Assignment:
The semester is over and you're flying home for the holidays. Near the end of the flight, you begin talking to the white, middle aged woman sitting next to you. She asked what you're studying at GWU and you tell her about the classes you have taken. When you mention the Race and Minority Relations class she gets animated. She is 'fed up' with complaints about racism in the society. 'We have a black President; she asserts. 'What better evidence is there that we are now in a post-racial society? People have equal opportunity, and if they don't succeed, it's their own fault. We need to stop obsessing about our history and about isolated cases of racism and pay attention to the deficit and how to cut all this spending for people who are just too lazy to succeed'. You start to answer, but just then the flight attendances that the plane is preparing to land. 'I'd like to continue this conversation', you tell the woman. 'Would you mind if I wrote you letter during the holidays explaining my views on this?' She gives you her address and says she'd be happy to receive your letter.
Assignment:
Thinking about our class lectures/discussions, the required reading, the videos we saw, and the newspaper articles you've read, write a letter to this woman that clearly, persuasively and specifically:
A. Describes the concepts of white privilege and the self-perpetuating cycle of negative stereotyping, explaining how they are legacies of our history of racial oppression, and illustrates how they still affect us today.
B. Makes clear how the original Social Security legislation and Federal government housing policies of the 1930's-1950's have contributed to today's racial inequalities.
C. Explain the stages of the Veiled and Cumulative Pipeline of Persistent Institutional Racism, describe how the socio-economic conditions into which you're born and the educational institutions you attend can contribute to continuing racial inequalities, and shows how Bobo's concept of 'laissez-faire' racism prevents us from addressing these problems.
D. Sets forth your vision/metaphor of a nation in which neither the color of one's skin nor one's nation of origin have any relevance to one's opportunity to succeed.
E. Propose and fully detail two specific actions that individuals can take to address disparities that still exist and explains how they will help to achieve your vision.