Chapter Three: Racial Ideologies from the 1920s to the Present By Tanya Maria Golash-Boza

Pertinent Ideas from Chapter Two People in the United States do not usually think deeply about how whiteness is an idea that shapes many things and also can shift among categories of people One area where whiteness has been important is in immigration and citizenship, as people labeled as white were provided many privileges in terms of immigration and citizenship.

Racial Ideologies Racial ideologies keep the idea of race alive. The idea of systemic racism means that racism has always been present in the United States since its formation and that major institutions and their policies continue to reproduce racist actions through ideologies and their everyday routines. To understand racial ideologies, we must define race, racism, and ideology.

Definition of Race Using Two Aspects “1) that the people of the world can be divided into distinct groups, based on their appearance and genetic characteristics, and (2) that these groups share moral and cultural attributes.” (p. 66)

Racism: “Racism encompasses both racial prejudice, the belief that people belong to distinct races and that these racial groups have innate hierarchical differences that can be measured and judged; and racial discrimination, the practice of treating people differently on the basis of their race.” (p.66)

Definition of ideology Ideologies are a group of ideas on a topic of social importance held in common by a group of people rather than just a simple belief of an individual.

Racial Ideology Has twin components: Asserts that racial groups exist. Openly and in hidden ways constructs justifications for why and how one racial group deserves to benefit over all others.

Racial Ideologies at work in four historical examples 1. Shooting of Trayvon Martin 2.Deportation of Mexican Americans 3. Japanese Internment 4. Tuskegee Syphilis experiment

During World War II, Japanese families, such as the Mochida family, were ordered to evacuate their homes and were placed in internment camps. p. 71: Copyright Bettmann/Corbis/AP Images

During the Tuskegee syphilis experiment, black men were diagnosed with syphilis yet were neither treated for it nor told they had it. p. 73: Courtesy of the National Archives at Atlanta

Attributes of Racial Ideologies Ideologies change across time, beginning in the colonial period and moving into the present. Scholars categorize these changes of racial ideologies as biological racism, cultural racism, and color-blind racism.

The Racial Ideology of Biological Racism This belief system asserts and acts upon the idea that whites are superior based on their better genetic makeup.

The Racial Ideology of Cultural Racism This ideology asserts that whites are superior because they practice better cultural habits as a group.

The Culture of Poverty A set of values that emphasizes living for the moment rather than thrift, investment in the future, or hard work.

The Culture of Poverty Lewis gave some seventy characteristics (1966) that indicated the presence of the culture of poverty: The people in the culture of poverty have a strong feeling of marginality, of helplessness, of dependency, of not belonging. They are like aliens in their own country, convinced that the existing institutions do not serve their interests and needs. Along with this feeling of powerlessness is a widespread feeling of inferiority, of personal unworthiness. This is true of the slum dwellers of Mexico City, who do not constitute a distinct ethnic or racial group and do not suffer from racial discrimination. In the United States the culture of poverty of the Negroes has the additional disadvantage of racial discrimination. People with a culture of poverty have very little sense of history. They are a marginal people who know only their own troubles, their own local conditions, their own neighborhood, their own way of life. Usually, they have neither the knowledge, the vision nor the ideology to see the similarities between their problems and those of others like themselves elsewhere in the world. In other words, they are not class consciousness, although they are very sensitive indeed to status distinctions. When the poor become class conscious or members of trade union organizations, or when they adopt an internationalist outlook on the world they are, in my view, no longer part of the culture of poverty although they may still be desperately poor. Lewis, Oscar (1966). "The Culture of Poverty", cited by G. Gmelch and W. Zenner, eds. in Urban Life, Waveland Press (1996).

Color-blind Universalism This argues that all people should be treated the same despite the color of their skin.

The Racial Ideology of Color-blind Racism This ideology draws on a few strategies that work through rhetoric: Minimization of racism—a racist deed is explained away using a different explanation than racist intent. Naturalization—an act of racism that is explained as just the way it is or with the idea that there will always be inequality. Abstract Liberalism—using freedom of the individual to excuse inequality with the explanation that people choose to be in the situations that they are in Cultural Racism—blaming victims of racism for their own situation because of the habits of living they are characterized with

Hidden Racism Hidden racism rather than outright discrimination can be one way that racism continues. “[A] racial ideology that upholds the superiority of whites and ensures that whites have access to the best resources persists.” (p. 89)

The New Politics of Race The election of Barack Obama, the son of a Kenyan immigrant, to the presidency was a historic moment. p. 86: White House Photo

Conclusion Racism and how it manifests utilizes old forms and takes new forms. Some forms of racism include: Biological Racism Cultural Racism Color-Blind Universalism Color-Blind Racism -What are situations in which you see these form of racism at work?