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 the classificatory category of race in natural history," and then traces the history of race as a classification.
While West cautions others against oversimplification, he appears to engage in oversimplification himself. He discusses race from a purely Western perspective, as if racial distinction was merely the result of Western race classification. However, by the time that Francois Bernier first formally used race as a classification in 1684, there was already a thriving and well-established slave-trade practice, which was at least partially based upon ideas of white supremacy. This notion is reinforced by the other early writers cited by West, and actually leads one to the same conclusions as Snowden, which West dismisses in his article.
Homi Bhahba's article discussing colonialism and its interrelationship with racism was the most enlightening article read. One of the stated goals of colonialism was to bring a certain type of government and social system to a conquered land; improving the lives of those who had been colonized. However, Bhahba points out that this goal was a mimicked one, because the colonized would not be content to be so if they had the ability for self-governing independence....
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
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
' Culture, in Buck's point-of-view, and the construction of race, thus had a greater importance upon the creation of modern Kentucky than a logical evaluation of individual's real interests. This is why both whites and blacks have been worked to the bone. Discrimination against poor whites still abounds in present-day Kentucky in the form of stereotypes. Poor whites are often characterized as supposed 'rednecks' who deserve their economic fate because their
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
Race & Ethnicity A methodological purist, Gillborn's analysis of the British education system inside the visual vein of race and ethnicity supports a totalitarian failure, plainly capitulated in "Fifty Years of Failure: 'Race' and Education Policy in Britain." (Gillborn, 1999) The 1980s brought with it a governmental trend in Britain, shifting policies from the basis of conviction to consensus. This quickening theoretical policy shift caused great concern, tacking on yet another
Race and Genetics Regardless of the way we look at it, race is indeed a subject that has much influence on the social, political as well as economic relations of people. Historically, supposed differences existing between individuals on the basis of race have been developed and sustained for various reasons. This has in some instances turned race into a highly emotive and divisive issue. However, it is important to note that
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