Notes on Race in America
Race?
A socially constructed, comparative framework
A historical perspective
An irrational set of classifications, arbitrarily marked on the body by science A political division, responsible for the bad (Jim Crow) and the good (anti-apartheid) A mode of sight Racial profiling is a police practice, rooted in the response to urban disorder in the 1970s, and which suggested that attention to small details would produce big victories in the war against crime. The basic contentions of racial profiling as police practice are that: If you are black or brown makes it more likely that you are a criminal If you stop frisk and search people who are black or brown, you are statistically more likely to catch a criminal Including race in a criminal profile does not lead to statistically greater misidentifications than any other indicator Racial Profiling It also relies on common sight. That is, the ability to see difference in a profile. Since 9/11, the ordinary citizen has been enlisted in the campaign. Typically, in American culture, muscle bound heroes are presented as racially simple The logic of racial mixture (the one drop rule) has two basic tenets 1. One drop of black blood makes a person black, though the reverse is not true 2. Except in cases where Native American blood is concerned. Or where the mixture is with a non-white, non-black population. Natty Bumpo Daniel Day Lewis
Last of the Mohicans
John J Rambo, Cold Warrior
The Half-Indian is Soulful, and he is always on the run
Tarzan is a home in the jungle
Does it forcefully express an opinion?
Does the topic of the essay dwell on a topic of national significance? That is, does it frame itself as a contribution to a national debate? Use the keywords essay for class If you need to define something, use the Oxford English Dictionary.
A socially constructed, comparative framework
A historical perspective
An irrational set of classifications, arbitrarily marked on the body by science A political division, responsible for the bad (Jim Crow) and the good (anti-apartheid) A mode of sight Racial profiling is a police practice, rooted in the response to urban disorder in the 1970s, and which suggested that attention to small details would produce big victories in the war against crime. The basic contentions of racial profiling as police practice are that: If you are black or brown makes it more likely that you are a criminal If you stop frisk and search people who are black or brown, you are statistically more likely to catch a criminal Including race in a criminal profile does not lead to statistically greater misidentifications than any other indicator Racial Profiling It also relies on common sight. That is, the ability to see difference in a profile. Since 9/11, the ordinary citizen has been enlisted in the campaign. Typically, in American culture, muscle bound heroes are presented as racially simple The logic of racial mixture (the one drop rule) has two basic tenets 1. One drop of black blood makes a person black, though the reverse is not true 2. Except in cases where Native American blood is concerned. Or where the mixture is with a non-white, non-black population. Natty Bumpo Daniel Day Lewis
Last of the Mohicans
John J Rambo, Cold Warrior
The Half-Indian is Soulful, and he is always on the run
Tarzan is a home in the jungle
Does it forcefully express an opinion?
Does the topic of the essay dwell on a topic of national significance? That is, does it frame itself as a contribution to a national debate? Use the keywords essay for class If you need to define something, use the Oxford English Dictionary.