Student Social Action Against Racism
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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)
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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.
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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
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.
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