Essay

“Race: Power of an Illusion” Episode 2Instructions: Watch the documentary film on Youtube :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UZS8Wb4S5k&list=PL1rEBv3RSc4FM8Y5Y6M90sH92_1xO0TsE&index=2

Then answer the following questions in short paragraphs. 

1.What was the driving force behind the creation of a “race” system in early US history? Why was it seen as necessary?

2.How did the early US government justify their genocide and removal of indigenous peoples and the racialized enslavement of Africans? 

3.How has the understanding of race evolved in US history?

4.The documentary doesn’t make much of a mention of Asians and Asian Americans, but given what we’ve learned about race and racism from the film, how might these apply to the “Asian” race which begins to appear in the US in large number around the mid-19thcentury (specifically the 1840s)? (Open-ended)