White Like Me Assignment
PURPOSE: The purpose of this activity is to help you understand different forms of discrimination identified in the field of sociology and how those different forms of discrimination as well as racist political narratives relate to the persistence of social inequality. It is also to help you understand the importance of distinguishing among those forms of discrimination to creating a more just and inclusive society.
Skills: After doing this assignment, you will be able to:
1. Define and give examples of individual discrimination, and institutional discrimination and systemic racism, and to differentiate among the two forms of discrimination.
2. Identify and discuss examples of historical and contemporary institutional discrimination and the immediate as well as long term impact of these forms of institutional discrimination on African American communities in the United States.
TASK:
Your task is to read/watch several works which identify different forms of discrimination.
• What racism looks like
• Khan academy video – differentiating individual and institutional discrimination
• What Racism looks like – reading
• Systemic racism video
You will watch the following two documentary films, “White Like Me”, and “The Great White Hoax” and the “Interview with Tim Wise”.
• “White Like Me” discusses different forms of institutional discrimination and its impact of African American communities as well as its invisibility to many white Americans.
• “The Great White Hoax” discusses how politicians can use racists narratives to create fear mongering or a culture of fear in order to obtain support for policies which support institutional racism.
• Interview with Tim Wise. This interview is with the author of these two documentaries. This interview provides more insight into institutional discrimination and political fear mongering.
Then you will write a paper that addresses the points below.
1. Define the following and give examples of:
a. Individual discrimination
b. Institutional discrimination
c. Political Fear Mongering
2. Compare and contrast the following using examples from the readings/videos:
a. Individual discrimination
b. Institutional discrimination
3. Explain how historical and contemporary forms of institutional discrimination identified in the film have impacted African American communities differently from many other communities in the US and why. Focus on the New Deal and all of the different examples which illustrate how African American’s were likely excluded from the benefits.
4. Explain how historical and contemporary politicians have used fear mongering (a culture of fear) to perpetuate social inequalities for African American communities.
5. How does identifying the differences among these different forms of discrimination as well as identifying political fear mongering help you think about ways to solve racial inequalities? What are some ways you might solve or rectify the problems which result from institutional discrimination in American society? Whose responsibilicixty is it to address these issues?
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