race: good, bad, ugly

week 8: injustice (warren)

“race is a social construction,” (warren, 2007, p. 245).

yes. nothing new to me here. arguably, created to keep the dominant group in power and the subordinates subordinated; implemented institutionally to disenfranchise, marginalize, categorize, and emphasize the different; the “other”.

here is something new to me: take race, and all of the injustices that exist because of institutional racism, flip it and use it as a tool of deconstruction; tear down the house of cards from the foundation up. i feel relatively lame for not considering what warren mentioned in his article regarding race, and the potential good that can come from using the idea of race as a method of uniting and organizing racial minorities, rather than succumb to its tradition of division.

i read the article and had an epiphany: “oh, shit! that’s why right wingers want to tear down programs like affirmative action. it’s not about making it harder for white people to go to college (quite laughable). it’s about removing socially conscious programs because of fear. the powers that be are afraid that if non-whites, women, and the aware white people get together that change might result. the power structure might collapse and be rebuilt, and progress might be made.”

interestingly, this movement to nip the problem of unity at the bud isn’t limited to different races. it extends to issues of gender equality, and the right that everyone has to choose who they want to love and marry.