know what race is. After all, we are constantly being bombarded with it whether it be from media, politics, or sports. The truth is that race does not revolve around the idea of biological traits or characteristics. It is a modern concept that we as a society have created to divide people into categories. I will argue that race is socially constructed from a biological, political history, and sociological standpoint, and how it may impact other areas of our society.

Race and ethnicity are the occasionally have been used interchangeably. Race is described as a person’s physical appearance such as skin color, eye color, hair and many other biological traits and characteristics. Race mainly refers to the differences in skin color in the contemporary world. When we say that person is fair skinned or is black we are referring to the race of that person. Ethnicity is the cultural aspect of a an individual or a group such as the nationality of the person, the language they use to communicate, their descendants , the particular region they inhabit for example American, African, African Americans, etc. In a nutshell race is an overview of how you look and ethnicity is the social and cultural aspect of grouping you are born into.

In society, race clearly affects one’s life chances. These are the chances of getting opportunities and gaining experience for progression. The social construction of race is based on privileges and availability of resources. Looking at society and the formation of race in a historical context, whites have always held some sort of delusional belief of a “white-skin privilege.” This advantage grants whites an advantage in society whether one desires it or not. This notion is often commonly referred to as reality.

Also race, as a social construct, is a group of people who share similar and distinct physical characteristics. Such as bigger/smaller noses, head, lips or other varies body parts. The social construction of human beings can be made out on a human taxonomy that define essential types of individuals based on certain traits that they have in that region.

Race and ethnicity have always been a difficult topic to talk about, but not because I am embarrassed, but because to this date I’m still confused. Most of the time I find myself confused and asking questions such as, who am I? Where do I belong?

You are a runner and you are fast. In 1934, you set a high school world interscholastic record for the mile at 4:21.2. At the age of 19 you run the 5000 meters in the 1936 Summer Olympics held in Berlin, Germany and finish a disappointing 8th, but run your last lap faster than anyone one in history. Adolf Hitler is so impressed he asks to meet you. In 1938, you run a 4:08 mile. Many people believe that you will be the first human to break the 4:00 minute mile barrier. Your future is bright and your goals and dreams are big: Olympic gold in the 1500 in 1940.

The relationship between the law and society greatly contributes to our nation’s overall perception as to how the law affects our everyday lives. The weight of individual opinion and action through the law dictates what our nation thinks about certain topics from determining who is allowed to cross our borders to whether or not healthcare should be provided to all people. Ian Haney Lopez, Professor of law at Boalt Hall School of Law, at the University of California at Berkeley, and author of White by Law, The Legal Construction of Race, describes exactly how the workings of the law contribute to society’s overall construction of race. Sarah Rose, author and professor of history at the University of Texas at Arlington, in her new book, “No Right

Race and ethnicity is something that we all have to live with because we all have a race and ethnicity that claims us. Race and ethnicity was something discussed daily at my household because I was the only Hispanic at my school until the third grade. This was difficult because as a child it’s hard to understand why my skin color, language, and ideals are different. I wouldn’t have survived school without my parents and support from my instructors that allowed me to transition into the mainstream without a traumatic effect. Throughout the year my parents would take me to activities like Cinco De Mayo, Religious activities, Independence of Mexico, and other cultural events that celebrated our history and culture. This helped feed my love for my culture and ancestors. Race is usually determined by how one looks but your

•        A news reporter writing a newspaper article or blog entry about the racial group

Who’s next? It seems that the issue about race in American history never reaches an endpoint. The intersection of race, gender, contradiction has been continually crucial to shape the identity of minority American. As early as the first wave of Asian immigrants, Chinese immigrants, arrived in west coast, Asian Americans was haunted by anti-Asian movement and intense hostility. Foreign Miners’ Tax passed in 1852 was a representative of racial campaign between whites and nonwhites. The requirement of monthly three dollars’ tax intentionally crashed the earliest American Dream of Chinese immigrants who expected to lead a better life in the US. Such Anti-Asian movement was eventually ushered into legalized level. California Supreme Court declared in People v. Hall in 1854 that Chinese migrants were not entitled to testify against the white citizens in US court based on the fact that people, other than whites, could never enjoy the same rights as white Americans. Since then, Asian immigrants were subjected to numerous social and legislative initiatives that specifically targeted them on a racial basis. In David Henry Huang’s semiautobiographical play Yellow Face, he mixed his own memory and fiction to depicting an image of Asian American racial identity. In 1990, Hwang led a group of Asian-Americans to protest the casting of a white British actor as a Eurasian character in the musical Miss Saigon. However, later in his own play Face Value, he mistakenly casted a white actor,

This was my first time to watch the show, “Boondocks.” I watched season 2, episode 1. I wasn’t sure what to expect, since I have never viewed the show before. However, I was quite surprised. I thought the show came off as stereotypical of the African American race, or assuming what the African American race is like. Throughout the episode, the grandpa wanted to take his three grandchildren to a movie. The granddaughter (half African American, half white) was skeptical about it all because it was a movie her father didn’t want her to see. The grandpa sweet talked all of them into going to the movies. The grandpa was cussing and using the, “N” word a lot. As they drove off to the movies he was driving a black tinted window Cadillac. The grandpa

Race is the biologically inherited characteristics that define a group of people. Such as the color of their skin, hair, eyes, etc. ethnicity, however, is more the inherited culture of a group of people. This includes common ancestry, and cultural heritage. The difference is that race is something that a person is born with and it can’t be changed or helped (mostly, though there have been some that tried). Ethnicity for the most part is taught and learned. No, ancestry is not something that can be changed but religious beliefs, language, music, clothing etc. can be. If you take a newborn from one race and ethnicity and place him in a home on the other side of the planet, his race won’t change but his ethnicity will mirror the home that he grew

Understanding race and racism can be very difficult for American citizens. This also leads to confusion when discussing current events around racial disparities and inequalities. Mainstream American general society views racism and race differently than sociologist who study these disparities and inequalities. The idea of double consciousness and ethnicity directly relate to the different ways in which different individuals understand and experience race and racism. In our current society where media is widely used, individual’s understandings of these topics becomes confusing and difficult to understand and/or comprehend. Discussing the blurry ideas of race and racism is so