The Race Of American History

Forbidden Love: The Hidden History of Mixed-Race America is a text that highlights the racial progression of the United States. In a span of over 400 years, the author Gary Nash cites many instances of interracial relationships. This abundance of examples serves to show a contrast in America between government measures and social occurrences. A story such as that of John Rolfe and Pocahontas is used to show how "[their union] could have become the beginning of an open racially intermixed United States" (6). Very soon after, however, events such as those surrounding Sam Houston proved to show that interracial relationships have quickly been discounted from common history lessons. In an effort to illustrate racial progression Nash also cites examples of individuals such as Frederick Douglass. It is important to note that, yes Douglass had first married to a white woman, but this should not overshadow the accomplishments of Douglass 's life. Lastly, Gary Nash writes about "the boundary-crossing revolution". Music is cited as a big factor of this 'boundary crossing '. In the end, a vast majority of these stories are not freely told in a classroom setting or within communities.

Race is still an open topic in America and in the world, as it has always implied differentiation, inequalities and division among human beings, and has been the basis for some of the most tragic events in history.

First and foremost, I'm deeply disturbed by what transpired at the National Policy Institute conference over the weekend. It's rather apropos that we are covering the topic of race at this moment. I'm furious but inspired (now, more than ever) to continue on this journey of justice studies as part of my personal commitment to be an ally for minorities. I wish that every person had the privilege of taking this class, the knowledge we're gaining is one of the most powerful tools we can use to combat the ignorance of white nationalism.

To begin with, the aim of this paper is to respond to the article written by Ian F. Haney Lopez. The main idea of this article was to discuss the question of belonging of a person to this or that racial group. According to Lopez the construction of race is mostly based on the choice of the society, but not on the genetic or other information. My response to this article will be rather neutral because it is fifty percent agreed with her point of view and half a hundred percent disagreed.

I believe race is so central to how we organize social life in many societies because it has been the defining factor that breaks humans apart from one another just based off of something as simple as sight. It is the easiest way to classify individuals aside from gender or nationality. Race has also become something that individuals have personally adopted, and I believe many people are more comfortable being around those that share the same characteristics as themselves.

In The Social Construction of Race, Ian F. Haney Lopez defines race as a social construct that is constantly changing its meaning due to the fickle nature of society. Lopez believes that this fickleness stems from a social climate formed by a variety of factors such as human economic interest, current events, and ideology. There are certain racial definitions however, that have remained mostly the same despite efforts to bring attention to the offensiveness and immorality of such discriminatory thinking. These stereotypes are oftentimes negative and apply to members of minority races, which end up perpetuating themselves into various cultural outlets of society including the media and film. Through the use of such popular forms of entertainment, the definitions of a race remain largely unchanged as future generations remain exposed to these racial classifications.

Despite the fact that Asian Americans have been in Hollywood for decades, there are very few positive representations of them in film. More often than not, they’ve been depicted as stereotypical caricatures, and more specifically, as foreigners who can’t speak grammatically correct English. Moreover, the negative representations of Asian Americans in film has perpetuated certain misconceptions about their culture. Chan is Missing (1982) calls for more genuine representations of Asian American identities through its cast of complex characters and defiance of Asian stereotypes. The film also urges its viewers to critically think about their own notions of identity through the use of several recurring themes and filmmaking techniques.

Although racism in the United States is perceived as a “white people” versus “black people” construct, these two texts have helped me understand that racism occurs and has occurred in a multitude of different contexts. This is because the foundation of racism has nothing to do with a person’s physical features, but more to do with the systematic grouping of people in a tower of class. Chinese immigration was initially encouraged in the mid-1800s to help build the transcontinental railroad. However, along with the finishing of the railroad, a huge financial crisis hit, which eliminated jobs across the country. This caused for hardworking Chinese people, receiving low wages, to become a threat to “white” people. Multiple ordinances, including the Chinese Exclusion Act, was put in place. City authorities reported that “long as it is inhabited by people of the Mongolian race” (Shah, 42), Chinatown is dangerous due to its threat of disease and sanitation. It was never an issue of safety, but an issue of race and economic benefits favored to meet the needs and wants of the “white” population: for example, the Chinese medical practices and laundromats. Multiple laws were made and a bad reputation was placed on Chinese businesses and people to ensure that competition was not taken away and that economical opportunities stayed within the “white” population. Here, we see the

Race relations in the United States Navy have had a long and rocky history. Although there is no denying progress has been made, especially in today’s Navy, it wasn’t always the case. Black sailors have honorably served in the American Revolution, however records by race weren’t then, and they continued to serve in the Navy up to this very day. (Williams, 2001) Since the American Revolution though, they have suffered from bigotry, segregation and outright racism from their white counterparts as well. This research paper is going to give a brief history of racism that black sailors suffered from the American

I was raised to respect those in uniform because of the duty and service they provide our country. I think my upbringing plays a large role in my opinions of law enforcement today, I believe the majority are honest, trustworthy people who would lay down their lives to protect others. As an adult, I know this is not always the case but I choose to believe that those who abuse their authority are the minority who give hardworking law enforcement officers a bad

A comment was made in a blog post early on in the year about whiteness in American that bugged me. It’s a topic that came up a few times throughout the semester in and outside of class. Granted, this topic is based on a single blog post but a collection of comment and statements that were made on specific blogs and during class sessions. This topic I fin extremely important mainly because I felt as though there was some confusion around the topic being white. Understandably if you’re white in America I think it’s easy to forget exactly how privileged you are. Nonetheless, it forced me to want to talk about white privilege in America, explain the meaning of “paradox of privilege”,

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines identity as “the qualities, beliefs, etc., that make a particular person or group different from others” (MWD). In other words, the characteristics which makes a person unique is the identity that they associate with. Black, white, Indian or Latino; gay, lesbian, bisexual or straight; man, woman or transgender; young, middle aged or old; Christian, Muslim, Jewish or Hindu; poor, middle class, or rich; these are just a sampling of the identities that an individual might use to describe themselves in a way to set themselves apart from others. However, what should happen if these identities and their respective connotations are thrown onto a person? What if these differences that many claim should be celebrated are now used to persecute and ostracize? No longer does the individual have a choice as to what identities they will use and how those identities will be represented in the world. America was founded as a result of a religious identity crisis in England yet at the same time the Founding Fathers used the identity of race as a way to persecute a large body of individuals.

What I would like to investigate about the course theme of “America” two major issues I will consider. The first racial issues second obesity. We all know the issues when it comes to these two topics especially here in America. The biggest part about racial is the class inequalities and the injustice that is going on today. Not only with black people also immigrants, until we don’t apply what Martin Luther King said in his speech at the Lincoln Memorial on August 28, 1963 he said, “When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, ‘Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!”

I took the time today to read the article titled “What is Race” by Victor M. Fernandez, RN, BSN and found myself agreeably intrigued and in admiration of his thoughts regarding race. Victor touched on an extremely insightful and significant topic; one that most people have sturdy opinions about. Race – what is it? What does this mean to you? What does it mean to our upcoming careers in the nursing field? I trust that how we characterize and assess our awareness of race is due exclusively to how we were raised. I do not mean merely what we were taught from our family or culture about race, but to a certain extent how we have lived it, and how it has lived around us. “Race is a modern idea. Ancient societies, like the Greeks, did not divide

In addition to the cultural conflicts and confusions with Chinese immigrants ethnic heritage , Amy also portrays how television shows during this era of American culture influences conflicts and confusions in the Chinese immigrant communities. In her attempt to