Diversity and Society: Discrimination Based on Race and Discrimination Based on Gender - Assignment Example

Final Exam Fall 2009 Diversity Using the handout, discussion board and readings, comment on the racial counterpart to the symmetrical/ asymmetrical schools of thought in gender studies. There are many similarities between discrimination based on race and discrimination based on gender. When we think of racial equality, the first thing that comes to mind is the Southern Civil Rights Movement of 1960s. A lesser known fact is the simultaneous progress made by the women’s movement and how they mutually aided the other. In other words, the two social change movements were closely related. When we talk of asymmetric relation between genders, we are usually referring to unstated rules, implicit privileges and unfair advantages that one gender holds over the other. Since our societies have been patriarchal since the beginning of recorded history the privileges and advantages were all held by men over women. One of the scholars who popularized this asymmetry was Peggy McIntosh, who introduced the ‘invisible knapsack’ of privileges that men enjoy over women. This synthesis led her to extend the theory to race relations. The result is the list of forty odd privileges, also termed the ‘invisible knapsack’ of privileges, that are enjoyed by white Americans but not by blacks and other racial minorities. In other words, McIntosh tries to distinguish between the two variants of racism: black oppression and white privilege. In contemporary socio-political discourse the term racism is synonymous with the first variety. The second variety is hardly ever recognized, let alone being discussed and rectified. This in essence is McIntoshs contention about White Privilege. What makes her thesis more robust is the list of forty odd manifestations of this privilege that McIntosh provides. Most of these instances of white privilege are noticeable in common, everyday social interactions. Going through the list of privileges that the white people in the United States enjoy over their colored compatriots, a case is to be made of the unfairness created by this situation. Since white-skinned individuals are so oblivious to the advantages they hold over other racial minorities, it does not induce them to act and rectify this imbalance. A majority of white people remain unaware of their continued subjugation of people of other races. When we talk of subjugation of people, notions such as slavery, indentured labor and colonialism come to mind. What we dont realize is the hundreds of subtler and smaller points of subjugation that happen all the time, but nevertheless add up to seriously undermine equality between the different racial groups. This way the whites come across as arrogant and indifferent to others. This apparent arrogance is born out of their ignorance of certain harsh social realities. 2. Gordon’s stages of assimilation offers a model for understanding the degree of separation and/ or assimilation of minority groups. Using this model apply its and contrast the assimilation of Asian Americans, Latinos and Native Americans. Please draw on Healey, Gagne and Tewksbury and other resources as appropriate. In the history of the United States, only the African American group is as old as the country itself. Other minority groups that we see today immigrated at different stages over the course of the last two centuries. Gordon’s model lists various conditions under which assimilation between majority and minority cultures is delayed. Some key conditions that lead to poor assimilation are due to large differences in the population of the minority and majority groups, the minority group arrives in a short period of time, the minority-group residents are concentrated not dispersed (enclaves), etc. Applying this model to the current status of various minority groups, we can see the validity of the model. For example, among the three groups in question, Native Americans were the oldest, having inhabited the continent for thousands of years before Columbus’ discovery. Consistent with Gordon’s model this group had met more success in assimilating with European Americans. Between Latinos and Asian Americans the latter’s arrival can be termed more recent, which explains the community’s exclusivity from the American mainstream. The Asian American community, by virtue of forming their own ethnic conclaves and retaining their traditional culture, have made the process of assimilation difficult. The first contact between Native Americans and European immigrants was established at a time when American colonialism was not well entrenched. After the Declaration of Independence from the British Crown, America became a colonial power in its own right, which reached its peak after the Second World War. To this extent, the experiences of different waves of immigrants vary from one another. For example, Asian American immigration to the United States is largely confined to last sixty years. Again, the uniqueness of their experience in the country is consistent with Noel Hypothesis and Blauner Hypothesis. The latter is particularly accurate in its predictions of power equations in the colonial world. 3. Compare and contrast the immigration experience of Mexican-Americans, Cuban-Americans, and Asian-Americans. Illustrate similarities/differences and distinguish between what is meant by an enclave and a ghetto. Although the United States is known as the land of immigrants and referred to as the ‘melting pot’ of different cultures, each ethnic community has its own unique politico-economic circumstances that impelled its migration. Today, the Mexican-American immigrant population in the United States easily outnumbers that of other minority groups. The basic motivating factor behind this migration is economic opportunity. In the last few decades the trade relations between the North American neighbors USA, Canada and Mexico had increased. With the formation of North American Free Trade Agreement, many manufuring jobs have been shifted to Mexico. Yet, being an under-deveolped country with a substantial portion of the population living in poverty, Mexicans find it lucrative to cross the northern border. Hence the Mexican-American community is also the largest illegal immigrant community as of now. The immigration of Asians to the United States is a relatively recent phenomena. Ever since the end of the Civil War in 1861, new trade links with Japan was opened up through the Pacific Ocean route. The country’s increasing dependency on Japanese products led to increased immigration. Chinese Americans too followed the pattern. It has to be remembered that during the Second World War, the USA was in war against Japan. This resulted in many difficulties for Japanese-Americans, many of whom were detained without charge during the period. This bitter experience had left a lasting mark on the psyche of the community, which even after sixty years has remained apprehensive to assimilate with the mainstream American culture. The history of Chinese immigration to the United States is also marred by racism. In its early days, the community was subject to ideological racism, as reflected by the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 which barred Chinese immigrants from attaining citizenship. This legislation was prompted by the ideology of the dominant group, the White Anglo Saxon Protestants, who believed in modeling American society on the basis of their traditional values and traditions. Today, the situation is more benign for Asian Americans. Chinese Americans, who outnumber Japanese-Americans are known to construct their own enclaves, popularly called Chinatowns. In these townships, the immigrants have recreated the feel and atmosphere of traditional chinese towns. One can find Chinese Americans of varying economic and class background inhabiting the place. This is in contrast to ghettos, which are poorly organized ethnic settlements usually marked by poverty and squalor. Immigrants who inhabit ghettos do so because they don’t have a choice. 4. Drawing on OTHER class materials, what connections can you make among these OTHER materials and El Cortito that would illustrate the dynamics of majority –minority relations and efforts on the part of the minority group to deal with disparity in power. The case of El Cortito, the verdict of which was proclaimed by the California Supreme Court on January 13th 1975 is a landmark event in the workers’ rights movement. The spanish term El Cortito referred to the small-handled hoes that farm owners gave to farm workers in California. This practice made it easy for farm supervisors to survey the field and see if the laborers are diligent at work. But from the workers’ point of view the short-handled hoe was hazardous to their physical well-being, as prolonged usage of the tool led to spinal cord complications, sometimes even leading to life-long disability. If only they were allowed to use long-handled hoes, this problem could be eliminated. In other class materials we saw the disparity in power between minority and majority groups, with the latter almost always having the upper hand. But the El Cortico example illustrates the inverse relation between power and majority. The farm workers, who easily outnumbered the supervisors and farm owners were put in a position of disadvantage. The farm owners, who were an elite minority dictated terms for the workers, most of the time adopting exploitative labor processes. In other class materials, we read about asymmetries in race and gender relations. The El Cortico case shows us that there is another social dimension at work, namely ‘class’. The disparities in social class are intertwined with that of race and ethnicity. This is where the utility of trade and worker unions play a role. By uniting and representing members of the working class, the unions are empowered to bargain collectively. It is also to the credit of our judicial system and the Constitution that workers’ rights continues to be respected and protected. Provisions for class action lawsuits, minimum wage laws, etc offer legal protection for working class people. 5. Describe the differences between the Southern Civil Rights Movement and the Black Power Movement discussed in chapter 5. Why did these differences exist? How do these movements remain relevant now? The Southern Civil Rights Movement is associated with such leaders as Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks. The cornerstone of this social movement is ‘nonviolent resistance’ and ‘equal recognition’ for coloured people of America. The Black Power Movement, on the other hand did not shy away from militant tactics for attaining equality and some of its followers did not hesitate to take up arms for their cause. Some members of Black Power movement saw peaceful nonviolent protests as ineffective and weak. They believed that radical transformations in racial relations was not possible within the prevailing institutional settings. They instead proposed social, political and economic autonomy for blacks. Their key principle was black self-expression and black self-sufficiency. Notable offshoot of the Black Power Movement was the Black Panther Party, which is now practically defunct. Rosa Parks performed the first symbolic act that shook the conscience of the nation. She had the courage and conviction to deny a white man a front row seat in a public bus in the southern state of Alabama. In many southern states at the time, bus seats were segregated for whites and blacks, with the latter alloted the last few rows. This was one of the early acts of revolt against the “equal but separate” clause which handicapped the social lives of colored people. This triggered off a wider expression of protest against preailing injustices, which the media started to refer as the Southern Civil Rights Movement. The verdict of Brown v. Board of Education was a landmark event of the movement as it outlawed the practice of segregation in schools. While these developments were taking place, thousands of students and sympathizers took to the streets to protest the unfair laws. These efforts culminated in the granting of equal civil rights to all citizens of the country, irrespective of their skin color. While the Black Power Movement emphasized on autonomy, independence and self-sufficiency for blacks, the civil rights movement endeavored for greater assimilation within the American mainstream. This is the key distinguishing factor between the two movements. In the end, the Southern Civil Rights Movement, led by Reverend Martin Luther King Jr, attracted more followers. There were even many white Americans and other colored minorities who supported the civil rights movement. The same cannot be said of the Black Power Movement, some of the demands of which were improbable. References: Diversity and Society, Joseph Healey, Pine Forge Press, Second Edition, Thousand Oaks, Ca. 2004 and Dynamics of Inequality, Patricia Gagne and Richard Tewksbury, Prentice-Hall Upper Saddle River, N.J. 2003. Murray, D. L., The Abolition of El Cortito. Read More