COM 327February 25, 2014

DECONSTRUCTING RACE

QUIZ!!

1. hooks: “___________ aptly describes the process by which blacks were and continue to be subordinated by white supremacy”

a) commercialismb) colonialismc) commodificationd) ideology

2. hooks: “For the most part television and movies depict a world where blacks and whites coexist in harmony although the subtext is clear; this harmony is maintained because no one really moves from the location _________ allocates to them on the race-sex hierarchy.”

a) capitalismb) Canadac) white supremacyd) Uncle Sam

3. Leonard: “Since 1989, over 19 million units of ________ have been sold.”

a) Air Jordansb) disposable razorsc) John Madden footballd) Celine Dion cd’s

4. Leonard: “The hegemony of whiteness as both producer and consumer of such games….places sporting video games within the history of _______.”

a) minstrelryb) segregationc) commodificationd) civil rights

BONUShook: “On a recent episode of _________ a white lawyer directs anger at a black woman and tells her, "If you want to see the cause of racism, look in the mirror."

a) Damagesb) Scandalc) The Good Wifed) Law and Order

Plan

• Group presentation• Lecture:– can we be “color blind”? should we be?– race as social construction– hooks & Leondard: deconstructing race– deconstructing whiteness

• Group work

Next class

Watch 1 segment of Militainment & prepare summaries / short presentations during the beginning of next class.

1. Spectacle2:04 – 15:30

2. Clean War 15:30 - 28:15

3. Techno-fetishism28:15 - 40:15

4. Demonization40:15 - 57:45

5. Reality TV57:50 - 1:18:20

6. Spectator Sports1:18:20 - 1:26:39

7. Toys1:26:40 - 1:32:35

8. Video Games1:32:40 - 1:45:30

9. Dissent1:45:36 to end

“I’m colorblind”

“I don’t see race”

“Racism ended when…”

“colorblindness” ignores “institutional” racism

• “One of the most significant legacies of slavery and historical discrimination in the United States is the pervasive racial disparity in wealth (Blank, 2001). The median family income for Whites in 1994 was $33,600 but was only $20,508 for Blacks. Blacks’ incomes were only 62% of Whites’ incomes.” (Institutional Discrimination, Individual Racism, and Hurricane Katrina)

• Wealthy white neighborhoods more likely to have better schools(Good Neighborhoods, Good Schools: Race and the “Good Choices” of White Families)

• “Standardized testing” biased towards white students (Class and Schools: Using Social, Economic, and Educational Reform to

Close the Achievement Gap)

“colorblindness” ignores “institutional” racism

Robert Moses, NYC architect

Designed bridges to and from Long Island to be too low for buses to clear; bridges separated poorer (Black) from richer (White) neighborhoods

Vs.

Katrina: interpersonal vs institutional racism

“a history of discriminatory policies and practices, particularly in the New Orleans area, that created socioeconomic and consequent housing disparities along racial lines.” (Institutional Discrimination, Individual Racism, and Hurricane Katrina)

• Building poorer neighborhoods in lower / more at-risk parts of the city

• Denying Black people housing opportunities in richer/more elevated parts of city

• Basing evacuation plans on access to automobiles

“social constructs”“we first produce the world in symbolic work and then take up residence in the world we have produced” (Carey, p. 30)

“In the moment when a historical event passes under the sign of discourse, it is subject to all the complex formal “rules” by which language signifies. To put it paradoxically, the event must become a “story” before it can become a communicative event” (Hall, p. 164)

“social constructs”

critical strategy for combating racism:“deconstruction”

If race is a social construct, made through our representations of reality, then combatting racism means re-presenting race

Not just de-coding race differently, but en-coding differently as well

bell hooks

“deconstruction”

Not just de-coding race differently, but en-coding differently as well

1. Analyzing the text for its underlying “discourses” (assumptions, beliefs) about race

2. Re-presenting race; showing racial relations in a way that is satirical / progressive

http://www.snotr.com/video/422/Eddie_Murphy_goes_undercover

“we do not challenge the representations of whites” (hooks, p. 115)

deconstructing “whiteness”

Late 18th century: only “whites” could vote & own property

“The original white Americans — those from England, certain areas of Western Europe, and the Nordic States — excluded other European immigrants from that category to deny them jobs, social standing, and legal privileges”

1900’s: Irish were “accepted” as white in order to prevent Irish workers from joining up into a big scary union with Black workers

“Whiteness was never about skin color or a natural inclination to stand with one’s own; it was designed to racialize power and conveniently dehumanize outsiders”

(M-A Daniel, http://www.salon.com/2014/02/07/the_history_white_people_need_to_learn/)

“whiteness” as an exclusive club

GROUP WORK!

Padlet: http://padlet.com/wall/com327_022514

DECONSTRUCT a text for its racist stereotypes / assumptions / discourse

Find a text that RECONSTRUCTS race in a progressive / non-stereotypical way