Week 1 vocab entries

Race (and biology)- The genetic makeup of an individual that, when expressed, determines the appearance and physical characteristics of an individual. However, no genetic makeup corresponds to any particular race, according to the Race: The Power of an Illusion, Part I, The Difference Between Us video. Therefore, race and biology are only related in that your appearance is determined by what genes are expressed in your genetic code. Two people can have the same genes, yet look nothing alike.

Ethnicity- A culturally and racially similar group of people who share the same traditions. Johnson lists ethnicity in a diversity wheel on p. 15 in Chapter 2 "Privilege, Oppression, and Difference." The diversity wheel is used to figure out how to describe oneself.

Ethnic studies- From the readings it seems it is the study of various groups of people based on culture, race, and tradition.

History- Zinn views it as a way of telling the past, but from the "standpoint of others" on p. 11 of Chapter 2 "Columbus, the Indians, and Human Progress" in his book A People's History of the United States.

Progress- Zinn also mentions progress on p. 10 of Chapter 2 "Columbus, The Indians, and Human progress" of his book A People's History of the United States as he says that progress cannot be accepted at the expense of other groups of people such as the Native Americans living in North and Central America and many other peoples in history.

Social Construction- The video Race: The Power of an Illusion, Part I, The Difference Between Us uses social construction to show a viewpoint of race. It mentions that race is a way humans view their society as a means to understand its makeup and to separate groups of people based on their own preconceived definitions of race and of a society linked with race. Johnson in the Chapter "Privilege, Oppression, and Difference" in his book Privilege, Power, and Difference very simply remarks that "it's made up" on p.17. He says that social construction is a way to view the world by humans even if it isn't correct and real.

Genocide- Zinn uses genocide on p.8 of Chapter 2 "Columbus, the Indians, and Human Progress" in his book A People's History of the United States when quoting historian Samuel Eliot Morison. The quote is "The cruel policy initiated by Columbus and pursued bu his successors resulted in complete genocide." He is using genocide to describe the mass killing of ethnic natives in the New World by Europeans.

Ideological- Zinn uses this word on p.9 of Chapter 2 "Columbus, the Indians, and Human Progress" of his book A People's History of the United States to describe the way historians put emphasis on some events in their books and less on others. He uses the word in order to show that the historians have a notion to make light of the injustices suffered by ethnic peoples of the Americas in order to emphsize the progress the European peoples made. He is against this "ideological interest" that progress is more important than humane actions.

Privilege- Johnson also mentions this in his chapter "Privilege, Oppression, and Difference" in his book Privilege, Power, and Difference as an advantage over others simply because of the group of people you belong to whether that group is economical, ethnic, or some other characteristic. He also mentions there are two types of privileges on pp.22-23, unearned and conferred dominance. Unearned privilege is privileges all people should have, but for some reason only select groups have. Conferred dominance is when you give one group of people power over another in certain social aspects.

Oppression- Johnson mentions oppression in his chapter "Privilege, Oppression, and Difference" in his book Privilege, Power, and Difference as opposite to privilege in that certain groups are oppressed when other groups of people are privileged. He makes a distinction between feeling oppressed and actually being oppressed. He says that someone may feel oppressed from having privileges that allow them to take on certain responsibilities on pp. 38-39, but it's not the same as being oppressed by being withheld from certain privileges.

Racialization- this term is best illustrated in the video Race: The Power of an Illusion, Part I, The Difference Between Us in the way the students talked about interacting with others and hwo they felt towards others. One of the students, Gorgeous, a black girl thought that a white girl could not beat her on the track team and felt close to another black student, Jameel, because they were both black and probably felt she could relate to him better. This shows that Gorgeous didn't just think of herself as black, but thought of what it meant to be black and who she could most relate to within society. Racialization is the meaning race gets through social interaction so she felt that she was closer to other black people and not as close to other races simply because of her experiences with people of different races.

Difference- this is an important term Johnson mentions early in his chapter "Privilege, Oppression, and Difference" in the book Privilege, Power, and Difference. He mentions difference in the context that it is an illusion that people are afraid of difference and that differences are a problem among society. He says its people's concept of what's different that is a problem, not the actual differences themselves. If people took the time to understand their differences, then there wouldn't be a problem in Johnson's view as he explain on pp. 12-13.