Essay

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Essay

• Begin Reading Mama Lola
• Themes Race, Religion, Healing, Gender,
  Colonialism, Refugees, Transnationalism
• Not a research paper
• Discuss your topic with me
• Look at the paper-writing guide

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What does Race Mean?

• March 21, 2005

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What does Race Mean?

• A system for sorting people into categories.
• Two factors
• Identifiable Characteristics
• Meaning

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Race is a Modern Idea

• Ancient societies (Greeks, Egyptians, Romans,
  etc.) divided people according to religion,
  class, status or language, not physical
  difference.
• English word for race doesnt appear until 1508.

5
Race is not Genetic

• No characteristic, gene or trait separates
  members of one race from another.
• Traits we associate with race do not vary
  coterminously.

6
Human Subspecies dont Exist

• Humans species is not old enough
• Human populations are not isolated enough
• Humans are one of the most genetically similar of
  all species.

7
Skin Color is only Skin Deep

• Genes for skin color have nothing to do with
  genes for hair type, eye shape, blood type,
  talents or abilities.
• Knowing someones skin color doesnt necessarily
  tell you anything else about them.

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Most Variations are Within, not Between Races

• There is very little variation within the human
  species.
• 85 of that variation can be found within any one
  local population
• Two randomly selected Koreans may be as
  genetically different as a Korean and an Italian.

9
Slavery Predates Race

• Human societies have enslaved one another
  throughout history
• Based on conquest, debt or other circumstances
• North Americas slave trade is a unique set of
  historical circumstances

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Race and Freedom are Linked Historically

• American equality was a new concept
• Early economy based on slavery
• Race helped explain the denial of rights to some
  members of society

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Race Naturalized Inequalities

• Social inequalities among races was justified as
  common sense based on natural or biological
  understanding of race
• American Indians, war against Mexico, excluding
  Asian immigrants, institutionalized racism

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Race not biological but still real

• A powerful social idea
• Gives people different access to opportunity and
  resources
• In U.S. advantages disproportionately channeled
  to white people

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Colorblindness is not Equality

• Pretending race doesnt exist will not undo
  centuries of inequality.