Topic
The Power of an Illusion – The House We live In & The Story We Tell
Instructions
Racism as a structure and as a system.
1) Your questions (Questions you have )
2) The narrator and one of the speakers in the film tell us that the percentage of “negro” of “black” ancestry necessary to be considered “negro” changed from state to state. What does this tell us about “race” as a category?
3)There were two court cases discussed pertaining to the issue of race. In the first one discussed, the Japanese petitioner asked for his full citizenship based on his light skin color as well as his ideas. The court rejected him stating that so-called ‘science’ indicated that he was non-white and therefore not fully American. The second petitioner, an Indian man, decided to petition the court based on the same ‘science’ that was used to reject the first petitioner. The court also rejected the Indian petitioner stating this time that ‘science’ didn’t matter, but what did matter was common knowledge and understanding of what was white to the average ‘American’. What does this tell us about race and they way it functions, and is understood in U.S. society.
4) What is “redlining” and “blockbusting” how does it relate to reproducing race and racism? Think SPEC here .
Watch : The Power of an Illusion: “The Story We Tell” (episode 2)
1) In the film, the narrator explains that early on in U.S. history people were divided and categorized based on wealth and religious affiliation and not color. According to the film, what were the reasons that division and categorization shifted from wealth and religious affiliation to skin color? Use your concepts here to “frame” your answer (SPEC)
2) According to the film, Jefferson saw categorized “Indians” and “blacks” or “negros” differently. What were some of the differences in the way they were categorized? Why do you think that Jefferson and others categorized them differently?
3) According to the film, eventually, the “Indians” status also changed. What did it changed and resulted in “Indian Removal” . What changed and why did it change? What does this change tell us about what race is and how it operates?
Answer preview
One question which is raised by watching the film is why race is such an important social issue yet it is not biological in nature.
The percentage of black ancestry which qualified one to be considered and described as Negro varied from state to state. This is true indication that race is not something which is biologically structured but rather socially constructed.
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