In this Tim Wise discusses how the so called white privilege came about in the United States and how it was a big joke. He talks about how especially back during the Civil War that the world was off balance. White people were clearly more privileged and they may not have realized it until slavery came about. He mentions that the middle class people were fooled by those of the Elite class. The Elite class made them feel as though they were more important than there servants, which were normally African Americans, even though, the Elite did not care what everyone thought, they just wanted to stay on top. They felt that to stay on top they must create a class system. Elite was better than the Middle and Lower class, the Middle class was better than the Lower class, and if you were in the lower class you were nothing. Whites tended to be in both the Elite class and the Middle class while the African Americans fell in the Lower class, thus creating privilege.…
The aim of this essay is to investigate the two major theories trying to explain why do primates have large brains. Even since the seminar study of Jerison in 1973 it has been acknowledged that primate brains are unusually large for their body size. There are three main groups of theories giving more or less persuasive explanations of the evolution of large brains and high cognitive skills in primates. The first group is a group of social theories, postulating that primate cognition is a result of complex social interactions between individuals, and in this essay this group will be represented by the Social Brain Hypothesis proposed by British anthropologist Robin Dunbar. The second group encompasses the ecological theories that are based on a premise that primate intelligence originated from complex interactions with the environment. A “delegate” from this group in my discussion will be the Visual Specialisation Hypothesis introduced by Robert Barton (1998), who argues that primate encephalisation is connected to frugivorous diet and the need of advanced visual abilities. Finally, the Cultural Intelligence Hypothesis, which is a general name to multiple related views, proposes that large-brained primates possess “general intelligence” due to their great behavioural flexibility. This final theory will be included in the comparison just to offer an alternative view to the two mainly discussed theories above.…
Carmichael begins with an insult. Explain what is the “white ghetto of the west.” Then, explain why he would choose to begin in such a confrontational manner.…
In “Heteropatriarchy and the Three Pillars of White Supremacy,” Andrea Smith proposes that organizing efforts for women of color have been ineffective, as they fail to recognize the heteropatriarchy framework undermining their platform. This political and social framework creates a divisive environment of “oppressive Olympics,” where groups are vying for the title of most beleaguered (66). In addition, numerous efforts to organize have been plagued by the sentiment that all minorities have experienced the same subjugations and consequently, share similar objectives for liberation (67). However, as Ms. Smith, demonstrates “racism and white supremacy…is (not) enacted in a singular fashion; rather, white supremacy is constituted by separate and distinct, but interrelated logics” (67). This premise serves as the backdrop for the three pillars of white supremacy; Slavery/Capitalism, Genocide/Colonialism and Orientalism/War, which all address how women of color are victimized in diverse ways. The first pillar of slavery/capitalism is based on the historic value of blacks as slaves, which implies they were not part of humanity but rather a commodity, “nothing more than property” (67). Unfortunately, even though slavery was abolished, this logic remains imbedded in the patriarchal system and is most evident in the “prison industrial complex” (67). The second pillar of genocide/colonialism states that for colonialism to exist, it must procure the resources of…
In America’s history, the white people saw themselves as the superior population and discriminated against many different races. The majority of discrimination happened to be at the expense of the Black community. Throughout the nineteenth century, society’s views on race continued to evolve; some changed their previous perspectives after personal experiences with the African Americans.…
In the first chapter of his book Racism without Racists: Color-blind Racism and the Persistence of Racial Inequality in the United States, Eduardo Bonilla-Silva argues that color-blind racism, a new racial ideology which emerged in the late 1960s (16), has become “a formidable political tool” for “the maintenance of the racial order” and “white privilege” in the “post-Civil Rights era” (3). According to his argument about color-blind racism, in contemporary America, although few whites appear like racists, racial inequality does exist everywhere (2). Racism changed from “overt means” of discrimination to “subtle and institutional practices” (3). “Nonracial dynamics” become “white common sense” about explanations…
1. When discussing stereotypes and race, it is important to recognize how insignificant skin color is. Racism itself if focused mainly on cultural states, and more times than not, whites are considered culturally superior to people of color. The treatment of African Americans and Native Americans in American culture perfectly demonstrate how oppositional dichotomies of race define racial stereotypes. Cultural dominance was set since the first settlers began to participate in the slave trade. While the black slaves looked very different than their white counterparts, it was the culture of these Africans that subjected them to discrimination. Slave owners believed their culture was superior, meaning they could rape, enslave, and hold their workers prisoner without punishment. Blacks continue to be mistreated by the whites in power till this day, whether it be profiling by authorities leading to massive incarceration rates or poor representation by the federal government. Whites also believed they were culturally superior to Native Americans. Many Native Americans showed hospitality to the white settlers, but the major cultural differenced ended up destroying rel3ations and the majority of Native peoples. Only the naïve can believe that racism and stereotypes are caused by the color of one’s skin, it is cultural differences that cause the oppositional dichotomies that define race.…
In Ruth Frankenberg’s book, White Women: Race Matters. On the Social Construction of Whiteness, her main argument is that ‘race shapes white women’s lives.’ As the reader continues on they are profoundly convinced by her argument. Through the use of gender, race, class, and nation Frankenberg’s analysis is full of incitement and quite telling.…
“The Book of Negroes is a master piece, daring and impressive in its geographic, historical and human reach, convincing in its narrative art and detail, necessary for imagining the real beyond the traces left by history.” I completely agree with The Globe and Mail’s interpretation of this story. One could almost see the desolate conditions of the slave boats and feel the pain of every person brought into slavery. Lawrence Hill created a compelling story that depicts the hard ships, emotional turmoil and bravery when he wrote The Book of Negroes.…
The United States is a diverse country, racially and ethnically. Six races are officially recognized: White, American Indian and Alaska Native, Asian, Black or African American, Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander, and people of two or more races; a race called "Some other race" is also used in the census and other surveys, but is not official. The United States Census Bureau also classifies Americans as "Hispanic or Latino" and "Not Hispanic or Latino", which identifiesHispanic and Latino Americans as a racially diverse ethnicity that composes the largest minority group in the nation.…
Theodore William Allen was an independent writer, working intellectual and activist. He is known for his works that contributed a great deal in theory that is critical of race and the origins of it. He wrote a lot on concepts of racism and the special privileges of the white people. His vast interest in racial segregation, which derives from a made up concept is what perhaps, pioneered this work on “The Invention of the white Race”. He defines race and where it comes from and how it was used to separate oppressed people from each other.…
As we know it is very statistical for people of the dominant race to have a high position in the work force and usually people who have this position tend to look down to people who they believe are less than them. Especially in the workforce this is one place where it was always competitive and constantly having the knowledge that if you're not doing what needs to be done, you can easily be replaced without any hassle. In addition the factors that are related to work most prominently has three main components which include race, gender, and education. Unlike others some would disagree and say that I’m wrong and the factors to getting a job just deals with education, and in that manner they would be considered wrong. Moreover I say this because…
In the essay titled, “Age, Race, Class, and Sex: Women Redefining Difference”, Audre Lorde discusses the ways society teaches individuals to believe that when discussing difference, there are only dichotomous views. She describes these dualities as being dominant/subordinate, good/bad, superior/inferior, etc. Within these dichotomies, there is always one group who is the subordinate, bad, inferior, which she believes to be the black/third world people, working-class people, older people, and women. Although there are differences between humans, she argues that “it is not those differences between us that are separating us, instead it is the refusal to recognize those differences, and to examine the distortions which result from our misnaming…
However, certain individuals were given more power and higher status despite their race or gender, because of the higher amount of wealth that they had. However, despite the efforts of certain individuals, hierarchies of race and gender remained throughout the history of Colonial Latin America and beyond. Race, culture and class were all created by humans and as time goes on they were shaped and reshaped. The concept of race was different in the U.S from colonial Latin America. Sadly, the racism that lied between most of these nations in colonial times still exists today. Racism needs to stop, but the solution is yet to be found. The way that we see people will always be in the back of our minds and so it is difficult to get that image out. The same goes with gender; men were always seen as better than women and it’s difficult to get that idea out of one’s mind. Thus, race and gender have created significant systems of power in colonial Latin America, but it’s time for change. The challenge is to assure equal opportunities for everyone, regardless of their skin color, their ethnicity or even their gender. However, to end racism and inequality between genders, the mindset of society has to change which is not easy. Until this happens, if it ever does, then nothing will…
When it comes to non-whites Jacobsen brings into play the prominent ideologies of people in power such as Thomas Jefferson during the antebellum era, “in reason [blacks] are much inferior… in imagination they are dull, tasteless, and anomalous” (Jacobsen, 29). This ideology was also very prominent in science at the time but none more outspoken that Josiah Nott who’s attempts to scientifically prove the superiority of Caucasian people by the “intellectual endowments” Crania Americana [whites] had attained. Nott goes on to elaborate on the peoples of east Africa as, “presenting physical characters more or less hideous; and, almost without exception, not merely in a barbarous, but superlatively savage state. All attempts toward humanizing them have failed.” In short Nott pushes his theory of polygenesis to prove that people do not come from one ancestral line instead many and therefore other lines are inferior. Jacobsen elaborates on the bogus science used to further differentiate whiteness by bringing in these ideologies many of these ideas were framed by the law of 1790 which allowed whites to emigrate to the states but for those considered favorable white certain…