Essed notes the profound perceived threat to power experienced by those in the majority feel when even small encroachments are made by other groups into the dominant fabric of society, and how tacit racism against minorities is often allowed even by those who might not consider themselves prejudiced on an interactional and personal level (184). In short, the institutional racism of society inevitably affects interpersonal relations, even amongst people who do not harbor what we might think of as hatred in their hearts. Racism for Essed is an ideological social construct, a powerful social and philosophical method of enforcement that affects how 'people' see the world, and also the mechanisms of the justice system (185). Racist images and practices become an invisible and accepted part of daily life, and are unquestioned, thus it is not enough to simply change one's individual mind (190). Her essay, though it seems overly focused on scholarly definitions at its onset, ultimately emerges as a powerful reply to people who respond 'well, I'm not a racist' as a reason for ignoring historical legacies of racism. Etienne Ballibar's "The Nation Form: History and Ideology" asks the potent question "What makes a nation a community? " (220). Why have certain individuals been excluded or included in what we would call the American community? Communities and the concept of community is itself an ideology, much like the concepts of gender discussed by Collins, and race as discussed by Essed. The state is more than the sum of its borders;...
A nation is an idea, not just a physical place.
Furthermore, while acknowledging that there was a consciousness of whiteness and white superiority in other lands, such as England, Roediger points out that part of the Americanization process for European immigrants was to become white, and that this process involved internalizing feelings of racism and hatred towards blacks. Affirmative Action and the Politics of Race by Manning Marable Manning Marable is a pro-affirmative action author, and he begins his essay by
While that line of thinking is seductive, because it suggests an easy solution for complex problems, like racism; West believes that the real solutions will require people to question their own fundamental assumptions about power and its relationship to racism. Specifically, West talks about how racism is inherently linked to classification, and, in fact, that "the genealogy of racism in the modern West is inseparable from the appearance of
Race, Class, Gender Journal Word Count (excluding title and works cited page): 1048 Race, Class, and Gender is an anthology of articles that express various interpretation and insights of the relationship between race, class, and gender and how these things shape the lives of people and society. The topics and points-of-view offered in the anthology are vast and interesting. They offer a strong historical and sociological perspective on such issues as prison
Improving Race Relations Through Education: Teaching Children Diversity An article in the journal Childhood Today (Swiniarski, 2006) offers numerous helpful and resourceful ideas for teaching children about how to become "citizens of the world." This is not a strategy that specifically teaches about "racism" or "racial prejudice"; but according to the author, teaching children about the responsibilities of being "a world citizen" in fact embraces (in a hands-on environment) the issues
Race is a philosophical issue because it has a strong bearing on identity construction and metaphysical or ontological self-concept. As long as race remains relevant as a means of constructing personal identity or projecting identity onto other people, race will remain a critical component of humanistic philosophies. A discussion of race as a metaphysical concept is distinctly different from a discussion of race as an ethical concept, even though both
This theory therefore supports the idea of "… education as a force to enhance personal grow and development & #8230; stress self-actualization; freedom and responsibility & #8230;" ( Popovic) On the other hand, the critical/emancipatory approach as found in the writings of Paulo Freire and Ira Shor, while similar to the above, has the important difference of emphasizing the social, political and cultural context. From this point-of-view the emphasis is
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