Readings: Our Voices Pt.1
Angelo N. Ancheta: “Neither Black nor White”
What to watch for: Ancheta highlights the limitations of only seeing race relations within strictly Black and White terms, thereby leaving no room for the issues and complexities which attend being Asian American. The handling of anti-Asian violence in the United States evidences the problem of being racially subordinated when one cannot be categorized as Black or White.
Mireya Navarro: “For Many Latinos, Racial Identity Is More Culture than Color”
What to watch for: Navarro highlights the shortcomings of applying a racial idenity to Latinos/as since many identifymore with their ethnic cultures. In doing so, Navarro dismantles the concept of Hispanics as being monolithic. The act of checking a box on a census form becomes problematic in that it will not necessarily provide an accurate number – which in turn can have consequences for the determination of voting districts, research on health and education disparities, monitoring of hiring practices, etc. Consequently, this impacts the extent to which Latinos are able to wield political power and effect change for their communities.
Christina Greer: “Black Ethnics: Race Immigration, and the Pursuit of the American Dream”
What to watch for: Greer highlights the differences and tensions existing among ethnicities which are racially Black. It is very easy to assume that anyone who is Black in the United States shares the same history when, in reality, there are many ethnic identities with their own cultures and histories in play. It is important to realize that tensions can (and do) exist between African Americans and immigrants from Africa.
Noy Thrupkaew: “The Myth of the Model Minority”
What to watch for: Thrupkaew examines the complexities attending Asians being touted as a “model minority” – a seemingly positive stereotype that is actually manipulated to support racist arguments that African Americans and Latinos/as don’t economically succeed because they fail to work hard. As such, the myth is powerful in pitting communities of color against one another, thereby preventing coalition building. The model minority myth is also used to ignore the plight of Southeast Asian refugees in the United States – the acknowledgement of which would undermine the myth’s power.
What to watch for: This article examines the intersectional threats of racism and ableism to which disabled African Americans are vulnerable. Disproportionately killed by the police, Black and Native Americans are also more likely to be disabled than White Americans.
