SOC100 Lecture Notes - Lecture 18: Rachel Dolezal, George Schuyler, Cultural Appropriation
Document Summary
Transracialism refers to the practice of identifying as another race than the one that one was born into. Who decides racial identity: in society, race is more than just biological differences, race is socially constructed and often used as a narrative to anoint or take away certain privileges to certain groups, racial and ethnic appraisal. Racial passing refers to a person classified as a member of one group also accepted as a member of a different racial group. E. g. a person of mixed-race heritage assimilating into a white majority. She decided to become part of a more marginalized group-usually people go from marginalized to privileged. She began identifying as black in a time when black people were being punished for their race. She did this because people kept bugging her about her ancestry because she was married to an african american. Survival strategy: to avoid abuse and questioning, she made a story that she had african american origins.
