1. Introduction to Asian American Studies
ETHN 14:
Introduction to Asian American Studies
Department of Ethnic Studies & Asian American Studies Program
California State University, Sacramento
Week 12 Session 1
CRT and Media

2. Last Time Overview of Part III of the course Cultural Texts
Analysis of cultural text, Master of None, Season 1, Episode 4 “Indians on TV”

3. Today
Discuss the relationship between media representation and political representation.
Conduct a Critical Race Theory (CRT) analysis of Episode 4 of Master of None.

4. Power/Resistance
Overt and Covert control
Identity
How groups and individuals see themselves and are seen by “others”
Culture
Bounded system of values and traditions shared by a group
Structure
Institutions and patterns of social interaction 5 2 1 11 7 8 13 10 12 4 6 9 3

5. Critical Race Theory (CRT)
In the decades following the Civil Rights Act of 1964, scholars and activists of color noticed racial and ethnic minority groups still had limited access to opportunity segments of society.
Tenured positions in academia, resources in the judicial system, access to adequate education, health care, and housing.
Movement among scholars and activists who believe race remains a relevant factor in the persistent inequality among groups.
CRT has its roots in critical legal studies. Legal scholars of color became frustrated with the resistance to and discourse regarding civil rights and race.
Offshoots of CRT focus on group experiences outside of the Black-White racial paradigm.
Examples: LatCrit, CRF (feminism), AsianCrit, TribalCrit

6. What CRT Helps to Explain
Across numerous academic fields, critical race theorists work to expose the forces that maintain domination of those at the bottom of society by those at the top.
Analyses produced by CRT scholars are rooted in exposing what Gramsci called hegemony, or the means by which oppressive societal structures are legitimized and reinforced.
Ladson-Billings and Tate (1995) argue that race is under theorized in the social sciences and remains a relevant factor in understanding inequality in school experience and performance. They emphasize that class and gender alone cannot explain unequal educational outcomes.

7. CRT Framing Ideas (adapted from Delgado and Stefanic (2001))
Four Key Themes among CRT Scholars
Interest convergence
Interest‐convergence principle proposes that change benefitting people and communities of color only occurs when those interests also benefit Whites.
Revisionist history
History needs to be understood from the bottom-up not just the top-down.
Critique of liberalism
Colorblindness and the view that race is not real is more harmful than color consciousness.
Structural determinism
Societal structures significantly impact life experiences and chances.

8. Central Idea Borrowed from CRT
Commitment to social justice
Race as a social construct – the meanings of race change over time and space.
Racism is ordinary – privilege and bias are ingrained into our society in a level that is often subtle and undetected.
Experiential knowledge is valid
This allows scholars to position racial and ethnic minority experiences on equal footing with dominant group experiences. (Narrative vs. Counternarrative)
Intersectionality - Forms of discrimination intersect and inform one another. Race is often hidden.
Master Narrative vs. Conternarratives
Master Narrative – Closely related to hegemony. Those representations of the past . Often appear objective and authorless. How we understand our self and others through
Counternarrative – Viewpoints from marginalized groups.

9. Commitment to Social Justice
What does social justice look like with regards to media? How do the producers of MON make this argument?

10. Race as a Social Construct
Who are Indian Americans according to the dominant group?
How would you describe the producers’ of MON’s views of what it means to be Indian Americans?

11. Racism as Ordinary
Where does the idea that racism is prevalent come up in the MON?
What forms of racism/discrimination/bias comes up on MON?

12. Intersectionality
Where do we see other forms of identity intersecting with race in MON?
Where do we see gender?
Where do we see sexual orientation?
Where do we see social class?
Where do we see immigration status?
What argument do the producers of MON seem to be making about how identities intersect?

13. Master Narrative and Counternarrative
How is MON a counternarrative?
What is the master narrative?
How does MON critique the master narrative?

14. Interdisciplinary view of problems
Power/Resistance
Overt and Covert control
Identity
How groups and individuals see themselves and are seen by “others”
Culture
Bounded system of values and traditions shared by a group
Structure
Institutions and patterns of social interaction

15. To Prepare for Next Session
Reading Notes on 3 articles:
Yang, NPR Code Switch
Huang, Vulture Magazine
Chu, Salon