Racial And Ethnic Terms In America Summary

Racial Formation in the United States by Michael Omi and Howard Winant made me readjust my understanding of race by definition and consider it as a new phenomenon. Through, Omi and Winant fulfilled their purpose of providing an account of how concepts of race are created and transformed, how they become the focus of political conflict, and how they shape and permeate both identities and institutions. I always considered race to be physical characteristic by the complexion of ones’ skin tone and the physical attributes, such as bone structure, hair texture, and facial form. I knew race to be a segregating factor, however I never considered the meaning of race as concept or signification of identity that refers to different types of human bodies, to the perceived corporal and phenotypic makers of difference and the meanings and social practices that are ascribed to these differences, in which in turn create the oppressing dominations of racialization, racial profiling, and racism. (p.111). Again connecting themes from the previous readings, my westernized influences are in a direct correlation to how to the idea of how I see race and the template it has set for the rather automatic patterns of inequalities, marginalization, and difference. I never realized how ubiquitous and evolving race is within the United States.

I would like to focus my response to the reading in Gabbidon & Greene, Chapter 1, generally around the idea of social construction. Furthermore, I would like to specially provide responses to discussion questions number one and two as posed in the conclusion of chapter one. Discussion question number one asks to “Explain the origin of race and its implications for race and crime.” Discussion question number two asks “Do you believe there are distinct races?” I will also provide perspective on issues surrounding the term “minorities”.

The author cases that people would not call sports teams “the Jewboys,” “the Chinks,” or any other clearly derogatory names (Willy, 2008). These racist nick names directly relate and is mentioned with hostility because they were originated from a time in which their ethnicity was seen as, but in correctly, inferior. Willy also provide exceptions, such as the “’Fighting Irish’” and the “Yankees” (Willy, 2008). No one has ever mentioned these two examples or has stated it is “hurtful” (Willy, 2008). The author provides another strong example which is continuously argued daily. African-Americans are visually and physically black, hence the name “’Negro,’” which from the “Latin root,” means “’black’”, but if African-Americans prefer not to be called by “’Negro’” then they shouldn’t (Willy, 2008). It is the people of the ethnicity who possess the authority to choose what they wish to be recognized by. The group of Seminoles in Florida is “supporting” Florida State University’s use of their tribe name as the university’s team name, but the Seminoles located in Oklahoma was against this (Willy, 2008). The author uses this context to show that the opponent’s position may not be valid by showing that it is not a matter of racism, but a matter of social allowance of these names.

I would like to discuss the issue of race and ethnicity in sports. We will also explore the bigger questions. How much does race and ethnicity matter in the sports world? Are certain races dominant in certain sports? Is there a difference in how we treat players based on race and ethnicity? Does it matter? I would like to answer some of these questions and gain a better understanding of how much of a part they play.

What can we say about race in America that has not been said before? In reading the book, one gets more disheartened yet. Though the author's statistics are now dated, I found a calculation made by the National Criminal Justice Commission that by the year 2020, 33.3 percent of African Americans and 25.6% of Hispanics between the ages of 18 and 34 will be incarcerated most frustrating as those numbers would seem to apply to the loss of young people through war or epidemics such as aids. In the harsh environment of prisons, race becomes the all- encompassing issue.

Introduction: Race has always been a major topic in American history, and it continues to be today. People are constantly fighting about race, but why? Why and how did race become such a big part of the United States of America’s political, economic, and social culture? And why is does it cause so much sectional division within the United States? Race has been such a controversial and major topic that, in order to end racial problems, a war had to be fought, court cases had to be won, and laws had to be passed banning it. The topic can be traced back to beginning of America’s history as the colonies, and can be followed through past the Civil War.

Race is an integral part of identity in the United States of America. Race has become a norm for many individuals, although biologically race is not a real thing. After reading “How to kill yourself and Others in America”, the problems of race become more clear and noticeable in society today. Even though many Americans believe that they live in a post-racial society, this is far from the truth. Race is still a problem is many places in America (this can be seen in some recent events with the police). From what I can see race doesn’t seem to be as much of a problem in Albion, but it still is an issue. Race is a major factor in America, and it seems to be killing America, as Kiese Laymon points out multiple times in his book.

Part 1: Write an essay elaborating the development of race in America. How did American ideas about race, form and develop through the year 1877?

At birth everyone is given a name by their parents. Your name is part of your identity and how you are addressed and recognized by the world. The different verities among the population created other names given to different races. These names are offensive, demeaning and are only used to refer to a person in a disrespectful manner. They can also cause a segregation among a nations people, these names are forced upon people weather they are rich or poor, old or young, male or female and are used to describe the same race of people. In the class reading "What 's in a Name? “by Henry Louis Gates he reminisces about a personal experience of his that he had with his father. In the story he describes his father was a hard worker and, because of this he was in high financial standings and, he was well respected and given privileges that at the time was rare for people of his race but he was still black and his name, his individual identity was not important instead he was given a racial identity, this is the only thing he was known as, this type of negative recognition is something many black Americans can relate to. One’s race is a predominant part of our identity and is what causes discrimination.

The United States recognizes five types of categories in order to distinguish the race of the population. I feel discriminated when I have to fill out an application, surveys or any type of documentation that has this type of question: Please identify your race, Caucasian or White American, African American, Native American, Asian, and Pacific Islander (US Census, 2015) CITATION. The problem with this type of questions is that the majority of surveys who require a specific answer don’t have Hispanic or Latino categorization. I often feel confused about which type of race I am. When I watched White Americans or African Americans respond to this questions, they rapidly marked the correct answer to the categorization with no confusion. I turned around to see if anyone of my race was having the same problem that I had. Unfortunately, this type of question always created confusion in my mind, Was I white American? African American?. My response to the surveys usually were more inclined to Caucasian or White American. I realized that I never took the time to ask to family about my descendant’s race or ethnicity. In reality, I discovered that it is true what professor Gates presented in the video “The Back Grandma in the closet”. Family members often hide information because they don’t want us to discover the truth about our descendants.

Write one body paragraph of the essay [Now, it is time to analyze the similarity or the difference – to explain how and why this similarity or difference occurred and how and why it impacted people in the empires]:

1. Given that there's no objective way to classify people, according to the “Race – The Power of an Illusion” website, discuss if you think the government should define racial categories. If not, why not? If so, how and what definitions would best help us remedy inequality?

How do you think we will look at issues of race and ethnicity by the end of the 21st century?

Race and ethnicity are commonly used as synonyms for each other as we encounter many diverse individuals throughout the world. Sociologist on the other hand, find very distinct understandings to how these terms, while different, hold correlation to one another. Max Weber, a founding figure of sociology, was one of the first to define race and ethnicity. He stood with the idea of essentialism which presumes "that and individual 's identity depends on fundamental and innate characteristics that are deep-seated, inherited, and unchangeable." (Pearson, pg 241) As for ethnicity, Weber described it as subjective belief in relations to a groups common descent. While sociologist today may disagree with Weber 's theory, they do apply this idea of subjectivity and have correlated it to that of not only group definitions but of our own perceptions of biological similarity.

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