Transcript
AS OUR COUNTRY BECOMES MORE MULTIRACIAL, ARE WE BECOMING MORE
TOLERANT AND ACCEPTING?
Multiracial America
What is Race? –noun 1. a group of persons related by common descent or heredity. 2. a population so related. 3. Anthropology . a. any of the traditional divisions of humankind,
the commonest being the Caucasian, Mongoloid, and Negro, characterized by supposedly distinctive and universal physical characteristics: no longer in technical use.
b. an arbitrary classification of modern humans, sometimes, esp. formerly, based on any or a combination of various physical characteristics, as skin color, facial form, or eye shape, and now frequently based on such genetic markers as blood groups.
c. a human population partially isolated reproductively from other populations, whose members share a greater degree of physical and genetic similarity with one another than with other humans.
4. a group of tribes or peoples forming an ethnic stock: the Slavic race.
5. any people united by common history, language, cultural traits, etc
The people of America hail from all over the world and all walks of life. No one “owns” America, we are all immigrants.
Our Country is Heterogeneous.
History
• "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to
breathe free, the wretched refuse of your
teeming shore. Send these, the homeless,
tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the
golden door."
History
What is race?
Pilgrims & Native Americans
The true Native Americans were persecuted and thought of to be “racially inferior”.
Revolutionary War: Fought to gain
America’s freedom and Independence.
The freedom and rights of all non whites was Achieved.
Civil War:
Fought to Free the Slaves in America
“We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though
passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic cords of memory will
swell when again touched as surely they will be by the better angels of
our nature.”
Early Immigration:
WARS!!!
WWI
WWII
Vietnam
Korean War
Desert Storm
September 11, 2001
Race Race does not exist in nature. Race is “social concept”, normally used in order
to discriminate. Race cannot even be definitively determined
biologically. "People who have lived in the same geographic region for many generations may have some alleles in common, but no allele will be found in all members of one population and in no members of any other.“ (Human Genome Project)
The primary indicator of race has primarily been skin color. “Whiteness gives us status.”
Certain physical traits have been recognized to determine race.
Reasons for Diversity
Immigration patterns
Interracial marriages increasing
US military presence in Asia
Most importantly Loving vs Virginia
Loving vs Virginia
Mildred Jeter and Richard Loving were married in the District of Columbia.
They moved to Virginia and were charged for violating Virginia’s ban on interracial marriage.
The judge sentenced them to one year or suspended sentence if they left the state. He said, “ Almighty God created the races, white black, yellow , malay and red and he placed them on separate continents…the fact that He separated the races means He did not intend for them to mix.”
Supreme Court overturned the decision in 1967
Thurgood Marshall
In 1967 Thurgood Marshall was only months away from appointment to the Supreme court when he suffered an indignity which today seems outrageous. He and his wife could not live in Virginia because he was black and she was Asian.
The supreme court struck down the anti-interracial laws in Virginia and 18 other states.
In 1967 these laws were not leftover scraps from an extinct era. A Gallop poll done in 1965 showed that 72 percent of Southern whites and 42 percent of Northern whites wanted to ban interracial marriages.
CensusThe 2000 census over 6.8 million Americans marked an identification with two or more races.
The 2000 census was the first census to allow respondents to choose more than one race.
2.4 percent of the United States is Multi
Racial That means 6.8 Million people reported being of mixed decent, even though it is believed to be more.
Most people record whatever the race they feel they “identify” with.
Hawaii has the largest multiracial population. – 24.1 percent of its population. Alaska is second with 5.4 percent.
The five least multiracial states are Mississippi, West Virginia, Maine, Alabama, and South Carolina.
Every State has a Multi Racial population.
APOLO ANTON OHNO
Caucasian American
Japanese
Olympic Gold medalist; Skater
FAITH EVANS
Mother: African-American
Father: Italian-American
Singer
PHYLICIA RASHAD
Actress, Model
Mother: African-American
Father: Cherokee Indian
LENNY KRAVITZ
Mother: African-American, West Indian
Father: Russian-Jewish descent
PAULA ABDUL
Mother: French-Canadian, Jewish
Father: Syrian, Raised in Brazil
Singer, Actress, Tv show Host
Tiger Woods
Mixed African American, Chinese, and Native American ancestry.
Famous Golfer
“THE ROCK”Dwane Johnson
Samoan, Polynesian, African American
Professional Wrestler, Actor
Cameron Diaz
Mother: English, German, Cherokee
Father: Cuban
Actress
Alicia Keys Mother:
Scottish, Irish, Itallian
Father: African American
Singer, Actress
Mariah Carey Mother: Irish
American
Father: Afro-Venezuelan and African American
Singer, Actress, Tv show Host
VIN DIESEL
Father: African American
Mother: Italian
Producer, Writer, Actor, Director
Barak Obama
Mother: English, German, Irish
Father: African
President of United States
Hypodescent – or the one drop rule
In the past Americans uncomfortable with the idea that you can be more than one thing.
One drop rule was deeply ingrained in our society.
Obama has led to some frank discussions about race (see below)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehhxGC0cd4E
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BtWgl1qF3Y0
19802010
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
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100
Multiracial
Single Race
MultiracialSingle Race
Future projections It is expected by 2050, the
majority of the US population, nearly 75 million, will identify with more than one race.
Thirty years ago it was 1-100, today it is 1-20.
What does it mean? The multiracial individual is a visible
indication of our country’s move towards acceptance not just tolerance.
As we become more integrated as a society, discussions of race may become unnecessary.
Diversity is not only about race but experiencing various perspectives, values and the thoughts they bring with them.
We are all the same underneath. WE ARE ALL EQUALS.
Ways to combat racism.
Educate. Face our reluctance to discuss race. Let children lead the way. Confront and stereotyping when it
occurs. Don’t wait for Heritage Days and
History months. Beyond Tolerance: Expecting
Acceptance.
When they asked –Arnold Arnaff
When they askedIf I was Black or White
or what.I said:I was Black and White
and whatdifferencedid it make to them.and they said:did I have the answers
to the math problems?
and I had the answers.
Change is all of our Responsibility.
There is a Light at the End of The Tunnel
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