“We are only as blind as we want to be”

– use this quote and how after this taking this class you truly understood what it means.

CELEBRATION PAPER (35 points). This two-page* paper (500 words minimum) is a reflection and celebration of what you have learned from the class and is due on the day of the Final. Pick some of the more interesting, important and helpful things you learned about race/ethnic relations and reflect on the following questions: Have you changed any of your thinking or behavior because of this class?

Has your interaction with others been altered? What was the most important, meaningful, or helpful part of this class? What aspects of the course meant the most or stretched your mind the most? Explain why these phenomena are interesting, important, or helpful to you. Is there something you think that you will take with you and have in your life a year from now? Five or more years from now? How will this impact your life? Will your relationships with others or with the community and larger society be different? Has the way you feel about yourself now changed from how you felt before this class? If so, how? What do you wish for yourself, for your fellow classmates, for your society? These personal reflections are an important part of who you are.

Different things discussed in class

• Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis (lecture)

• Cooley’s Looking Glass Self (lecture)

• False Consciousness (Marx in Loewen)

• The Social Construction of Race (race as a “social concept,” not a biological concept) (Reference the PBS video we watched in class, Race: The Power of An Illusion [http://www.pbs.org/race], lecture, and Omi & Winant)

• The context for the emergence of racial classification systems (Loewen; Feagin, Ch. 3)

• Thomas Theorem/Axiom (lecture)

• Cognitive Dissonance (Loewen)

• The four types of participants in racist rituals (Feagin)

• Ethnocentrism (lecture)

• Minority (Ch. 1 in American Ethnicity)

• Prejudice vs. Discrimination (Ch. 1 in American Ethnicity)

• Institutional Discrimination (Ch. 1 in American Ethnicity)

• Allport’s Theory of Contact (lecture)

• Why is it fair to say that racism is a “white” problem? (Loewen, pp.160-161, & Feagin)

• Cultural Pluralism (mosaic/salad bowl) vs. Assimilation (2 sub-theories: Anglo conformity vs. melting pot)(Jendian)

• Dr. J’s dissertation thesis (Jendian)

• The future of ethnicity in America (Ch. 9 in Feagin and Ch. 9 in American Ethnicity)

Demographic trends of different ethnic groups

The “Latinoization” of America

Predictions about inter-ethnic relations

• What are examples of what individuals can do about racism?What can you do about racism?What are you likely to do and why? (Ch. 9 in Feagin & Online Readings for Final)

EADING: “Racial Formations” by Omi and Winant (1998)EADING: “Racial Formations” by Omi and Winant (1998)EADING: “Racial Formations” by Omi and Winant (1998)