Assignment task:
Race: The Power of an Illusion: "The House we Live In"
1) 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?
2) 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?
3) What is "redlining" and "blockbusting" how does it relate to reproducing race and racism?