Identity Politics in action (or use Day 3 instead): how the hate crime killing of a Chinese American on this date (June 19th) sparked a pan-racial coalescence of groups fighting for justice.
Wrong day below?
6:00 - Attendance, collect Top Ten lists, Chapter 5 group confers
***Note that your first Cultural Encounter should have been posted to the Discussion Board by now.***
6:15 - Discuss Chapter 5: Ethnicity
Facilitators: Nate, Hannah, Felicia, Rebecca, Maddie, Mita, Jeyson, and
7:20 - Break
7:30 - Instructor-lead discussion...
Connotations of "ethnic" vs. denotation.
The subject in the story (p.66) is left feeling "devalued - different and less than." Why? What does this mean?
Objective vs. subjective ethnic status?
Is what constitutes an ethnic group "chosen" by the group? (p.67)
Can members of an ethnic group incorporate into the American elite without adopting American values and behavioral practices?
What about the "double-closet"? Binationalism? The transnational community?
On p.68, the text says that ethnicity "no longer" implies lower class or inferior social status. Did it before? Why? Why doesn't it now?
What does the middle-class professional immigrant mean by saying, "We can afford to be ethnic!"?
What about Barth's 1969 definition, that ethnicity only exists when people CLAIM an ethnic identity AND are defined by others as having that identity?
Can it exist without one or the other, or both?
Does this relate to the 2012 Massachusetts Senate race between Scott Brown and Elizabeth Warren? Warren claims Native American ancestry, how can we tell?
Social identity as something that is constantly negotiated - we wear "different hats" in different situations... (p.69)
Minorities does not necessarily refer to numbers, but to power/position in a hierarchy (p.70)
Check out the income distribution in 2007 (pre-recession) by race on p. 70,
then check out this updated Census data on wealth distribution in 2010 (in the midst of the recession)
Status shifting and "conversion" experiences
Nations, states, nation-states, nationalities
Assimilation as a political ideology
Plural Society as a descriptive (not prescriptive like Pluralism) view
Multiculturalism as a political ideology
Demographic shifts
Ethnic conflict
Prejudice, Stereotypes
Discrimination - can it happen without anyone harboring prejudicial beliefs?
- White flight
Attitudinal vs. Institutional Discrimination
Here's an example of what I mean: the
story of our legal history:
1935 – Soc. Security – if you work you pay into the system, and this guarantees you income after you retire. BUT the law originally excluded agricultural workers and domestic servants, who were mostly African-American, Mexican, and Asian (and were least able to save or have pension plans)
1935 Wagner Act – established right to unionize, but American Federation of Labor fought for the right of unions to exclude non-whites. So minorities were locked out of higher-paying union jobs, and denied benefits such as health and job security. Legally lasted through the 1950's, but it wasn't until the 1970's that many unions really did start admitting minorities.
1930's-'40's: Federal government began programs to subsidize low-cost loans for millions of working class Americans. Govt. Underwriters used a "national appraisal system" tying property value and loan eligibility to race – all white communities got the highest ratings and loans with the best terms. Minority neighborhoods got low ratings and bad loan terms or were denied outright. Less than 2% of these loans went to non-whites. In effect, minorities were locked out of home ownership.
1948 – US Supreme Court finally
outlawed neighborhood association "Restrictive Covenants" requiring homeowners not
to sell or lease to non-whites. Private developers and real estate
agents could legally still choose to. Lenders continued to base property
appraisals and loan terms on race, but now began to claim that higher fees and interest were necessary to cover
the "risk" that minorities posed. This claim that appraisals and interest rates were color-blind and purely market-driven masked the political nature of the systematic, discriminatory devaluation of non-white neighborhoods and home buyers by means of federal intervention.
1949 – National Housing Act. Most non-whites were renting, and so government stepped in and developed "Urban Housing Projects", destroying many taxable properties. So the tax burden was shifted onto fewer and fewer residents. Encouraged "white flight."
1949 – National Housing Act. Most non-whites were renting, and so government stepped in and developed "Urban Housing Projects", destroying many taxable properties. So the tax burden was shifted onto fewer and fewer residents. Encouraged "white flight."
1950's-60's: Economic/Housing Boom.
Federal and State subsidies to development of suburbs. Construction of many
freeways connecting residentail areas to business centers in cities,
often right through declining urban "neighborhoods." Many whites
moved to suburbs. In the 1960's, many businesses began moving to the
suburbs, depriving urban areas of jobs and taking even more taxes out
of the cities.
1968 – Kennedy's Fair Housing Act,
meant to reduce this discrimination, but in practice many appraisers
continued to factor in race, using racial steering and predatory
lending. In 1988 this law was expanded to make it more powerful.
1970's, 80's, 90's – Housing prices rose dramatically, increasing wealth for homeowners (who, as a result of the previous policy decisions, were mostly white). This also increased the cost of entry into the housing market for renters.
FOR NEXT TIME:
Read Chapter 6: Religion, and prepare your daily Top Ten List
ONLY: Mita, Diana,
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