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<center>[[Student Social Action Movements|Home]]  |  [[Student Social Action Against Racism|Race]] | [[Student Social Action for Labor Rights|Labor Rights]] | [[Student Social Action Against Discrimination related to Gender|Gender]] | [[Student Social Action for Environmental Justice|Environmental Justice]] | [[What Can Be Done?| Taking Action]] </center>
<center>[[Student Social Action Movements|Home]]  |  [[Student Social Action Against Racism|Race]] | [[Student Social Action for Labor Rights|Labor Rights]] | [[Student Social Action Against Discrimination related to Gender|Gender]] | [[What Can Be Done?| Taking Action]] | [[Sources for Student Social Action Movements|Sources]]</center>
 
[[Image:BAMN_gathering.jpg|thumb|Description]]
 
Image from http://www.bamn.com/index.asp
 


== Definition ==
== Definition ==
Line 13: Line 18:


-race is endlessly contingent, varies widely over time and place
-race is endlessly contingent, varies widely over time and place
-modern racism is based on a concept of race developed during 19th century:
1. Differences in physical characteristics among people express different subspecies of humankind- physical difference has always existed
2. These subspecies are inherently and substantially different from one another- hierarchy, justification for more power
-ex. Slavery (primarily religious literature that appear to justify slavery of Africans)
3. These subspecies are hierarchically arranged fro superior to inferior in intelligence, virtue, and other capabilities
4. Race is essential to explaining and predicting human behavior, morality, and intellectual and physical capacities
(American Studies class notes)


“Racism” the belief that one’s own race is superior to others, and that members of other races should be treated differently.” (pg.xxvi, Harlem Renaissance)
“Racism” the belief that one’s own race is superior to others, and that members of other races should be treated differently.” (pg.xxvi, Harlem Renaissance)


== History ==


'''Big movements'''
[[Image:Student_rally.jpg|thumb|Description]]
Image from www.BAMN.com


''Harlem Renaissance''
== Race Movements in History ==


-“1890-1920 approximately two million African Americans migrate from the South to the North”
"Pointing out that higher education in the United States was totally segregated until a generation ago, Marable (1998) contends that this condition was a manifestation of the social dominance of America's White power structure" (Jones, Evonne).


-1910 National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is founded


-1917 “Between 10,000 and 15,000 African Americans join the Silent Protest Parade, marching down Fifth Avenue in complete silence to protest violence against Blacks”
'''Big movements'''


-1919 “Red Summer of Hate”
''Harlem Renaissance''


“Harlem Renaissance: popular name for the blossoming of African American culture- including literature, drama, music, visual arts, and journalism- that took place between the end of World War I and the beginning of the Great Depression. Also called the New Negro Movement.” (pg. xxiii)
“one of the issues that had come to disturb Harlem residents was the fact that few of the many white-owned businesses in Harlem, whose profits came from black customers, hired black employees, particularly in positions of responsibility.” (pg.145)


“…the Black Power Movement, which sought to liberate blacks from social, political, and economic oppression…” (pg.118, Rereading the Harlem Renaissance)


''Important People in the Harlem Renaissance:''


Marcus Garvey- founds United Negro Improvement Association 1917
'''Another big movement…'''


W.E.B Du Bois- prominent Black leader
''Civil Rights Movement along with Jim Crow Laws''
 
Jessie Redmon Fauset- literary editor of “Crisis” 1919
 
James Weldon Johnson- head of NAACP 1920
 
Langston Hughes
 
Bessie Smith- “most famous blues sunger”
 
Duke Ellington


Jean Toomer – “wrote innovative novel Crane”
“Many African Americans, men in particular, refused to participate in nonviolent protests because they believed that passive resistance to white violence simply reproduced the same degrading rituals of domination and submission that suffered the master/slave relationship” (3, The Deacons for Defense)


-1935 “Harlem is the scene of a major riot sparked by anger over discrimination by white-owned businesses” (pg. xx)
“Much of the popular history of the civil rights era rests on the myth of nonviolence: the perception that the movement achieved its goals through nonviolent direct action” (5).


“Harlem Renaissance: popular name for the blossoming of African American culture- including literature, drama, music, visual arts, and journalism- that took place between the end of World War I and the beginning of the Great Depression. Also called the New Negro Movement.” (pg. xxiii)
“one of the issues that had come to disturb Harlem residents was the fact that few of the many white-owned businesses in Harlem, whose profits came from black customers, hired black employees, particularly in positions of responsibility.” (pg.145)


-March 19, 1935 Lenox Avenue in Harlem
"It is commonly believed that the civil rights activism of the 1960s led to a) voting rights, fair housing, and antidiscrimination legislation; b) affirmative action; c) Black studies programs; and d) a heightened sensitivity about matters of race which forever challenged and changed dominant-group prejudices and attitudes about the life and culture of minority group members" (446, Lowy).


-fueled by rumors that a boy has been beaten to death
Some say that the continuation of racism and acts of injustice remain today because of "society's changing mood" which does not encourage the organization of anti-racism groups on college campuses enough. (Johnson)


“In the end, three blacks were killed, thirty were injured, and more than one hundred were jailed; the approximately 20,000 participants had caused a two-million-dollar loss to white-owned commercial property.” (pg.145)
== Racism Remains ==
"...racism remains a serious problem precisely because individuals are ignorant of ethnic experience and civil rights history; institutions continue to preserve America's legacy of racist practice and ideology; and finally, structural inequality has increased during the Reagan years at the very time when civil rights legislation and social programs have been eroded" -Richard Lowy


“But all agree that the biggest reason for the decline of the Harlem Renaissance was the dawn of the Great Depression, a period of economic downturn that caused widespread poverty and suffering for millions of Americans.” (pg.136)
"The scariest thing about this is that after all of the years of efforts and struggle to turn around civil rights in this country, young people are beginning to manifest the kind of racist behavior exhibited during the days of segregation" (451, Lowy).  


“Between the years 1884 and 1990, around twenty five lynchings occurred in the South, creating a terrifying a terrifying atmosphere for African Americans” (pg.7) - one reason why so many African Americans chose to move North.
"It is generally believed that racial prejudice is a product of an Archie Bunker-type ignorance. But the excessive number of incidents of harassment and abuse on college campuses demonstrates that racism is by no means confined to skinheads or the uneducated" (38, "Racism on Campus: Are the Strongest Institutions the Most Vulnerable").


Also- the South’s economy was bad and there were many discriminatory acts against blacks which meant danger for them and were more reasons to move North (pg.8)
[[Racism on Elite College Campuses]]
(All above taken from Harlem Renaissance)


According to Evonne Parker Jones, there are four groups that cases of overt racism can be classified in and these are:


“When more than one hundred of the leading black and white writers, publishers, and editors of the 1920s met at New York’s Civic Club on March 21, 1934, to celebrate the publication of Jesse Fauset’s There is Confusion, it served as the dress rehearsal for the Harlem Renaissance.” (pg. 19, Rereading the Harlem Renaissance)
1. oral taunts and slurs


“…the Black Power Movement, which sought to liberate blacks from social, political, and economic oppression…” (pg.118, Rereading the Harlem Renaissance)
2. written or drawn


3. organized protests


'''Another big movement…'''
4. violence


''Civil Rights Movement along with Jim Crow Laws''
(526, Jones, E.)


“Jim Crow Laws: unfair laws that, in the Southern states from the post- Civil War period to the middle of the twentieth century, were used to keep African Americans from becoming full, equal citizens (an example is the segregation of public facilities, which meant that blacks could not use the same restrooms or drinking fountains as whites).” (pg. xxiii, Harlem Renaissance)
The majority of racist acts consist of defacing property by writing things such as "nigger" and "KKK" or symobls such as swastika. Racist remarks are written on posters which can then be distributed, and then violence is more probable.  This is why students need to take action and fight student groups such as "White Pride" and "White Student Union" and develope more anti-racism organizations.  


“Many African Americans, men in particular, refused to participate in nonviolent protests because they believed that passive resistance to white violence simply reproduced the same degrading rituals of domination and submission that suffered the master/slave relationship” (pg.3, The Deacons for Defense)
[[Image:People.jpg|thumb|Description]]
Image from http://www.bamn.com/index.asp


“The rise of white supremacist violence in response to desegregation made self-defense a paramount goal for many local black organizing efforts” (pg. 5).


“Much of the popular history of the civil rights era rests on the myth of nonviolence: the perception that the movement achieved its goals through nonviolent direct action” (pg.5).
According to Laura Randoph: "The reasons behind the resurgence of campus racism are complex and multilayered, but the consensus among educators, activists, and students is clear: the primary cause of this new bigotry is but a mirror of the nation's larger political climate" (531, Jones, E.).  
 
“The benefits of segregation constantly reinforced white loyalty to racism and violence” (pg.23).
 
“For most of the black men, the issue was honor, not safety” (pg.38).
 
“..in thousands of other small southern towns, the Civil Rights Act had done little to end Jim Crow” (pg.41).


Also Randolph says that "racial prejudice is 'a daily fact if college life,' calls attention to institutional racism by way of noting the record increase in the numbers of Black students now attending predominantly White institutions" (532).


== Anti-Racism Organizations ==
== Anti-Racism Organizations ==




'''BAMN- Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action, Integration, Immigrant Rights, and Fight for Equality by Any Means Necessary'''
[[BAMN- Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action, Integration, Immigrant Rights, and Fight for Equality by Any Means Necessary]]
www.BAMN.com
www.BAMN.com


What is it?


*“a mass, democratic, integrated, national organization dedicated to building a new mass civil rights movement to defend affirmative action, integration, and the other gains of the civil rights movement of the 1960s and to advance the struggle for equality in American society by any means necessary”
[[The International Institute for Sustained Dialogue (IISD)]]
www.sustaineddialogue.org


Participants include:


-Local groups, communities, youth, schools (those who commit themselves to BAMN)


• “BAMN will be independent of the Democrats and Republicans and of governments and school and university administrations. In any elections, BAMN will consider supporting only those candidates, slates, and parties whose support for affirmative action and the struggle of the new movement for equality is explicit and unequivocal.” ?
[[National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, NAACP]]
www.naacp.com
-defends immigrants’ rights


“BAMN is committed to making real America's founding declaration that "all men are created equal." Real equality of rights and opportunities for women and for disadvantaged black, Latina/o, Native American, Asian Pacific American, Arab American, and other minorities requires active, positive measures, a national policy of affirmative action. American society can overcome its fundamental inequalities only if positive measures are taken to transform it into what it should be.”
== What can we do? ==
"Many young Black people, like their young White counterparts, have either lost sight of the protest politics and activism of the 1960s, or remain completely ignorant of such recent historical evenst and how they may relate to conetmporary demands for social justice" (450, Lowy).


(Gallery on website is a timeline of events- August 1995- March 2006)
Students need to take ACTION like those who participated in the Civil Rights Movement and work to continue equality and race relations, especially on college campuses.
Get INVOLVED in a student organization that fights against racism!


"...Racism is such an integral part of our society, and thus of our higher educational system, that its riddance is not likely to occur in the near future" (Jones)-- but in order to change this, everyone needs to acknowledge the problem and move towards making amends by forming organizations, being kind to everyone no matter what race they are, and advocate good race relations everywhere.


'''Alliance for Justice'''
[[Image:La-march.jpg|thumb|Description]]


www.afj.org
www.BAMN.com
 
“The Alliance for Justice is a national association of environmental, civil rights, mental health, women's, children's and consumer advocacy organizations. Since its inception in 1979, the Alliance has worked to advance the cause of justice for all Americans, strengthen the public interest community's ability to influence public policy, and foster the next generation of advocates.”
 
 
'''National Association for Multicultural Education (NAME)'''
www.nameorg.org
 
 
'''The International Institute for Sustained Dialogue (IISD)'''
www.sustaineddialogue.org
 
What they do:
 
“Sustained Dialogue (SD) is a systematic, open-ended political process to transform relationships over time.  It conceptualizes of three decades of experience with dialogue among citizens outside government in such relationships.  SD differs from most other approaches to problem-solving and conflict resolution in two ways.  First, it focuses on transforming relationships that cause problems and conflict - relationships that may appear calm but are undermined by destructive interactions for a variety of reasons.  Second, it offers a process that unfolds through five stages in a series of meetings.  It may be used in national, community, corporate, or campus settings.”

Latest revision as of 03:19, 12 May 2006

Home | Race | Labor Rights | Gender | Taking Action | Sources
Description

Image from http://www.bamn.com/index.asp


Definition

What is race?

-race was originally used as we use the term “ethnicity” today

-race is a social construction, it has meaning because society and culture have given it meaning (Class notes)

-race is a social category defined on the basis of shared physical and biological characteristics (skin color, hair texture, stature, eye shape, facial features, etc.)

-race is endlessly contingent, varies widely over time and place

“Racism” the belief that one’s own race is superior to others, and that members of other races should be treated differently.” (pg.xxvi, Harlem Renaissance)


Description

Image from www.BAMN.com

Race Movements in History

"Pointing out that higher education in the United States was totally segregated until a generation ago, Marable (1998) contends that this condition was a manifestation of the social dominance of America's White power structure" (Jones, Evonne).


Big movements

Harlem Renaissance

“Harlem Renaissance: popular name for the blossoming of African American culture- including literature, drama, music, visual arts, and journalism- that took place between the end of World War I and the beginning of the Great Depression. Also called the New Negro Movement.” (pg. xxiii) “one of the issues that had come to disturb Harlem residents was the fact that few of the many white-owned businesses in Harlem, whose profits came from black customers, hired black employees, particularly in positions of responsibility.” (pg.145)

“…the Black Power Movement, which sought to liberate blacks from social, political, and economic oppression…” (pg.118, Rereading the Harlem Renaissance)


Another big movement…

Civil Rights Movement along with Jim Crow Laws

“Many African Americans, men in particular, refused to participate in nonviolent protests because they believed that passive resistance to white violence simply reproduced the same degrading rituals of domination and submission that suffered the master/slave relationship” (3, The Deacons for Defense)

“Much of the popular history of the civil rights era rests on the myth of nonviolence: the perception that the movement achieved its goals through nonviolent direct action” (5).


"It is commonly believed that the civil rights activism of the 1960s led to a) voting rights, fair housing, and antidiscrimination legislation; b) affirmative action; c) Black studies programs; and d) a heightened sensitivity about matters of race which forever challenged and changed dominant-group prejudices and attitudes about the life and culture of minority group members" (446, Lowy).

Some say that the continuation of racism and acts of injustice remain today because of "society's changing mood" which does not encourage the organization of anti-racism groups on college campuses enough. (Johnson)

Racism Remains

"...racism remains a serious problem precisely because individuals are ignorant of ethnic experience and civil rights history; institutions continue to preserve America's legacy of racist practice and ideology; and finally, structural inequality has increased during the Reagan years at the very time when civil rights legislation and social programs have been eroded" -Richard Lowy

"The scariest thing about this is that after all of the years of efforts and struggle to turn around civil rights in this country, young people are beginning to manifest the kind of racist behavior exhibited during the days of segregation" (451, Lowy).

"It is generally believed that racial prejudice is a product of an Archie Bunker-type ignorance. But the excessive number of incidents of harassment and abuse on college campuses demonstrates that racism is by no means confined to skinheads or the uneducated" (38, "Racism on Campus: Are the Strongest Institutions the Most Vulnerable").

Racism on Elite College Campuses

According to Evonne Parker Jones, there are four groups that cases of overt racism can be classified in and these are:

1. oral taunts and slurs

2. written or drawn

3. organized protests

4. violence

(526, Jones, E.)

The majority of racist acts consist of defacing property by writing things such as "nigger" and "KKK" or symobls such as swastika. Racist remarks are written on posters which can then be distributed, and then violence is more probable. This is why students need to take action and fight student groups such as "White Pride" and "White Student Union" and develope more anti-racism organizations.

Description

Image from http://www.bamn.com/index.asp


According to Laura Randoph: "The reasons behind the resurgence of campus racism are complex and multilayered, but the consensus among educators, activists, and students is clear: the primary cause of this new bigotry is but a mirror of the nation's larger political climate" (531, Jones, E.).

Also Randolph says that "racial prejudice is 'a daily fact if college life,' calls attention to institutional racism by way of noting the record increase in the numbers of Black students now attending predominantly White institutions" (532).

Anti-Racism Organizations

BAMN- Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action, Integration, Immigrant Rights, and Fight for Equality by Any Means Necessary www.BAMN.com


The International Institute for Sustained Dialogue (IISD) www.sustaineddialogue.org


National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, NAACP www.naacp.com

What can we do?

"Many young Black people, like their young White counterparts, have either lost sight of the protest politics and activism of the 1960s, or remain completely ignorant of such recent historical evenst and how they may relate to conetmporary demands for social justice" (450, Lowy).

Students need to take ACTION like those who participated in the Civil Rights Movement and work to continue equality and race relations, especially on college campuses. Get INVOLVED in a student organization that fights against racism!

"...Racism is such an integral part of our society, and thus of our higher educational system, that its riddance is not likely to occur in the near future" (Jones)-- but in order to change this, everyone needs to acknowledge the problem and move towards making amends by forming organizations, being kind to everyone no matter what race they are, and advocate good race relations everywhere.

Description

www.BAMN.com

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