Racism : A Social Construct

I am applying intersectionality and the sociological imagination to my intersecting identities: class, gender, and ethnicity. By employing intersectionality and the sociological imagination, I am analyzing how my positionality affected my personal experiences while connecting those events with society. I also included five peer-reviewed articles as supporting evidence.

We have all sat through multiple history classes and learned about slavery, segregation, and the Civil War. We have all seen brutal movies and presentations based on racial injustices and the lack of equality. So often, we forget that these issues are still so present in our community. Slavery is illegal in the United States but other forms of racial profiling, insensitivity, and racism continue to be a recurring social barrier. Racism is still very much alive. The United States is “equal” yet somehow segregated. There isn’t quite a quick fix to this problem. Clearly, this has been an ongoing issue and requires major progression in our personal global

Racism is a socially constructed concept used by multiple groups of people and creates a hierarchy of sorts based purely on the color of a person’s skin or their cultural origins. It has been an idea that has existed since the beginnings of civilization. A more modern iteration of this concept was made prominent in the 16th century as European settlers began to explore different areas of the world, specifically areas in or around Africa. But slavery can be seen back in the 1500s all the way to 1880 and was most likely a leading example of what helped define racism up to the 20th century. In Ali Rattansi’s book, “Racism: A Very Short Introduction” , the author connects how slavery and race are closely tied together. European explorers would ignore the cultures the invaded in order to see these people as nothing more than native groups that were meant to be seen in a subservient role. Slavery would continue to grow across the Atlantic and seen as an institution that created large amounts of wealth for those who could reap the benefits from it. As long as money was being made, slavery persisted and was justified. Race and racism was conceived the way it was because the slave owning system was controlled by European colonizers.

Race and gender are two facets that inherently dominate individuals everyday lives. A person’s social environment, work environment, and educational environment is congruent to their race and gender. From birth, it has been set up that everyone is assigned to a label. A pink or blue blanket is swaddled around a newborn child and a box is checked signifying that child’s place in society. These two actions ultimately define how a child is to be viewed and treated. As children grow into young adults they either decide to stick with their original assignment, while others decide to deviate from it. These individuals deviation results in many of them being viewed harshly and looked down upon because they strayed from their social norms. This constant cycle of being classified and labeled from birth is the social institution of gender and race. These social institutions aid in the inequality that is present in society, and race and gender are shaped by this. However, if these social institutions were removed, race and gender could dissipate. This is due to the fact that race and gender are not real, but are socially constructed concepts used to organize the power, or dominance, within our society to one social group over the other groups.

From our text, Race, Class, and Gender, we read Unit III E: The Structure of Social Institutions; The State and Violence: Policing the National Body: Sex, Race, and Criminalization; The Color of Justice; Rape, racism, and the Law; and Interpreting and Experiencing Anti-Queer Violence : Race, Class, and Gender Differences among LGBT Hate Crime Victims. We also encountered and excerpt from Social Work Practice With a Difference; The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, by Anne Fadiman. The first four reading from our text explore the association of the manner in which state power organizes race, class, and gender. We also get a view of how the intersectional approach of race, class, and gender may help us to understand some forms

In Common hour, we learned about Diversity, Community, & Social Justice. We learned that Diversity and Social Identity are interconnected, one cannot exist without the other. Social Identity is one aspect of Diversity, while Diversity is based upon Social Identity. However, both of these concepts depend on whether you experience Privilege and Oppression. Like Diversity and Social Identity, Privilege and Oppression cannot exist without the other. On the other hand, it’s not necessarily good that Privilege can only exist because of Oppression because people, regardless of their own personal accomplishments, are judged and discriminated by others.

I have always thought about myself as just a person. After taking this course, I think of myself as a white person. To me, being colorblind and attempting to look at everyone as just a person, were ways I avoided being racist. This course, taught by Dr. Bianca Williams, has enabled me to change my views on racism and race to a move correct outlook. I now understand that it is my duty to be able to acknowledge my race and other identities and the privileges that come with being a white, middle class, heterosexual person. I used to think that interpersonal racism was the main problem in the United States, but after this course realize that institutional racism is the problem. This course, coupled with readings from Devon W. Carbado on his piece titled “Privilege”, Beverly Daniel Tatum’s article titled “Talking about Race, Learning about Racism”, Brittney Cooper’s article on “The Politics of Black Women’s Hair” and Audre Lorde’s article called “The Uses of Anger: Women Responding to Racism”, I have shifted my views on race and racism to a more constructive and correct outlook.

The anecdotal instances of racism in Rankin’s Citizen together demonstrates the existence of a structural form of racism. The anecdotes demonstrates that if a person is of colour they suffer different treatment which distinguish them to be an ‘other’ type of person. The idea behind these racist encounters can be further categorized into three categories: overt racism, covert racism, and institutional racism, and these ideas together form the basis behind structural racism.

Throughout the history of the United States, multitudes of social issues arise, fall, and repeat. In the modern day United States, many social issues are currently at hand including abortion, gender pay differences, the minimum wage, gun violence, police brutality, and seemingly excessive college tuition raises, to name a few. One issue that has been brought back to light within the last few years is racism. Many different headlines, buzzwords, and slogans shoot through media outlets including “Systematic Racism” (Bandler, 2016), “Black Lives Matter” (Black Lives Matter, n.d.), “Institutional Racism” (Michaelson, 2015), the list goes on. Many millennials and middle-aged workers are crying out in support and against these claims, calling this a social problem in an effort to show abnormality in the status quo (Davis-Sowers, 2016), as this condition has negative attributes related to individuals or the world that they live in (Leon-Guerrero).

We talk a lot about our social location, or identifying who we are. Before I get further into this paper I wish to identify myself. I am a white male born to two white, heterosexual Anglican parents. I grew up having mostly white friends, until graduating high school. I also have been diagnosed with clinical depression, which is a significant attribute of my identity. As a result of these intersectional attributes they create an identity that is both privileged and oppressed and these elements change depending on the situation (Curry-Steven, 2007, p.37). It is important to understand who you are, as it will shape who I am in the work I do as a social worker.

When I entered the Dynamic of Racism and Oppression class I was the individual who had blinders on. I did not have a full understanding of what racism was, which in itself is shocking to me as I thought I had. What made me really stop and think was this class opened my eyes to the fact that I did not know my own identity. I have heard individual say “I’m black”, “I am of African decent”, “I’m Latino”, “I’m Canadian”, and “I’m white”. These are common statements of how individuals view their race and identity. I have even placed my identity in one of those categories, I’m white. I was unaware and unsure of what it meant to have a culture, which many individuals claim everyday. Some individuals know their identity, others do not, I was one

During my time as an undergraduate, I majored in philosophy but intentionally selected courses that would further my knowledge on my range of interests in social justice and law. As I started to engage and learn about theories of intersectionality, social and structural inequalities and constructs, I grew angry at the world we have created for ourselves to live in. I understood that the injustices imposed on people at the dangerous intersections of sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, race, and ability are frequent and widespread. The oppressive forces that have allowed for the creation of such injustices have not only routinely excluded and silenced the voices of many groups of people, but have destroyed countless lives.

Since the colonists landed on the eastern shore of what is now the United States, there has been conflicts between the different races. White people assumed a dominant role. They wiped out most of the Native Americans and enslaved the African people after bringing them to their colonies. These social dynamics changed over time but it has been a slow process. In Angela Davis’ book Women, Race, & Class, she delves into the oppression that was faced by people due to their social identities. She believes that people do not suffer because of class status, racial or gender identity alone but rather they suffer because of different combinations of the three.

Racism and the effects of racism can be seen anywhere. In the hallways of the high school, the streets, housing, neighborhoods, cities, and more, one thing is seen, and that 's segregation, which is ultimately caused by racism. Walking in the hallways at school, chances are that you’ll see a group of whites, a group of Hispanics, and a group of African Americans, but rarely do you see these three groups interacting with each other. Racism has been made a part of people’s everyday lives, a border posed by racism: segregation. Racism and its effects can not only be seen around us but can also be traced throughout countless readings in HWOC this year. Almost every literary work focuses on the topic or underscores at its effects, and today, you can walk into any library or bookstore and find something, whether it be a news article or chapter book, regarding racial conflict. This alone is evidence of how racism has integrated our society and continues to inform and manipulate our minds. The literature we have been exposed to this past year is a reflection of society, similar to a reflection in a mirror showing us the piece of hair sticking up in the back, literature is showing us the problem so it can be addressed.

The following paper will discuss two of the major dimensions of my cultural identity, and analyze the way in which my identity holds privileges, or has exposed me to oppression. Being that I am white, I have lived a life of privilege simply because of the color of my skin. I have been afforded opportunities, and lived a life free from persecution due to my skin color. I have also lived a life that has been impacted by oppression because of my female identity. This unique position between privilege and oppression is where I live my life.