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How is your perspective affected by your race, class, or gender?

American Studies emphasizes the need to examine history and culture from a variety of perspectives. Because we often interpret events only through our own personal experience, it is important to consciously examine the lens through which we view the world. Take a couple of minutes to think about your own lens and describe its components. Choose one event from your life and describe how you would have perceived it differently had you interpreted it through a different lens. How is your perspective affected by your race, your class, or your gender?

Race, class, and gender greatly shape the experiences of many individuals as well as their perspectives. Related studies have been conducted to interpret this idea as interlocking categories of experience as they affect various aspects of life. Besides, it has an impact on one’s life and structuring the experiences of my life within society. Personally, I feel that race, gender, and class makes me feel more salient and meaningful as they provide an overlapping and cumulative as they all impact my experiences. Thinking rationally, I untangle these aspects of social systems which help shape the experiences about different groups which make me able to move beyond comparing gender oppression with race (Coates, 2015). Additionally, have been able to compare situations such as the oppression of gays and lesbians to the aspect of racial groups. Through this, I am able to recognize the systems of power which mark diverse groups experiences and how they possess the conceptual apparatus to think of changing the system instead of only documenting the impacts of each system on different people. Therefore, I have been able to understand how the structural patterns affect individual consciousness, group interaction as well the group access to the institutional power and privileges.

Q1. How does Coates describe/define “race”? There are some specific examples on pp. 7 if you are struggling to understand his perspective.

According to the article, Coates clarifies on the idea of race as a defined and indubitable feature of the natural world. Besides, the aspect of race precedes the notion of racism which is the need to ascribe bone-deep features to individuals and then humiliate, reduce, and destroy them as it inevitably follows this inalterable state. Through this, Coates notes that racism is the innocent daughter of mother nature as it leaves one to explore any phenomena cast beyond the hard work of men (Coates, 2015). However, he states the race is caused by racism but racism is not as a result of the race. Through racism which results in race distinctions, ‘new people’ are generated and isolated from the rest as they are termed different. The new individuals as just like a modern invention as their new titles have no realistic meanings divorced from their machinery of criminal abilities. Thus, the new people created as a result of race are different from their original selves.

Q2. Coates spends considerable time exploring “the black body” and how it is controlled and violated by dominant white culture. Take a couple of minutes to do a quick internet search on the individuals he names – Eric Garner, Renisha McBride, John Crawford, Tamir Rice, Marlene Pinnock, Michael Brown, and Trayvon Martin. What similarities do you find in their stories? What theme(s) would you use to characterize their experiences?

Exploring the ideas presented in “the black body” by Coates, he makes an address of the brutal killings and exploitations accorded to the non-whites in the nation. Reflecting on the cases of Eric Garner, Renisha McBride, John Crawford, Tamir Rice, Marlene Pinnock, Michael Brown, and Trayvon Martin, there are significant aspects which are common across all these cases. Of all these cases, black lives have been presented to be at the verge of perishing as a result of white people brutality. Besides, the theme of death runs throughout all these scenarios such as the case of police officer Darren Wilson Killing Michael Brown (Coates, 2015). Again, the black people stated in all these cases experienced discrimination simply because of their skin color which led to the formation of the ‘black lives matter’ initiative meant to protect the blacks. The white people's culture did not fully accept the existence of blacks as part of their contemporary society and this was the cause for such brutal killings. Therefore, I would use the aspect of death as a common aspect in characterizing all these cases of black people brutality in the hands of the whites.

Q3. Towards the end of the first section of the text (pp. 69-70), Coates makes the point that American slavery affected individual people. How would you characterize your historical education regarding slavery? Were you ever taught about the individual experience of enslaved people? Or were you presented with a more generalized version of American racial history? Hypothesize about the impact your historical awareness has on the way(s) that you perceive contemporary racial issues.

Slavery has been accustomed to being a leading cause of very many social issues which have an ultimate impact on individuals and the community as a whole. Reading articles about slavery helps one get a clear insight into the impacts of this social irregularity which leads to a divided society. Furthermore, the information presented about slavery was a specific study about the American racial occurrences. Slavery occurs directly to an individual and this as one id deterred from exercising their rights and freedoms in a given social context (Coates, 2015). As per the American history, both women and men were accustomed to slavery which led to great impacts on the socialization between individuals. Hypothesizing on the issue of slavery, it is clear that it leads to great negative results such as the creation of social class distinctions between people. The enslaved individuals are barred from practicing most of their rights in the society while their masters are the determinants of their fate.

Q4. Based on the mini-lecture, describe both the essential elements of the Myth of the Self-Made Man, as well as the main criticisms of it.

According to the mini-lecture, the main element of the myth of self-made man is capitalism. The claim is the capitalism makes opportunities available to all and all are responsible for their fate. Besides, the self-made man has other variant elements which include the idea of protestant work ethic. As per the protestant work ethic, it is mainly based on the hard work of any individual pursuing success. Additionally, there is the element of luck but as per the readings, luck is can only be earned by only those who deserve to get lucky. Besides, there is the idea of power mobility where one begins from the poor then climb the ladder to end rich where a good example is Abraham Lincoln (Saad Al, 2019). However, the critics of this include the idea that it focuses only on the self to the exclusion of context and community. Secondly, it assumes the social Darwinism as it is inherently better since is successful. Lastly, it is gendered and legitimizes greed and glorifies promotion.

Q5. Based on the mini-lecture, what are the six main components of Victorian Era masculinity? Be sure to describe each component fully.

As per the mini-lecture, the first component of Victorian Era masculinity was the idea of controlling passions so as to showcases aspects of emotions and being extreme. Secondly, one was expected to showcase a strong character meaning you would do what was honorable. One was also expected to exercise authority mainly over women, children, and employees. It was also necessary to protect and control where you were supposed to care for all those who were less powerful. The fifth component in his era was that of procreating and produce children and a family. The last component of Victorian Era masculinity was being able to provide responsibility financially. Hence, through the exhibition of these components, one was ultimately termed to be masculine and powerful.

References

https://www.mercerislandschools.org/cms/lib3/WA01001855/Centricity/Domain/640/ Ta-Nehisi%20Coates%20PDF.pdf

Saad Al, (2019). 3 1, Self-Made Man, Part I 1002. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/- vd_7QTJtlI

Saad Al, (2019). 3 2, Self-Made Man, Part II 823. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/utMOh-P- gQU