Monthly Archives: December 2015

Week 12- Wealth

Wealth Week 12

(A post I had drafted but realized I never posted)

I think Shapiro’s book was really valuable. I really enjoyed that he explored the wealth gap. Back in Week 3 I spoke about how I was scared that Blacks would never truly be able to reduce this wealth gap. So to be able to look at all the different reasons why there is wealth gap between Blacks and Whites was nice. I especially liked how when he talked about inheritance he expanded besides just receiving monetary funds and possessions after one’s parents die to being offered financial help in any way shape or form. I think the example comparing Kathryn to Vivian was very helpful in conceptualizing that. I think all the interviews her performed were very helpful. I liked how he used all different forms of research to support his claims. I do wonder what effects fixing the wealth gap will have on the rest of the Black community. What I mean by this is what tangible effects can we see after the wealth gap is reduced. One thing I can see happening is more upward mobility for Blacks because there will be more wealth and help to get them there. But will closing the wealth only really help Blacks in the middle or upper classes. If it does help poor Blacks, in what ways will it truly help them? I definitely think this wealth gap needs to go but I wonder how effective will ending the wealth gap be.

Integration as the Ideal

Future of Race Week 13

I really enjoyed our final discussion, as I thought it was the culmination of many things we had been talking about throughout the semester. Discussing integration as a solution seems to make sense to me, since so many of the problems experienced by the black community that we learned about over the course of the last few months stem from racial segregation in neighborhoods, schools, and jobs. There is obviously a cost to integration, as many pointed out, and as Eunice demonstrated in her blog post. Anderson herself acknowledges the “ordeal of integration,” to use Orlando Patterson’s term, in The Imperative of Integration. There was similar pushback among the black community to school integration during the Civil Rights Era, and for good reason. Black students who were bussed to predominantly white schools in predominantly white neighborhoods faced vicious backlash, and sometimes violence. Many thought, given this backlash, school integration wasn’t a worthwhile pursuit because blacks would be mistreated by whites in predominantly white institutions.

However, as Anderson argues, integration remains a necessary pursuit. Despite the hardships faced during the push for integration during the Civil Rights Era, progress was made and some whites’ prejudicial attitudes about blacks were changed, if not bared out in the open. However, since then, integration has stalled, and schools and neighborhoods have resegregated. As Anderson shows, this segregation has insidious effects not only on the economic prospects of the black community but also on whites’ attitudes about the black community. The only way to get white people to see black people as equal is for them to have meaningful interaction in contexts like schools, neighborhoods, and jobs. With this being said, I am not arguing for “colorblindness” in these spheres, or the elimination of race as a salient factor underlying many aspects of society. Because of the role race has played historically in being used to subjugate and disadvantage certain groups, race will never completely lose its relevance. For this reason, black spaces are absolutely necessary and will remain necessary, especially in situations where blacks are in the minority at predominantly and historically white institutions, like Harvard. But in order to address the structural economic disadvantages and harmful stereotypes faced by the black community, integration must be pursued.

The Power of Optimistic Dreams

Black Community

Thanks, Khytie, for posting so many moving and thought-provoking pieces for us to consider as we conclude the course and look to the future of race and race relations in America. In class, I expressed criticism of Anderson’s discussion of integration, claiming that while certainly expressing ideals (as Khytie explains is the purpose of non-ideal theory), it was not practical (was not able to be implemented in an imperfect world). In my response paper, I expressed this critique in more detail, pointing out the ways in which current (and generalized) race relations might prevent people from taking action to implement the idealized world of open and considerate conversations and interactions Anderson presents in The Imperative of Integration. As I consider the role of Afrofuturism, however, in allowing the opportunity to imagine creative new solutions that defy the bounds of society, I realize how close-minded my critiques may have been. Certainly, when the bounds and norms of society as it is are oppressive and restrict the flourishing of human life of non-white people, it is necessary to imagine solutions that push these bounds and norms – as Anderson and practitioners of Afrofuturism do. While I know very little about the sociology of social movements, I am aware of the colloquial debate about whether working within the system or working to transform the system is most effective in creating positive social change. I do not pretend to have evidence for either method, but, again, I think that there is value in looking to push the boundaries of what is considered possible. My question remains, though, how we can use these dreams and creative solutions to create real change for real people right now? Will creating change for these people detract from the ideal solution Anderson and others present? Is it possible for those in power to buy into this ideal? While looking forward is important, I also think it is critical to look at what is happening right now and what can be done right now to benefit others. Whether these two things are mutually exclusive is beyond my knowledge.

Privatized, racialized citizenship

Future of Race Week 13

Perhaps the most striking element of our final discussion was the glimpse into the lens through which white Americans view their black peers, particularly in an era that these same whites proclaim to be race-blind. In the 2009 Race Cues, Attitudes, and Punitiveness survey that we discussed, for instance, white respondents expressed sentiments that reveal quite a bit about the consequences of post-racial rhetoric, at least when it is paired with misguided notions of citizenship and deserving.

When asked their opinion on the statement that black Americans should “[work] their way up…without any special favors,” white survey respondents frequently brought up their own family’s struggles and successes. They expressed what seems to be simultaneous pride and resentment at the fact that they did not receive handouts; as one put it, “No one GAVE us anything.” They contrast their own self-reliance with what they view as a tendency among black Americans to rely on the state, and to attribute inequalities to racial prejudice when (according to white respondents) they are actually the result of cultural or personal failings. One respondent even discusses the difficulty black Americans have in getting credit, only to dismiss claims of discrimination and attribute the disparity entirely to “lazy, non-working, welfare collecting African American[s].”

This line of thinking is predicated on a belief that the playing field is level and that opportunity is equally available to all. The logic goes, as Professor Bobo phrased it, “If people don’t succeed in the race-neutral [state or market], it’s on them.” To borrow from both Shapiro and Anderson, this mentality reflects a privatized and fragmented notion of citizenship, one that is fractured along racial lines. Whites such as these survey respondents do not view themselves as part of one cooperative, racially inclusive pool of citizens, who jointly pay into – and enjoy benefits from – a shared system. They, the hard-working and deserving whites they believe themselves to be, have signed no social contract with their black fellow citizens. Rather, they are in direct competition with black America in the marketplace of jobs, homes, and benefits that they view as race-neutral and ahistorical.

If this mindset affects as many whites as it appears to, the challenge for antiracist scholarship and policy is far greater than merely correcting disparities in education, income, or health. Herein lies the answer to the question Christian raises in his post: what is the value of political philosophy in studying racism? True progress, as Anderson points out, will require us to reevaluate our understanding of democracy and citizenship, and reframe racial equalitya s central to both.

Integration and The Black Psyche

Future of Race Week 13

In this book, Elizabeth Anderson talks about the psychological affects of integration of black Americans, particularly black college students. Comparing the experiences of black students who attended predominantly white institutions in comparison to those who attended historically black institutions, she found that students who attended PWIs generally felt more social and academic stress that their counterparts at HBCUs. For students who reported feeling isolated or marginalized at more integrated institutions, these same feelings are the ones that drove the black nationalism movement. Many blacks considered, and still consider, it much easier to carve out their own space rather than to feel uncomfortable in a space that was not made for them. As blacks begin to find themselves in more and more integrated spaces, they also find themselves having to deal with the pressure of being the designated representative of their race. Many find that integration often does not mean acceptance, and certainly, does not come with the lack of racism or discrimination. For a “black face in a white space”, many times it is easier for one’s mental health to be in a black space, without the internal and external pressure caused by racial discrimination and stigma. As a result, the fight for complete integration, as outlined in this book, has to consider the personal effect that it has on minorities and their psyche.

Non-Ideal Theory and Racial Progress

Black Community

Given Khytie’s helpful expansion on the meaning and implications of non-ideal theory, I am even more convinced than before that The Imperative of Integration was the most fitting work to conclude the course discussion. Anderson’s work advocates for social change toward a specific ideal form of a just society while also recognizing the unjust circumstances in which she operates. As students of and advocates for black communities, this seems like only effective method, broadly speaking, to begin addressing the issues of racial inequality that we have discussed throughout our course.

Looking forward, it seems important to continue acknowledging our imperfect circumstances as we work toward equality, because that acknowledgement requires a skepticism of our strides toward racial progress. Beyond Anderson, this skepticism has been central to many of the works we have read in the course. Pattillo analyzes how black middle class communities are still affected by the disadvantages of poverty. Tyson highlights the persistence and consequences of racially charged academic tracking in “racially integrated” schools. The persistent questioning of social advances toward racial equality, inherent to Anderson’s non-ideal theoretical approach and critical to many of the core messages of our coursework, is one of my primary take-aways from the course.

To take liberty on analyzing Janelle Monae’s lyrics, it seems that in academic study and policymaking around racial inequality, it is imperative to remember that the racial construct inherently disadvantages those identified as black. Therefore, even as we look toward specific visions of racial equity (afro-futuristic or otherwise), it is important to recognize that with each advance, our racial progress is still “in a bind” of flawed circumstances—circumstances that we must continue to criticize if we should continue to progress.

Future of Race Response

Future of Race Week 13

Thanks, Khytie, for a thought-provoking post!

I was particularly struck by what you said about the possibility of dreams:

“I posit  that changes in society often happen on the level of imagining possibilities, dreaming (Laurence Ralph’s work discusses this and even the words of Dr. King) and being able to envision the world in ways that defy the conventions of the current space and time.”

It seems to me that some of the most important and meaningful changes to society come in a large jump, not tiny, incremental shifts. The examples I can think of under this theory relate to huge gains in technological knowledge, or the start of a war.

Or, leaving that behind, if that’s too much of a stretch: if you can’t dream of the most far-reaching and “ideal” society or changes you want to see, you will never be able to come close to them. Political action and community organizing is a game of compromise, and the first idea or demand brought to the table often undergoes significant whittling down before the change is actually made. If you enter these spaces with ideal, visionary, and bold demands, perhaps the changes you will actually see made at the end of the day will reflect the potential to actually achieve those changes. Or, even better, perhaps those changes will be made all at once, if you have enough conviction and drive. Saying that changes aren’t realistic or won’t actually happen should be the role of the government or other lawmakers, not of the activists and protestors. I see this most clearly with the demands made by students of color around the country at various college campuses. Their demands have been what mainstream journalists and administrators may see as radical. But in large part, they have been listened to, at places like Yale, Pomona, Brandeis, and more. These students were able to articulate what they wanted, even if those wants were a large departure from the current status quo. And perhaps this can be reimagined to change that affects more than just one college campus, too.

The Usefulness of Political Philosophy

Black Community

The structures that perpetuate racism are very real and are relatively concrete. If this is true, what is the purpose of political philosophy? Political philosophy operates in a world that is unrealistic and finds absolute solutions that aren’t actually practical in the real world. This line of thinking may raise the question of why have any types of philosophy at all, but I’ll focus on political philosophy for the purpose of this post. It might make more sense to focus on actual political policy since that could actually create actionable ideas for application in reality. However, there may be a certain purpose to political philosophy in that actual goals that would be ideally reached in the real world are mapped out.

In The Imperative of Integration, Anderson takes a stance that is political pseudo-philosophy. This is characterized by the fact that she takes a more non-ideal approach than would be taken by someone writing a piece of political philosophy and by the fact that even though it is more realistic than political philosophy, it is still not incredibly practical. As mentioned in class, this could be so that he book isn’t evaluated to the level of a piece of political philosophy, but it leaves Anderson in somewhat of a limbo. Not quite ideal enough and not quite practical enough. However, it could be argued that she strikes a balance between the two that yields some of the benefits of both (but also probably has the inconveniences of both as well).

Newly discovered WEB Du Bois science fiction story and the Future of Race

Future of Race Week 13

The story’s protagonist, Hannibal Johnson, is a black sociologist who uses a “megascope” to look across time and space. He demonstrates his gadget for a honeymooning couple, using it to look from the top of a NYC skyscraper into the fantastic past of Pittsburgh, in which supernatural beings play out an allegory about colonialism and race. It’s a critical piece of the history of Afrofuturism, a lineage that stretches forward to such writers as Samuel Delany and Octavia Butler to Nalo Hopkinson and today’s explosion of African science fiction.

 

Full article here: Newly Discovered Du Bois Science Fiction

Considering the future of race and Anderson’s exercise in nonideal theory and political philosophy, I thought it apropos to include this piece on Du Bois’s newly discovered science fiction writings and Afrofuturism.

Afrofuturism is a way of imagining future possibilities through a black cultural lens.  Womack states that it’s the” intersection of imagination, technology, the future and liberation.” (Afrofuturism: The World of Black Sci-Fi and Fantasy Culture ) It’s both a cultural and artistic aesthetic as well as a form of critical theory  and social commentary. It destabilizes notions of blackness and ” stretches the imagination far beyond the conventions of our time and the horizons of expectations , and kicks the box of blackness out of the solar system ” (22).

A lot of you questioned the practicality of the policy applications of Anderson, which are fair critiques. However, I posit  that changes in society often happen at the level of imagining possibilities, dreaming (Laurence Ralph’s word discusses this and even the words of Dr. King) and being able to envision the world in ways that defy the conventions of the current space and time.  Throughout the semester we’ve read both qualitative and quantitative methodological approaches within the field of sociology and have learned that there often is no single optimal solution, which is what Anderson attempts to get away from. Granted, our course is not one on political philosophy so some of the scholars she’s in conversation with , like Rawls who pioneers ideal theory, were missing from our understanding. Nevertheless a quick synopsis of ideal vs. non-ideal theory states:

John Rawls conceives of justice as fairness as a work of ideal theory. Ideal theory “assumes strict compliance and works out the principles that characterize a well-ordered society under favorable circumstances.”1 Nonideal theory, on the other hand, “is worked out after an ideal conception of justice has been chosen” and addresses what the parties are to do when conditions are not as perfect as they are assumed to be in ideal theory.

(http://sevenpillarsinstitute.org/dictionary/ideal-nonideal-theory)

Non-ideal theory therefore chooses an ideal conception of justice, which Anderson situates in integration, and then advances ways to work on that ideal given imperfect circumstances. Having ideals is then not the issue at hand, a society needs ideals, the issue is where do we start to work through the imperfections to strive (even if we never quite achieve) for this ideal conception of justice?

Afrofuturism definitely responds to this conversation in imagining other worlds and new ideals. It has been critiqued by some as escapism but other scholars have argued that far from escapism, it allows for one to imagine the world as it could be and work towards those imagined possibilities.

Returning to DuBois, he was a man of empiricism, as we’ve read in Morris’s The Scholar Denied and Du Bois’s own works, yet he too realized that the space for imagining worlds, possibilities and telling counternarratives about origins and histories, which can then shape futures, was critical.

I’ll leave you guys with Janelle Monae’s song Many Moons. Monae herself is an artist who’s been described as an Afrofuturist and her songs , aesthetics, video directions certainly intersect imagination, technology, social commentary,  the future and liberation.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHgbzNHVg0c

Excerpt of the lyrics:

We’re dancing free but we’re stuck here underground
And everybody trying to figure they way out
Hey hey hey, all we ever wanted to say
Was chased, erased and then thrown away
And day to day we live in a daze
We march all around til’ the sun goes down night children
Broken dreams, no sunshine, endless crimes, we long for freedom (for freedom)
You’re free but in your mind, your freedom’s in a bind
Oh make it rain, ain’t a thing in the sky to fall
(The silver bullet’s in your hand and the war’s heating up)
And when the truth goes bang the shouts splatter out
(Revolutionize your lives and find a way out)
And when you’re growing down instead of growing up
(You gotta ooo ah ah like a panther)
Tell me are you bold enough to reach for love?
(Na na na)

 

So strong for so long

All I wanna do is sing my simple song
Square or round, rich or poor
At the end of day and night all we want is more
I keep my feet on solid ground and use my wings when storms come around
I keep my feet on solid ground for freedom
You’re free but in your mind, your freedom’s in a bind

Oh make it rain, ain’t a thing in the sky to fall
(The silver bullet’s in your hand and the war’s heating up)
And when the truth goes bang the shouts splatter out
(Revolutionize your lives and find a way out)
And when you’re growing down instead of growing up
(You gotta ooo ah ah like a panther)
Tell me are you bold enough to reach for love?
(Na na na)

Civil rights, civil war
Hood rat, crack whore
Carefree, nightclub
Closet drunk, bathtub
Outcast, weirdo
Stepchild, freak show
Black girl, bad hair
Broad nose, cold stare
Tap shoes, Broadway
Tuxedo, holiday
Creative black, Love song
Stupid words, erased song
Gun shots, orange house
Dead man walking with a dirty mouth
Spoiled milk, stale bread
Welfare, bubonic plague
Record deal, light bulb
Keep back kid now corporate thug
Breast cancer, common cold
HIV, lost hope
Overweight, self esteem
Misfit, broken dream
Fish tank, small bowl
Closed mind, dark hold
Cybergirl, droid control
Get away now they trying to steal your soul
Microphone, one stage
Tomboy, outrage
Street fight, bloody war
Instigators, third floor
Promiscuous child, broken heart
STD, quarantine
Heroin user, coke head
Final chapter, death bed
Plastic sweat, metal skin
Metallic tears, mannequin
Carefree, night club
Closet drunk, bathtub
White house, Jim Crow
Dirty lies, my regards

When the world just treats you wrong
Just come with me and I’ll take you home
No need to pack a bag
Who put your life in the danger zone?
You running dropping like a rolling stone
No time to pack a bag
You just can’t stop your hurt from hanging on
The old man dies and then a baby’s born
Chan, chan, chan, change your life
And when the world just treats you wrong
Just come with us and you’ll take you home
Shan, shan shan shan-gri la
Na na na na na na na na na na na

How to Change the Wealth Disparity

Wealth Week 12

Again–had drafted this post and never posted! Published here without changes:

I think one piece we all enjoyed about Shapiro’s work were his ideas for policy change and reform aimed at bettering the racial wealth disparity between blacks and whites. He mentions a number of different ideas, from reforming the estate tax and increasing tax on higher income families, to addressing discrimination in real estate markets and homeownership, creating home mortgage interest reduction credits, and addressing educational equity. However, how are these policies to become law while most Americans don’t know, understand, or believe in this racial wealth disparity? As many of the posts have mentioned, most white Americans are completely unaware of this issue–and not just unaware, but actively against the concept at all. The individualist mantra that is so pervasive in American culture and society makes it hard for white individuals to believe or accept that they haven’t necessarily earned all they have. When this is the case, how and when will they be willing to make change to help others, and to reduce their own privilege? In class I mentioned simple changes–switching the title of the book from the “hidden cost of being African American” to the “hidden benefit from being white”–but things like this are obviously not enough. It will take someone in power to be willing to make the unpopular statement that the disparity exists–and then be willing to change it. Sadly, I feel that it is most likely that this person will have to be white, in order for their words to be respected by mainstream white Americans. Even then, only a few will believe it. It is clear that for these policies to succeed, they will have to be presented in a “color-blind” light. However–is it fair to do this to create change–or does this ignore the importance of discussing race itself as a causal factor in this problem?

Is Integration Always Good?

Schooling and Education Week 11

I realized I drafted a blog post for this week (and the one after!) and never posted! This response continues to be interesting after our reading for this week, but I’ll post it as I wrote it, and look forward to discussing these ideas in class.

Like Madison, I am interested in thinking about whether or not integration is truly necessary or productive for the academic success of Black students. As Tyson discusses, the students in the mostly or all black schools do not have the same feelings equating academic success to “acting white”. Living without this mental barrier or stigma likely allows students to do well without second thoughts. I bring up this question after reading a really interesting opinion piece in the Boston Globe about Brooke Mattapan Charter School. Only three students in the 508 person student body are white. The school has incredible testing results, low attrition rates, and great teachers. The article discusses how integration doesn’t inherently make a school better. The co-director of the school goes as far to say that separate is not necessarily unequal. A number of other interviewees have thoughts along the same lines, arguing that desegregation was about quality and resources. Schools like Brooke Mattapan are high quality and have great resources. Are its students still missing out because the school is not “integrated” by any traditional measure? Perhaps the only way to tell is by looking at the students’ experiences once they leave Brooke and move into predominantly white institutions (PWIs). Do they experience culture shock? Do they feel out of place? Or do they feel confident–never having had to question their intelligence or their right to be in the highest caliber of classes ever before?

Merit and inequality

Wealth Week 12

As Shapiro pointed out, and as we have frequently touched upon during our conversations in class, most accounts of racial inequality focus largely on factors that are at least nominally related to merit – education, occupation, and crime, to name a few. The slant of this discussion opens the door to conservative commentators who attribute inequality to individual choices and cultural shortcomings, rather than structural factors. Wilson rightly points out that liberals struggle to respond to these claims, and often choose to disregard behaviors of the disadvantaged or attribute them to circumstance. In doing so, they implicitly posit these individual and cultural factors as significant forces in perpetuating inequality, even if they are only intermediary.

However, Shapiro’s incisive findings reframe the discourse about inequality, helping us to understand it as largely inherited, and not as a product of merit. Especially when considering similar savings rates among white and black Americans, there is no intellectually honest way to understand the inheritance of white families, or the asset poverty of black families, through the lens of meritocracy. The next step in shifting the conversation is to demonstrate to the mainstream that our notion of deserving is misguided.