Social Construction Of Race Essay

1148 Words3 Pages

Social Construction of race and The Development of the Blues Era Even though Black music such as blues did not end oppression, it helped rehabilitate the oppressed by creating a new identity through music such as blues. The Social construction of racial formation categorized racial groups to construct their social identity. A form of this basis is determined from skin color or skin pigment. Black music such as blues were used as a form of arts to escape the oppression that was placed upon them based on their skin color. The Social construction of racial formation classified racial groups based upon their skin color to construct their social identity which can include being part of a society, culture, family, groups, etc. Within the article …show more content…

Such an encounter becomes a source of discomfort and momentarily a crisis of racial meaning. Without a racial identity, one is in danger of having no identity" (Michael Omi, Howard Winant, 12). It is obvious when we look at someone we try to get a sense of who they are. We categorize people within our society and place them by gender, ethnicity, race, religion, and even social class. Because one of the first things we utilize is race and gender it is questioned that without racial identity one is in danger of having no identity. Personally, I believe that this is true, for instance, within our society gender roles are very apparent. We utilize gender as a form of identity, because many people now are coming forward with wanting to change their identity there has been ann uproar to try to fight against equality for citizens that identify with a different gender. What is to be considered is the same uproar that is occurring with people who identify with a gender is also occurring with citizens that are identified solely on race. Within our different generations there has been an uprising in mixed races, a person can be …show more content…

The Social construction of racial formation categorized racial groups and formed negative social identity. Skin color and skin pigment is used to categorize certain individuals which are causing oppression. Black music and blues were used as a form of arts to escape the oppression that was placed upon them based on their skin color. Our society has constructed a black/ white color line that forces evident uprising of racism. Media has become a big impact on racial oppression and developmental more issues that involve the black/ white color line. Music was a crucial survival method to slaves by creating a new separate language. The blues was a huge liberating foundation of this separate language. Musical history is crucial to comprehend because it involves the importance of our history. Different variations of music were formed off of blues which was the spiritual ideal. Blues ideals and black music, spiritual values were liberating for African Americans during their time of

Show More
Related

  • In the 1960's, People Turned to Music for Hope, Peace, and Happiness

    1224 Words  | 3 Pages

    The African-American civil rights movement was a cruel time for the African American race to endure due to the harsh discrimination and segregation that they faced. This movement fought for the rights and the equality of African Americans in the United States. With all that was going on, African Americans turned to music for motivation, courage, inspiration and strength to overcome the difficult obstacles that they would soon face. “Non-violence marchers faced beating, hosing, burning, shooting, or jail with no defense other than their courage and songs” (Hast 45). “It's been a long, a long time coming/ But I know a change gonna come, oh yes it will” (Cooke, Sam. A Change Is Gonna Come). Music was their greatest hope for change in the near future and is the thing that kept them fighting for what they deserved. They came together with each other due to the lyrics of many different songs that kept the civil rights movement alive and known. Music painted a vision that they could picture and look forward to; it was a dream that they could fight for. “Music empowered African Americans to hold tight to their dream of racial equality” (Jeske). A genre of music that bought society together during this movement was folk.

    Read More

  • Analysis of Why are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria by Beverly Daniel Tatum

    1313 Words  | 3 Pages

    One of Beverly Tatum's major topics of discussion is racial identity. Racial identity is the meaning each of us has constructed or is constructing about what it means to be a white person or a person of color in a race-conscious society. (Tatum, pp Xvii) She talks about how many parents hesitate to talk to their children about racism because of embarrassment and the awkwardness of the subject. I agree with her when she says that parents don't want to talk about racism when they don't see a problem. They don't want to create fear or racism where none may exist. It is touchy subject because if not gone about right, you can perhaps steer someone the wrong way. Another theory she has on racial identity is that other people are the mirror in which we see ourselves. (tatum pp18) 'The parts of our identity that do capture our attention are those that other people notice, and that reflects back to us.'; (Tatum pp21) What she means by this is that what other people tell us we are like is what we believe. If you are told you are stupid enough you might start to question your intelligence. When people are searching for their identity normally the questions 'who am I now?'; 'Who was I before?'; and 'who will I become'; are the first that come to mind. When a person starts to answer these questions their answers will influence their beliefs, type of work, where they may live, partners, as well as morals. She also mentions an experiment where she asked her students to describe themselves in sixty seconds. Most used descriptive words like friendly, shy, intelligent, but students of color usually state there racial or ethnic group, while white students rarely, if ever mention that they are white. Women usually mention that they are female while males usually don't think to say that they are males. The same situation appeared to take place when the topic of religious beliefs came up. The Jewish students mentioned being Je...

    Read More

  • Race and Ethnicity in the United States Still Matters

    1274 Words  | 3 Pages

    Race and ethnicity is a main factor in the way we identify others and ourselves. The real question here is does race/ethnicity still matter in the U.S.? For some groups race is not a factor that affects them greatly and for others it is a constant occurrence in their mind. But how do people of mix race reacts to this concept, do they feel greatly affected by their race? This is the question we will answer throughout the paper. I will first examine the battle of interracial relationship throughout history and explain how the history greatly explains the importance of being multiracial today. This includes the backlash and cruelty towards interracial couple and their multiracial children. Being part of a multiracial group still contains its impact in today’s society; therefore race still remaining to matter to this group in the U.S. People who place themselves in this category are constantly conflicted with more than one cultural backgrounds and often have difficulty to be accepted.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Rachel Dolecial Identity

    797 Words  | 2 Pages

    The social construction of race is when classifications relating to race unfold, appear and are influenced through public socialization and then, successively, they help restrict public socialization (Module 4 eText). This is exemplified in the article “The incentives made her do it; Rachel Dolezal’s black identity isn’t a shock to anyone who understands activist culture”, which says, “It should not surprise us, then, when an individual chooses to create a different racial identity for herself.” The author is arguing that since liberals

    Read More

  • Critical Race Theory Essay

    1625 Words  | 4 Pages

    According to the authors, Critical Race Theory (CRT) is no longer new, but it continues to thrive. It has expanded from a subspecialty of jurisprudence to the use in department of education, cultural studies, English, sociology, comparative literature, political science, history, and anthropology. CRT treats race as central to the law and policy of the United States. CRT also looks beyond the belief that getting rid of racism means simply alleviating ignorance, or encouraging everyone to get along. CRT looks at many faucets of racism. Microagression are small acts of racism consciously or unconsciously perpetrated; these are absorbed from the assumption about racial matters most of us absorb from the cultural heritage in which we come of age in the United States. The CRT movement is a collection of activist and scholars interested in studying and transforming the relationship among race, racism, and power. CRT questions the very foundations of the liberal order, including equality theory, legal reasoning, Enlightenment rationalism, and neutral principles of constitutional law.

    Read More

  • Race And Ethnicity Essay

    1082 Words  | 3 Pages

    In today’s society, it is acknowledgeable to assert that the concepts of race and ethnicity have changed enormously across different countries, cultures, eras, and customs. Even more, they have become less connected and tied with ancestral and familial ties but rather more concerned with superficial physical characteristics. Moreover, a great deal can be discussed the relationship between ethnicity and race. Both race and ethnicity are useful and counterproductive in their ways. To begin, the concept of race is, and its ideas are vital to society because it allows those contemporary nationalist movements which include, racist actions; to become more familiar to members of society. Secondly, it has helped to shape and redefine the meaning of

    Read More

  • Essay On Race And Race

    1458 Words  | 3 Pages

    Our daily lives are affected by race whether we are aware of it or not. How we live different aspects of our lives depend on the colour of our skin. From the types of jobs we have, the income we earn, where we live etc. In societies fundamentally structured by race, it is important that we do not abandon the notion of race, but instead pioneer a revolution in the way that races are understood. In this paper, I will examine how the dominant groups in society define race in terms of biology, which leads to the notion of white privilege, which is their advantaged position in society, at the expense of other racial groups.

    Read More

  • Essay On Critical Race Theory

    1624 Words  | 4 Pages

    Many people believe that racism is no longer present; however, racism is subtly interconnected with many aspects of ever person’s life, including school, upper mobility, access to services and their race many times determine the proper care given by a health care professional. Based on research, racism is interconnected with mental health care. This essay will offer a theoretical explanation that allows social workers a better understanding to clinician’s misdiagnosis of ethnic minorities. Critical Race Theory permits clinicians to purposely or unintentionally misdiagnoses ethnic minorities and will be used in understanding how racism ingrained in the mental health care system.

    Read More

  • Racial Formation Essay

    986 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the United States, racial relations have changed drastically over a relatively short time period. In Racial Formation in the United States From the 1960s to the 1990s, authors Michael Omi and Howard Winant present several viewpoints on evolving and differing racial theories while presenting their own findings and theories that have resulted from years of study and observation. They believe the present and past theories on race and racial definitions throughout history, individually, are severely inaccurate when applied to modern day and “[fail] to capture the centrality of race in American politics and American life” (p. 2). They argue that race is much more complex than how it has been presented and offer up their own theories in order to rectify previously believed notions of race.

    Read More

  • Theoretical Racial Development

    1203 Words  | 3 Pages

    The idea of the development of a social identity is a new one to me. For the majority of my life, including the present-day, I had always considered my social identity to be complete. I am Latino. Perhaps it was due to the fact that in my past experiences, I have little experience with the adverse effects of racism. However, it is indeed obvious to me that this is not nearly the case for everyone else. I am well aware of the marginalization, both conscious and unconscious, of the Latin people in the U.S. Nevertheless, I can’t look back and find bitterness in my heart due to racism. Still, while social identity development may be new to me, it’s still an intriguing concept. What exactly is a social identity? In brief, it is one’s self-awareness as to what social category they feel they should belong in, as well as how that awareness affects day to day life. Social ...

    Read More

  • Race As A Social Construct

    1076 Words  | 3 Pages

    The concept of race is an ancient construction through which a single society models all of mankind around the ideal man. This idealism evolved from prejudice and ignorance of another culture and the inability to view another human as equal. The establishment of race and racism can be seen from as early as the Middle Ages through the present. The social construction of racism and the feeling of superiority to people of other ethnicities, have been distinguishably present in European societies as well as America throughout the last several centuries.

    Read More

  • The Piano Lesson Play Analysis

    932 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...ncestors and why things are different now. People can learn a lot about their ancestors and things of the past through music. Music tells the stories of what happened in the past. It exposes what people have gone through to get to where things are now. Understanding the culture and history allows the people of today to become more appreciative of the things that the past generations have done to make things better. African Americans have endured a lot of hardships throughout history and it is important to know that and realize that people today do not have it as hard as they did. African Americans no longer have to experience things such as slavery and segregation because some of the black people of past generations were courageous enough to fight for equality. Although hatred and racism still exists, it is not as prevalent and boldly shown as it was in their time.

    Read More

  • Race And Ethnicity Essay

    934 Words  | 2 Pages

    Race and ethnicity are two terms that are constantly used in today’s society. Understanding these terms can help people to recognize that color of skin or color of hair does not define a person. These terms connect with history, social interaction, and the overall make up of a person. However America is constantly obsessed with labeling people by the way that they look or the way that they act. America seems to encourage the terms race and ethnicity and continue to divide people into categories. It is interesting to comprehend these terms because they are not going to disappear any time soon. Race and ethnicity are apart of America’s history and will be a part of the future.

    Read More

  • Argumentative Essay On Race

    3295 Words  | 7 Pages

    A large problem in America has always been racial issues and still continues to be prevalent in our society today. The United States likes to boast its reputation as a “melting-pot” as many cultures, ethnicities, and backgrounds are mixed together, yet the country still continues to isolate individuals based on race. In the constitution, it says that everyone is supposed to have equal rights and liberties, yet after over 200 years, many minorities still struggle to obtain the same respect and equality that their white counterparts have always have. Laws should be created to enforce equality and justice for racial groups.

    Read More

  • Essay On Race And Ethnicity

    1288 Words  | 3 Pages

    Generally, the meanings of race and ethnicity have their starting points from sociological and biological variables. The physical appearance of a someone, for example, eye shading, skin shading, jaw/bone structure and additionally hair shading depict race while ethnicity is related to the social elements, for example, culture, convictions, heritage, and nationality. Race is a term that depicts a group of individuals with comparative characteristics. I think race is resolved by physical characteristics, for example, type of color skin, language they speak, eye shape they have, or even things, for example, blood classifications. Individuals in general are portrayed as "humankind". Race is an undeniable theme in American culture. Despite the fact

    Read More

More about Social Construction Of Race Essay

Open Document