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Thesis is Due March 31

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Racism in America Rough Draft Due April 4th

Final Draft Due April 9th, 2014

Using what you now know about Race in America please apply a sociological theory to the problem of racism. For this paper the following definition of racism will be used: Prejudice plus power

What this definition means is:


A) Anyone can hold "racial prejudice" -- that is, they can carry positive or negative stereotypes of others based on racial characteristics. For example, a white person thinking all Asians are smart, or all black people are criminals; or a Korean person thinking Japanese people are untrustworthy; or what-have-you. ANYONE, of any race, can have racial prejudices. B) People of any race can commit acts of violence, mistreatment, ostracizing, etc., based on their racial prejudices. A black kid can beat up a white kid because he doesn't like white kids. An Indian person can refuse to associate with Asians. Etc C) However, to be racist (rather than simply prejudiced) requires having institutional power. In North America, white people have the institutional power. In large part they are the head of corporations; they make up the largest proportion of lawmakers and judges; they have the money; they make the decisions. In short, they control the systems that matter. "White" is presented as normal, the default. Therefore, because whites have institutional power in America, when white people think differently about others based on their race or act on racial prejudices, that is being racist. Only white people can be racist, because only white people have institutional power. D) In America people of color can be prejudiced, but they cannot be racist, because they don't have the institutional power. This is not to say that a person of color cannot have power but that the balance of power is weighted against people of color.

Directions: Your paper should be no more than 4 pages written in MLA format and needs to explain racism in America as a social problem. You must apply the theory of Symbolic Interactionism, Conflict Theory, or Functionalism to explain racism. (If this is too broad for you, you may pick one institution of society [schools, political, environmental, religious] and use the theory to explain racism as it applies to that institution. Once you apply your theory to racism you must then argue whether racism can or should be addressed in America and what steps, if any, can be taken to fix the problem of racism in America. Notes: Your paper must include at least 2 sources other than wikipedia and be cited properly. Hint: Use your book and use pbs.org/race

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