Race and Ethnicity

This may not be a totally clear blog since it was written with my professor as the intended audience, but I thought I'd post a response paper I wrote for one of my history classes recently. I love reading, and debating, the questions of race, class, and ethnicity. I tend to think class trumps all other social categories, because it encompasses all others, but I digress. So here is a short paper on race, and the idea of post ethnicity.


This idea of post-ethnicity is first all a very difficult one to fully grasp without significant study on the subject. It is not the first time I’ve been exposed to this type of idea, in fact, over the past two years it has found its way into many of the classes or books I have read in some way shape or form. It falls under this idea of the social construction of race, ethnicity, and gender which can make one feel very uncomfortable at first. These sorts of ideas force a person to reformulate what they perceived as being fact, truth, or reality in many senses, and this can be extremely discomforting. I sometimes wonder if we will ever be able to fully reach beyond our concepts of race and ethnicity to reach a post ethnic society, but I’m not sure there is a positive answer to that question. It many ways it would involve the transformation of history as we know it, because even though I truly believe there are no inherent inferiorities amongst particular groups, they have been given meaning; and further meaning will be yet another imposition by an outside entity within the context of previously held notions of race or ethnicity.

Labels that we use to describe races or ethnicities are meaningless until they are prescribed a meaning by communities both within and outside of a given group of individuals. That being said we need to change the meanings that we give to somebody who is for example, Asian or African-American. I think how we teach history is crucial in this aspect. I think if academia can find a way present the historical forces that have assigned second class status to certain groups which is easily understood by the masses then we can make some headway in terms of our understandings of these subjects. Without knowledge individuals simply follow their senses of sight and hearing. I have seen it with my own eyes. People see a poor African American and automatically assign them as lazy and then they assign lazy as a characteristic of the whole race. This can change though and I’ve seen it change with myself. I come from a working class family who made these assumptions and therefore they became a part of me. However in college I was taught to rethink my notions about race, ethnicity, and gender. However, this raises another interesting question about the so called positive meanings that we assign to race and ethnicity. I think those are just as harmful as the negative meanings, but I think it is important to note if we are to re-negotiate our understandings of the negatives then we must also do so with the positives.

I find the question of post-ethnicity the most important in terms of our readings for this class. This question of race and ethnicity as being socially constructed, thus susceptible to being socially deconstructed is an extremely intriguing one. As I alluded to earlier, it involves in a very real sense, they creation of a new reality. Reality is not fact or even truth, reality is what we make it, but that is not to say it is what we intentionally make. It is completely out of our control in what reality is because so many forces act together to create it and there is no way we can control it. When I say we will never get past the point where we view differences among races and ethnicities I feel some people consider me to be a racist which would be incredibly faulty thinking. I think it is natural for a human being to see and acknowledge differences between their fellow human beings. I see darker skin than mine and it registers in my mind as so. Just as I see a female and realize that they are not male like me. In both instances almost immediately certain ideas pop up about they register as darker skinned or female.

We simply need to celebrate our differences. Differences are good; they make the world exciting and a more interesting place. I think in the United States, and the world, we have this problem with differences in physical and intellectual make up. In my world view it is because government fears what it would due to certain allegiances to their particular institution of rule. People fear the unknown; they fear what is different because they feel that person or thing is a threat to their personal reality. They also fear differences because they can constitute a political and social force and impose their own ideals on the rest of us. I honestly believe these beliefs exist, even if they’re subconsciously. So with all that I think we need to celebrate the good things about our differences and seek to understand the negatives to prevent them from occurring in the future. This may seem to imply that I find hope that a post-ethnic world can exist. This would mean changing history, changing government, changing economy, and basically negating everything up until now, which is impossible.

As I think is shown by my comments here, which I’m sure have many contradictions, this topic is wildly complex. We may be able to become post-ethnic in a social sense where people are allowed to determine their ethnic identity so a limited extent, but I fail to see it happening broadly, especially when it comes to social and governmental institutions. I always seem to tie things to class, but I believe class is the more important issue because the reason there is a concern for race and ethnicity is because of the economic implications. Of course I see power, both political and social, in this economic analysis because money certainly means power in this world. I think if we are ever to reach a post-ethnic world we would have to see our conceptions of wealth and economy do a complete 180.

I’m still fighting to understand these issues, and I will continue to do so even though I think nobody will ever find an answer. I love this topic and I love thinking about it despite the many headaches it gives me. I do think we need to make an effort to see each other as human beings, not as black and white, Christian and Muslim, or American and Chinese. That may make me a bit of an idealist, but I think hope must be kept alive and efforts must be made to do so.

The Richer Rich

This one should be short and sweet, but it angered me quite a bit to read about the distribution of wealth and income in America in a more thorough manner in Perfectly Legal by David cay Johnson. I think the distribution of wealth needs to be studied and exposed to a much greater extent than what it is because it impacts so many other things such as health care, social security, community services, etc etc. One of the great things to complain about today is the current state of our Social Security System and our desperate need for a good health care system, well the answer lays in the distribution of wealth. The top 10% of Americans make 50% of the income. Yep, that's 50%. The most elite families in America have seen their income rise by a good 500% while the rest of America has seen their incomes decline when adjusted for inflation. Don't let the numbers fool you that you may get from more conservative sources, families may be making more, but that is because more households have both parents working, and working longer hours...and the right likes to portray themselves as the proponents of values. Some values party when parents are less involved with the lives of their children.

With a president that assures us that privatization of everything is the answer for what ails us one has to consider what privatization will to further fatten the pockets of the rich. Furthermore, if Americans are forced to pay for even more services out of their own pockets that will make their wages decline even further, a dollar will be worth even less, and they will have less disposable income. And yes the rich continue to get tax breaks, so combined with privatization I'm sure the rich will be doing very very well in a horrible understatement.

Another thing that I found amazing is how much the IRS goes after the middle and working classes, but the wealthy get away with millions by way of tax evasion and fraud. What makes more sense?, to go after a factory worker making twenty thousand dollars a year, or the corporate CEO who is making millions, and getting away with millions, millions in the form of taxes which pay for services.

The sad part of this all as that it does not get out enough, and not enough people care to do anything about it. I find this extremely scary. The American dream does not exist, it never existed. Money goes to money. When the Astors are still fabulously wealthy hundreds of years after John Jacob Astor swindled Native Americans for furs which he used to make a fortune in real estate, then I think we have an aristocratic problem. A country is a social pact, an agreement that we'll all live and work together for the good of the entire nation. That's not how it exists in America right now. To steal a term from Laurence Gronlund, the lower classes are getting "fleeced" of what the justly deserve. The businessman takes their wool and does great things with it, and the rest of America gets to work longer and harder to get by.

A band you need a dictionary and encyclopedia for

I was first exposed to Bad religion in a freshman english class in college. It was actually by reading an article that the lead singer, who just so happens to have a phd, wrote. I highly suggest checking out their website www.badreligion.com where you'll find some of the lead singer Greg Graffin's essays and other good stuff. Anyway, they are a very political, intelligent, and socially conscious band, which I like to see. They are what I like to call real punk, but as Graffin points out in his "Punk Synopsis" you have to be careful in excluding certain people or groups that you may feel are NOT punk. Regardless, when I think of punk I think of Bad Religion, they aren't the cookie cutter, manufactured music that is put out under the label of punk or that horrible word EMO (which is to me like scratching ones fingernails on a chalkboard).

What is special though about Bad Religion is they write about things that matter, and in a very intelligent and informed way. They're a band you need both a dictionary and encyclopedia for. I picked out a excerpt of the lyrics for "American Jesus" just as an example of their work, but I suggest listening to their music and the messages they put out. I like seeing a band that is not interested in falling into any certain framework, they define themselves, and they put out great music with a purpose....very refreshing considering the musical times we live in. Not all their songs are cynical, but this one certainly is, but it is also the truth. Just a small example of Bad Religion expressing the arrogance of many Americans...think foreign policy with this particular song...ENJOY!

"American Jesus" by Bad Religion

I don't need to be a global citizen,'Cuz I'm blessed by nationality.

I'm member of a growing populace,We enforce our popularity.

There are things that seem to pull us under and,

There are things that drag us down.

But there's a power and a vital presence,It's lurking all around.

We've got the American Jesus,See him on the interstate.

We've got the American Jesus,He helped build the President's estate.

I feel sorry for the Earth's population,

'Cuz so few live in the U.S.A.

At least the foreigners can copy our morality,

They can visit but they cannot stay.

Only precious few can garner our prosperity,

It makes us walk with renewed confidence.

We got a place to go when we die,

And the architect resides right here

Death in the Haymarket

So I have been reading a book called Death in the Haymarket by James Green for one of my independent studies for college and I thought I would just write down some thoughts on it. I've read a little bit about the Haymarket riots throughout the course of college and in some of the books I have consumed lately, but this is the first that really focuses on the historical context of all the different elements which culminated in what is known as the Haymarket riot. I've yet to finish it, but it is phenomenal; An easy ready for anybody who is not a huge fan of history books because it is written as a narrative. I always see these books as more than history books because any history is actually a part of the present, and it can serve as an intellectual foundation for understanding today.

I caught myself judging the anarchists of the late 19th century and I thought, well, should I really be judging them? Should I be judging the manifestation of their anxieties over the destructive nature of cooperative, monopolistic capitalism and what it was doing to the lives of workers? I guess I have no answer for that since I will never be able to feel or understand the anxiety and worries they had over their changing world. The anarchists were the most militant, and angry of those who spoke out against industrial capitalism, and although their advocating of dynamite and terrorism is undoubtedly wrong, I can still empathize with their disdain over the power of the capitalist.

I believe the power of businessmen and capitalists is the strongest it has ever been today, it is just not as visible as it was back then. Sure we don't have the massive slums, but they do still exist, they just aren't given as much attention. Also, in relative terms, all of American society has a higher rate of affluence, but in absolute terms the majority of people are still left out of the massive economic growth of this country. Real wages have gone down while corporate income has skyrocketed, the laws favor the rich was much as they ever have, and government is still the tool of the capitalist. More than ever the capitalist is the politician and the politician is the capitalist. They work together, so why can't working people?

Individualism is only espoused by the businessman who wants his workers to fight against one another so they do not unite against his autocratic power over society. Yes, I am intensely against the extremes of wealth we have in this country. And I'll cut it right here, I'm sure I will come back to this another day....So to judge the anarchists who fought back against the oppression of the government, militia, and police....I never believe violence is the right way, but was it understandable in their case? ABSOLUTELY. You should all read more about labor history and you'll find that many MANY times the police and militias, even hired goons, have murdered probably thousands of average citizens simply because they wanted the fruits of their labor. Haymarket was the result of a beaten and demoralized group of militants, but be careful to pin them as radical or crazy. Although my allegiance would fall upon the working class, I think we all need to work together more politically, socially, and economically. This nation and world has the capability to give everyone food, shelter, and health. They should their be a monopoly on these things because we are restricted by the unequal nature of the theory of capitalism and individualism?