Taking Off The Mask. From The Time I Was A Small Child

In Tucson, Arizona ethnic studies classes caused controversy over what kinds of classes should be allowed in Tucson’s public schools. The Latino population of students was greatly being effected by only a 50% graduation rate. The ethnic studies curriculum was created to engage students with a history from a different cultural viewpoint than what was usually taught in public high school. From the outside of the classroom the opposing forces against ethnic studies believed that the hidden curriculum within the classes was detrimental to students. This was because it was teaching anti-American beliefs along with creating students who would act with rebellious beliefs and racism. From inside the classroom the teachers and students look to their curriculum and insist that their curriculum was more about having courage to examine history, create understanding and respect for one another and one’s self. They believed in looking at problems that the world was facing and not just accepting them but also trying to make a change for the better. The problematic readings were grounded in the courses use of the "Pedagogy of the Oppressed” with ideals that are based in teachings like Marxism.

W.E.B. Du Bois has contributed greatly to contemporary sociological thinking because he began a conversation of what it means to be “other” in this American Society. In his conversation of what it means to be other he constructed and included three major concepts that continue to resonate till this day. His concepts include “the color-line”, “the veil”, and the “double consciousness” (Appelrouth and Edles, 269). Together, these concepts not only described past experiences of blacks in American society (e.g., slavery) but also continue to remind us that the relation of whites and people of color remains complex. In Du Bois’s own words, “the Nation has not yet found peace from its sins” (273).

Throughout American history, relationships between racial and ethnic groups have been marked by antagonism, inequality, and violence. In today’s complex and fast-paced society, historians, social theorists and anthropologists have been known to devote significant amounts of time examining and interrogating not only the interior climate of the institutions that shape human behavior and personalities, but also relations between race and culture. It is difficult to tolerate the notion; America has won its victory over racism. Even though many maintain America is a “color blind nation,” racism and racial conflict remain to be prevalent in the social fabric of American institutions. As a result, one may question if issues and challenges

For America present day, the change in race relation has changed, “technically” for no longer are acts of hatred as blatantly open and accepted; while they still do exist they are not as common and frequently exposed as appropriate. The Black Slave Codes, Jim Crow Laws, and Color-Line are within our societies normative cluster cultures. This is where groups of culture habit a vicinity of likeness and share appropriations, such as racial norms, bed rocked by realtor support, financed lender discrimination, city-property tax inequality increases, and school zonings. These are some of the new erected obstacles that “blacks” face when trying to assimilate into a society not made for their habituation. Now don’t take my word for it, but just as a Racist would claim their non-racist ways, so would an individual who bares no observation from the receiving end of inequality. Just take for example the school teacher interviewed during a psychological experiment in Europe on Racism. (Elliot, Jane)

The article “The Great White Way” by Debra J. Dickerson attempts to show her readers that “Race is an arbitrary system for establishing hierarchy and privilege” (68) in America. In her article, Dickerson questions how “whiteness” leads America in our culture and society and how all the other races are defined in America. She also explains how history has divided whites from non-whites in America. The intended audience that Dickerson’s essay gravitated towards are political or liberal Americans. In her article “The Great White Way”. Debra J. Dickerson powerfully argues that race is an overall way to establish social classes and who and what get special privileges because of their certain race or skin color. Dickerson argues that “Race is

Wise’s examination of the inconspicuous character of racism 2.0 dovetails fittingly with our course’s recurring theme of institutionalized racism. In class lectures we have defined institutionalized racism as the discriminatory practices that have become regularized and routinized by state agencies, organizations, industries, or anywhere else in society. Although such practices might not be intentionally racist, they end up being racist nevertheless as consequence of the systematized and unspoken biases that have become increasingly convoluted and entrenched within society over time. It also doesn’t help white people to recognize these discriminatory practices considering they have been unconsciously tailored to be consistent with white perspective and mentality. In her article, White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack, Peggy McIntosh examines not only how white folks often consider themselves to be a normative figure within society, but also how they are carefully taught not to recognize the advantages they gain from the disadvantages that impair people of color. In the article, McIntosh acknowledges the reality of her own white privilege and expresses, “In my class and place, I did not see myself as a racist because I was taught to recognize racism only in individual acts of meanness by members of my group, never in invisible systems conferring unsought racial dominance on my group from birth” (McIntosh 4). In fact, even if white folks do not believe themselves to

The United States of America is a nation based on the idea of Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of happiness, the people from this country have an obligation to make sure that every American can experience these given rights. However by banning Mexican-American studies in Arizona, this right to express and learn about their culture is taken away. According to Kirk Semple of the New York Times, about 41 percent of all Mexicans between ages 16 and 19 [in the city] have dropped out of school. There could be a plethora of reasons why this statistic may be so high for Mexican-Americans, however, based on the statements made by students in the documentary Precious Knowledge, there

Despite changes in the landscape for treatment of ethnic minorities in the United States over the past 200 years, issues with racism has never stopped being an issue and continues to tarnish and tatter the very fabric of our nation. There has been a history of violence against Black people that dates back 400 years, to a time when the first slave was forcefully brought here to the USA (Rogers, 2015). From that time on, people of African descent have been dehumanized and treated as second-class citizens and this has become an ongoing community issue (Diversi, 2016). Racial classification was created as a way to condone slavery and maintain the primacy of the white race (Tolliver, Hadden, Snowden, & Manning, 2016). Aymer (2016) explains that the Critical Race Theory (CRT) provides a way to understand that the violence that Blacks face in America originates from the societal belief in White superiority and, when trying to understand the Black reality, centuries of racial oppression must be discussed (Aymer, 2016). CRT acknowledges that racism is primarily a problem in America and has contributed to the social disparities in the U.S. In addition, it notes other forms of oppression that are important to discuss and work through. CRT does not believe in the legal rhetoric that there is an impartial, equal way of dealing with individuals in the community that has nothing to do with color and everything to do with achievement and hard work. It also takes on an interdisciplinary

Understanding that the function behind America’s structure and systems isn’t meant for people to be treated equal is helpful. Yes, America holds many racist values/traditions, which is why many, increasing, “find it incongruous to ask black people to adopt and support most of those values. We also reject the assumption that the basic institutions of this society must be preserved. The goal of black people must not be to assimilate into middle-class America, for that class—as a whole—is without a viable conscience in regards humanity. The values of the middle class permit the perpetuation of the ravages of the black community. The values of that class are based on material aggrandizement, not the expansion of humanity” (Ture, 40). Ture contends that such a class system doesn't "lead to the creation of an open society" (40). As a solution, the existing structures are of no use, and the new structures have to “replace those forms or to make them responsive. There is nothing sacred or inevitable about old institutions; the focus must be on people, not forms" (Ture,

In the United States, November is a month leading up to a feast where we all give thanks to the people we love and care for; as well as giving thanks to the people who helped the first settlers survive during the harsh winter in a new world-- the Native Americans. While citizens of this country feast on Thanksgiving Day, they may not take into consideration the systematic murders of America’s native peoples in order to get to where we are today. This is because the history of how the United States became a sovereign nation has been twisted into a biased account, which is taught in the American school system. This problem has lead to a society with racism deeply ingrained in our culture, and ignorance about the actual events which took place in efforts to demolish the Native American culture and their history. It is time to end this mentality in our school system, and to end the racism that has been in our society through decades and decades of misinformation found in our textbooks and public institutions. If this nation is ever to heal from the millions of lives taken in order for us to live on this land, we must implement plans for our school system to better include what exactly happened to our native peoples, rather than twist truths and distort the reality of America’s history to cover-up the white man’s crimes and guilt.

Racism is an obstacle that continues to play an active role in daily lives across the global. Currently, Americans are outraged by the actions of white police officers toward black men. In Ferguson, Missouri an unarmed, black teenager was shot by a white police officer and a black man was choked to death by a white officer in New York City. Racial tensions run deep in the United States, but race is social construction that is learned. Sociologist Amanda Lewis’s book, Race in the Schoolyard: Negotiating the Color Line in Classrooms and Communities defends the notion that schools are institutions in which children learn about race and maintain racial inequality.

In “The Fraying Of America,” Robert Hughes addresses how America as a society has been going through this non-stopping cycle of racism and inequality between races, genders, and political groups. All while providing a unique perspective on what we truly are as a country and the people that inhabit it. He begins by mentioning that while we want equal opportunity for everyone, the Americans have manufactured labels to the groups of people that are not white. Which automatically puts them in a category of people that the rest of society does not see as total equals; and by people claiming these labels, they only fuel the problem of inequality. Hughes also emphasizes how education, art, and the media is a tool in politics to “inform” the people and how it allows each political group to choose what information goes out to the public and how it gets presented.

American society likes to believe that race relations in our country are no longer strained. We do not want to hear about the need for affirmative action or about the growing numbers of white supremacist groups. In order to appease our collective conscious, we put aside the disturbing fact that racism is alive and well in the great U.S.A. It hides in the workplace, it subtly shows its ugly face in the media, and it affects the education of minority students nationwide. In the following excerpts from an interview with a middle class African American male, the reader will find strong evidence that race plays a major role in determining the type and quality of education a student receives.

There are a variety of factors that play a part in what makes us unique. Whether it be where we are from, our family, or religious beliefs, everyone is different in their own way. For me, I was raised in Glendale Arizona and went to a small private high school. Over the past eighteen years, I became very familiar with streets, stores, and houses so there will always be a part of me in my hometown. However, Christianity had a huge impact on making me the person I am today. Growing up in a non-denominational environment has definitely had an influence on how I live my everyday life. Overall, my background played an immense role when making the decision of choosing Arizona State University.

To be considered an American one must belong into American white capitalistic patriarch. Adherence to this group is controlled and stimulated by discrimination and oppression of “Others”. The idea that there is a hierarchical disproportion between the different human races is false and it only serves to glorify one’s own race as superior for the purpose of domination. America is multicultural and multiracial and that is the beauty and the reason for individual and collective achievements. America as a society is diversified and it should be progressive and tolerant in order to achieve social justice. This should be cultivated through education and promotion of cultural, racial, gender and religious diversification. There must be positive indoctrination