Diversity and Difference
According to Michael Omi and Howard Winant, in what ways has state law "quantified racial identity"?
(pp. 11-13) - correct answer In 1982-83, Susie Guillory Phipps unsuccessfully sued
the Louisiana Bureau of VitalRecords to change her racial classification from black to white. The
descendant of aneighteenth-century white planter and a black slave, Phipps was designated "black" in
herbirth certificate in accordance with a 1970 state law which declared anyone with at leastone-thirty-
second "Negro blood" to be black. The legal battle raised intriguing questionsabout the concept of race,
its meaning in contemporary society, and its use (and abuse) inpublic policy. Assistant Attorney General
Ron Davis defended the law by pointing out thatsome type of racial classification was necessary to
comply with federal record-keepingrequirements and to facilitate programs for the prevention of
genetic diseases. Phipps'sattorney, Brian Begue, argued that the assignment of racial categories on birth
certificateswas unconstitutional and that the one-thirty-second designation was inaccurate. He calledon
a retired Tulane University professor who cited research indicating that most whiteshave one-twentieth
"Negro" ancestry. In the end, Phipps lost. The court upheld a state lawwhich quantified racial identity,
and in so doing affirmed the legality of assigning individualsto specific racial groupings.
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The Phipps case illustrates the continuing dilemma of defining race and establishing itsmeaning in
institutional life.
In your own words, define the important key term "racialization" (p. 16) - correct answer
The process of ascribing ethnic or racial identities to a relationship, social practice, or group that did not
identify itself as such.
Define the term "racial formation." Why, as the authors note, is it such a difficult concept to grasp?
Consider their choice of words in your response (e.g. unstable, decentered, transformed, struggle). (p.
17) - correct answer Racial formation refers to the process by which social,
economic and political forces determine the content and importance of racial categories, and by which
they are in turn shaped by racial meanings
In Pem Davidson Buck's essay "Constructing Race, Creating White Privilege," what is the significance of
cultural and biological differences? What was the relationship between African and European
indentured servants? Understand this significance. (p.21) - correct answer Before
Bacon's Rebellion, the relationship between the two was natural. The construct of race was not yet
developed, thus "allowing" white and black indentured servants to make love, marry each other, and
run away with each other.
, According to Buck, how was law critical to "the maintenance of whiteness and...the production of
slaves"? How did this impact the distribution of wealth in the United States, beginning in the colonial
period? (p. 21-22) - correct answer The control of women's bodies became critical
to the maintenance of whiteness and to the production of slaves. The legal shift has had a profound
effect on the distribution of wealth. Slave holding father were some of the richest men in the country,
and their wealth, distributed among ALL their children would have created a significant wealthy black
segment of the population
According to Buck, what are the key factors that helped to establish structural privileges for whites,
what Buck describes as "the benefits of being white"? (p. 22-23) - correct answer
White privilege was established by the elite and was helped and moved by allowing whites to not
endure the same punishments as blacks. Landless whites bought into the system, but e=could have
rejected white privlege. However, they were protected from the worst negative effects of elite
punishment
Describe the characteristics of the "psychological wages" for whites in the nineteenth century. What
impact did "a sense of superiority" have for whites? (P. 24-25) - correct answer
Psychological wage= poor whites felt they outranked poor blacks b/c they could at least vote, access
school and parks, etc.
Many whites bought into it expressing their superiority over non-whites and defining them, rather than
the capitalists, as the enemy.
According to Brodkin, how did U.S. state government policies reconfigure the category of whiteness?
Which groups of immigrants benefited from this shift? (pp. 31-33) - correct answer
G.I bill
Jews benefited
In Brodkin's account of the early twentieth century, how did scientific racism shape immigration,
education, and language? (pp. 28-29) - correct answer Scientific racism sanctified
the notion that real Americans were white and that real whites came from northwest Europe.
What does Daniel Patrick Moynihan argue about poverty in his infamous 1965 report, "The Negro
Family: The Case for National Action"? (E.g. class status, innate ability, moral worth...)(pp. 5-9; 78-79)
