SOC- 110 Building a Multiracial Society

Here is the Books we use for this class may help:

Textbooks: Text: Bonilla-Silva, E. 2014. Racism without Racists: Color-Blind Racism and Racial Inequality in Contemporary America. 4th ed. Boulder, CO: Rowman and Littlefield. ISBN-13: 978-1-4422-2055-3

Reader: Higganbotham, E. and Margaret L. Andersen. 2011. Race and Ethnicity in Society: The Changing Landscape. 3rd ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth. ISBN-13: 9781111519537

Course Paper

Students will choose one of the options below as the topic of their paper, and will be expected to apply the material covered in class (especially Bonilla-Silva’s 4 frames of colorblind racism) to their everyday social world. This could be in their everyday personal relationships and conversations (e.g., journal); in public Internet postings (e.g., videos) or social media; or traditional media (film, TV, newspaper). Keep in mind that in Chapters 3-6, Bonilla-Silva outlines the typical colorblind racism patterns, while in Chapter 7 he looks at how progressive racial ideology differs from those, and in Chapter 8 how racial “minorities” tend to use colorblindness differently than the majority.

As his/her critical-thinking decision-making objective, the student should decide whether the societal evidence he/she reviews in the paper (a) demonstrates the typical colorblind pattern that Bonilla-Silva describes in the textbook; or (b) reveals a more progressive and/or minority pattern; or (c) some combination of the above; or (d) some other pattern not discussed in the textbook but worth exploring in future research. The student may find that the quotes he/she analyzes deliberately challenge one of the 4 frames of colorblindness in some way, and he/she can note this in the paper as well. Each paper should consider the implications of the analysis of colorblindness for the future of a multiracial society. In other words, how do the representations discovered in your analysis help and/or hinder a society’s progress toward inclusive multiracial democracy?

[NOTE: Regardless of the option chosen, students should write a minimum of 6 pages total as part of their paper.]

Option 1: Journal Assignment Students should keep a journal throughout the semester when they are exposed to or participate in race related conversations, taking care not to reveal names or identities in their entries, unless it was a public event (class presentation, campus speaker/event, etc.) They should then have a closing entry (longer than the rest) in which they analyze all preceding entries for appearances of the 4 frames of colorblindness, as well as analyzing to what extent the settings in which the entries occurred were multiracial and/or incorporated diverse viewpoints.

Option 2: Internet Analysis In consultation with their instructor, students should select a particular Internet site or group of sites in which race-related postings occur. These sites must be public-access (e.g., not friends’ Facebook accounts). Students should use the 4 frames of colorblindness to analyze the content posted, and choose enough examples of content so that all 4 frames are represented in the analysis.

Option 3: Media Analysis In consultation with their instructor, students should select (a) a film that has race as a major theme (e.g., Crash; Mississippi Burning; A Time to Kill; American History X); OR (b) a TV program or programs that deals with racial content (e.g., episode of talk show when race-related theme is considered; episode of sitcom that confronts race directly); OR (c) 2-3 OpEd pieces in a mainstream newspaper that discuss race-related issues. The paper should present quotes that illustrate all 4 frames of colorblindness and analyze them accordingly.