Shade of Citizenship: Race, Citizenship in Modern Politics A very vexing topic of discussion indeed when it comes to the census and its racial undertones. The census can be defined as the scientific method of collecting data as records for the government or state use for the proper control of public properties. However, what completely alters the whole process is its highly comparative analytical stance adopted which inserts in elements of difference. The census is a crucial political instrument for good governance in the proper administration and organization of data collection of the population. It functions as a tool of differentiation and recognition in its attempt of grouping and segmenting the population/citizens. Therefore, its main dialectics of operation becomes ‘inclusion’ and ‘exclusion.’ Obviously, this inclusion/exclusion binary underpins the highly racist nature of this imposed social stratification. Race becomes the lynchpin of the census debate. Census politics can be read as synonymous to the racial politics, an intrinsic seam of the social fabric and is by far not as innocent as it appears. The fundamental crux of the book under study is therefore to call into question the racial ‘shades’ that permeate censuses. In so doing, Nobles proposes the historical analysis and evolution of two seemingly distinct case studies: US census and Brazilian narrative one. At core of her analysis is the conclusion as to how there is a razialisation process at play. Nobles never fails to highlight the census as a state tool, very much subjective in its state-centeredness and constructed framework. Construction is a politically bias process and in the social make up of the society, the census ends up demarcating categories... ... middle of paper ... ...nd racial discourses. But at present attempts are being made for the census to resist the assimilative stance and asserting the politics of difference of all forms of nuances. Conclusion Census racial categorization is scientifically baseless; an infringement of human rights and Shade of Citizenship can be thus read as a manifesto for the colorblind theory. First time in US history, individuals are able to identity themselves as belonging to more than one race. The ‘Duel Citizenship’ is catering for the growing multiracial proportion of the population. Henceforth, the 19th century pseudoscientific Social Darwinism theory of race is strongly contested restricting access of opportunities to only the privileges. Self valorization and the demonisation of the other (non-white) that was perennial for white supremacy and domination has been reduced to mere fallacy state.
Race-thinking: what is it? Isn’t the world past the issue of race? Do races even exist and if so, what does it mean to have a racial identity? Is colorblindness possible and how important is it? These are the questions Paul Taylor addresses in the book “Race: A Philosophical Introduction”. Paul Taylor is a self-proclaimed “radical constructionist” who will maintain that race is very real in our world and in the United States as a whole (p. 80). Taylor takes care to ensure he addresses the real needs concerning racial dynamics in the U.S., referencing historical events, prevailing policy affairs, and even pop culture to explain that everyone capable of forming opinions ought to have some sort of grasp of the concept of race-thinking. As Taylor will analyze, race and race-thinking “has shaped and continues to shape private interactions as well as the largest political choices” (p. 8). In other words, race-thinking encompasses everything we do and every interaction we have. In this paper I will attempt to interpret and expound Taylor’s views and definitions of race, concepts associated with race, and input my own interpretations as they are appropriate.
Winant, Howard. 2000 "Race and race theory." Annual review of sociology ():-. Retrieved from http://www.soc.ucsb.edu/faculty/winant/Race_and_Race_Theory.html on Mar 17, 1980
For at least three decades race, gender and biopower have all been linked together. The three terms used, are frameworks installed by governments to manage the population by categorizing, regulating and controlling its subjects. Race, gender and biopower are intertwined to illuminate the treatment of the minority for centuries. The mistreatment, discrimination and suffering experienced by the minorities throughout history is evident in the texts provided.
concerns racial equality in America. The myth of the “Melting Pot” is a farce within American society, which hinders Americans from facing societal equality issues at hand. Only when America decides to face the truth, that society is not equal, and delve into the reasons why such equality is a dream instead of reality. Will society be able to tackle suc...
The analytical significance of corridos is that it gave voice to the marginalized social groups
Although critical race theory was being recognized as a law movement it has spread to other disciplines. Critical race theory is define “as a paradigm used to generate insights into the contemporary racial predicament, exposing how racial stratification is more powerful or enduring than is initially apparent” (Brown, 2003, p. 294). Critical race theory explains how the United States uses race in their law and policies and rejects the belief that as long as everyone is able to get along it will automatically eliminate racism and the stratification of race (Brown, 2003). Furthermore, critical race theory talks about how power, oppression, limited accesses to resources for ethnic minorities has been camouflaged in our society by the white privilege class (Brown, 2003). Critical race theory will give a clear and broad understanding that racism is embedded in mental health care system, where it will allow social workers to better understand the misdiagnosis of ethnic
The article, “RACE AND ETHNICITY- CHANGING SYMBOL IS OF DOMINANCE AND HIERARCHY IN THE UNITED STATES” by Karen I. Blu is an exceptional work that clearly expounds on the racial and ethnic groups especially in America. Racial and ethnic groupings are gradually becoming popular in the public arena, in which people are shifting their focus on classifying other people on the basis of racial groupings to rather classifying them on the basis of ethnicity. Moreover, race grouping is slowly submerging into ethnic grouping with Black activism being the role player in this (Blu, 1979). The following is a summary of the aforementioned article in how it relates to racial and ethnic groups and response regarding its views.
This struggle against marginalization is one of the principal elements that bind their sense of community, ...
The United States is a racialized society, with racism deeply embedded into its history. The most renowned display of racism in the United States is the enslavement of Africans by white people. This is one of the many instances that highlights the government’s implementation of institutional racism, which has been experienced by people of many different races. In this documentary, American citizenship, the Federal Housing Administration, and real estate appear to be the focal portrayals of institutional racism. For hundreds of years, being white was essential to gaining American citizenship. In 1922, Ozawa, a Japanese businessman attempted to gain citizenship. However, the Supreme Court denied his request, stating that he was scientifically classified as Mongolian, not white. Three months later, a South Asian man, Thind, proved to the Court that he was white because he was scientifically classified as Caucasian, and therefore
Mount, Steve. “Constitutional Topic: The Census.” USConstitution.net. 3 Jan. 2011. Web. 31 July 2011. .
The effects of this in the Brazilian mentality can be seen in a survey conducted in the years before the Vargas regime, where attitudes towards race and immigration show that “while 97 percent of those queried favored continued immigration of Europeans to Brazil, preferably Italians, Germans, and Portuguese, only 45 percent would permit Asiatics to enter” (Levine 21) and that “although virtually all respondents paid homage to the value of the Negro’s services rendered as slave and free laborer, only 18 percent declared their willingness to permit black immigration.” (Levine 21, 22) This demonstrates how other races were not only marginalized and excluded from political and social participation, but the state under Vargas also attempted to eradicate the country of their presence.
"Social Forces." The Skin Color Paradox and the American Racial Order. Oxfordjournals,org, 2007. Web. 29 Mar. 2014.
Controlling the population to aid counterinsurgency actions were seen by both men as essential. They both agreed that creating a census card to control the population would be very useful. The purpose of the census is to cut off, or at least reduce significantly, the contact between the population and the guerrillas. By watching the population’s activities after a while, the counterinsurgent personnel will be familiar with the population and easily spot unusual behavior patterns. Society could be kept in a somewhat organized mode to feel psychologically safe and thus help with the political mindset of the populous.
One might wonder how different the world would be if everyone had the genetic mutation and were colorblind to the biological color of race. Michael Omi and Howard Winant defined race as “a concept which signifies and symbolizes social conflicts and interests by referring to difference of human bodies. Race has had a big factor in the history of the United States and even into present day it can decide who gets educated and who gets a quality education. One should not be ignorant to race, as not many people would deny that race exists. However, the issue is whether someone’s race affects their individual life outcomes, especially in the lens of education. Simply put, citizenship in the United States was equated by minorities to have a share
We question, however, the notion of Cultural Diversity brought in the discursive dimension of the social practices geared toward these communities. Although we have advanced in the discussion on the notion of "culture" exists in the governmental agenda, we question the extent to which social interventions, in the mediation of the local powers, are reflecting this advance. In some local institutional dimensions, the discourse can still be based on an essentialist multicultural exoticism - for example, an exaggeratedly Afrocentrist perspective - which brings a notion of Cultural Diversity coined in a mystical and distant origin, not considering the intertextual branches occurred in the process of cultural hybridization. The traditional communities, in turn, strategically utilize some traditional cultural elements for the reach of the social rights in the face of historical injustices, contextualizing the contemporary demands in the process of fighting. That is what Spivak () calls strategic