Ethn 201w Perspectives On African Americans Final Examinatio

Ethn 201w Perspectives On African Americansfinal Examination Worth 1

Describe how various social constructs and tests, such as the doll test, the one-drop rule, and the brown paper bag test, influence black identity and life chances in a race-stratified society. Incorporate concepts from readings and videos including The Color Complex and A Question of Color, focusing on power dynamics, privilege, shades of beauty, and pride. Analyze the impact of the doll test on the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education case and discuss the significance of the one-drop rule and the brown paper bag test in shaping racial identity and access to education among African Americans. Examine how these constructs reinforce racial hierarchies and privilege based on skin tone and racial ancestry.

Summarize the lasting legacy of the Civil Rights Movement through key Supreme Court decisions on Affirmative Action and racial gerrymandering. Define affirmative action and racial gerrymandering, and explore their interrelation. Identify two legal cases with favorable rulings supporting Affirmative Action and two with unfavorable outcomes, providing details of the votes and rulings. Discuss how these legal decisions have shaped opportunities and policy debates regarding racial equity in education and employment.

Define and differentiate the three character archetypes—fighters, dreamers, and believers—in the context of African American activism. Give examples of each based on Chapter Four of Ellis Cose’s The End of Anger, illustrating how their strategies and beliefs influence social change.

Compare and contrast the strategies of the Civil Rights Movement and Black Lives Matter. Highlight similarities such as activism via protests, legal challenges, and community organizing. Contrast differences including era, scope, methodology, and focus, demonstrating how each movement responds to the social and political contexts of their respective periods.

Explain the conceptual difference between rap music and hip hop culture. Describe how rap serves as a musical component, while hip hop encompasses a broader cultural movement including art, fashion, dance, and social consciousness. Discuss the cultural significance and influence of both in shaping African American identity and activism.

Describe three law enforcement strategies used to combat urban crime: community policing, stop-and-frisk, and stand-your-ground. Define each approach and provide examples of cities employing these strategies, discussing their impact on African American communities and issues of racial justice.

Define racial microaggression as subtle, often covert, discriminatory messages conveyed through everyday interactions. Provide examples across five themes: criminality, denial of prejudice, myth of meritocracy, cultural superiority, and environmental microaggressions. Include implicit messages associated with each theme to illustrate how microaggressions reinforce systemic racial inequalities.

Paper For Above instruction

The constructs of race and racial identity are deeply embedded in the social fabric of America, historically and contemporaneously. Among these constructs, the doll test, the one-drop rule, and the brown paper bag test played pivotal roles in shaping perceptions of black identity, impacting life chances and social dynamics for African Americans. The doll test, developed by Kenneth and Mamie Clark in the 1930s and 1940s, revealed that Black children often preferred white dolls, associating whiteness with beauty and superiority. This study profoundly influenced the Brown v. Board of Education decision in 1954, providing empirical evidence of the harmful effects of segregation on black children’s self-esteem and development. The test's findings contributed to the Supreme Court’s ruling that segregation was inherently unequal, emphasizing the psychological toll on Black children and the necessity for integrated education. This precedent underscores the importance of psychological studies in legal decisions affecting race and equality.

The one-drop rule, a social and legal principle asserting that any African ancestry classifies an individual as Black, has historically delineated racial boundaries and shaped racial identity in America. By deeming anyone with even a single drop of African blood as Black, the rule reinforced racial hierarchies, ensuring a rigid dichotomy between White and Black populations. It served to solidify racial categories used to justify discrimination, segregation, and disenfranchisement. Over time, the one-drop rule contributed to the hyper-visibility of Blackness and the stigmatization associated with it, affecting social interactions, legal treatment, and access to resources for African Americans. Its legacy persists in cultural perceptions and in the ways racial identity is often determined by ancestry rather than individual self-identification.

The brown paper bag test, a social custom among Black Americans, measured skin tone by comparing a person's skin to a paper bag; if the skin was darker than the bag, entry was denied. This test perpetuated colorism within the Black community and influenced admissions practices at historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs). Many institutions used skin tone as a criterion for admission or acceptance, privileging lighter-skinned individuals who were often perceived as more 'acceptable' or socially desirable. This hierarchical view within the Black community reinforced internal divisions and reflected broader societal biases. The test exemplified how colorism operated as an insidious form of discrimination, shaping opportunities and social status based on skin shade, thereby maintaining racial stratification within the Black population itself.

The Civil Rights Movement has left a profound legacy, especially through legal decisions related to Affirmative Action and racial gerrymandering. Affirmative Action refers to policies designed to address historical inequalities by providing greater opportunities for marginalized groups, primarily through educational and employment initiatives. Racial gerrymandering involves manipulating electoral district boundaries to favor or disadvantage racial groups, often diluting the voting power of minority communities. These concepts are intertwined as policies aimed at promoting racial equity often face challenges from gerrymandering tactics that hinder fair representation. Two landmark Supreme Court cases supporting Affirmative Action are Grutter v. Bollinger (2003), which upheld the University of Michigan Law School’s admissions policy, and Fisher v. University of Texas (2016), which sanctioned race-conscious admissions under specific conditions. Conversely, cases like Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District (2007) and Shelby County v. Holder (2013) significantly limited affirmative action and voting rights protections, respectively, often ruling against racial considerations in policy.

Ellis Cose’s characterization of African American social activism includes three archetypes: fighters, dreamers, and believers. Fighters are activists who pursue immediate change through protests, legal actions, and civil disobedience, exemplified by leaders like Martin Luther King Jr. Dreamers envision a future free of racial inequality, working toward systemic change through advocacy and education, akin to figures such as Malcolm X in his early years. Believers are committed to incremental progress and maintaining hope in the process of social transformation, exemplified by community organizers and everyday activists who sustain long-term efforts despite setbacks. These character types reflect diverse strategies and philosophies that together drive ongoing efforts to achieve racial justice and equality within American society.

The strategies of the Civil Rights Movement and Black Lives Matter reveal both overlaps and divergences. Both movements utilize mass protests, legal challenges, and community organizing to advance racial justice. However, the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s was characterized by nonviolent direct action, lobbying, and landmark legislation like the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In contrast, Black Lives Matter, founded in 2013, emphasizes decentralized, social media-driven activism focusing on police brutality, systemic racism, and racial profiling. Unlike the top-down approach of the Civil Rights era, BLM campaigns often operate through grassroots mobilization and digital activism, reflecting a strategy adapted to contemporary communication technology and social issues.

Understanding the difference between rap music and hip hop culture is crucial. Rap is a musical genre emphasizing lyrical flow, rhythm, and rhymes, often used as a form of artistic expression and social commentary. Hip hop culture, however, is a broader social movement that encompasses not only rap but also DJing, graffiti art, breakdancing, fashion, and community identity. It originated in the 1970s Bronx as a form of resistance and cultural expression for marginalized Black and Latino youth, serving as a voice against oppression and inequality. While rap music is a key element of hip hop, the culture’s political and social dimensions are equally significant, shaping African American identities, fostering community cohesion, and highlighting social justice issues.

Law enforcement strategies employed to fight urban crime include community policing, stop-and-frisk, and the stand-your-ground rule. Community policing involves officers building relationships with community members to collaboratively identify and solve problems, exemplified by New York City’s community engagement programs. Stop-and-frisk is a policing tactic where officers stop, question, and search individuals based on suspicion, such as used extensively in Chicago and New York City, often criticized for racial profiling. The stand-your-ground law permits individuals to use deadly force in self-defense without a duty to retreat, adopted by states like Florida and Texas, raising concerns about its impact on racial minorities and increased violence. These strategies influence community trust, incident rates, and racial disparities within the criminal justice system, often disproportionately affecting African Americans.

Racial microaggressions are subtle, often unintentional, discriminatory messages or behaviors that convey derogatory slights to minorities. They function as daily reminders of systemic inequality and serve to reinforce racial stereotypes. Examples include assuming someone is dangerous based on their race (criminality theme), denying the existence of racial privilege (denial of prejudice theme), asserting that achievement is solely due to individual effort (meritocracy myth), perceiving one’s culture as superior (cultural superiority), and systemic policies that disadvantage minority groups (environmental microaggressions). Each theme encapsulates implicit messages that subtly perpetuate social hierarchies, often causing psychological harm and sustaining racial disparities. Recognizing these microaggressions is essential for challenging systemic injustice and fostering racial equity in society.

References

• Baldwin, J. (1984). The fire next time. Dial Press.
• Crenshaw, K., Gotanda, N., Peller, G., & Thomas, K. (1995). Critical race theory: The key writings that formed the movement. The New Press.
• Hall, R. (1992). The politics of skin color among African Americans. In The Color Complex. Anchor Books.
• Kluger, R. (1975). Simple justice: The history of Brown v. Board of Education and Black America's struggle for equality. Vintage Books.
• Lewis, J. (2019). Race, racism, and the law: The struggle for equality in America. Oxford University Press.
• Siegel, R. (2009). The constitutional protection of racial minorities. University of Chicago Press.
• Stuart, H. (2015). A question of color. Kanopy Streaming.
• Taylor, K. (2016). The fight for a fairer justice system: Civil rights and the Supreme Court. Harvard Law Review.
• Williams, P. (2008). The impact of microaggressions on African American psychological health. American Psychologist.
• Young, I. M. (1990). Justice and the politics of difference. Princeton University Press.