Reading 5 6 7 8 - It\'s a summary of 4 chapters in \"The meaning of difference\", Rosenblum (6th PDF

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It's a summary of 4 chapters in "The meaning of difference", Rosenblum (6th edition)...

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 Reading 5: Asian American panethnicity: Contemporary national and transnational possibilities 1. Definition of panethnicity identities: panethnicity identities are self-conscious products of political choice and actions, not of inherited phenotypes, bloodlines, or cultural traditions. 2. Without race-based exclusion laws, Asian immigrants began arriving in much larger number. 3. Perceptions of Asian immigrants: a. Immigrants did not think of themselves as “Asian” such as Chinese, Japanese, etc., but rather as people from some district, or province in that country. They considered themselves culturally and politically distinct. b. Enmities between their countries of origin further separated the groups before they arrived in the U.S. c. Before the 1960s, Asians in the U.S. practiced ethnic disidentification: distancing one’s group form another. 4. The development of a pan-Asian consciousness, broader societal developments, and demographic changes: a. Before World War II, pan-Asian unity did not share a common language. b. During the postwar years, second and even the third generations, U.S.-born Asians outnumbered immigrants and had a common language, English, so they were able to communicate with one another and contact with the larger society. c. Establishment of pan-Asian organization, publications, and Asian American studies program. d. The advent of state-sponsored affirmative action program provided a reason for Asian American subgroups to consolidate their efforts. e. The pan-Asian category is the institutionally relevant category in the political and legal system. 5. Ethnic diversification: a. Asian American population was composed of three groups: Japanese, Chinese, and Filipino. b. Numbers of Japan immigrants declined, but the Philippines, China and Taiwan, Korea, India, and Vietnam have been on the list of top ten sending immigrants countries. c. Between the 1940s and 1960s, immigration from Asia was restricted, U.S.born Asian American dominated the population. d. By the 1970s, the foreign-born reemerged as a large majority. 6. Class diversification:

a. Pre-World War II period, the new arrivals consisted of low-wage servicesector workers, white-collar professional. b. Most of the Indian and Taiwanese immigrants had college degrees and held managerial or professional occupations. c. Indian, Filipino and Taiwanese immigrants reported a larger median household income than Americans. 7. Instabilities within Asian American communities: The population of bi- and multiracial Asian Americans increased as they want to acknowledge their combined racial heritage. Divergent histories and disparate economic backgrounds, Asian groups from different ends of the class spectrum have few material reasons to come together under the pan-Asian umbrella. 8. Build a self-consciously pan-Asian solidarity: a. Take seriously the heterogeneities among their ranks. b. Overcome the narrow dominance of the professional class and two oldest Asian American groups. c. Tend to the social, political, and economic inequalities. 9. “Racial formation” determined by events in the U.S., U.S. geopolitical interests in Asia, and needs for different types and sources of labor. 10. Discussion on immigration by the media, elected officials, and the public: Desperate individuals migrating in search of “land of opportunity.” 11. Reasons for immigration: U.S. colonizers, military, and corporations that invade and forcefully deplete the economic and cultural resources of less-powerful countries; global penetration of Western economic systems, technological infrastructures, and popular cultures in non-Western countries. 12. Philippines immigration: a. The Philippines has been the largest source of immigrants. b. An affluent group: more than half joined the ranks of managers and professionals; household income exceeded that of all Americans and whites; college graduates was twice that of all Americans. Philippines has become the major source of foreign-trained nurses in the U.S. c. Reason: Most of them was health professionals because the U.S. built infrastructure in the Philippines for the ongoing war in Vietnam. 13. Vietnam immigration: a. Vietnam has been the largest group of refugees. b. Vietnamese immigrants were not likely to be a self-selected labor force and have acquired readily transferable skills as their numbers included unemployable and they made investments (in training and education), which is military personnel possesses skills, specific to the country of origin. c. Reason: the Vietnamese were pushed out of their country and forced to leave without adequate preparation. Because the North Vietnamese took

over South Vietnam, which led to an exodus of refugees who fled the country. And then the second wave of refugees – the “boat” people – was triggered by continued conflict, natural disasters, deteriorating economic conditions in Vietnam, and the legacy of thirty years of warfare.

 Reading 6: Whiteness as an “Unmarked” Cultural Category 1. Many of the women appeared to be self-conscious about white power and racial inequality, the links, and parallels between white racial dominance in the U.S. and U.S. domination on a global scale. 2. A significant of white women felt that they are cultureless. It was described as a lack of form and substance. 3. White culture is viewed here as “bad” culture and its identities seem to show an inverse relationship to power in the U.S. social structure. 4. Perception about White culture: a. To be white means to have some sort of advantage or privilege. b. White is nondefined definers of other people. c. Whiteness comes to be an unmarked or neutral category, whereas other cultures are specifically marked “cultural”. d. The white culture had a great deal of power, difficult to dislodge from its place in white consciousness as a point of reference for the measuring of others. e. When they are in the American community, they were taught who are the same as them are Americans. Reason: people are counted among the communities of “such and such descent.” 5. Reason for perception about White culture: Colonialism and recent asymmetrical dualisms of liberal humanist views of culture, race, and identity. 6. Descriptions of the content of white culture: a. Naming based on color, the linking of white culture with white objects. b. Signified paleness or neutrality. c. Lack of vitality and homogeneity. d. “White” identified as a color and as an absence of color, that is, white as the unmarked marker. 7. The white culture was tainted or impure: a. By its relationship to power. b. By its very efforts to maintain race purity. c. Corrupted and impoverished by capitalism. 8. The positions of people of color at the bottom of a social and economic hierarchy create the potential for a critique of the system and consciousness of the need to resist. 9. “White” was a product of middle-class status. 10. Solutions for problems inherent in this kind of conceptualization:

a. Understand the location of “whiteness” in the terrain of culture. b. Reconceptualization of the concept of culture: A culture, in the sense of the set of rules and practices by means of which a group organizes itself and its value, manners, and worldview. 11. “Not really white” or “Not really cultural”: any cultural practice engaged in by a white person that is not identical to the dominant culture.

 Reading 7: America’s changing color lines: Immigration, race/ethnicity, and multiracial identification. 1. The U.S.’ society: a. Composed of multiple racial and ethnic groups. b. America’s newcomers have altered the nation’s racial and ethnic landscape. c. Intermarriage between whites and Asians and Latinos have increased substantially. d. The arrival of unprecedented numbers of Asians and Latinos complicates the black/white portrait of America. 2. Changing racial/ethnic boundaries: a. Previously “nonwhite” immigrant ethnic groups such as Irish, Italians, and Eastern European Jews became “white”. Reason for this: Irish, Italians, and Jews were not subject to the same type of systematic legal discrimination as African Americans. b. White ethnics distanced themselves from black Americans to achieve whiteness. c. Asian ethnic groups also changed their racial status from almost black to almost white by achieving economic mobility, emulating the cultural practices of whites, intentionally distancing themselves from blacks, and rejecting fellow ethnics who married blacks, as well as their Asian-black multiracial children. 3. Intermarriage in the U.S.: a. Three distinct trends in interracial marriage in the U.S.  Interracial marriage is not as common as white interethnic marriage because it was illegal in 16 states as recently as 1967.Interracial marriage increased ten-fold within a 30-year period from 1960 to 1990.  Intermarriage rate for whites and blacks remains relatively low.  Higher rate among native-born Asians and Latinos, indicate that these groups become receptive to intermarriage and are perceived by whites as suitable marriage partners. b. Higher rates of intermarriage among Asians and Latinos indicate that racial/ethnic boundaries are fluid and flexible.

c. Lower rates of intermarriage among blacks suggest that racial boundaries are more prominent. 4. Multiracial population in the U.S.: a. The rise in interracial marriage has resulted in the growth of the multiracial population. b. 2000 Census allowed Americans to select “one or more races” to indicate their racial identification. The race is no longer conceived as a bounded category. 5. Racial identification is largely optional, a matter of choice. Variables that affect the choice of racial identification as nonwhite among children of interracial unions: a. Generational status, bilingualism, and proximity to a nonwhite community. b. Speaking a language other than English at home significantly increases the likelihood that biracial children will adopt a nonwhite identity. c. Neighborhood context matters, and exposure to the minority parent’s culture. 6. Patterns of multiracial identification: a. Multiracial population seems to increase. b. Multiracial identification is not uncommon among the members of new immigrant groups such as Asians and Latinos. c. At only 4.2%, multiracial identification remains relatively uncommon among blacks compared with Asians and Latinos.  Younger blacks are less likely to report a black monoracial identity than older black cohorts due to the legacy of slavery, discrimination and the formerly de jure and now the “one-drop rule”.

 Reading 8: From friendly foreigner to enemy race 1. Regional definition of the term Middle East: a. A region of growing strategic importance in the emerging conflict pitting Britain and the U.S. against Germany and Russia. b. The region as ranging, on a north-south axis, from Turkey to the Arabian Peninsula and, on an east-west axis, from Iran to Egypt. c. Geopolitical and oil-related context. 2. African American stereotypes: a. “inept urban dandies or happy childlike slaves”. b. Black men were portrayed as rapists preying on white women and black women reduced to pliable domestic servants. 3. Latino and Asian stereotypes: a. Chinese and Japanese are portrayed as comical and hapless. b. Rise in the clichéd image of the wily, scheming, and menacing “Oriental” criminal mastermind. 4. Change in perception about Middle Eastern:

5.

6.

7. 8.

a. For a prior generation, Middle Eastern Americans came closer to matching whiteness. Reason: changing the religious composition of Middle Eastern immigrants to the U.S. b. Now they are viewed as the most immediate threat to the U.S.’ security, terrorists, obstreperous mobs chanting “Death to America”. c. Faith in their assimilatory capacity has diminished, Middle Easterners have come to represent enemy aliens and even enemy race. A theory of selective racialization: a. Famous individuals of Middle Eastern descent are usually perceived as white. Infamous individuals of Middle Eastern descent are usually categorized as Middle Eastern. b. The U.S. is filled with individuals of Middle Eastern descent who have contributed constructively to American society, but their ethnicity is frequently whitewashed. c. The whitewashing of Americans of Middle Eastern descent is evidence of our evolving colorblindness. Middle Easterner: a. Stereotypical appearance: much darker in skin, hair, and eye color than the average Middle Easterner. b. Those who naturally possess lighter skin, hair, and eyes can change their revealing first or last name to become Italian, French, etc. c. In the wake of 9/11, Middle Easterners throughout the U.S. felt under attack. To avoid the wave of hate surging throughout the country, for example, restaurants displayed “Proud to be American” signs over their entrance. Four axes of covering: association, appearance, affiliation, and activism. Reason for Middle Easterners to not return to their original country: a. Mistrust of government. b. They would hardly balk at the chance to single themselves out conveniently to the government for identification and tracking purposes....