Race v. Ethnicity

Race v. Ethnicity- Race often dealt with large groups of people with something in common to classify them into a race, such as white or Asian or black. Ethnicity was more specific as it dealt with specific groups of people with a specific cultural background such as Portuguese, Jewish, or Japanese. Race was used to exclude minorities through the law as Takaki mentions on p. 273 that laws were passed to barr those that weren't white to attain citizenship. Also Brodkin mentions on p. 44 how the GI Bill favored those who were of the white race, but with no delineation of ethnicity within the white race. It was meant to exclude all other races. Ethnicity is mentioned in the video A Challenge To Democracy. The video mentioned that Japanese people would be sent to internment camps specifically, not Filipinos or Chinese. It targeted a specific culturally similar group of people rather than the all-encompassing Asian race that included people of other ethnicities. Both race and ethnicity were used to exclude those that weren't considered a part of white society.

Stratified

Stratified-The Random House Unabridged Dictioanry mentions a sociological aspect to this term dealing with hierarchy and oganization into classes. This deals with Takaki's Pacific Crossings as on p. 252-253 that white planters attempted to do this by stratifying the ethnic groups of workers. This way they could pit them against one another and wouldn't rebel agasint the plantation owners themselves. Also, Japanese immigrants were viewed as lower by white society and were barred from citizenship as stated on p. 273. It also deal with Brodkin's How The Jews Became White in that blacks were placed on a lower level than whites through the GI Bill and FHA on pp. 44-50. Black neighborhoods and houses were considered lowly by the FHA and banks would then refuse to loan out moeny to improve them. Blacks and other minorities were also refused educational and career opportunities given by the GI Bill as it only favored those veterans thate were white.

Resistance

Resistance- Resistance has been a key theme in in Takaki's Pacific Crossings chapter. Takaki mentions on p.258 how Japanese workers, against popular notion that they were passive, agressively went on strike and numbered in the thousands as they did. He mentions how they also worked with other groups, such as the Filipino workers, to go on strike as well. Resistance was alos important to the beginning of Brodkin's discussion the Jewish immigrants in the US in How The Jews Became White. She mentions on p. 41-42 how Jews thought that through hard work and trying their best and sticking together, that they would overcome the waves of anti-Semitism in America.

Model Minority

Model Minority- This term is mentioned by Takaki in Pacific Crossings on p. 258 as way that whites viewed Japanese settlers in Hawaii. By model minority, they meant that they were a minority willing to do what they were told by white society and would not resist their status. However, Japanese workers disproved this notion as they went on strike aggressively and wanted their respect. The video A Challenge To Democracy also deals with this because it viewed Japanese-Americans as a model minority, willing to conform to whatever white society wanted them to do.

The American Dream

The American Dream - This is term encompasses both Takaki's chapter Pacific Crossings and Brodkin's How The Jew Became White. The American Dream was that anyone could go to America and become someone else with an ew reputation, leaving their previous conditions behind and head into a land of prosperity and opportunity. This dream was crushed when Asians were forced to do menial labor in Hawaii and were often discriminated against. They were refused citizen ship as Takaki mentions on p. 273. Brodkin also mentions how blacks and other minority races were discriminated against by whites throug hthe GI Bill, which gave whites opportunities for education and occupation, and the FHA, which gave whites the opportunity to move into new homes that were worth more. She mentions this on pp. 44-50.

The GI Bill

The GI Bill- The GI Bill was used to provide educational and occupational opportunities to veterans of WWII returning from the war to help spur the economy. This bill is mentioned in Brodkin's How The Jews Became White on p. 44. She says the bill provided opportunities to those males considered white and did not aid the black war veterans returning home and it discriminated them. The GI Bill unfairly gave white Americans of European origin or Jewish origin advtanges over other races. The bill redefined the definition of "white" to include Jews and southern and eastern Europeans, who were previously thought of as not white.

Affirmative Action

Affirmative Action - Affirmative action is a program that aaims to equalize opportunities provided for the public for certain races. However, Brodkin describes in How The Jews Became White that affirmative action was used in the GI Bill on p. 44. She says the bill was aimed at helping Euro-origin males, including Jews, returning from the war into developing careers and advancing their education by providing them opportunities. Blacks and other races were denied because they weren't white.

War Relocation Authority

War Relocation Authority - The War Relocation Authority was a government organization that created the internment camps for Japanese-Americans during WWII. This was described in the video A Challenge To Democracy. The video mentions that the camps were for the "evacuees" and depicted as a good thing for the Japanese, and made it see mthat they benefitted from it. In reality, these camps were meant to exclude Japanese-Americans from white society.

Jim Crow

Jim Crow- It was the social and legal spearation of blacks from whitesi n the South. It was the focus of Richard Wright's The Ethics of Living Jim Crow: An Autobiographical Sketch. He talks about his time in the South and living thruogh Jim Crow segregation. It was a harsh and unjust social system that oppressed blacks and gave them nearly no way of climbing out of that oppression. However, it varied form location to location. Wright's time in Alabama and Mississippi seemed very rough; however, his time in Memphis was bad, but it wasn't as harsh. He was allowed to do some thigns such as make small talk with whites in his factory or check out books under his boss's name, which made the Jim Crow life in Memphis somewhat different for him.

New Capitalism

New Capitalism- A term used on p. 152 of Zinn's chapter Slavery Without Submission, Emancipation Without Freedom in his book A People's History of the United States. It describes the partnered effort by the North and the South to "overturn" black power. It was an idea that combined the economic expansion the North wanted with the localized slave economy the South wanted, but it was not slavery as it was in the traditional sense. It was still racist as it put blacks in a position of oppression by limiting their liberties socially through racist agendas. This was done by disenfranchisement and segregation as stated on p. 153. New capitalism didn't only hurt blacks though, but poor whites were also taken advantage of by elite whites. It was taking place soon all over hte world as exploitation of all peoples on every continent as stated by W.E.B. DuBois on p. 154.

Philosophy of Free Labor

Philosophy of Free Labor- Although not a term explicitly used, Zinn hints at this in his chapter Slavery Without Submission, Emancipation Without Freedom in his book A People's History of the United States. On p. 140 he discusses how the Northern white elites aimed for economic expansion through basically l'aissez faire economics: free markets, banking, free land, and free labor. This is directly opposed to the South's slavery, which the South needed for the economy to maintain the racist social structure they depended on for economic success rather than the economic expansion the North wanted. The South wanted more slave states as new territory was being formed., whereas the North wanted free states to support their economy. On p. 137 he uses Frederick Douglass's speech in 1853 in which he uses the term "philosophy of reforms", which is tied in with the philosophy of free labor becasue the it ties in with the philosophy of reforms. Douglass says only through struggle for reform can blacks hope to attain the free labor economy that the North espouses.

Abolitionist

Abolitionist- This term is used in Zinn's chapter Slavery Without Sumbission, Emancipation Without Freedom in the book A People's History of the united States on pp. 134-138. It is someone who wants the system of slavery abolished. At first glance, the term seems simple, but the there is more to it. An abolitionist isn't necessarily sympathetic with the black cause, some are outright racists themselves. On p. 132 he describes that some white people only helped blacks in order to reduce in the wealth of the white elites. On p. 137 he describes how black abolitionists who had been freed were not given their own voice over the white abolitonists, and this hsows the racism that persisted even in abolitionist circles.

Nature/Nurture (and Race)

Nature/Nurture (and Race)- Takaki shows in chapter 3 "The Giddy Multitude" in his book A Different Mirror: A History of Multicultural America that white society thought that other races were effectively incapable of being nurtured to the same status of whites, and that they were all naturally inferior because that is how nature deemed it to be. This is evident in his discussion with Jefferson, who thinks that blacks lack the mental faculties that whites have, and are naturally inferior on p. 71. Jefferson think nature has amde "real distinctions" between blacks and whites. The video Race: The Power of an Illusion, Part II, The Story We Tell also visits this concept of nature and nurture in terms of race. Whites for a while thought that natives could be nurtured to become a part of white society, but hte view didn't last. All races all around the globe were seen as naturally inferior and could not be nurtured to the status of whites. Even if attempts to "civilize" them were made, they could never be at the same elite status of being white.

The "White Man's Burden"

The "White Man's Burden"- This is mentioned towards the end of the video Race: The Power of an Illusion, Part II, The Story We Tell to show how whites viewed themselves in society. They thought it was their objective to civilize the rest of the world because they viewed other races as inferior and without civilization. They thought it was their burden to teach the rest of the world and keep civilization alive. This burden is hinted at a little bit in his book A Different Mirror: A History of Multicultural America in chapter 3 "The Giddy Multitude", but in a different context. Takaki talks about how Jefferson viewed slavery as a burden for whites because he feared blacks and whites would kill each other eventually on p. 75. He thought it was a burden for whites because they would have to deport all blacks away from America and that there was no "practicable" way to do such a thing on p. 71. He attempts to give a solution by saying that all new-born blacks should be raised and then deported at a certain age and the older generations would die off. Jefferson shows a different context of the view of the "white man's burden".

Scientific Racism

Scientific Racism- This was discussed in the video Race: The Power of an Illusion, Part II, The Story We Tell as a way to discriminate against blacks and other minorities based on their so-called natural inferiority to white people. Scientists made many biased findings about how whites were superior to all other races basedo n their skull size or natural supremacy. However, they were flawed as American whites thought they were superior to all, British thought they were better than all, and French thought that French were the superior beings. There was a clear bais in these scientists' minds. Takaki also mentions this in chapter 3 "The Giddy Multitude" in his book A Different Mirror: A History of Multicultural America on pp.71-74 throgh Jefferson's use of scientific racism to deny the genius of Phyllis Wheatley and Benjamin Banneker, who were both black, simply because he thought blacks were naturally incapable of possessing a mind capable of writing poetry or doing advanced math.

Assimilation

Assimilation- Race: The Power of an Illusion, Part II, The Story We Tell used the term assimilation to illustrate how white society wanted the Natives to integrate into their society. They wanted them to become white culturally in order to become a part of society. They wanted them to speak English, have their own plantations and slaves, and become a part of white society by adopting white culture and giving up their own. Yet, they saw blacks as incapable of assimilation. Takaki also mentions that laws of many sorts were passed in American history to bar blacks from assimilating into society and relegating them slavery on pp. 55-60 of chapter 3 "The Giddy Multitude" in his book A Different Mirror: A History of Multicultural America.

"Giddy Multitude"

"Giddy Multitude"- This term is used by Takaki in his book A Different Mirror: A History of Multicultural America in chapter 3 "The Giddy Multitude". He usese this term first on p. 63 to shwo that the landowners viewed white indentured servants, black slaves, and the landless freemen as the "giddy multitude". The landowners saw these people as confused and incapable of becoming a part of elite white society. This chapter is about how these landowners used the idea of white supremacy and racism to keep the lower classes of people from turning on them and have them see one another as enemies through racism. It is about the exploitation of these people, especially the black slaves, which is why the chapter is entitled "The Giddy Multitude"; it is about how these people were exploited by the elite white landowners for centuries.

Manifest Destiny

Manifest Destiny- This term was mentioned in the video Race: The Power of an Illusion, Part II, The Story We Tell. Whire Americans thought Manifest Destiny was that God had chosen them as the superior race of people on the planet, and therefore, could take land as they wanted from the Natives, Mexicans, and other peoples around the globe. They thought that it was their divine right to have that land.

Capitalism

Capitalism- Johnson discusses Capitalism as the system by which racism and sexism have become more prominent in society over the last few centuries. In chapter 3 Capitalism, Class, and the Matrix of Domination in his book Privilege, Power, and Difference he says that capitalism distributes wealth and ownership unevenly among the populace. He says that the top 10% of the wealthy in the U.S. own nearly 90% of business assets on pp. 43+44. He discusses that these wealthy could then define what privilege was and who was to receive it since they controlled the flow of money in the economic social ladder. On p. 44 Johnson says whiteness was an idea used to oppress minority races in order to keep the money at the top. It also kept whites in the lower classes against the minorities rather than the wealthy owners. It was a system designed to oppress those at the bottom through racism and other forms of oppression, while making the wealthy classes wealthier and wealthier.

"Getting Off The Hook"

"Getting Off The Hook"- This is a term Johnson uses in chapter 8 Getting Off the Hook: Denial and Resistance in his book Privilege, Power, and Difference. He says it is a way people deny themselves the reality of oppression and thinking that it has nothing to do with them. One such way is discussed on pp. 110 + 111 as blaming the victim, as privileged people often feel oppressed people don't do enough to bring themselves out of oppression. He also talks about on p. 111 that calling oppression something else is away of getting off the hook of dealign with the problem, such as the example he gives of te inequalities women face as being defines as the battle of the sexes in a way to avoid dealing with the issue. Another way are to say that the system is how everyone wants it, when in reality the oppressed want it to change. And another way yet is to say that if you didn't intend for the oppression, then it's ok; but actions have consequences, and therefore whether intended or not, problems need to be dealt with. Other ways of getting off the hook are by saying you're one of the good members of society or that you get sick of hearing about oppression such as racism and sexism. These are excuses for laziness to deal with the problem.

Individualism

Individualism- Johnson talks about individualism on p. 77 as a view of society in which individuals create problems, and the social system itself doesn't create the problems. It's a view that puts the blame on a singel person and says that no one else has anything to do with it and it doesn't affect them. Johnson adds, though, that this view is wrong because then privileges and oppression couldn't exist because individuals have nothing to do with one another. Only in a system of social groups can privilege and oppression exist. Individualism doesn't solve the problems of social contruction because it's view is that the wrongdoings of someone else have no impact on anyone else.

Matrix of Domination

Matrix of Domination- Johnson introduces this idea on p.51 in chapter 6 Capitalism, Class, and the Matrix of Domination in his book Privilege, Power, and Difference as a network of privilege in a larger system of privilege and oppression. He says that one is not either oppressed or privileged, but privileged in some ways and oppressed in other ways, depending on al lthe dimensions to one's identity. This produces an interconnectes system of privilege and oppression because they affect one another depending on the nature of identity and the social system.

Oppression (revisited)

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.

Week 2 addition:
Oppression is further discussed by Johnson in Chapter 3 Capitalism, Class, and the Matrix of Domination of his book Privilege, Power, and Difference by saying that oppression works in a way that someone in positions of privilege can be opppressed in some way due to some other component of their identity compromising that privilege. For instance, on p. 52 he gives the example of the privileged white male whose privilege is compromised by his homosexuality.
Oppression also figures into the economic ladder. The few at the top have all the wealth and control its flow and therefore can do what they want with the economic status of those below them. They decide who is privileged and who is oppressed, and for some time, as Johnson says on pp. 45-49, the African American was in this position beginning with slavery to inequality after emancipation ,and to today as blacks are often paid less than whites for the same jobs.

Privilege (revisited)

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.

Week 2 addition:
Johnson talks about how privilege doesn't depend simply on race or gender or such one-dimensional views of identity. In chapter 3 Capitalism, Class, and the Matrix of Domination of his book Privilege, Power, and Difference discusses that privilege depends on all parts of who you are. In some ways , one is privileged and in other way, one is oppressed. He gives the example on pp. 52+53 that a colored man can be privileged as a man, but oppressed as a colored person. The overall amount of privilege someone feels depends on all facets of their identity and not simply if they are a man or a woman or whether they are black or white.
Also, privilege is determined by those in capitalistic societies that are at the top of the economic ladder of classes. They can decide who is privileged, and Johnson give the example on p. 46-47 that whiteness was considered a privilege by the wealthy and thus, racism began to seep into society and oppressed minorities.

Social Construction (revisited)

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.


Week 2 addition:
Johnson in chapter 6 What It All Has to Do with Us of his book Privilege, Power, and Difference talks about how individuals and the social system act upon each other, even though they are separate entities. On p. 79 he provides a circular flow chart in which individuals
make the system happen by deciding what is acceptable and unacceptable in terms of your behavior and relations with others. The system, in turn, through the process of socialization and the concept of paths of least resistance shapes the individual's behavior, so it is a recurring cycle of behavior of the individual and social system working upon one another. Socialization is the procces by which individuals learn how to behave in acceptable terms of the system; paths of least resistance are choices for behaviors that will draw the least amount of opposition from the rest of society. This is a view of how social construction works to shape relations between peoples by deciding what is acceptable and what is unacceptable.

Johnson also talks about in chapter 3 Capitalism, Class, and the Matrix of Domination that social construction is based on the economics of class in capitalism. Capitalism favors distributing money to the wealthy, and an unsubstantial few amount of wealth is given to the poor. This creates class division and allows those at the top to do what they want with those at the bottom and decide how to set up the social ladder. Privilege is attained depending on who those at the top view highly, and it depends a lot on the individual's identity collectively. For instance, on p. 52 Johnson talks about how a white man may be privileged in the social ladder, but because he may be homosexual his privileges can be compromised as a result of other facets to his identity.

Race (revisited)

Race - 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.

Week 2 addition:
The ethnicity by which society views you as, and accordingly decides what is acceptable and unacceptable for you to do, and also how other people can relate to you. This is discussed in Johnson's book Privilege, Power, and Difference in chapter 6 What It All Has to Do with Us. He says, for example, on. p. 81 that a male white manager often does not mentor a black female in the office because it is not a path of least resistance, it is one that would draw opposition from society because it is beyond the norm. Also ethnicity can either make you privileged or unprivileged, as Johnson shows in chapter 3 Capitalism, Class, and the Matrix of Domination. A white person is more privileged in society than a minority because that is how society is set up. The individuals created society to be as such, and the only way to change it is if the individuals do not perpetuate the system and make social society different.